Nate’s father sat at his desk. Unlike the barren bookshelves his desk had accumulated a number of things. Chiefly a number of photos taken from where Nate had traveled recently. Blain’s old travel camera sat in the corner. The silver and black exterior connected to a rough, used leather strap.
“I’ve been keeping track of where you’ve been. Can’t say that I could pay much more attention. Felt it was all I could do to keep track of you.”
His fingers ran over the pictures. The gas station, Lupita’s home, and the hospital. Much had occurred since Nate had gained his power and his father was making sure not to let those moments slip by. Nate took the seat opposite his father.
“We are almost certain you were killed by the Necro. Karah saw the hand come down and kill you.”
Blain picked up a photo of the hospital and gazed at it for a time. Pulling out a photo album he started the slot each photo into a slot. Using a magic marker he placed a small date and time on the sleeve covers. Softly he smiled at his son.
“You are correct, it seems that is how I died. Yet, it was determined to be of similar cause to Janara.”
“How did you know?”
“Son, the condition that she had is genetic. The symptoms can occur at any age, and lead to death. We had you brothers tested after but it seemingly missed you. Well, it had to come from one of us.”
“Does that mean you knew?” Nate asked with a small voice.
“I had felt it in the days leading up. Knowing how it had taken your sister, I didn’t want to spend my last days in a hospital. Even with everything they have now it wouldn’t have mattered.”
“Why didn’t you tell me, tell us?” Nate’s nostrils flared.
“I was going to but I wanted you prepared. Your head in the right place. Not to mention I was busy at the time. I didn't want to leave my work half finished.”
“Work. WORK. Do you not understand what you did to our family? How could you just die like that? Mom was so alone, Teddy. Teddy was so hurt that he can hardly think about you. And you say it was about work!”
Blain’s hands stopped. A photo held between finger and thumb. Looking up he met Nate’s furious eyes. This had always been the difference between them, he was like his mother in this aspect. She’d always given him the disciplinarian role to prevent yelling at them.
“You are right. I shouldn’t have let my work cloud over my family. It’s why I asked you to be responsible, because I couldn’t be.”
Nate didn’t have anything to say so he let the silence settle into the room. The words of his father did little to assuage his anger. Still he did not attack him or blow up more. Blain set back to ordering out the photographs. From amongst the stack he took one and placed it in front of Nate.
“I can at least do my job well.”
Picking up the photo Nate raised his eyebrows in surprise. It was a photo of before they had signed the contract. It showed Mandy smoking at the back of the Flick-N-Go. He glanced up at him with a quizzical look.
“She was your friend so I looked into her. Turns out her Mother was trying to get away from the family. That’s what my work was, I was trying to set up for the two of them to slip out of the state safely.”
“Mandy didn’t mention that. She would have told me.”
“She didn’t know. Her mother was unhappy. The Mayor isn’t a good man despite what the people in town will say. While I looked into them I found a slew of men she was having affairs with. Which yes, included your friend Kent.”
“Did you approach her with the idea?”
“No, I was intending to turn her over to the police. That was until she caught me spying. I guess, I was more rusty than I thought. She knew I had connections across the globe and once she told me about what he was doing. I couldn’t leave your friend in such a place.”
“I see. She got away in the end but didn’t take Mandy.”
“It’s not an excuse. For leaving all of you alone.”
“No, it's not. I’ll check on you later. Make sure you get strong enough. I will need you during the fight.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Nate walked to the doorway. Stopping just before opening the doors up. He glanced back still angry but now with a coldness about him. All of his previous good mood had faded away.
“You are the one who asked for me to be responsible. Even if I wanted to stop I couldn’t. But I do want to go on, I want to kill him. I will kill him, and anyone else who threatens my family.”
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He was out of the door before his father could say anything. Stepping into the hall Lupita grabbed him by the arm. She delicately pulled on his arm while looking at his angry face.
“Come, don’t ruin your day this way. I’ve put the kitchen together come and look. It will help.”
“Haaa, ok. You're probably right.”
***
Snow blanketed the ground, ice forming slick upon the road ways. At the hospital it was a picturesque scene. The large red cross at the front of the building mingling with the snow. Inside the warm air washed over the patients and workers alike. Amongst them Dr. White sat with a steaming cup of tea.
The long dark night stretched off into the distance. After what Wayne had told him of the Necro in town and the revelations from Snake Blind nothing good was on its way to his home. The first omen was the group that sat opposite at that very moment.
Teddy, Renee, Mandy, and Armand were all in various different states. Among them it was the children who seemed most composed to the doctor. He wasn’t sure if that was from them being too young to get what was going on, or the more likely answer. That they had been burdened since a young age with the nature of the world.
“So my brother is a Necromancer now?” Teddy asked.
“Yes. I asked the Grandmaster to take him in.” Doctor White said.
“No wonder Jeb told us to find him.” Mandy said.
She was in worse condition then the others. The state of her father was in question. Her feelings had solidified on their drive over. She wanted the man dead. If he wasn’t now, she would make sure it would happen. That prospect placed her on a knife’s edge trying to find a way to do him in.
“Can we go over this one more time? So you are telling me magic, mumbo, jumbo, is real. That you and this Nate kid, and any number of other people can do it. What’s next there are people who are secretly monsters? Like a vampire?”
Armand was playing much more of a catch up game then anyone else. He was having a hard time believing what they told him even though he’d lived a colorful life. For him death and life were closer then his own family. Yet, here these people were telling him it wasn’t a simple matter. The only thing keeping him here was the fact that the benefactor to the Mayor was surely a monster of some sort.
“Look, my men and Jeb will call any minute and give the all clear. I know they got him.”
“I am sorry Mr.Armand but your people are most assuredly dead. This Necro isn’t some low grade Necromancer.” Dr.White replied.
“We will see.”
Dr.White could only shake his head at the man. It would obviously be hard to accept. He was a man of war and from the emanations of his body had been near a Swallowed City. Depending on which one it was he could be impacted by any number of things. Illusion fields, spirit poisoning, or even the darkness. Any of them could drive a person mad, or look the other way from what lurks within the night.
“Doctor, I would like to know. Which Grandmaster is it that resides in this town?” Renee asked.
“My father called him..”
Doctor White cut off as he watched Wayne’s vehicle pull in. They were due to arrive so he hadn’t sent them a message about his guests. He stood and stepped out of the room. Stopping briefly to look in on Allison.
She was reading a new travel brochure that had come today. It was meant to be given to her later in the week but he’d relented. She had been slightly distraught when both Nate and Karah had been gone. Her fondness of the two was nice to see for the man. He knew she would need friends like them.
With a step his body warbled in the air before vanishing. He reappeared at the front desk. A Pseudo-Mancer was always strongest within his territory. This whole hospital had long since been claimed by the Doctor. He adjusted his clothing as he waited patiently.
His capacity as the owner was a little known fact and he liked it kept that way. His business dealings weren’t exactly legal. Hundreds of dead bodies made their way to and from his small town hospital. The demand for corpses was not a small one, this included a cohort that did not just include Necromancers.
Dr.White had done well for himself in procuring and establishing a nationwide network for his business. It even acted to fuel his own ambitions and experiments. Much was riding on the established link between himself and the Grandmaster. The research that had consumed him and his wife had come to a stand still.
His family's generational goal of making a completely artificial soul was close at hand. They had spent close to a hundred years within this land, passing down the hospital from parent to child. This would be their last chance to succeed. His own attempts at a family had also reached a dead end.
Bitterness filled his mouth. Necromancers though still uncommon often transcended normal lifespans. His own link to the Grandmaster was through his Great-Grandfather. They had met only once, still the Grandmaster had remembered. The generosity of his family and their kindness.
Pseudo-Mancer’s at least in general had no such capacity to live longer. Their magic, spirits, and possibilities were limited to one place. In a way his family had lived on through this hospital it was the embodiment of their existence. Which was entwined with their ultimate goal.
Progress had been slow until he had met Mei. The two of them made huge strides and were successful in creating Pseudo-People. Being a minor engineering feat away from a true homunculus.
Homunculi were born from a mixing of resources based in magic, and bound together using a spirit as a base. The numerous flaws within the process meant that it was a fool's errand. Of those that were successful in creating a living life form all would go mad, blow up, or disintegrate once leaving the magic circle. He knew of one such case where the Homunculi would never leave the circle knowing death awaited just beyond. It is said that it still waits there, trapped forever.
Pseudo-People used a human base always living, though children often worked the best. The taking of the soul and grafting it onto another person gave varied results. For a time the method was used to implant normal humans with magic. These Warlocks as they came to be called were quite the fad for a time. They had a resurgence during the war.
White senior had told him of the burn pits hundreds of soldiers forcefully changed to fight for a single battle before being disposed of. He’d told him that the miasma from their spirits became toxic sludge. Pouring out into the world corrupting it, changing it. If that was true the Doctor was unsure.
“Doctor White everything ok?”
Nate’s voice brought the man back from his pondering. He’d nearly imagined the smells of the burn pits and lost himself in the death that lay within. Instead he looked to the young man in front of him. It was truly luck that he’d found him and been able to fulfill his needs. Now it was just a question of when the Grandmaster would return.
“Your brother is here. It would be for the best that you listen to everything they have to say.”
“We should hurry, I fear something is off in the night air.” Wayne said.
Fog rolled in along with the snow. Death was baring its long dripping fangs, mad and hunting for prey. The hounds of war descended upon the hospital. Wayne had been in such places more than once and knew nothing good was coming. Soon the hospital would run red with blood.
[LitRPG] [Cultivation] [Crafting] [Smart MC]
Synopsis (Click to Expand)
To transcend the heavens, one must first forge the ladder.
He is a Cultivator who values volume over speed.
He is a Chronicler who will not stop at the sky.