The First Lich Lord

Chapter 5

A pulse of energy washed over the world. Well, wash wasnt quite the right word, as it felt more instantaneous than that. One moment it wasnt there, the next, energy hit me. My magical eyes allowed me to see it not only hitting me, but everyone else in the same instant. I had a moment before the energy faded to recognize it: soul energy.

The energy disappeared as quickly as it had come, and that small piece of soul energy wormed itself into me. It was overwhelmed and absorbed by my own soul energy, so I wasnt worried. But a being that could reach so many in an instant was strange. I thought nothing more of itthat certainly wasnt my problemand moved on.

Continuing through the city, I began to notice things. At first it wasnt anything major. Here and there NPCs acted strangely. They would stop and stare out at the world as if not comprehending what was going on or where they were. Many seemed to come to some realization and returned to what theyd been doing. Others began to wail and run around.

Chaos spread. While most appeared okay, those few who werent, were causing quite the problem. Guards started appearing, dispatched by the city officials. I was sure a number of the guards had subjected to the same effects, but enough remained to help quell the unrest.

I was ultimately thankful for the chaos. It allowed me to move more stealthily.

After that, my trip was mostly uneventful. Taking a chance, I stopped at the market. Even in the chaos, vendors were still selling their stuff. You never know when things like string, cable, or other such items would come be useful, so a portion of my money went into procuring such things. A larger chunk went into getting a better backpack. There is no way I could afford a true storage item, but I could afford a better backpack.

Leaving through the gates of the city, thinking I was in the clear, a voice called out. Halt, where are you going?

Away from this city, I responded.

I see, the zombie guard sneered. You must be a spy. Weve been told to watch for your kind.

I internally groaned. Id forgotten wed set the guards to be super suspicious. The kingdom to the north was some kind of Holy Empire, and my guild had known they would likely see the undead city as a threat. So, the gate guards, especially on the gates leading north, were set to be highly paranoid. The last thing we wanted were spies reporting us to the Empire.

Im no spy. Im just going out for a couple of days.

Huh, I doubt that. The guard glared at me. Stay where you are. One of our mages will validate the truth of your words.

The guy gestured and a skeleton in a dark purple robe approached: a psionic mage. I wasnt planning on ever coming back to the city, and this mage would quickly find that out. My only hope was that he would realize I didnt mean them harm. Squaring my shoulders, knowing this could kill me, I met the mages eyes.

There may have been a flare of amusement across the skeletons eyes, but it passed. The eerie color of psionic magic began to surround him. As the magic reached out to me, his presence neared. Except something was wrong. The mage pushed into my mind, and his magical eyes flared wide in alarm. His mental panic was laid bare to me as he tried to extract himself. Then the skeleton collapsed.

In the moment where the guard and I both stood in shock, I bolted. Cries of alarm and the guard shouting for help roared behind me. I just ran. There was a light cavalry unit that was likely to soon pursue me, so the second I saw the opportunity, I dove into the thick trees. Pushing my way through, I stumbled, snagged my robes, and only after several hours of running, did I stop.

Listening intently, I couldnt hear the sounds of pursuit. I breathed a sigh of relief, having come within inches of dying back there. I hunkered down in some bushes, just in case someone proved extra sneaky, and opened the notification that had appeared at the start of my flight.

Warning Message

To protect the time continuity of this world, your mindscape has been closed off by a barrier. The time damage done to your mindscape runs the risk of harming this universe. To prevent this, and any other NPCs or players from being harmed, your mindscape has been locked away. You can still enter your mindscape. Just be warned: it is a dangerous place now.

I read the message twice.

Despite the dangers, I really needed to get into my mindscape to know whats going on in there.

I spent a few minutes finding a better place to hide, making sure I was good and secure before starting the meditation process to enter the mindscape.

***

The mindscape, in a way, represents how you think. The appearance and size of the mindscape varies between different types of people. Given time and work, you could even change its appearance.

My mindscape had never been anything spectacular. It started as not much more than large rolling hills with some deep crevasses. Itd grown into something special, with hamlets and groves of trees scattered throughout.

Where I currently stood was the center of my mindscape, where a small castle resided. My last line of defense if the mindscape was ever invaded. From atop the ramparts, I looked out over my mindscape, and beheld an unrecognizable landscape. Gone were the rolling hills. In their place, islands floatedupside down, sideways, some even spun gentlyand each appeared to have its own gravity.

On one upside down island, at least to my perspective, was a man coming out of a house. He walked on the underside of the island like it wasnt upside down.

The ground underneath the islands was also strange and twisted. There were odd shapes, like the stone had been spun into creatures that moved on their own.

Ezekiel. Damien stood behind me. It is good to see you. I was worried.

What happened here? I asked, still eyeing the man standing on the underside of an island.

Do you remember that place you saw? Damien leaned on the ramparts, looking out at the chaos. That strange place where time wasnt time.

I do.

Well, as you gazed upon that strange place, it began to tear apart your mind. I did my best to preserve what I could, hence why your castle still stands. But I wasnt able to save much.

Damien was my primary assistant in the mindscape. In his former life, hed been a powerful necromancer and had been a great aid in teaching me about necromancy, along with protecting my mindscape.

I received messages about it being damaged, and then one about it being walled off, I explained. A psionic mage attacked me, and I think this place drove him mad.

Damien nodded. That makes sense. I saw him at first. He was looking around, but then he started screaming and just vanished.

I guess its good to know the mindscape is still secured. I gave a helpless shrug. What do we do to fix this place? It cant be good for you to leave it like this.

Its not, Damien agreed. I dont think well ever be able to restore your mindscape to what it was, let alone something even similar to what it was. Too much has been changed. We can restore order, and hopefully, given time, get control of the strange things happening here.

Stranger than floating islands of their own gravity? I eyed the strange creatures below us. And whatever those are.

Yes, much stranger, Damien agreed. Theres some warping of time we must sort out.

Well, where do we start?

I already have. Damien gestured for me to follow.

We left the rampart and headed down to the courtyard of the castle. Denizens and creatures from my mindscape were there. Some were my own conscious creations, while others were denizens and creatures my mindscape had created on its own; my subconscious.

During the events of what was going on, I did my best to gather as many as I could. The castle is a bastion of your mind and provided a good place for us to hold up and weather the storm.

People greeted me as I moved through the courtyard. It was a little weird when I thought about it. I was essentially being greeted by my own consciousness. Still, it was nice. Even though my mindscape was in shambles, it was good to know that at least something of my former life had held.

Being here was a relief, and oh so comforting after being so scared out in the real world andWas it the real world? The thought shook me, but I let it pass after a moment,

Trying to put that quandary aside, I moved on. Reconciling how I felt about being in WOM as an NPC was something I would deal with later. Damien, what are those odd creatures out there?

I am not a hundred percent sure. The best I can tell is theyre a combination of your own thoughts, but warped by time. Damien paused, drawing my gaze. They are dangerous. I came across one that, I think, was the compilation of all your feelings of happiness that you will have throughout all of time.

That doesnt sound too bad. I chuckled a little. How bad could a creature made of happy thoughts be?

Terrifying. Damien didnt even blink. Terrifying is how it can be. I dont know much, but I do know that should never happen. The creature almost killed me. Have you noticed anything strange about yourself? A lack of emotions Damien seemed to become lost for words. Or, such. I understand you were just ripped from your world, but you seem very he gestured at me in control of yourself, emotion wise.

I didnt respond right away, taking the time to process his words. I thought about my reactions since waking up in this body and he was right. I should be freaking out. I was a monster, not just playing one.

I left my sister behind. It hadnt even occurred to me what shed be going through right now.

Standing there, I just blinked, unable to react any more than that. And even that was wrong. I looked at my handsIm a skeleton. Ive never been a skeleton here before Then again, my avatar in my mindscape had never been a perfect representation of what I was.

I met Damiens gaze. I think, I see what you mean. Also, why am I a skeleton?

Yeah, I was expecting more of this kind of reaction. I would guess youre a skeleton here because of what happened. I dont think its a reflection of your body out in the real world, I think its a reflection of your personality. Damien shook his head. No, thats not quite right. Its more like, the skeleton represents your stripped-down emotions.

That means, as I get my emotions back, Ill become fleshy? I didnt like that image.

Maybe? Damien laughed. Thats why clothes were invented, yes? For now, its best that you leave this place. Theres nothing you can do and youre in danger both here and in the physical world. While youre gone, Ill finish consolidating what we have left, and next time you come back well make a game plan for fixing your mindscape.

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