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2024-10-29 19:42:56“I hope the bridge wasn’t too important.” Kyle added apologetically. “I didn’t really have any other choice.”
The elven leader shook his head. “It was of no consequence.” He said with a sigh. “Despite being human, you have proven your…” he hesitated, as if he were searching for a proper word.
“My use?” Kyle suggested with a grin and was rewarded with a surprised expression. “Look, that same knight had been harassing me for a while too, so it was actually fun to have a little bit of revenge, you know?” he shrugged. “And I got to help you guys too.” He gestured towards the sickly tree. “I would love to help out with that too, but I’m no mage, nor do I know anyone who could be of help.”
The elf’s lips curled up with a smile. “It’s quite alright. You have delivered on your promise, and we will not do any less than that. You may have as many fruits as you wish, but do not attempt to take any from this tree. They will only bring harm, as they have been corrupted by the venom of the locust god.”
Kyle raised his eyebrows. “The Locust god?” He muttered. “Why?”
The elf shook his head. “A simple refusal by our high priestess, and now our lands suffer. The tree survived on the waters of the wellspring high up on the mountains,” He gestured towards the snowy mountains in the distance. “But humans have cut the waters off. It is very easy to fall into the trap of believing they serve the Locust god.”
Kyle scowled. That didn’t sound right, why would the players cut off the water? And how? As far as he knew, such changes couldn’t be done in the game world. He felt annoyed, why hadn’t the developers but a changelog into the game itself as well? He had no way of knowing how the world he was trapped in would change.
“I see.” Kyle muttered. A thought occurred. “Can I have one of the fruits?” he asked. “I told you, I have a scholar friend who needs these fruits. Perhaps he could come up with a cure, or at least a way to lessen the effects of the venom.”
‘Special Quest Located!’
The system’s message startled him. He glanced at it with the corner of his eye.
‘Find a way to heal the Crystal Orchard to gain the elves’ allegiance’
‘Note: Only one player may complete this quest.’
Kyle’s eyes widened. Gain their allegiance? Was that possible? Could he actually have elves helping him? He could hardly believe it, but then again, he did have a lich under his command already. Well, sort of, he thought. Cacophus didn’t quite seem like someone to remain under others’ command for long.
“I doubt it,” The elven leader said with a sigh, but he reached out and plucked a fruit from the tree, nevertheless. A few drops of white goo oozed from the plucked crystal fruit, and from the branch as well. Kyle’s expression soured as a foul smell reached his nostrils. He grimaced, along with the other elves.
“take care not to break it. It’s full of this…” The elven leader hesitated. “This bile.” Even speaking of it seemed to pain him somewhat.
Kyle carefully took the fruit and placed it in his inventory. “I will take good care of it, and I will have my friend working on a cure.”
The elven leader seemed hesitant a little. “Why would you go that far?” He asked with some distrust in his voice. Kyle shrugged. “Why not? A tree is dying, and you people are suffering. If I can help, I want to.” He grinned. “Besides, I’d like to be able to consider your people friends, not enemies.”
The elven leader’s lips curled up with a smile. “Seems like I misjudged you severely.” He said with a soft chuckle. “Alright, human. Go and get your fruits and come back when you find a cure. We will be delighted to have you.”
Three hundred crystal fruits couldn’t fit in his inventory, of course, so Kyle had to employ the help of the three skeletons the Lich Cacophus hand sent with him. He wouldn’t mind it too much had the skeletons’ bones not been creaking so damn much. They almost sounded like rusty door hinges.
Once they were all loaded up with all three hundred fruits, they headed back. The sun had begun to set by the time Cacophus’ cave entered Kyle’s view.
He spied half a dozen skeletons collecting pieces of wood and dry leaves outside. He scowled, what was that lich planning? Was it a trap? Did he want to trap and kill Kyle before he got a chance to smash the phylactery?
He bit his lips as they walked into the cave.
The previously dark cave was now lit with torches hooked onto the cave walls or stuck in between the cracks in the ground. Kyle took care not to burn himself as he followed the three skeletons carrying the fruits.
Their wobbly steps made him anxious. If even one of them fell, those precious fruits would shatter and break.
He only breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the doors leading to Cacophus’ room, and the three skeletons placed the baskets on the floor and wobbled away harmlessly.
“THANK YOU!” The Lich exclaimed, nearly shouting Kyle’s ears off again.
“Lower your voice dammit!” Kyle scolded the Lich.
“OH, SORRY.” The Lich’s voice lowered just enough, and Kyle sighed a breath of relief. He really wished the lich wouldn’t constantly forget this though.
“I WILL GET TO WORK NOW.” The Lich stated as he floated down from his throne of human bones, and approached the three baskets of crystal fruits.
“Actually,” Kyle interrupted him. “I’ve got a favour to ask.” He took out the larger crystal fruit from his inventory. The faint, sickly glow of the fruit shone as he raised it before the Cacophus’ eyes. “The large tree at the centre of the orchard is sick. The Locust God’s venom, or so the elves said. Can you find a way to cure it?”
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The Lich's Master Chapter 8: A Sickly Glow
The sound of metal hitting the rock walls of the caves echoed. The rhythmic sound was quite annoying, and clearly audible even after closing the door leading outside Cacophus’ room. Kyle’s gaze followed the Lich, who seemed to be disinterested in the noise. How he was not bothered was beyond Kyle, but then again, the man was dead. He had been dead for who knows how long, and he was a Lich. If anything, he must have developed quite the patience during the centuries he spent being dead. Kyle sighed. As much as Cacophus was dead, he was not. And this noise was seriously getting on his nerves. He wanted to ask what the hell the Lich was making his skeletal workforce do, other than meaninglessly expanding the caverns, but Cacophus had (very loudly) asked not to be disturbed as he inspected the crystal fruits. Kyle already regretted his choice to wait until he was done. He was seriously going through every single fruit, checking them one by one. Every time his bone fingers
The Lich's Master Chapter 9: How Not to Clear a Camp
The camp wasn’t too large, but it was crowded enough to make Kyle somewhat nervous. There were three goblins sitting around a campfire. All three of them had makeshift spears near them, and one of them had a shiny, possibly human made sword on its back. There were two tents, one of them was a bit torn, and Kyle could see through the tears that another goblin slept inside. He couldn’t spy any weapons though, so it would probably be fairly easy to kill. Atop a large rock on the other side of the campfire, an archer sat. The goblin was probably supposed to be a lookout but looking out was not what it was doing. It was cleaning its brown, dirty fingernails. “Right,” He repeated to try and calm his racing heart. This was going to be the first camp he ever cleared, and he wanted to do it properly. The levels of the creatures were all 19, with only the archer and the sleeping gobbling being 17. They were within the proper experience gain range. The only thin
The Lich's Master Chapter 10: If Stealth Doesn't Work...
First of all, Kyle thought to himself as he looked at the view before him, why on earth was there a high level metal tower shield in a random monster camp like this? Secondly, how come could a small goblin carry such a heavy piece of equipment? While he had no way of answering the first question, the second one was quite easy to figure out. The answer was that it was a goblin chieftain, not an ordinary goblin. “Oh.” Kyle muttered as he looked at the goblin chieftain from head to toe. First of all, the damn thing was about two meters tall. Secondly, it was wearing nothing but some rags, which made the cast metal tower shield look even more comical. But looking at the ground, at the miniature chasm the tower shield had left in the earth, Kyle wasn’t laughing. In fact, it was quite the opposite. “What the hell are you doing here?” he exclaimed. This goblin chieftain was an elite enemy. And elite enemies weren’t supposed to spawn often. In fact, t
The Lich's Master Chapter 11: ...Let's Try a Tree!
The goblin chieftain’s scream nearly deafened Kyle as he ran through the woods. He could feel the ground tremble beneath his feet as the creature chased him among the trees. Kyle’s gaze leapt around, he scoured his surroundings as he hopped over the thick, tangled roots of the trees. Thankfully, most trees here were pine trees. They had thick, sturdy trunks, and planet of strong branches. Once he found a tree suitable to his needs, he slowed his steps. “Hey, slowpoke!” He shouted again to make sure the goblin chieftain’s attention was still on him and waited for it to approach. There was no space for the chieftain to charge at him at a straight line, the trees would block him every few steps, so the creature just walked towards him menacingly, holding the metal tower shield. Kyle shot a quick glance at the tree behind him over his shoulder. This had to work!...right? As soon as the creature was close enough, he stuck his tongue out, and mocked it some
The Lich's Master Chapter 12: Desicion Paralysis
‘Kyle – Lv. 20 Unclassed INT 10 | WIS 10 | DEX 10 | STR 10 | CON 10 Available Points: 20 Achievements: Lich Killer Player Kills: 6 Glory: 30 Key Items: -Cacophus' Phylactery Special Quests: -Cacophus' Plea -The Dying Orchard Inventory: - 2 Gold pieces - Cast Metal Shield (Unidentified) [+10 DEF]’ The more he stared at his stats panel, the more indecisive he felt. What if he didn’t like whatever stat he chose? He would need to wait for at least thirty more levels before he could pick a second class. “NECRO
The Lich's Master Chapter 13: Distant Smoke
Kyle prepared himself for a long, drawn out, and ultimately meaningless discussion. These were elves after all, they weren’t known to be the fastest at making impactful decisions. But no, just like everything else in this game, the elves proved him wrong. The process of ‘convening’, consisted of a handful of elves listening to their leader’s quick explanation, nodding, and urging him to go ahead. It was so fast that Kyle hadn’t even gotten the chance to sit down somewhere. The elven leader then applied the contents of the vial onto the tree roots, then stepped back and watched as the sickly white lines on the tree seemed to become tainted by something black. “We shall see whether this works or not.” The elven leader muttered. The other elves nodded, and once again disappeared in the greenery as quickly as they first came. “I hope it does,” Kyle said with a light-hearted chuckle. “Um, is there anything else I can help you with?” He fished for a quest.
The Lich's Master Chapter 14: Hunted
The smell of smoke and ash filled his nostrils. Kyle dashed past the last few trees in his path, and immediately looked downhill, to where the pillar of smoke was rising from. His heart sank as the view stretched before him. His wooden house was no more. The last few remaining logs were still burning hot, and ash had covered the ground around the ruined house. A group of people were standing there, watching the last few dying flames as they consumed what was left of the house. “No…” Kyle whispered, his mind in chaos. Why? Why would anyone come and burn his house down? He’d never hurt anyone, not willingly. He’d left the players well alone ever since he’d gotten stuck in this game, and with the exception of that dumb Knight, they hadn’t even been aware of his presence. So then why? Why would they do this? Why would they destroy his home? He collapsed on his knees as he pressed his hand against his mouth. He couldn’t scream, he couldn’t yell at
The Lich's Master Chapter 15: Gotcha!
He couldn’t sleep. No matter how much he tried, he simply couldn’t convince his body to relax, and his mind to let go of his worries for a short while. It just didn’t seem to work. He lay on the soft fur bed, staring at the rocky ceiling, wide awake. The lingering smell of smoke was still fresh in his mind, so were the words of the players who were on the hunt for him. All because of that stupid knight. He felt as if his life had suddenly been turned upside down. Why had this caused more alarm for him than being stuck in this game had? He let out a deep sigh. He didn’t think he would be able to sleep today. At least, he thought to himself, they hadn’t found Cacophus’ cave. At least he was safe for now, and so was the Lich. He wondered what would happen were the Lich to be killed. Since the phylactery was in Kyle’s inventory, he wouldn’t die permanently, right? Truth is, there was no way to know that. Aside from giving i
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- The Lich's Master
Chapter 277: The Locust Demon Arrives
The serene white light changed as soon as they stepped into the garden. It grew brighter, lighting up even the darkest corners of the garden. “Finally.” Azazel whispered. He calmly stepped towards the bright white light. “It’s been so long.” He and the rest of the group arrived before the tree. The Fallen Angel reached for the tree, only for his fingers to touch a barrier surrounding it. The yellow-brown barrier rippled as soon as the Fallen Angel’s fingertips touched it. Azazel flinched, and pulled his hand back as a look of disgust appeared on his face. With furrowed brows and blazing eyes, he turned around, and shouted at the top of his lungs. “Show yourself, Demon!” Droigheann flinched. “He’s here?!” The Demon of the Nightbloom asked wide eyed as he unsheathed his blade, and put his helmet on without hesitation. Luke stepped forward, making sure to stand in front of Caille and Kyle. Igna tightened her grip on the hilt of her blade, while Cacophus’s bony fingers rummaged through
- The Lich's Master
Chapter 276: The Ancient City of Necron (4)
The fully armoured knight dropped his sword and tried to grab the slimy goo with both of his hands. The goo only latched onto his helmet further as he struggled. The man started to stumble a few moments later.Kyle couldn’t help but laugh a little, though his near brush against death kept him from enjoying Jeffrey’s suffering. The knight soon managed to grab onto the goo properly, and threw it away, only to be met with Kyle’s light magic.“Bolt of Light!” The young man shouted, then as the Knight raised his hand to cover his eyes from the bright golden light, he dashed towards him, blade in hand. He hadn’t used a sword properly in ages, not since he’d gotten his Summoner class, and started summoning powerful people such as Aoris, or Irena. But Aoris and Irena were busy protecting the cathedral, and Droigheann had his hands full with the remaining group of enemies.And he had a particular hatred against Jeffrey and his constant stupidity. He grabbed the hilt of his blade with both his
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Chapter 275: The Ancient City of Necron (3)
“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Kyle rolled his eyes as the enemy charged at him and his allies. Jeffrey’s ridiculous accusations and ignorant behaviour was the last thing he needed at the moment.Droigheann unsheathed his blade and struck the ground with it. Black veins spread across the grey marble plaza, originating from his blade. They leapt off the ground, reaching for Jeffrey and his allies.“Fire storm!” A voice boomed. Kyle flinched as a whirling storm of flames burnt away the roots and veins. Droigheann gritted his teeth and removed his swords from the ground. “Damn mages,” The Demon grunted as he stepped forward. His helmet materialised in his hand, and he promptly put it on.“SHALL I DISPATCH OF THEM, KYLE?” Cacophus’ sudden question surprised him. “Yeah, please help Droigheann.” Kyle hissed as he pointed at the group. “We shouldn’t waste much time on them.”As he spoke, several shards of crystallised light formed at his fingertips. He fired them at the man leading the charge.“AS YO
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Chapter 274: The Ancient City of Necron (2)
Kyle took the first step down the grey marble staircase. As his feet touched the ancient slabs, he involuntarily flinched.Azazel and Droigheann followed just a step behind, along with Cacophus, who chose to float next to them.“AMAZING, IT HAS BEEN PRESERVED PERFECTLY!” The Lich exclaimed, pausing just a few steps in, and carefully inspecting the waist high walls preventing them from falling off the side. “LOOK AT THIS CRAFTMANSHIP!”Kyle shot a glance at the waist hight wall. It was covered in intricate carvings from top to bottom. Just a few meters of this wall must have taken weeks to create, if not more. “Yeah, it’s amazing.”“Just like the legends.” Droigheann carefully ran his finger along the carvings. “A city of ancient wonders, housing powers beyond imagination, made from the most beautiful materials by the best craftsmen ever to grace the face of this world.”“Seems about right.” Azazel pointed at the buildings. “Any one of these would have taken months to perfect, if not y
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Chapter 273: The Ancient City of Necron (1)
The Necronomicon’s pages turned on their own. Kyle waited patiently for the book to settle on a page. Once it did, he read through the spell. It was a modified dispel spell.“Stand back, just in case.” He said to the others. Everyone took a few steps back, even Cacophus who had just arrived. The Lich didn’t speak, but the green glows in his eye sockets glimmered and lit up brightly with excitement.Kyle’s lips curled up with a faint smile for a moment before he turned his gaze back to the Necronomicon. “Open thine gates, lift thine veil.” He recited the spell’s words clearly. “Allow me passage to what is rightfully mine, as I hold the Book of Ancient Secrets!”A moment passed before the spell fully took effect. The barrier around the Ancient City of Necron began to lower as Kyle felt his vitality drain with alarming speed. He looked down at the back of his hand with a panic as the few locks of dark hair dangling before his eyes slowly began to turn white.The mark of the Evertree glow
- The Lich's Master
Chapter 272: The Records Restored
The elderly woman took the two pieces of the hourglass in her hand. A faint, almost mellow smile appeared on her lips as she closed her fingers around the pieces of the hourglass. “I am in your debt, Azazel, young man.” She whispered as she clenched her fingers further. The muffled sound of something cracking sounded. Then, a fine dust flowed from between her fingers. The cool breeze caught the dust, carrying it away from the patio. The elderly woman smiled. “No, come back.” Her voice was calm, almost as if she was speaking to an old friend. “I’m right here.” The wind whirled, suddenly changed its direction, and blew the dust right back at her. She closed her eyes and smiled. Kyle braced himself for… something. “It’s alright now.” Her motherly voice reached his ears. “It feels good to be whole again.” She turned her gaze towards the sky. “It is a beautiful day, isn’t it?” Kyle disagreed. Dark clouds covered the sky. “It is good to have you back, Record Keeper.” Azazel bowed his
- The Lich's Master
Chapter 271: The Hourglass
It was a misty morning and getting out of bed felt like a huge chore. He still dragged himself out of bed, albeit slowly, and staggered towards the hot spring. He paused in front of the mirror for a second. The bite marks on his neck were awfully visible. Vis had definitely taken some of her frustrations out of him last night.He let out a sigh and went to take a bath. She was rightfully upset, and he didn’t care about how he looked too much. He bathed, then got dressed and opened the door of his room, only to see Droigheann standing there, leaning against the wall.“I didn’t realise you’d come out.” Kyle said as he fixed his cloak and hair before the mirror.“You were asleep.” Droigheann explained with a faint smile. “You found the second half of the hourglass.” He stated with a hint of curiosity in his voice. Kyle nodded. “We did. We almost died for it too.” He shuddered. “I’m never going back to the Celestial Plane.”Droigheann laughed out loud. “That is indeed a good idea.” The De
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Chapter 270: The Waking World
His eyes shot wide open, and he stared at the grey ceiling above him. A couple of moths were walking in rough circles. One of them tried to fly, only to continuously hit the ceiling afterwards.He blinked a few times as he tried to figure out where he was.“You’re awake!” A panicked voice reached his ears. “Rhealis, they’re back!” It took him a moment to recognise Vis’ voice. A cold hand pressed against his forehead as he slowly began to notice the numbness around his right arm. There was a mild pain too.Footsteps approached as Kyle tilted his head to look at Vis. “Did something happen while we were gone?” He asked with a crusty voice. He licked his dry lips. He could use some water right now.“Your arm got charred!” Vis hissed wide eyed. Was she angry? “And the Fallen Angel’s wings started bleeding!”“Indeed,” Rhealis approached them with a glass of water in her hand. She helped Kyle sit upright, then gave him the glass. He drank it without hesitation. The water passing through his
- The Lich's Master
Chapter 269: The Wasteyard of Heaven
Azazel led him through the distorted landscape in a hurry. “They can’t see as well here.” The Fallen Angel explained as soon as they walked through a cathedral door and fell upwards. Kyle hit the ceiling with a muffled thud. A thick, soft carpet had broken his fall.He moaned with pain still. Constantly falling somewhere was slowly taking its toll on him. His back couldn’t take many more falls. “Why?” He asked as he sat upright and rubbed his sides.Azazel flew up and closed the cathedral’s door. “Because of the distortions. They don’t see things as you do. They see what something is, can be, and was.” The Fallen Angel hesitated upon seeing Kyle’s confused expression. “You don’t understand, do you?”Kyle shook his head. “Nope.”Azazel’s shoulders dropped with disappointment. “When you see something,” The Angel said, speaking slower th
