and for saving me now. Thank you most sincerely. I can’t thank you “from the tip of my nose to the tip of my tail” though as someone did once. Dr. Nectar smiles and the Fox-Girl gets all shy, hugs her tail tight and quickly walks away from the room and Kate-Nectar follows. Yes, dear, I won’t turn like that dead Librarian. I always fear I could get much worse though.
I don’t really need a container right now – I’ve stopped controlling the Brownie and it dropped onto the desk. Oh, look into these eyes. Not finding a source of information on breaking out of Necromancer control having been locked into a small dead flying creature? Did you specify that now you’re downsized to a Necro-Ability of that creature? Not a Human Librarian – a Zombie with a Librarian Skill. You’re mine and you know it. Let me study your soul without reading it. So… Usually I have an option of Dispersing a Soul that I have under my control – not this one because he’s Level-20 and I’m Level-10. As such there is a whole bunch of restrictions I have when it comes to me controlling him and if anything I clearly have to beware of him controlling me. Should have I read thing before? Oh YES. Did I though? What stopped me from looking into him once I’ve captured him? Oh yes the whole “setup up the new Camp and care for the Little Guys” thing. How do I balance My Needs with the Needs MY people. "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed" as said by The Fox in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "The Little Prince".
I need to Level-up. The Crystals, that the Old Dead Boss have secreted away, identify as Energy Stores. Large energy Stores. Eight Level-20 and One Level-30. All filled to the brim over all of the time this miserable psychopath was taking revenge on Humanity for failing to appreciate him. How do I start my upgrade? Earlier, I’ve just began draining a Monster and it started. Now… Now I can read up, can’t I? Did I just get… WISE? Wow. Before I reach into the Magic Store Crystal that’s housing the Librarian Abilities, I look into the Librarian Soul in the dead Brownie and install every single restriction on it I can as a Master Necromancer over his Zombie. I’ve done it before for the Dark Drow Assassin Team. For them I’ve specified “Don’t attack teammates, Don’t communicate with other teams, Protect The Leader of the Team at all costs, Protect other teammates if possible and if not contrary to a more important mission, Obey The Leader of the Team”, but here I feel I need more. Let me add “Be an eager servant of the Master” with my darling self specified as such Master, perform analysis of any of Master’s ideas and matters that he learns of with an honest attempt to improve the outcome in the way the Master deems desirable. Clarify different priorities of goals and chances of obstacle overcoming. Clarify acceptability of Material and Personnel losses for a goal. If I can make that … thing… useful – why not.
I’ve activated the Librarian skill in the Magic Store and it felt like I’ve always had it. Somehow I knew how to search for data and how to go deeper for the explanations. So indeed, I just need to overflow my inner Energy Store for the upgrade to kick in. The next level costs twice my capacity. Normally I would need to pump a portion of my Mana into a Storage Crystal and wait for it to fill-up, then start the upgrade by sipping in some of my own Mana to get me over the top. Necro-Doctors also have a requirement of a certain number of Healings and other Experience Points. The more experience, the less Energy needed for an upgrade, down to even Zero with lots of work done. Similarly for the Assassins – every action they take, including Shadow-jumping or even Stamina Training, raises their experience points and will save on Upgrade Mana. Not that easy for me – many Zombies under my control let me siphon lots of Mana from the Group but if I don’t take care of them, I’ll have no Mana. I guess the idea was – a Necromancer attempting a Leveling-up, better have a group capable of providing him with at least the same amount of Mana as his Inner Store or he’ll burn up and take the group with him. Interesting side-note – at levels that are Prime Numbers, one gets a Quick Promotion chance. So a Level-1 can get a quicker chance to get to 3, 5, 7 and that’s what I got before. My next chance for that, is my next level, so let me get to the Level-11 and start getting ready for the Long Jump. If I’m right and if I score that chance again, I’ll have a choice of 13, 17, and 19. If I had a Level-19, I’d take that Librarian into a very firm grasp.
I quickly left the Library and felt relieved that the Brownie is still exactly where I’ve dropped it. I picked it up and went out with it in my hand. I don’t want to start the upgrade now – my own inner stores aren’t full yet but they should be soon. I need to look into the re-balancing of the Group Energy Assignment. The World sets it in some kind of “optimal” fashion where members with large reserves that can be quickly filled give off more into the Pool whereas Small Fliers who basically totally deteriorate without an external Mana Source get more. I’m feeling bad about it, but I’m establishing a 3% tax on the group and routing it into my Crystals. I’m really not a Megalomaniac – in the Human World it’s the People who define the King and the Kingdom. In the Necromancer World – the stronger I am the stronger they are. Yet deep inside I hear my own voice, “Just keep telling yourself that”.
Tight in a Box Part 3
I went to the Artifactor Lab to talk to the Chief. I don’t need a multi-slide presentation and a list of achievements – I don’t care about any of that. I want to sense the emotions that the Chief will give off while telling me about them. Everybody knows, the Lab Chiefs have done a lot of really nasty things to get to their places and to stay there. If I am not able to find an acceptable level of mutual understanding with them or if their underlings can’t forgive all the abuse and fear despite my power of suggestion, he and the Chief of the Alchemists will be replaced.
I was met by a very busy crowd. Lots of newcomers were getting their first steps into the Wonderful World of making Artifacts. I have ordered everyone with Healing abilities to get training in the new Medical Center, everybody with any aptitude for Artifact Making or Alchemy was brought over for an Introductory class. GREAT!
I made it to the Chief who looked very busy and really emanated eagerness to have things done. I think he was actually happy to try himself in his new role of a caring leader working for the common good. I hope it will last for a while. He noticed me and tried to get up and I told him to please continue sitting. I asked if he has a sturdy container that would fit this Brownie. It has to be able to get sealed and be hard to break. The Lab Chief asks if I need something like a bird cage for the air to come in and the Brownie to jump and fly around a bit? I smiled and said that he’s still not fully appreciating being a zombie – that Brownie doesn’t need to breathe so there doesn’t need to be any air. He asked if he can be allowed to wonder why do I treat a dead Brownie with such care? Do I know that these Brownies aren’t rare at all? His Gatherers bring one every 10-20 days. I kept silent for a second and then said that I’ll tell him. Can he send a messenger to the Chief Alchemist so I don’t have to explain it twice? She can bring her assistants if she so desires. He reached to an artifact on his desk and pressed it a few times. The lady from the other lab almost ran into the office less than a minute later and stopped staring at me. I could feel her overwhelming fear and worry. I decided not to dig deeper into her emotions and put the dead Brownie on the desk. Now the two Lab Chiefs are looking at me, at the dead Flier and at each other.
I apologized for rushing her over and explained that I need a sturdy container for this dead thing, ideally one that can be sealed permanently and would be hard to break. The Chief Alchemist was about to ask something but the Artifact Maker said that he already explained to me that these aren’t rare, albeit they usually dissolve in the morning but the creature has no real use for making Artifacts or Potions. So now the two professionals are looking at me with a question in their eyes. I’ve re-animated the Brownie and made it walk around making angry hand gestures, gazing and even trying to scream at them. The Chief Artifactor froze and the Potion-Making Lady screamed and dashed to that Brownie with so much passionate anger in her eyes that I had to resort to stopping her through my Zombie-control means as her fist had already began to crush the little dead body. Then I forced her to release my “toy” and step away, cast a “Necro-Repair Level-3” (I got a new Level – Hurrah!) picked up the now-motionless Brownie and released the poor woman. While she was still trying gather her thoughts and get her emotions under control, the man asked, how is it possible that the “Duke” got turned into a dead Brownie. I answered that he didn’t. I’ve captured his soul when I’ve killed him with their help – you remember that, don’t