“I read about you, lad. You are an overachiever.” The Baron said.
“In life, especially in marriage, you have to slack off from time to time, or your missus will set the bar higher and higher. Sometimes it’s better to let people down, or they will start taking miracles for granted.
“As for me, I’m plenty satisfied with you solving the crisis without even one of my men dying or my city getting breached. Honestly, I never believed a single Ranger could take on so many monsters alone and I was ready to spend winter in a constant battle of attrition with them.
“The army will only hear praise about you from me. I know there isn’t much to see here in Jambel, but feel free to come back here with your girlfriend once spring arrives. You’ll always be welcome here.”
At those words, Iriel became even paler than she already was and left the table with an excuse. Neither Lith nor the Baron missed how she was all dressed up and had been trying to work up enough courage to speak with Lith for a while.
‘Seems the Baron did a thorough job while researching me.’ Lith thought.
‘He’s a strong and smart man. He saved me the bother of turning down his daughter and if he keeps his word, my merits will not be affected too much by the lab’s destruction.’
“Thanks, Baron. Kamila is a real explorer. She loves visiting new places, but I usually drag her down. I travel so much that as soon as I get leave the only thing I want to do is sit down and relax.” Lith said.
His reply was the last nail in the coffin for Iriel’s naïve dream of finding a knight in shining armor. She audibly broke into tears and ran away.
‘Of all the nerve!’ Solus blurted out at his blatant lie.
‘What relax? You don’t even sleep at night unless I force you to do so. The only reasons you spend so much time with Kamila is for the ‘benefits’ and because you’re afraid that if you treat her like you did Phloria, she’ll leave you too.’
Solus’s words stung hard. If it was up to Lith, he would spend almost all of his free time inside the tower conducting experiments, setting everything else aside for later.
Only after Phloria broke up with him did he realize that although they had lived together, practiced together, and trained together during their time at the White Griffon, they had actually spent little time together.
He had been so focused on his work that he had neglected his girlfriend, his friends, and even his family. But whereas his relatives could accept him growing distant with time and wanting space, Phloria became tired of all his silences, absences, and being always a low priority in his life.
She had given up on the hope he would open up first, then on attempting to become a bigger part of his life, and finally on their relationship.
‘I wonder how she put up with me for so long.’ Lith thought.
‘You’re right Solus, but where would I be if I didn’t work so hard? I’ve made sacrifices to build a better future for myself. Everything comes at a price, even happiness.’
‘You spent your first life loveless until you died alone. I’m not saying what you did was wrong, just that finding someone special is a small miracle. You should treasure such a person, instead of hoping to find another one once she gets tired of your antics.’ Solus thought.
Lith mulled over her words all the way to Zantia, his next destination.
He took into account the Baron’s teaching, and after calculating that without Solus’s tower Warping ability it would take a normal Ranger a full day to cover such distance, he took the rest of the day to study his loot and restore Trouble’s body.
Lith had yet to attempt using higher necromancy, mostly because creating a sentient undead was almost like having a child. Even though greater undead were smart and matured fast, they would still start as clean slates, needing parenting and guidance.
Otherwise they would turn into mindless monsters and attempt to destroy their creator. Lith much preferred lesser undead. They were mindless, disposable, and maybe one day they could work as a temporary body for Solus.
He had long since learned how to use necromantic energies to regenerate corpses. Irtu, the Clackers’ Queen, and now Trouble were all fine additions to his collection. The Balor’s black eye turned out to be capable of absorbing darkness magic like a sponge.
‘Even in death, a Balor’s eyes are great magical amplifiers for the corresponding element. Why the heck doesn’t the army bestiary mention any of this?’ Lith thought.
“Maybe to prevent Rangers from poaching. I wouldn’t be surprised if your superiors asked you to give them the body. Even though they are monsters, Balors spawn slowly. They are as rare as they are powerful.” Solus pondered.
“Fuck! I wouldn’t have shown it during my report if I knew it wasn’t just a corpse.”
“Then they wouldn’t have taken you seriously. Without the threat of the lab becoming a Balor’s spawning ground they would have not sent reinforcements so when the lab exploded, you’d have been the fall guy instead of Vorgh.” Solus said.
“If you keep everything for yourself, sooner or later someone will get suspicious about your activities. We’ve gotten away with stealing the purple crystal already. If the army wants the corpse, give it to them. You can’t always win.”
Lith sighed recognizing the truth in Solus’s words. Without the army, he would have never heard about Jambel’s crisis. The adamant Forge and the enchanted items he had acquired there were priceless treasures.
“Let’s see what happens when I turn a Balor into an undead. I never met a corpse capable of storing so much darkness magic.” Lith said.
“What about resting? You haven’t had a proper night’s sleep in days.”
“I’ve still got a lot of time. I won’t go to Zantia until tomorrow and I don’t know if I’ll get to keep the corpse. If I don’t experiment now, I’ll never learn anything about Balors.”
Solus had many things to object with, but since they were inside the tower, there was nothing that could go wrong. Lith followed all of the steps of true necromancy Kalla had taught him.
He conjured a pseudo blood core made of darkness magic with a spark of light magic at its center. It served as an imprint, to create a bond between the undead and its maker which ensured its loyalty.
The moment the pseudo core touched the corpse, it moved on its own, finding the remnants of the Balor’s mana core and using them to spread its essence.
“That never happened before. Solus, control arrays.” Lith started weaving several spells, but it was too late. The corpse stood up, looking around the necromancy lab instead of waiting for orders like a common lesser undead.
To make matters worse, the red light of undeath which usually animated Lith’s minions, was replaced by a blazing violet light.
“Red is for auto pilot, blue when you possess them. What’s violet?” Solus asked.
“Beats me.” Lith replied as he tried to move the undead at will. He could feel his mind resonate with the spark of light in the pseudo blood core. The orders arrived, yet there was a resistance, like a second will battling for control.
