The Many Faced Man

Waking up in the morning, my mind turned back towards the book. If I had the power of the book, would I have even needed to ask for help? Would he have been killed?

I don't think I would, I don't think he would have. If only, I were stronger. If only, I could kill more myself, so others would not need to.

I know I should be able to find a way to interact with that aura in the book. I make way to the book and again, I crack open [An Introduction To Necromancy]. Flipping it open to the first page.

The aura flows out, I can feel it permeating through the field of my my domain. I focus on the page this time, pushing my domain into the book itself. With much effort, my spiritual energy delves in, but it can seep only into the one page I'm trying to read.

However, that page alone, in itself felt like a small dimension. Inside of it was single 3-Dimensional Symbol. The aura seemed to have been coming from this symbol, rolling off of it they look like flames, black and green.

The symbol itself is abstruse, it's shape from the front looks like it could be a character of some ancient or alien language. Which was probably rather obvious, I suppose a book of magic in English would be strange.

Retracting my energy from the page, I look over the book again. Considering the name of the book, it should have all the information relevant to becoming an apprentice necromancer. Yet, altogether there are only 12 pages, and 12 characters in total.

So, with just these 12 characters, it can tell a person how to become a necromancer. The method to decrypt these characters, it should lie in the aura.

The most obvious method is often the right method, the first step in learning any language is to learn how to write the appropriate characters. In this case, if I recreate the character using the aura, it might help give some direction.

So, I go for it. I focus on the character in the book for a long while, trying to memorize it. Then I start to gather and compress the aura being released by the book into the shape of the character.

...It's pretty hard, earnestly so. I try and try again, but I just keep on messing it up. Each time I get some of it gathered together and close to the right shape I feel like the shape in my memory became vague.

It is akin to trying to mimic an intricate sculpture, albeit easier and faster in terms of shaping. Since I can do with my mind. However, it is also more difficult, as the shape must be both retained and sculpted simultaneously.

I check the book again to see the character and then go right back to compressing and sculpting, but I lose some aura and it takes time to compress it back again.

Repeating this over and over again gets frustrating. Furthermore it's just strange, trying to remember the character.

...

The character wasn't something that can be see with any of the senses you are born with, but something seen with the soul.

The human brain is made to record memories in accordance with the senses you were born with.

This 'sixth sense' was something given from the soul, but the only thing he had been able to 'see' with it before was spirits. His spiritual sense would also usually just overlap with his natural vision on instinct, which put little strain on the mind.

However, when he sent spirit energy into the page, when it seeped into the pocket dimension, that sense was heavily amplified. As though the book was helping him to see more clearly.

His spiritual sense and his control over it was nowhere near the level where he could use it to replace his vision. However, the book amplified it to a level above and beyond vision.

He could see every facet of the character of condensed energy within the page. However, he could not attempt to form his own character while he was within the page either, and the moment he left he would experience a feeling of disorientation.

Following which, the memories themselves would quickly begin to fade, as though even those thoughts were forbidden. Something that should never have existed in a Human Mind.

All he could do is make repeated attempts and failures. Hoping, eventually, the route memorization and 'muscle memory' would pay off.

After a few hours, he finally had some real progress.

...

I had a much clearer picture of the character. Finally, I managed to compress the aura into the character. When I finished the character I started to hear whispers in my ear.

Like millions of voices talking quietly in my ear. Like voices of a legion of ghosts whispering a secret in my ear. Yet this secret was being whispered to my soul.

The information from it shocked my brain, it overwhelmed all my senses trying to take in the information. I felt I was an undead, wandering an endless wasteland.

Then, I felt it countless more times, each time in a different body. I was one, yet I was legion.

The only thing the legion has in common is one thing: Death Qi. Death qi is what drives the undead, it is what makes us.. them, strong. The undead can stimulate their surroundings to produce death qi.

Thus, the more undead that acc.u.mulate, the more death qi is produced. Of course, a better way is simply to kill. The moment of death when life is severed, some of the living beings energy will be converted to death qi.

The undead need only to gather and over time they will slowly evolve. The greater the numbers they gather in, the greater the chance those within them will advance and evolve.

Those they kill can supply a great amount of instant qi, which both act like a growth supplement to them, and potentially adds another undead to the horde.

Just like many creatures, the undead will also have elites among them. There may be one undead that just happens to take in death qi much more easily than others. Over time that one undead would grow stronger and stronger, taking in all of the death qi from the horde and kills for itself.

In many of my visions the book gave me I saw such undead. In all of them I was only the lowest class undead. Yet in some of them I was a part of an endless horde. Within the horde were undead beings which could destroy mountains and eradicate cities in a single move.

I felt the thrill of the hunt for the living, the will and need to extinguish all life. The closeness with a higher undead who bonded our minds and moved us with a hive consciousness. My attachment to existence was released and my will for blood and death was everything.

More than anything else, what I felt was the endless hunger, Hunger, HUNGER!

I woke up. 'Hunger!' If anyone saw me at the moment I awoke they would have certainly saw the eyes of a monster.

Taking a few minutes, I calmed myself down again. I knew that for a moment I had forgotten who I was, truly feeling I was a part of the undead horde.

There was something else that was different as well. I could feel the death qi now, through my spiritual sense. It now felt familiar, like an old friend. I had felt like I'd experienced countless years as one of the undead, and I suppose this was its purpose.

Unlike before where I could only handle the dense qi from the book, and move or condense it with great effort. Now I could use my domain to sense even the minute death qi present now in the air, which came from the nearby undead.

Putting in some effort, I found I could even absorb it, in a similar manner to how I absorbed spirits in the past. However, the process of doing so was somewhat straining.

After absorbing the death qi, it disappears, but I can feel that it's still there. It feels like it's gone into a deeper part of my soul, resting in the same place where my spiritual energy dwells.

Though there is no immediate effect from absorbing it, death qi is obviously what a necromancer must use to grow stronger. Or else why would sensing it be the first thing the book teaches you?

It should be good to acc.u.mulate it until I figure out what I can do with it.

However, the process of condensing the symbol and training in general had been extremely draining. As soon as I attempted to get up, my vision went dark.

When I woke up again, I could see dim light coming in through the windows. I realized I had left those two alone since the day before, but I thought that they could still use some time to cool off.

Thinking that, my thoughts turned back to the 15th floor. With enough time, and some caution, I should be able to whittle away at the zombie population up there with some careful aggro draws.

I began to head towards the upper floors to execute that plan, but on my up the stairs to the 14th floor I heard a very large commotion from the floor above. A commotion that sounded eerily similar to a rampaging Horde of zombies.

Going up to the top of the stairs, I see Eva and Nathan running towards me, their faces pale and the zombie horde chasing behind them relentlessly.

Looking to my side, I saw a still-open room. On my belt was affixed my portable stash of dust. Thinking it over quickly, I looked back over at them and thought 'I can still save them!'

I drew out my metal club in wait, fixing my stance, ready to face off against the oncoming hoard.