45 Chapter 45

After reading the letter he dropped into the chair resting in the center of the room, he read the letter over again before he folded it and gently put it back into the envelope and placed it back onto the side table. The spirit that had managed the systems information and tasks had been an apprentice and she was also the one to find the crystal of the void beast and present it to be made with one of the rings, his original body in this case, her cousin had snuck into the smithy when she had gone to get her master and sabotaged his schematic by removing a part of the runes for his durability. This had led him to being a flawed magical ring, but in the end he had awakened a consciousness and escaped death.

The letter had explained the changes to the system after the spirit had sacrificed itself, with a fraction of the remaining energy it had left it took the most vital information and moved it into this library. She had attached the system to his soul so it would draw power from him and reflect the strength of his soul. Compared to the vast expanse that had resembled the system before it was quite pitiful, he would be able to access all the information at a thought, though anything new he wanted to add to the library would require energy corresponding to the complexity of the material.

He could still rely on the system to judge and calculate power levels and his progress but it would be restricted to the strength of his soul to gauge things. If his opponent had a way to shield themselves from his probing or had the ability to counterattack then without a proper method to protect himself he would face threats that he couldn't perceive.

"Best to get to work than." He willed for anything related to souls and how to strengthen and use them and the library delivered a stack of books, he assumed they came from somewhere on the shelves he picked up the first one and began to absorb the knowledge.

Standing over the pool of water the girls read over the note, it listed a long list of ingredients and steps to take as well as instructions for important matters during his absence, the first of which was to start using the medicinal power for his body to heal and become stronger. That wasn't so shocking, as for the medicinal powder he wanted used, he specified the ones produced by the queen's carapace. Within the room were shelves that had the powders and other ingredients listed on the note, they were to begin the body refinement immediately, luckily they only needed to use a small amount of the medicine until his body got used to the radical effects.

The twins started to collect the ingredients, they walked to the edge of the pool and slowly poured the powder in. As the powder dissolved they watched as the quiet lord within the pool, his skin began to darken but the pool began to steam around him, his veins pushed to the surface of his skin and in the quiet room they could hear the sound of his heart as worked to push the medicine through his system. Beneath him an array slowly began to light up, they could feel the temperature begin drop with frost beginning to form at the edges of the pool. The girls let out a sigh of relief as his body began to relax, they had been worried that the medicine would cause severe damage to his body, but it seemed that their young lord had taken precautions before he went to sleep.

The girls lingered for a while longer before going about their duties, they each had been assigned with important roles, they needed to go about the training of apprentices and the conversion of the newly arrived children. They first had to inform the council members of the orc invasion as well as send forces to reinforce the outer defenses. The twins left to the forges, their task was to prepare enchanted weapons that would be more effective against the orcish horde. Railia, Jenna, and Anna went to check on the rest of their sisters while they waited for the council members to arrive. Most of them were awake, though their injuries would still take a while to heal, they would be able to instruct their forces. Two of the least of the injured left for Idos, they would reinforce the fortress and lend aid if they could to the humans.

Salem sat within his library books surrounded by open tomes that covered a single subject, the soul, a flood of knowledge raced through him. At first the knowledge came easy is was smooth yet quick like a small stream but not long after that he tried to quicken the pace and he succeeded, of course the pace only quickened and he couldn't slow it down, as the speed increased, the flow went from smooth and calm stream to a maelstrom of agony, he clenched his teeth and bore through it. If anyone was with his body they would see streams of blood coming from his eyes, ears, and nose.

Within the council chamber the elves and dwarfs were in heated discussions, each of them had received word that the orcs had ambushed their troops during the undeads' invasion. It was bad enough fighting the undead that cared only for slaughter, now they had to deal with orcs. The orcs would not be content with slaughter, they were cruel and vicious but they would kill their warriors and enslave the survivors, and be subjected for an assortment of cruelties.

Jennah, Anna, and Railia walked into the council chambers and sat with grace upon their designated seats. The council members quieted themselves and waited anxiously for their city lord to arrive, after a few minutes of waiting, the absence of their leader and the implications of not showing himself heavily impacted their morale. Not waiting any longer for the council to present their question, Railia looked them in the eyes and spoke in a solemn tone, "During the battle for Koftas our lord was ambushed by an orcish horde as you well know by now, luckily we were able to escape back to the mountain without any loss of life, we have been ordered to seal the mountain and fortify our defenses and if possible aid Idos in its defense against the undead forces."

She watched the councillors as they heard the official report, luckily there was no apparent dissension in the ranks, yet. "Now that you all are caught up on the situation we need to get on with our lords' missions, mine is to gather any information on four primary parties of interest. First, are there any other elf clans that can either be assimilated or allied with? Second, where did our friends the orcs and undead come from? The third order is where are the humans during this upheaval? One human city was sacked and another under siege, I can understand elves not coming to this regions rescue due to the past wars and racism but," she glared at the human members of the council who returned the stare with saddened expressions, "I haven't even heard a rumor about calling for help."

Forsa stood up and unrolled the map laying on the table, "I know that what our ancestors did was wrong and that there were a few noble houses that continued in such heinous practices but not everyone is so mentally warped, though you make a valid point that there hasn't been any word on reinforcements from the rest of the human kingdom, but that is more of a problem dealing with getting a message from this mountain back to the rest of humanity, this particular part of the continent is about six months of hard travel due east to reach the nearest human settlement that isnt a small village or bandits." He slowly outlined a path from the furthest western landmass to the east, he drew a symbol for a castle and wrote a name underneath, "Fort Galing."

Forsa drew another line to the southeast to the coast from the fort and drew a castle, he began to draw a crest that resembled a broadsword, as he drew he started explaining the original route from the human capitol to the mountain.

Our ancestors were not the highest ranked nor the most reputable in the kingdom so they came to these lands to make their fortunes and glory, from what was left of our houses records is that the journey started out fine but after they had crossed the river it was one problem after another, from several monster attacks to food shortages, all of which eventually lead us to the elves and the unfortunate events that followed." Letting out a sigh Forsa continued his report, "If a messenger got through the undead, he would need to survive six months of hard travel, most likely alone, through the wilderness and any orc scouting parties that may or may not have been in place. What I do know is that both Koftas and Idos sent ten teams each with news of the undead about eight months ago. So best case scenario one of the teams made it and reinforcements will arrive in four to eight months. There is also the possibilities noe one made it, or they haven't reached Fort Galing yet, without knowing if someone made contact with the fort I would suggest assuming that they don't know our troubles and no one is coming." Forsa sat back into his seat and stared at the map.

Railia studied the map and digested the tale of the humans pasts, though it absolved them of any crimes it never hurt to know more about potential threats and the difficulties of the terrain. "Alright, here is what we are going to do." She leaned forward and began marking the map as she explained the goals of the council for the foreseeable future.

Within the deepest parts of Salems' mind, knowledge flooded into his being without end, unfortunately this blessing had put a great strain on his mind and soul. Large red letters came across his vision it felt like ages before he could finally focus on something other than the river of data, he couldn't stay focussed long enough to form the message in a single thought so he would read and repeat a single word several times before moving onto the next. "Huh, 'Warning: power draw critical. Host unresponsive, initiate emergency protocols. Warning: library subsystem failure; unable to stop data flow.

Attempting to re allocate soul energy resources.

-Access Denied--Access Denied--Access Denied--Access Denied-

...

-Access Granted- Host Permission Received: Distribution of Resources: Adequate.

Ejecting Host: 3, 2, 1.

Salems' eyes shot open, a plethora of sensations hit him all at once including a headache that felt as if he was once again struck by that orc. As his mind was assaulted he slipped beneath the water and sucked in a mouthful of water, slight panic kept him paralyzed until his back touched the bottom of the pool. Getting a grip over himself he pushed against the floor and rose above the water, where he coughed up the water he had swallowed, shaking his head to rid himself of the disorientation nearly caused him to vomit. He wretched and dry heaved for a few minutes, thankfully his stomach was empty of any solid food.

He tried to summon his status screen but when it popped into focus his headache increased in intensity, he dismissed it as quickly as it arrived, the pain receded back to a more tolerable level allowing him to move to the edge of the pool. He clambered out of the pool and made his way to the exit, he had tried to call Railia and the other but every attempt to reach out felt like someone had put a hot poker into his brain. He couldn't remember anything after he had picked up that book.

He managed to get the door open and stumble into the hallway, he made it a few feet before he was stopped by a sharp pull to his hair, turning around cause his vision to swim slightly but he focused on the fact that his hair had been trapped in the door as it closed behind him. 'What the hell? How had my hair gotten so long?' he thought, he wobbled back to the door and freed himself from its evil clutches. Resuming his journey through the halls till he made it to the councils' meeting room. No one was there, 'nothing too strange about that' he thought, 'though that chair looks extremely comfortable'. He sat at the chair closest to him, 'huh why is the chair so cold...oh, im naked'. His thoughts seemed a bit sluggish but even as he realised it there was nothing he could do so he just sat there and waited, after waiting what he thought was five minutes someone entered the room, he didn't recognize the young woman but she was dressed in maid attire so she was probably here to prepare the council chambers.

She stopped and looked at him, he returned the stare that lead into an awkward silence until the maid finally decided to speak up, "Who are you and why are you naked?"

Well that seems easy enough to answer he thought and replied with a charming smile "Because I'm not wearing any clothes."

The maid continued to stare and so did Salem, another awkward silence.

Vexxed at such an unreasonable fellow the maid moved forward to shoo him out of the council chambers when foot and chattering came from the hallway, Salem sat and waited while the maid screamed internally, she went and stood by the stranger in an attempt to remove him from his seat. Just as she reached his side some the group had come to the door.

"Bloody hell, I didn't realize we could be using this room for pleasure as well, I never knew you elves could let loose like this!" A loud and cheerful voice came from the door, standing in the doorway were the council members, in front of the group was a pair of dwarves a human and a drow. The maid turned to the group and curtsied, "Excuse me my lords and ladies, but I found this gentleman a few minutes ago when I came in to check the chambers, if you will pardon us I will take him to the infirmary-"

"Stop." A soft and elegant voice commanded, it came from the back of the group that slowly parted to reveal Railia who moved quickly through the other councillors. As soon as her eyes landed on Salem she lost all decorum and ran to his side and embraced him.

After a few minutes of crying and clinging did Railia finally put a complete sentence, "Master y-you said you would only be gone for a short while! What took you so long?"

Salem smiled at her "I wasn't gone that long, there's no reason to fret like this is there?"

The room became quiet, the touching scene had ended and everyone had a confused look on their faces. A dwarf stood forward after the quiet became unbearable for him, "Since you all are so chicken I will tell him, my lord no one has seen or heard from you in the last ten years..."

Salem frowned at first but after a moment smiled at the dwarf, "That is impossible I would remember if I had been away for so long." he began to play with Railias hair, it was so soft!

Railia watched her masters reactions, the rest of the council looked at one another and began whispering amongst themselves, she looked into his eyes and noticed they were misted over as if he were half awake still in the midst of his dreams. She placed both her hands on his face and looked him in the eye. "Master, what do you remember? What happened after you went to sleep?"

Salem tried to look away, but she held him firm forcing him to stare back at her, "I read my books while I waited, there wasn't anything else to do not even snacks." He tried to turn away again only to be firmly gripped by Railia, "Master! Remember what happened, please it's time to wake up."

He frowned as he tried to remember, but his head started to hurt again, he didn't want to remember it was easier to not think about it, but she really wanted him to remember and he didn't want to disappoint her , but it hurt so bad! He closed his eyes shut and tried to remember, he remembers opening the first book and that wasn't so bad but there was something right after that felt like he was splitting in two.

Even though that was how he felt, he didn't know just how right that train of thought was, as he tried to push past that last barrier to remember he started holding his head and letting out small gasps of pain. The spirit may be willing but the flesh is weak and at this moment his own body was making him suffer.

Railia tried calming him down but it was no use, though she felt through her bond that she had stimulated him, though his suffering made her feel guilty it was necessary for him to recover his mental acuity, by the way he had been acting it seemed as if he was either drunk or under an enchantment. Soon after he started screaming, they had to restrain him just in case he tried to hurt himself. Railia had summoned her sisters through their connection and they ushered the council leaders outside.

There were only a few of her sisters in the city at the moment the rest had gone on their own missions, messages would have to be sent later, as of now they were doing their best to comfort their master. A few hours of screaming had left his body exhausted until he finally fainted, they carried him to his bed and stayed with him. At first they thought the danger had past but three days passed in a similar fashion, he would sleep and wake up late into the morning and begin the torture of remembering what took place over the last decade.

Slowly the memories came back, along with a torrent of information he could barely grasp the majority of which was beyond his understanding and as more knowledge came to him the more pain he received. On the fifth day the pain increased by threefold, he believed he would go insane before he could adapt to the flood of knowledge that assaulted him repeatedly. If he wanted to remain sane and escape this never ending torment he needed help, but the only being that could help him was in the shadow realm, he would need to get back to the gate of the shadow realm before the pain began again he summoned as many of his guards back to his chambers. There were thirteen present, the twins had come back from Idos during the night, they had been overseeing the training of apprentices as well as a shipment of weapons that went to both forts and to the front line of defence.

The Twins and Railia stood around him, each of them placed their hand on him and opened the link between them, they gave him warmth and comfort and brought him peace. They brought him to the path, they had all gone through the crucible of war, through the cycle of life and death they had reaped the latent soul energy from their enemies and even their supposed allies. They had all been absorbing the soul energy to strengthen themselves and during their lords sleep they had walked the path until each of them had become squires in their own right, their apprentices had become shades and now lead the younger generation along the path.

It was the same path he found himself on now, he moved forward he could feel the torment rising once again and he quickened his pace, his guards had not followed him along the path they had stayed behind to keep his pain at bay for as long as they could. As the pain grew he could feel himself fragmenting one moment and being whole the next.

He kept to the path until he was once more at the gate where he had met his mentor Knight Heidon. He placed his hand upon the gate and the runes began to glow with power, a moment later a slim red figure appeared on the other side of the gate, the figure gave off a similar feel to knight Heidon but it wasn't quite the same, the figure looked him over before speaking to him, "Who are you young squire, what purpose brought you here?"

Surprised at the enchanting voice that welcomed him, this knight that was before him was female, he coughed to cover for himself before taking a knee. "Reporting, I am Salem Beleghast, I seek aid from knight Heidon my mentor. I have suffered an injury and seek his aid, none on this plane will know how to heal me, I believe if this continues I risk a broken mind."

The figure stared at him for a moment before responding to him, "Hmm I understand and I have good news, our teacher has just broken through to the Witch King rank, but it will take some time before I can get an audience with him. I can feel the instability within you, unfortunately I am not as precise as our teacher is when it comes to mending souls and I would not want to accidentally cause you more harm. I will return as soon as I can squire, stay here and pray that I can get an audience."

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Before he could respond to her presence vanished, well that increases my chance of survival, he thought to himself. He leaned against the gate, the pain had returned so he could only hope that Heidon wasn't too busy.