Chapter 68: Chapter 67: A Blacksmith meets a Grim Reaper. A Mage has a discussion on the nature of souls.

As they approached the cottage, Debra saw her sister standing outside looking a bit annoyed. When they got closer and Denise saw them she said "Where did you go?"

"We went to drop off the token." Debra said.

"First off did you not think I would like to see the wolves? Second did you gather the stuff from the wolves?"

"Err...No, I guess we forgot." Debra said.

Frankie rubbed her head and said "I am sorry Denise. I was completely distracted. We can go and contact them again if you want."

"I would. I know you have many things on your mind. My sister, on the other hand, has a habit of forgetting things."

"I guess I'm just used to you recalling things for me."

The three girls began to head back into the forest. While they were walking, they chatted briefly about what they wanted to eat when they got back, when they heard sounds of a argument happening up ahead. Deciding to sneak forward Debra followed Frankie with Denise behind them.

Cresting a hill, they hid behind a tree and saw a tall pale elf woman in a black robe arguing with a shorter man also in a robe. The man was missing half of his face with his skull showing. Behind him were four people with ugly swollen bodies. They each had a long slice down their chest, like someone had created a sick second mouth.

Debra looked closely at them and found she gained the Examination skill.

Behind the elven woman was a tall cloaked figure with a giant scythe. Examining it reavealed

To Debra's shock and horror, the Reaper seemed to sense her Examination and looked in their direction. Fearing it would come up Debra readied her Hammer. After a second it looked back at the two arguing necromancers. Not wanting to risk attracting attention again, Debra decided against using Examination again.

Listening closely Debra found the argument was over the Elf Village. The man wanted to raid it, and the woman was arguing it would be a foolish waste of resources. The man said "Fine if your so worried, I will do it by myself. Go ahead and return to the others then."

"No you won't." The woman said gravely and signaled the reaper. The cloaked monster dashed forward and slashed down at the revenants. Their bellies opened and horrid tentacles with babies on the ends of them reached out towards the reaper. The reaper avoided their grasp and began to slice through them with the scythe.

"What are you doing? The circle will not tolerate you doing this. The man shouted and drew out a black wand and began to cast dark magic. The plants in his area seemed to start dying and a ball of necrotic energy flew at the woman who reached out and snatched it. Clenching her fist, the ball dispersed and a rotten smell filled the area.

Startled the man attempted to run away. His revanents threw themselves at the reaper to hold it down. The reaper spun and sliced through them and dashed towards the man. The man threw out a paper and the reaper bounced off an invisible shield around the man.

The elf woman stepped forward and pulled out a black rod that looked almost phallic to Debra. The man seemed to recognize what it was and cursed at Debra and commenced chanting a large spell. Before he could complete it, the ground beneath him opened up and black chains came up and wrapped around him and jerked him down screaming into the pit.

The woman nodded and put away the black rod. She pointed at the remains of the revanents and the reaper began to flourish it's scythe over them and they began to rot away incredibly fast. At that time she looked in their direction and said "Are you going to stay up there all day? Come down, and we will have a chat, or I can send him to retrieve you."

Debra gritted her teeth and said "I don't think we have much choice here."

"I don't think so either." Frankie agreed. Denise grumbled about necromancers.

Going down they arrived in front of the necromancer. She took a look at them and said "Say arent you the dwarf twins that Artinas decided to bring with him?"

"Yeah, he's dead now." Debra said trying to act tough.

The elf woman laughed and said "Good, he was a fool. My name is Stephanie Arromas, Necromancer."

Frankie said "We didn't witness anything here, nope nothing at all. Therefore, you can let us go."

Stephanie looked curiously at Frankie and said "You needn't worry. Unlike some of my compatriots, I don't desire to turn every person I meet into the undead. Though I must say you would make a lovely wraith. But I digress, I have no plans for turning you at the moment."

"Then you must have another reason why you called us down here." Denise said.

"Besides the dislike of being spied upon? I do have business to discuss with you."

"What do you require?"

"As you two can attest, there are a group of Necromancers operating in this area. We are currently preparing for a ritual to summon a dead goddess. The fools believe they will be able to control her. I disagree. Luckily for the moment they have had a set back. A critical statuette is missing from her temple."

Frankie was startled and said "What would this goddess name be?"

"Goddess Luksami. But I suspect you already grasped that. Be that as it may, I need to be around them, and it is taking up my time."

"What do you mean? First time I heard of that name." Frankie said.

"Your a terrible liar. I don't care, it doesn't matter to me. They others are working on a way to track down the statuette, so they will come for it eventually. I need to return to them soon. Here is the deal, there is a woman named Rabica in that village. You will take this necklace to her and say to escort the child within the year back home."

Stephanie handed over a necklace and Debra took it and looked at it. A symbol of a elven character was carved on an ancient piece of metal. She looked up and said "Which child?"

"She has more then one?" Stephanie looked astonished.

"Yeah, I met her and her daughter Diasne yesterday night. She in addition has an older son as well."

Stephanie coughed and said "Both of them."

"What about her husband? Can she take him with her?" Frankie asked.

"She's married? Yes inform her to take him along, he has to meet father." Stephanie said, "Alright I've got to get back to the group. Say did you find the temple Artinas was looking for."

"No." Frankie said.

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"Still not any better at lying. Make sure you deliver that necklace or I will track you down and strip the flesh from your bones." Stephanie said and began to walk away, with the Reaper walking away.

"Well that went okay. I was troubled we would have to fight." Denise said.

"Let's quickly get your gear and get back to town. I don't want to be out here with necromancers wondering around." Frankie said.

---

Quite soon after they had started on the second leg of the ride of the day, a man wearing a thick blue coat rode up next to Alexia and greeted her. Looking at him, she recognized him as being from Lady Niadas group. He had been distinct as he did not wear any pink.

"Good afternoon." Alexia said.

"I am Mardan Exaltia, mage of the fifth ring. I sense you are equally a mage?"

"Yes, I am. My Name is Alexia."

"It is surprising to find such a promising mage in this backwater nation. You would do well to head to the empire and enroll into one of the academies. Any of them would be ecstatic to have your talent join their ranks."

"Are you from the Empire?" Alexia asked.

Marden was silent for a moment and nodded "Yes. There is little point in maintaining it as a secret, given Princess Falean is travelling openly with us. I can only hope I am able to appeal my case to her."

"Your case?"

"I was banished from the Empire I love so dearly. Every day I wish to return. Frustratingly as my noble nation grows, I am forced to go further and further away. Soon when they take over this dump of a state, I will need to leave. I hoped to acquire some magical devices from this lost city and persuade them to lift the banishment, yet Princess Falean is travelling with us now."

Alexia didn't know how to respond, while she didn't particularly care about the kingdom she was born in, she also didn't like to hear it so blatantly insulted. "Why were you banished?"

"That is my principal fault. I decided to consider a unconventional path then my ancestors of the Kingdom of Sevaris did. They believed in enhancing the body, changing it through magic and the like. Yet look at where that bore them? They were supreme and dominated the land, but where are they now? Just dust."

"What is your path then?"

"I agree with the principle of changing ones body. I just took it a different direction. Rather then just change ones biology, why not alter it completely. I began to experiment on replacing pieces of body with magitech. Unfortunately the others who saw my experiments decried them as heresy, and I was banished."

"What do you mean by replacing?" Alexia asked confused.

Mardan smiled at her and said "Behold my most fantastic achievement yet!" He pulled off a glove and at first Alexia thought he was wearing a metal glove underneath, but she realized that was not the case as there were parts where she could straight through. "I managed to replace my left arm with an arm that I built from magical tech. I even managed to recreate feeling through it."

"You aim to replace every part of your body with these devices?" Alexia said relatively disturbed.

"Yes. Flesh will ultimately fall. This will last an eternity. The sole issue I have had is the functions of several organs, including the brain. But I have several ideas, and am close to a breakthrough. If I can return to the empire, I will have the resources to complete my transformation."

"How will you know it will be you if you manage to transfer your consciousness into a machine? Can a machine even hold onto your soul?"

"Consciousness does not require the soul. Look at goblins they don't possess souls, yet they are intelligent. What do I care about my soul, when I will live eternally?"

Jack had ridden up beside them and replied "You have an intriguing idea, but you underestimate the importance of your soul. I would suggest you find a way to house your soul in your new body."

Marden looked dismissively at Jack "I do not require a layman's perspective on my ideas. I will speak with you later Alexia, I am curious to learn where you learned to handle magic at your age." Marden sped up and had his horse reach up with Lady Niadas.

"Is what he suggested possible?"

"I believe it is. Whether it is a good Idea, that is another issue."

Alexia rode silently for a while contemplating, then asked "If he can develop a thing to accommodate a persons consciousness, can he equally create a brand new consciousness?"

"Perhaps. All things can be possible provided enough time and dedication."

"Would such a thing be able to possess a soul?"

"I am hesitant to speculate on such. I am no expert in souls, but I can inform you that I cannot create a soul, nor can the gods. How souls appear is beyond us."

They continued riding in silence for a while. Alexia's legs had finally gotten used to the harsh riding of the horse. Over the past two days, the riding skill she had gotten was now up to level six. The passing landscape was growing more and more rural the farther north they went. The mountains in the distance were drawing closer as well. The white-capped peaks looked ominous in the afternoon light.

There was just four more day's before they would reach the abandoned city. She looked over at Jack and asked "I forgot to ask, but do you know the region we are heading to?"

"Yeah, I asked Lord Attomas yesterday. It's called Nerasda."

Startled she looked at him and asked,"Did you say Nerasda?"

"Yeah, something the matter?"

"That's the region where my brother's last mission took him. Where he died."

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