NOVEL NEXT Chapter 42 - Recovery
The church of the Goddess is a central institution in humanoid lands. With its seat of power in the Theocracy of Nix, the church is led by the council of twelve archbishops. Each of them have different duties and areas of expertise. Their directives are handed down the line to bishops in charge of separate regions. These bishops have access to individual armed forces of paladins who they regularly dispatch to deal with issues that more worldly forces might struggle with. They also serve as representatives of the church to the adventurer’s guild and other international organizations dealing in martial might, like the Mercenary’s Union. - Samantha Bowes, Teacher, “The church of the Goddess”
Restorations are underway. I have expanded the carving of our fallen to include the brave animated robe that restrained the intruder for one crucial moment. You will be remembered, nameless one.
While my monsters get to work cleaning up and restoring the place, it is time for me to deal with the rest of the notifications that assaulted me, in order for my monsters to have the best fighting chance they have when next people come knocking with ill intent.
To that end, excavations are underway for a new room. Incidentally, opposite the hallway leading to the costume shop there was another collapsed hallway, and while it was sealed up with my evocation abilities while the adventurers entered, it is a simple matter to remove the stone once more. Instead of that, however, I want to try something else. By carving delicately into the rock with my will, I open up only the finest line on all edges of the stone.
Since Sebastian is still occupied with grafting a new arm onto poor Porthos who seems to be a repeat target for losing limbs, “Project Secret Entrance” will have to wait. In the meantime, I can begin working on the rubble beyond the slab of stone that once was part of the wall of the hall.
Simultaneously, I decide that it is time to see my new monster in action. Since I can keep the excavation going with barely a thought, it is time to introduce this world to horrors beyond mortal comprehension… children!
At least, that's what I assume juvenile refers to in “Doppelganger, Juvenile”. Not quite sure how helpful child monster’s will be, but they share a category of monsters with my mimics which are absolutely terrifying, so I have faith in them.
I’ll summon two of them for now and then we can see about getting more.
Summon! Summon! Arise now, my minions, and serve!
The tears in space are nothing new, and neither is the flavor of power that flows through my domain at the summons.
The… viscosity of the matter bleeding through the hole in space, however, is. Like a thick sludge it drips down onto the floor where it begins to gather in a circular spot in the center. It forms an ovoid shape, before compressing into two roughly humanoid shapes that are curled up in a fetal position.
As the rift closes, the liquid forming the two bodies hardens slightly and becomes more reminiscent of waxy flesh, though it does not assume a fixed texture, instead flowing and shifting as if still liquid.
The two humanoids open beady, pale and glassy eyes in their white heads as they unfold their gangly limbs and stand up. Surprisingly, the juvenile descriptor seems to not exactly be related to height, as the Doppelgangers rear up on their long legs and awkwardly walk up to where my pen body is currently floating, before falling on their knees before me.
Their vow is solemn, of faithful servitude and loyalty, and I humbly accept it.
They rise to their full height once more and move to meet their fellow monsters while I continue administration of my dungeon. A bunch of my monsters need classes, but first of all, I should confirm my monster’s new abilities.
Porthos is currently in the process of getting adjusted to his new arm, so he should be first, but in the meantime, Sebastian is needed for Project Secret Entrance. While he sees to his preparations, I check in on Porthos.
Status
Name: Porthos
Class: Berserker
Level: 8
Creature Type: Animated Mannequin
Skills:
Active:
Passive:
Fury Aura - Level 1
Rage - Level 6
A new skill and 5 levels gained. Impressive growth, but he did battle far above his level, so this much is expected.
Now that I know about affinities, something that sticks out to me is my monsters' malleability. Taking in his physical form Porthos has grown to about twice the height of any of his fellow mannequins, and where most of their wooden frames are sleek, his is quite bulky. A significant amount of mass makes up his corporeal body.
I can’t wait to see in what ways my other monsters grow.