Chapter 5: Five

The gates creaked open slowly, the noise even more disquieting due to the muted nature of sound in the Boundary. The inside of the graveyard seemed darker than the surrounding land, the umbral light seeming to almost be alive, pooling in the shadows between family graves and the few skeletal trees that grew beside the gravel paths.

“This looks like a scene from a horror film.” I said as I slowly entered. A lesser spirit drifted towards me out of the dark, vaguely human in shape. Quickly absorbing its ether I continued, feet crunching gravel underfoot.  More followed, mostly humanoid, but some were avian in structure, fast and darting. One managed to strike me below the eye, sending a shock of pain through me. Aether drained from me, but I was able to quickly snatch it back and the spirit dispersed. Still, these seemed far more agile and dangerous than the lesser spirits outside.

I continued to walk along the path between the trees, the cloaked guide behind me, ears straining to hear every sound. There was an eerie wind blowing through the trees, smelling of decay, and in the distance I was sure I could hear the rustling beat of wings and the ominous cawing of crows.

I do not like this. I do not like this. I repeated it to myself like a mantra. At this point taking my time grinding lesser spirits seemed a wonderful plan. The feathery touch of a nearby branch on my back made me jump, a squeal leaking from my lips. I thought I was good with horror, but I guess living through a horror movie is a little different to watching or reading about one.

Steeling myself I pushed forwards, passing through the graves. It was getting darker as I went, and now I could see barely a dozen paces ahead. Lesser spirits still drifted from the shadows, and as I had less time to react I was finding it hard to drain them before they could strike me. Still, the comforting glow of the increasing orbit of ether around me was pushing back the encroaching gloom.  Ahead of me a faint red glow was shining, throwing out long shadows. I hope that isn’t a dragon or something outlandish like that…

“You will benefit from investigating that site.” The cloaked figure spoke for the first time in a while. “That is the glow of an Etherite.”

“Etherite? Sounds like it has something to do with ether.”

“You surmise correctly. In areas of denser ether flow such as where the Boundary and lower Astral intersect, an Etherite ore may form rarely. They can be broken down into substantial amounts of ether or used in higher level Territorial constructions. They also have other uses and are a valuable currency amongst more powerful Astral beings.”

“So it’s like ether is a 100-yen coin, accepted and useful everywhere, but Etherite is large notes. That makes sense I think.” I nodded to myself. “Well since I’m looking for a thousand ether quickly I guess that I do need it… but I bet it is guarded.”

Creeping through the darkness towards the red light I crossed between several more graves. I murmured my apologies to any of the dead I disturbed as I passed through. The red glow was getting brighter. After a few more dozen steps I came across a glowing red jewel the size of my fist lying unattended between the roots of an old cherry tree.

“That is an Etherite ore. The closer the colour tends towards violet, the more valuable it is for the more ether it contains. Red Etherites usually contain upwards of a hundred ether. As they grow more orange they contain up to twice as much, and the yellows four times that and so forth. The rarity of such finds increases dramatically as well. Anything above green is vanishingly rare, and even the upper Astral sees a violet ore but once in a thousand years, being so scarce as to be nearly a myth. Those with intelligence who dwell within the Astral will often seek them out. You must seize such windfalls when they present themselves.”

Nodding, I moved forwards, picking up the Etherite. It radiated warmth, merely by holding it I could feel how much ether it possessed. I considered keeping it, but right now more than a ten-thousand yen note I needed a lot of small change. Concentrating intently on feeling the flow of ether within I felt pressure building up inside it, stronger and stronger, until with an audible crack the Etherite shattered into a host of glowing white stars. They joined the orbit around me, and the darkness was pushed back.

Your first territory anchor will cost 1000 ether. You currently possess 384 ether.

My wrist flared silver as it advised me of my current supply. I had steadily been increasing it, and the Etherite had afforded me a large boost. Still, there was a long way to go, and time was passing. As I made to turn away I spotted something coming towards me through the dark, obscured by the shadows cast by my ether lights.

Taking a defensive stance I made ready to drain it of its ether, only to freeze in shock at the sight before me. It could only be described as a zombie, a dead man, face pale and waxy, hands curled up into twisted claws. It shuffled towards me with surprising speed, causing me to back up against the tree. Opening its mouth it let out a strangled roar and its speed picked up alarmingly.

“Oh shit…” I leapt out of the way as it barrelled into the tree behind me, dead fists flying, ripping into the bark. I forced my mind to concentrate on drawing out its aether, as I did with the lesser spirits, but it was as if I was trying to tear down a wall with my fingernails, it was impenetrable.

The zombie turned, roaring again, and it seemed even more enraged, as if my efforts had insulted it. This time I was too slow to dodge and I cried out in pain as its fist slammed into my side. I spun away, feeling as if my ribs were broken.

“That bloody hurts!” I cursed, as I stumbled away, narrowly dodging another wide swing by dumb luck. “But I don’t feel it draining my aether…” I was going to say more but the zombies’ leg came up sharply, hammering into my guts, doubling me over.

My mind went blank. When I came to my senses the zombie was looming over me, black spittle leaking from its dead lips. I needed a weapon. What worked against the weak and feeble lesser spirits would not be enough against a real, actual monster. Casting my gaze about I couldn’t see anything. Rolling to the side I dodged by a hairsbreadth as the zombie slammed down his foot where my head was but a moment before.

“Shit! Shit! Shit! I don’t want to die here….” I cursed, searching for a way out. I could blast it with fire again… it would burn, right? But would it be enough? Maybe a sword, to strike the head…?

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I visualised a weapon, a long edged blade like in fantasy manga, and felt aether flow from me. It was a significant drop, though not as much as when I called the fire earlier. It formed slowly in the air, materialising into a plain silver blade with an unadorned hilt. Grasping it I could feel my aether connected to it, slowly flowing into it.

“I can’t keep this up for long or I’ll run dry…” I muttered, ducking under another wild sweep from the zombies’ rotting fists. “Take this!” I suddenly roared, stepping in and swinging the heavy sword with both hands. The jarring impact where the blade cut flesh sent jolts of pain slamming through my wrists, but the blade bit deep, slicing through putrid flesh down through the shoulder and into bone.

Damn, missed the head. Oh well, it was heavier than I thought it’d be so no wonder I missed.

Pulling on the sword I grunted in exertion but the blade would not come free. Straining my muscles I barely managed to move it half an inch before the zombie punched me, the blow skimming across my face and slamming into one cheek. Dazed, I stopped concentrating and the sword shivered out of existence. Another blow caught me, spinning me around into the tree again.

Coughing up blood that evaporated into the air in flashes of silver I pulled myself to my feet once more. Grabbing onto the tree to support myself I watched as the zombie came closer. It was time for desperate measures. Grabbing onto a gnarled branch with a bulbous end I began to exert force, attempting to snap it.

Curse my pathetic might. I’m so below average. If I somehow get out of this I’ll start working out, I promise. My arms were burning, and not with the warmth of aether, but with strain. It wasn’t going to work, as the zombie was closing in fast, arms poised to strike. With a flash of insight I had an idea that could save me. Concentrating hard, through the fog of pain from by injured body, I drew on my aether and imagined the flame again, this time tight and compact. Red flared and a flow of aether left me, as a wisp of flame, far smaller than I had imagined, but still serviceable, seared through the end of the branch, cleaving it from the tree, charring the end black.

Even as I lifted this makeshift club the zombie was upon me, blows hammering into my back and narrowly missing my head. It could move quickly, but luckily it wasn’t particularly accurate, and the arm which I had cut with my summoned sword was lacking power. Rolling with the blows I turned and brought down the makeshift mace upon the zombie, striking an upraised arm. I swung again and again, until my arms were shrieking with pain. The club was splintering under hard use, but I trickled aether into it, imagining, believing that it would hold together, and eventually the zombie fell to the ground, fractured skull leaking fluid which turned silver and faded into the air.

Breathing heavily, I leaned on the branch that was serving as my club, watching as the zombie convulsed slowly on the ground. For a few seconds it remained writhing, before shattering into a cloud of silver ether, which quickly came to me.

“Damn, that was so scary. I really thought I was going to die…” I muttered in between gasping breaths. Hang on a minute, this isn’t the Material world, do I even need to breathe? I guess habit was a powerful thing. As I calmed down the voice sounded behind me again.

“You were in negligible danger. I would have safeguarded you from any harm that was not instantaneously lethal, as by the terms of our agreement.”

Oh crap, I forgot about that. I smiled a bit shamefacedly. “You’re right. I should have thought of that. I guess I’m not really cut out for fighting.” Looking down I could see that my stock of ether was lower than when I had started the fight, despite having collected what remained of the zombie. “I really need to be more economical in using what I have… still at least I have a weapon now. Of course, something more usable would be better…”

“Fret not, your chance to accumulate more ether has presented itself. Make haste and you can restore your deficit.”

As the cloaked guide spoke another pair of zombies was shuffling towards me, one of which was little more than a skeleton wrapped in a few tattered rags of flesh and cloth, the other more complete like the first one I had just defeated, yet it was covered in green mould and clumps of fungus.

“Two at once…” my only saving grace was that they were coming from opposite sides, so if I could deal with one quickly enough… At least I’m in little danger as the guide will save me unless I get insta-gibbed. Making my decision I rushed at the skeletal one, as it certainly looked more fragile. It came towards me with a rattle of bone and clacking of grinning teeth. One arm slashed out, but this time I was prepared for the surprising speed the zombies could display in bursts, and so I flung myself backwards. Skeletal fingers grazed me, inflicting slight pain, but I was largely unharmed. Hauling myself to my feet I brought the makeshift club I held down on one arm joint, feeling a satisfying crunch under the point of impact.

The skeletal zombie shrieked, trying to kick me away but I was already behind it, club smashing down. After a few blows the skull cracked and neck vertebrae shattered, and more ether was around me, replenishing my losses. The second was closing in now, but with the one behind me down I was a little confident I could handle it…

Several minutes later I was drawing in more long breaths as the zombie below me disintegrated. Tossing aside my now shattered club I watched as the ether joined me. I concentrated and some of it turned into aether, to replenish my supply that had been drained by the fierce battle. It was still a profit, but not by much. I still had a long way to go in terms of fighting experience.

You have gained in strength. Your level has increased from zero to one.

The sudden row of silvery words that flashed in my vision was most welcome, and I felt a burst of warmth run through me. Quickly checking on my status I let out a pleased yelp.

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