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2024-10-29 19:42:56During weeks of diligent study, Viktor also regularly received letters from his sister Karen about him. They always arrived when a carriage made a postal delivery from Vegenholt, the closest town to Chipped on the main routes through the Empire. Letters that had previously been brought there by some willing farmer who transported his goods to the town to sell.
And amid all this hustle and bustle of Viktor's new life, whenever he received a letter from his devoted and loyal sister, it evoked the life he had left behind. Karen's letters kept him up to date on everything that was happening at Chipped and let him know that his sister was toiling there without him, taking care of his father and taking care of her needs. They were a comforting reminder of home. There was never a letter from his father.
At first, Viktor dutifully responded to each of Karen's missives, as he had resolved to do, and sent the letters through the city mail company. But
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Shadow World Chapter 7 - Felix Crissinger, Part 3
The heavy oak door of the library slammed open, breaking the quiet, musty silence of the place. The room was usually almost sacredly quiet, as if it were a shrine, but this had now been broken by the arrival of the Inquisitor.He had the attitude of a man used to having to get what he wanted by force and being satisfied with it. And, of course, no weak apprentice magician was going to stand in his way.The man was over six feet tall, wore leather riding boots, and although he appeared to have reached middle age, this made him look even stronger rather than detract from his vigor. Viktor saw thick, rope-like muscles taut on the man's neck as he laid eyes on him.Felix's profile was of noble lineage, with a prominent and distinguished jaw, short gray hair, and a neatly trimmed beard. His eyes were piercing sharp points of sapphire blue, and his teeth were bare as his lips parted in a fierce canine grin. He had the unmistak
Shadow World Chapter 8 - Felix Crissinger, Part 4
"This is going to end right now!" the school principal roared as he rested his hands on the surface of his desk.Felix straightened and turned away from Viktor, his sapphire gaze as cold as a winter night."Why are you defending this bastard?" the Inquisitor asked in a voice as hard and cutting as an Adamantite sword. "Is it perhaps an indication of your own guilt?""This interrogation is a sham!" Theodria bellowed. "I would lend the same support to any member of the School in the face of such blatant lies and fraudulent accusations as these.""Unless he was shown to be a servant of the dark powers, of course.""Which young Viktor Drichey is not!""That has yet to be proven.""How can this boy be the 'Tomb Raider'? He arrived in Genbofen in the early spring, and the disappearances started much earlier, in the last month of winter as far a
Shadow World Chapter 9 - Fragmented, Part 1
What is madness? Do you think that I am crazy, I, someone who condemns his own soul through the practice of black magic? And for what purpose? For a few more decades of desperately decadent life? To become an outlaw from the world of the living when it is precisely the unbearable desire to live that has led me to study the forbidden rites of necromancy?I will tell you for what purpose I have done that. I have done everything for nothing, because it is the only thing I have now that I bare my soul before you: nothing. Nothing to show for two centuries of life; the lands that I once claimed as my own, the people who showed fidelity to me, all already forgotten.And the only thing I can hope for now is an ignominious end and an eternity in that twilight world of the realm of the dead, caught between the worlds of eternal rest and glorious life, unable to exist in either of them, both torturingly out of reach. . An eternity of torment. An etern
Shadow World Chapter 10 - Fragmented, Part 2
Within the harsh world Humans inhabited, the mentally ill were often forgotten and, for the most part, constituted a misunderstood, intolerant, and feared underclass. In fact, there were very few places that cared for them.At best, they were an embarrassment to their families, to be isolated from the world, both to spare their relatives embarrassment and to protect them. In the worst case, the madmen were accused of being possessed by demons and burned for witchcraft, in very rare cases madmen were taken for messengers divinely inspired by the gods. This was not the case with the unfortunate Sed.He was curled up on a bed in a small cell with a sturdy door reinforced with iron bands.Viktor was immediately taken aback.While the other patients they had cared for were old or at least prematurely aged from the lives they had led, there was no doubt that Sed was still a young man despite his sunken che
Shadow World Chapter 11 - Fragmented, Part 3
Viktor knocked three times on the door of the Headmaster's study. For a moment he didn't hear anything. Was he doing the right thing by going there, directly challenging the teacher, especially after what happened? Maybe the professor wasn't even in the study.After a few moments a "Come in."Taking a deep breath, Viktor opened the door and stepped into the room, the memory of the last time he had been there still fresh as an open wound in his mind.Professor Theodria looked up."He thought we had reached… uh… an agreement, after the… uh… incident.""Yes, professor, and I ... sorry to bother you." Viktor looked at his feet nervously. "B ... But there is something I want to ask you.""What do you want?"Viktor gripped his hands tightly behind his back to stop them shaking.“Today I hav
Shadow World Chapter 12 - Fear, Part 1
I've always wondered why the living fear the dead so much. Why are people afraid of soulless corpses? What reason could there be for that? Unless a necromancer's spells have given the dead a semblance of life, what can they do? What danger could they pose? How could they threaten a living, breathing, flesh and blood person?And also, why are people so afraid of body snatchers? If you believe that your eternal souls move to a better place after death.What does it matter what happens to the rotten container that used to be his body?Why should they care?The dead should not be feared, because there are many things the living can learn from them. It could be argued that were it not for the Necromancers, medical science's understanding of the human body and its diseases could not have advanced as far as it has. But the same can be said of the arts of necromancy.However, is it true
Shadow World Chapter 13 - Fear, Part 2
Viktor turned his head to the left when everyone inside the carriage heard the door open. The dandy, who was closer to that side, put a hand on the sword he had sheathed next to him. The door opened and the ugly unshaven face of a soldier appeared. "Well, well, what do we have here?" the soldier sputtered. "Let's see, what happens?" the lawyer demanded to know. Viktor could not answer that question but there was certainly something a little strange about that soldier, something that everyone could perceive. "An ambush," said the voice of the coachman from the roof of the carriage, confirming everyone's suspicions. Then several things happened very quickly, separated by just seconds. Without saying a single word, the swordsman suddenly rose from his seat. He gripped the door with both hands and yanked it shut. Startled, the soldier released her and stumbled forward, the weight of the war hammer in his other hand helping to throw him off balance. An instant later, the swordsman j
Shadow World Chapter 14 - Fear, Part 3
Viktor had entered the cemetery near the east wing. The mortuary chapel stood a good fifty yards away, amid the grim yew trees and grandiose mausoleums of noble families. Like many cemeteries in the Empire, it had been there a long time. It was probable that in that place there had been a burial ground since long before the founding of the city, when the first settlements had arisen at this point of the river, since there were areas of the cemetery that had fallen into oblivion and neglect.But between him and the funeral chapel, Viktor discovered two men who were in the cemetery, although the tombstones did not allow him to see clearly what they were doing.So focused were they on work that they didn't seem to have heard the confrontation that had occurred on the road, and they certainly didn't notice Viktor's presence inside the cemetery.One was tall and robustly built, with broad shoulders and heavily muscled arms. His partner was short and stocky, but something about the efficien
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- Shadow World
Chapter 39 - Among the Dead, part 6
Father Wilkud leaned back in his chair while he rubbed his temples with callused hands, as if that might somehow help clear the fog of uncertainty and malevolent skepticism from his mind.Only then did he realize that he had become so caught up in the story of Brother Mateo that he had leaned forward to listen more closely.Wilkud felt a sudden chill run through him, spasming his frozen muscles and causing his entire body to cower in fear. His feet were numb with cold and the skin on his face felt as if it were taut and clinging to his bones. He had been so engrossed in confession for so long that he hadn't even realized that the fire in the fireplace had gone out.What time was it? Wilkud wondered absently. How long had the tale of the dying priest lasted? The brother must have been talking for many hours. In addition to being chilled to the bone, Wilkud had a raging hunger. Or was it the all-consuming doubt that he now
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Chapter 38 - Among the Dead, part 5
Viktor didn't need notebooks or hours of preparation to cast spells in the mausoleum. Theodria drew the power of death from this place, and Viktor could do the same. But there was no question as to what the strongest will was there.Viktor could still feel the evil presence of the Tomb Raider that lingered on the periphery of being aware of him. There was no time to lose. Viktor had to act fast while Theodria was still stunned from the impact of his initial assault.Viktor, the dark magician, cast a spell using as fuel the negative energy that he had absorbed along with his own inner mana, combining both energies to use black magic, to use Necromancy."[Reanimate the dead]"Hot, sticky blood gushed out of Viktor's nose as the dark power gathering behind his eyes shot out with a second spell. The bitter taste of black bile filled her mouth and she doubled over at the waist in excruciating searing pain
- Shadow World
Chapter 37 - Among the Dead, part 4
Viktor could imagine the rest for himself: Erich taking him back to the house, observing his progress after the change that Theodria had imposed on him, encouraging him to develop his necromantic abilities and strengthen his mind; VIktor's friend betraying him unbeknownst to the impressionable peasant boy, acting as Theodria's spy, determining when Viktor had honed his talent enough to become a suitable vessel to which Theodria could transfer her malevolent soul.It wasn't Viktor who had driven Erich crazy. It had been his union with the Tomb Raider that had caused him to gradually lose touch with reality. This bitter revelation brought Viktor back to the present moment with tremendous shock.He knew that he was going to die. For a brief moment he wondered if he should allow Theodria or whatever her name is to finish him off instead of letting the black magic she had turned her back on use him once more for his foul purposes.
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Chapter 36 - Among the Dead, part 3
"Professor Theodria. Impossible"Hearing Viktor's words, Professor Theodria put on a creepy smile full of evil"for the moments…. That would be my current name, although it is only one of the many names I have used ”Professor Theodria removed the ring and immediately returned to its repulsive and decomposing appearance.If Professor Theoadria was the Tomb Raider, who was Dr. Shandri Drake Tepes?At that moment, Viktor realized that it was not Theoadria who was holding the lantern as if he wanted to inspect the body of his prisoner. The necromancer's servant stood beside him, silent, his ghastly face white as marble polished in the flickering glow of light in one hand."W ... what do you want from me?" Viktor stammered, overwhelmed by the horror of the situation he now found himself in. He had to know why they had brought him there. He had to know why he was going to
- Shadow World
Chapter 35 - Among the Dead, part 2
Erich led Viktor off the street and led him for a hundred yards, then into the maze of back streets around the carpenters and woodworkers guild. As they moved quickly, they were talking."Erich, where are we going?""I can't ... I can tell you.""Why not? Are we going to the docks? "Erich took a moment to reply.“Y… yes. T… that's it. ""But I thought you couldn't tell me."Logic seemed to have abandoned Erich along with good sense.“I… I can't! Because you ho… you would be horrified. "Viktor's blood ran cold. What could it be that Erich was so desperate to show him and yet he was unable to mention?Suddenly, all of Viktor's suppressed doubts and worries returned in a moment of panic that made his heart race. Erich was walking away, se
- Shadow World
Chapter 34 - Among the Dead, Part 1
I have done all kinds of evil in my unnaturally long life as a necromancer, but the irony is that it was the wrong actions of others that made me a necromancer.When Inquisitor Felix Crissinger accused me, in our first meeting, of being that hideous specter, the Tomb Raider, I was, thus far, innocent of any crime. If that accursed Inquisitor had subjected me to the ordeal of the rack and inevitably found me unjustly guilty, he would have been burned on the pyre of heretics and killed innocent in place of that wretched Sederit Hischer.But the real outrageous irony is that if the irrational inquisitor had ended my life, he would not have been able to turn me into the very thing that the temples and the inquisition made so many puritanical efforts to eradicate. He would not have turned me into the very thing that Felix had accused me of.So I ask you, who prompted me to commit so many unspeakable acts of depraved evil?Who made me mean?And what is i
- Shadow World
Chapter 33 - Broken, part 3
Under a sky the color of wet slate, Viktor paused under the shade of a tree and looked across the fallow fields, toward his hometown. After a frustrating five days of travel due to low carriage traffic, he had returned home once more.Wayward thunderstorms chased swift tides of clouds across the sky, like wolves hunting sheep.Chipped still looked the same as ever. The forests that gave the austere town its name were dotted with gold and reddish bronze, and the blackened branches stood out against the sky.Frayed-winged birds circled over the cliff to which they had given their name, their squawks barely audible in the breeze.As he moved out of the way again to cross the bare fields, Viktor heard a painful sound that chilled the blood in his veins.The lonely tolling of the chapel bell reached him across the desolate landscape. It could only mean one thing, because the bell rang when: someone had died and passed from the mortal world to the twilig
- Shadow World
Chapter 32 - Broken, part 2
Some even put forward the ridiculous and stupid idea that it had been spread by rat fleas. Those people should be locked up in a madhouse.Certain preachers of catastrophes declared that it was a condemnation that had fallen on the city.The general consensus was that smallpox was dying out as the end of the year approached, as the disease that had spread in the fetid heat of summer was unable to survive the cold of the coming winter.Of course, others, of a more religious slant, said that the wrongdoers had been punished and that the gods showed their mercy. There was even talk that some of the city's inhabitants would return before the end of the year.By the time he finished his drink, Viktor decided that he had heard enough already and returned to his house not daring to stay there any longer.Viktor returned home to him, but he was changed beyond recognition.Under the lacerated sky that bled wisps of smoke stained red by the setting su
- Shadow World
Chapter 31 - Broken, part 1
What is death? What does it mean to die? Where does that immortal part of us go when we die? Or is this fragile world the only thing there is?As the son of a priest of the god of death, I need not tell you that Mortis is the most austere, demanding, and ruthless deity. He offers very little in terms of blessings and favors to the common man who does his thing, and yet we all beg for his mercy.All the souls of the dead belong to him and he greedily treasures them ... he is a cruel and ruthless god who knows no mercy.Do you think that what I say is heresy?Maybe yes, but I also know it's the truth.I have looked out into the other world, into the icy abyss of what some stupid people call the afterlife.I will tell you what death is.Death is the ultimate thief. It is stronger than love and more durable than time.You may wonder if it is possible that someone like me can talk about love. However, believe it or not, I have loved
