Chapter 13: Chapter 12- Return to Hard Sand

Always hunt something just as strong as you? Sure, it is pretty safe if you compare it to fighting a horde of Clockworks and pretty profitable compared to trapping, in terms of experience anyway, but there is something even better: pushing your limits. It’s obvious when you think about it, but people forget the rule about proportionate rewards through the system.

It makes sense that, if you receive more experience for putting more effort into mathematics, you would receive more experience for slaying stronger enemies. You need the experience, after all —getting up to the higher levels needs that extra experience.

 

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“And… done!” Mori cheered as she placed the head of the undead creature in front of her. Her words, more enthusiastic than they had been over the last hour, caught the attention of Fara. The woman had almost completed her project, Mori guessed, and would not be much longer.

Fara walked over, looked down at Mori’s work, and took a deep breath, “Okay… why would you do this?” she asked, voice shaking, “Those parts could have been used for something more… useful!”

Mori was taken aback for a moment, but realized how much Fara loved mechanics and tinkering. “Come on! If it works, then it’ll be amazing!” she said. Fara simply pouted and stood there, waiting for Mori to raise the abomination she had created. Mori swept the mesa-stalker and occupier hybrid with a final critical gaze. The flesh was properly melted to the metal and the bones were properly secured to the frame. The only thing she wished for was to be able to keep the occupier head as more than just a helmet; she had to empty the Clockwork head in order to let the thing have a flesh-brain —and punch holes in the helmet to keep the mesa-stalker’s antlers— but she put the parts from the head into its neck after removing the vocal cords.  In the end, it was an ugly thing, but if it worked, then it could be terrifying. Mori held out her hand and let the mana flow. It seeped into the amalgamation’s body and invaded every corner of the steel and flesh. With a flash, the creature was reanimated and Mori received the system message. 

[You have created a low-complexity undead with your natural death mana. Experience has been awarded.]

The spark of life that came from its eyes through the helmet was obvious, glowing black and purple and green. Suddenly, it arched its back and stood straight with jerky motions. Before long, it jerked forwards into a half-crouch as if it were hunting. It jerked back into its standing pose, then back into its crouching pose, then back again. Mori, finding the constant movement slightly annoying, held her hand up, “Alright, stop that,” she said. It stopped mid pose and turned to face her. With a huff, she realized something was wrong and checked her Minion Page for what the creature was.

[Split-mind Patchwork Zombie-Husk: A poor fusion of two different undead, each with their own minds. Unlike flesh-heaps, whose wills are subsumed into a single whole, a Split-mind undead has multiple minds fighting for control over the body without proper channels of communication. Like all undead, it requires occasional mana to fuel its soul.]

Mori sighed, “That’s not good,” she said, “They’re fighting for control over the body. To make this work, I need something that can let multiple minds communicate. Hmm… Fara, do you have something like that?” she asked.

“As far as mana types go, things that mainly affect sigil spells are not ones that I specialize in,” she replied, chin on hand, “I don’t really have a ‘connection’ type mana I can easily create.”

Mori nodded, whispering something to the zombie. It fell over dead, without a sign of life in it, “If that’s the case, then I’m not going to torture this thing by making them share a body like that. Speaking of mana, I never really got how making new mana affinities or types worked. How does that work, anyway?” As Mori spoke, she laid the patchwork zombie corpse by the wall and walked behind the rock the mesa-stalker used as its shelter. Behind it, the shells of a dozen large insects lay scattered, all of them missing their flesh. Mori began gathering the shells and putting them next to the patchwork corpse.

Fara watched her in her endeavor, sighing and helping her, “Making mana types is more of an art than a science —much more so than putting the types into practice,” she grumbled, “It all starts with what you want the mana to do, exactly. Do you want it to turn to fire? Then think of fire while running the mana through your soul. Do you want to make the mana move things? Then just think of something moving while creating it. It all gets so much more complicated when you do anything other than ‘do a thing.’ Do you want to create a mana-curse that will be inherited by blood relatives? Then… I don’t know, but other people figured that out,” she admitted as she placed the last corpse next to the patchwork zombie. Fara moved over to the pile of parts she had been working with and scooped them up into her arms.

Mori nodded to herself and hoisted the large corpse onto her shoulders, making Unio jiggle a bit. The slime jumped from her skull and brought the insect shells into its body, leaving it undissolved and climbing onto Mori’s back with the shells. The lich giggled and rubbed the slime on the head, “So it’s all about thinking while you imbue mana?” she asked as she began walking.

Fara raised an amused eyebrow and nodded, “Pretty much, yeah. Just a warning, though, not everything can be turned into a mana type. I’ve heard of some people trying to make a mana type revolving around their location and it didn’t really work. Also, the way your mind works is a major part of what you can do; people who choose [Chaotic Adept] are able to use some pretty odd mana types. There’s more, like metamancy, but Ma can fill you in if you want,” she said as they emerged from the cave and into the late afternoon sun. 

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Mori placed the patchwork corpse onto the back of the skiff and secured it while Unio deposited the shells into the pockets of the skiff, followed by Fara placing the pile of parts into the pockets as well. “So, is this it?” Mori asked.

“Yeah, I think so. I think I’ll need a day or two to pack my things, finish a few projects —including your arm mechanism, and say my farewells to everyone. Do you mind staying for that long?” she asked guiltily.

Mori giggled and gave the woman a side-hug, “Of course! Besides, we have our new Traits to pick, right?” she suggested. Fara nodded, getting onto her skiff and beckoning Mori to follow. She sat on the back of the skiff, letting Unio sit on her head as the craft navigated its path down the mesa and into the open sands. The trip was just as long as it was to get there, but Unio’s happy noises and Fara’s idle talk about her dream fortress was enough to spice the trip up. 

They reached Hard Sand just before sunset, people mulling about the town when they returned. As they reached the center of town, a crowd of townsfolk of all shapes crowded around the skiff as they stared at the patchwork zombie corpse that used to be the mesa-stalker and occupier. Mumbles of shock and awe ran through the crowd until the Elder and Molly  emerged from the crowd to greet Fara and Mori, “Would you look at that…” the Elder muttered, “Is… this… what you fought?” 

Fara sighed and shook her head, “Not really. There was a Clockwork ‘occupier’ in stasis in one of the mesas. The real thing was a mesa-stalker that went through an uplift. Mori had the ‘genius’ idea to graft the occupier to the body of the mesa-stalker,” she answered.

“Hey!” Mori interrupted, “It was a good idea! We just need to-” Before she could finish, Fara elbowed her in the ribs. The lich gave her a glare, but Fara lightly shook her head.

“Sorry,” she said, turning back to the Elder, “She’s a bit… insensitive when it comes to visera and gore. She gets carried away.”

The Elder eyed them for a moment before nodding sagely, “Well, it is miraculous enough to find a lich that does not mind the living. I believe some passion for her… art, is enough of a price to pay. Anyway, we all thank you two for dealing with these problems. The mesa-stalker is a rare and dangerous beast on its own, but to be uplifted… what level was it at, pray tell.”

“56!” Mori cheered, stunning the crowd to silence, “What? It obviously didn’t have a strong enough skull, ‘cause a bullet shot clean through it!” Her emphatic words lightened the tension the townsfolk felt when they heard the creature’s level.

“That is… high,” the Elder mumbled, seemingly troubled, “We had gotten something together for you, both as a reward and a final gift before you went out into the world, but what we have… can’t be enough.”

Fara smiled, dismounting her skiff and shaking her head, “Money isn’t an issue, Elder. The parts of the occupier I got are enough to sell for a lot. Besides, I got a few levels out of it,” she soothed. 

The Elder seemed troubled, but Molly lightly knocked the man on the skull, “Calm down, old man. We can talk about money and the like later, but for now I want to get my daughter some rest,” she said. The Elder looked at her and nodded, backing away without another word. Molly dashed over to her daughter and wrapped her in a big hug, “I’m so happy you’re alright,” she whispered in her ear. 

The crowd of people stood around awkwardly for a moment, annoying Mori, “Hey! You heard the woman! Let us be!” she shouted. The crowd of people, shaking their confusion away, left and returned to their own business. After another minute of hugging, Mori pulled Unio from its place under her blanket-hood and petted it, feeling it bubble lightly in happiness. 

After another minute, Molly and Fara untangled themselves from their hug and looked around them, “Where did everyone go?” Molly asked.

Mori laughed, “I told them to follow the Elder’s example and they left you two be. I think we should get back, though; I kind of need a way to store that over there until I can get this undead working…” she muttered.

Molly shook her head at Mori, “While I appreciate you telling them to go home, you should work on being kinder about it, Mori,” she lectured. Mori became a bit shocked and sank into her seat on the back of the Skiff. Molly sighed and smiled after a moment, “But, thank you. Thank you for keeping my daughter safe. Anyway, we’ve been standing here for too long, let’s go home.” Fara smiled and hopped onto her skiff, slowly following Molly all the way to their home.

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