we, boys, play with cars while they play house with dolls. Girls plan out their wedding starting at the age of 3". Some of the girls nodded.
At this point I got an energy level pop-up before me rapidly going to ZERO. I have came out of my meditation to see the tunnel getting lighter and the energy stream I was getting from it almost running out. The Bone Illusion Artifact was already drained. We broke through some mist and stopped at a meadow. The bus slowly dissolved – the seats, the sides, the doors, the roof – all disappeared. I desperately looked around. The 9 of my classmates who seemed to survive the ordeal were laying on the grass but I could not be sure it was them. Dimitry suddenly had chain-mail on him and my text identified him as "Paladin Level-1", others also changed. I was going to study the rest but at that point my energy intake stopped and my reserves quickly ran out. My body seemed to have shot out strings in all directions trying to get energy from anywhere. I saw some flying into the forest at the end of the meadow, some into a river, some seemingly attached to bugs and flowers. I NEED ENERGY! I AM SO CLOSE! Several of those threads even jumped into the Bottomless Bag I was holding. SO CLOSE! I can see the "level progress bar" almost touching the number 7. COME ON!!!! Oh to get so close and to fail. I felt my conscientiousness slipping away…
I was floating above my body while it was still trying to get any energy it could from the surroundings. I wondered why are my guest souls not running away and then saw them all suspended totally de-energized next to me. Then I looked at the 9 of my mates laying on the grass under me. In addition to the Paladin my texts identified a Healer, a Holy Maiden, an Alchemist, a Tree Mage, an Artifactor – all girls – and a Guard and an Assassin – boys. The last one was a small creature wrapped in some cocoon identified as a "Pixie". I have also noticed that the bodies of the Healer and the Holy Maiden are naturally producing the energy while my threads are taking it all in. Meanwhile I've noticed a large group of people marching together from the forest carrying shovels and other instruments. There seem to be guards around them urging them forward with whips and sticks while my threads were depleting their inner reserves. The guards were identified as Level-5 and consisted of different creatures – a small hyperactive male Goblin next to a large female Troll, human guards, a human with the head of a wolf and a female Mage. The twenty laborers where all level-1 and also varied from humans to demi-humans to strange fantasy creatures. The Mage guard ordered the group to stop and the Demi-Wolf wondered "Wow – no corpses this time?" A sigh of relief went out from the laborers. The Mage yelled – "Don't relax, lazy bums. You'll be carrying these weaklings back to camp!". The Goblin hopped over to the Pixie, unwrapped the cocoon which turned out to be a pair of large beautiful wings, ripped them off and threw the small body of a boy away. "Look I got a pair too!!!" he hopped in joy to the Troll. At that time the Pixie convulsed in the bushes and a small ball of Necro energy appeared over him – the energy I've consumed immediately. The remaining eight were distributed among the crew. The Mage walked up to them one by one taking notes and when she approached the Healer look for a bit on her chest and said: "this one has no mana reserves – throw her out". The Goblin hopped over, picked up the Healer and screamed – "I'll keep her, I'll have fun with her," and the Troll tookthe Healer from himand saying, "You'll have fun with me and only me, dear," broke the neck of the poor girl with one hand and threw the body into the nearby bushes. Everyone, including the guards, shuddered at this, lined up and marched off. Meanwhile I did what I've done before – captured the souls of the Pixie and the Healer, de-energized them and when the Cloud appeared, latched onto it and sucked the energy out until the Cloud shrunk and ran and I heard the long and desperately awaited "CLICK" – "Level 7".
To be or Zom (to) bie Part 4
I looked down at myself still wearing the cloak and saw the dreaded designation of a "corpse". That sounds kind of final. One can't just perform the CPR and restore the breathing and heartbeat to enable the soul to come back and let the survivor tell "near-death experience" tales. How did Dr Frankenstein reanimate his monster? Was is a mega-electric shock? Well I don't have anything to build a generator with or a lightning rod. So, short of having a Necromancer.... WAIT A MINUTE! So… The Ambulance is already here! Now let me see if I can graduate from a Medical School? Necro School? Necrical School? in a matter of a second. Stare into my body… Thinking about "Soul Insertion"? "Ghost Possession"? "Body Animation"? "Intelligent Zombie"? The text appears "Take over this body?" – "YES!" and I feel something obstructing my view. I instinctively move the hood away from my face with my arm and actually jump with joy – I'm back in my body!
I've managed to stand up and the first I see is the body of our Healer. I am sorry I became an unwilling cause of her death – it was my massive energy grab that emptied her reserves and caused that Mage to mistake her for a "dud". Of cause, that Troll is a monster in more ways than one and the whole setup seems more like a labor camp than a Fantasy Guild one reads about. Aren't the early arrivals, being the seasoned veterans, supposed to meet the new ones, train them and then share the adventures battling monsters by day and dancing by the fire at night? Seems like an elite group keeps the rest at Level 1 and lives off their labor. I bet there's someone who got to some high level, now coercing or praising his peers into recognizing him as a King among the Dukes who in turn boss around the medium Levels tasked with controlling the Level-1s making sure they don't advance. I wonder what do they do to those who suddenly gets to Level-3? Do they get killed? Do they have an "approved" religious leader telling the laborers that their situation is a part of the Great Balance and everyone is in a Proper Place and any attempt to rebel would void the Great Future Reward?
I'll look into this later. For now – can I do anything to restore the Healer even if I have to make her a Zombie? Looking intensely at her and wishing for a "Body Takeover" I'm getting a notice "Takeover not possible – the body is broken". Well then can we "repair" it? "Heal" it? Getting no feedback. I'm sorry, Kate.... Yes, that was her name… The transformation changed her a lot but for some reason I just realized whom I'm dealing with – a friendly smart girl always willing to lend and eraser or a book. I wonder where is her soul? Oh, they are all inside me "de-energized" but for some reason she's shining just a bit. I wonder if Healer's Souls are supposed to produce energy and she is restoring herself now. What else can this soul do – let me look… I see texts appearing next to her – including "Level-1 Heal", "Level-2 Heal"… What if I cause her to heal her own body? Choosing "Level-2 heal", aiming it at the motionless body on the ground – nothing. Suddenly I actually hear Kate's voice, "You can't heal the dead. Sorry. I think you'd need a Necro-Nurse to do a DEAD-fibrillation." Apparently she had already restored herself enough to be able to speak. I wonder.... How would I turn a "Nurse" into a "Necro"… Let me try something… I empty her soul (yes that's rude) and while it's just a floating outline I look into her and through her eyes I look at the body – now I see "Necro-Heal": "Level-1" up to "Level-7". Casting the 7th with all the strength I got, I see Kate's neck snap back into the proper alignment. I separate myself from Kate's soul and look at her body again. The "takeover" is now available and I chose it. I see her entering her body and I start to gently fill her with my energy. She opens her eyes. The text I see above her now reads "NecroHealer". I go to fetch body of our Pixie mutilated by the vicious Goblin. I see two tiny flying girls arranging flowers on it. They are titled as "Fairies", they look at me, giggle and fly off. I pick up the doll-sized boy and bring him back to Kate. She had already managed to sit up. I tell her to please postpone the questions and see if she can repair him with a "Necro-Heal". She looks at me, then at… Constantine… that's the boy's name. I just recalled it even though he is totally unrecognizable. I see her actually attempting to cast something and then she says, "Level-2 doesn't work…" Interesting – I was able to cast Level-7… That's probably because I AM Level-7. I don't want to get Kate out of her body again so I put my palms on her head and look into her. I see her looking at our poor Pixie. I focus on it through her eyes and see what I had before – "Necro-Heal": "Level-1" up to "Level-7". I choose 7 and my energy stores get emptied and I already start fearing I'd have to re-inhabit my body like before, but Kate supplies her own reserves and the Pixie's body suddenly re-grows the wings. I break the contact with Kate, look at our "patient" directly, see the "takeover" option and direct Constantine own soul I kept de-energized into its proper place. I supply whatever little energy I have regained and his eyes open. Both I and Kate sigh with relief.
Now there's three of us. I start by telling them about the bus ride and there being only 10 of us – the transformed survivors.