The First Lich Lord

Chapter 59

It was pitch-black in the narrow valley. The moon was covered by thick clouds and the sheer cliffs of the valley isolated us. A pool spread out before me, the inky black water reflecting the glow of my purple eyes. I was making no effort to hide myself, relying on the hidden valley to keep me from my pursuers.

What are we doing? Maxwell asked, staring at the still water.

Damien suggested I integrate my phylactery, I explained. I wasnt strong enough to do it when I first crossed through Valdor, but now I am.

Would integrating that make it part of you? Maxwell asked. If this body dies, you truly died?

That is the risk. I pulled my phylactery out from my bag. Examining the black jar, I brought up its description.

Ezekiel the Lichs Phylactery

Current status: Charged. It will take time for the phylactery to rebuild the energy it takes to resurrect the Lich. If the Lich is killed again before the phylactery has rebuilt its charge, their soul will be stored inside the phylactery until the charge has been rebuilt. This process will be slowed by the presence of the soul within, requiring energy to maintain itself.

Current time for complete recharge: Fully charged.

Time for resurrection if Lich is slain again: One day.

Enough time had passed since my last death that the phylactery wouldve let me resurrect quickly if I were slain. However, I had no place to hide it, not with me being hunted by the followers of Olattee. They would no doubt be scanning the area as they went for items that gave off death magic. My phylactery would be found and destroyed, resulting in my death.

Whats the difference, though? I asked Maxwell. If this body is slain, Im dead anyways. I might as well integrate it. Damien promised it provides a few powerful buffs.

Maxwell grunted. I guess I see your point.

My eyes penetrated the darkness with little effort, the worry in his bright green eyes was clear. Maxwell was a player, death meant very little to him, but he understood that for me, it carried a great risk.

How can we help? a slender young girl asked, patting me on the arm. Ravens hair was gray and brown, similar to the lynx, with a black stripe running down the middle of her head, and large ears that curved slightly with tufts of black hair sticking up. She wore an oversized shirt that Maxwell had providedit was all the extra clothing we had at the time. Her thick black tail poked out under the shirt.

I should be able to do it on my own. I shrugged out of my robe, the dark fabric falling to the ground in a pile. In the still surface of the water, I studied my reflection. No longer was I simply a black skeleton. My bones still showed in most places, but now my body was crisscrossed with stringy black tendrils of ligaments and muscles. In places, theyd even began to form solid flaps.

I didnt need to hear Maxwells gasp to know how horrific I looked. Being a black skeleton was far better. Part of my head was covered by black muscles; one side of my jaw even had a thin cheek. As I grew in power, my body became covered in black flesh. Damien, the necromancer in my Mindscape, had told me that hed never seen a Lich as low level as I was. A consequence of my soul being pulled across from Earth into the World of Magic, costing me all of my levels, hence why I originally looked like nothing more than an inky skeleton.

Damien told me that as I grew in level and strength, my flesh would rebuild around my skeleton, comprised of pitch-black muscles and tendons. I would even regrow a kind of skin which I could control the look ofa built-in disguise mechanism for Liches. Part of Damien was fascinated by the process and was enjoying watching how a Lich grew in power.

I looked forward to the day when I would regain a human appearance, but the process meant I was going to be quite the horrific figure until then. I did have an illusion spell I could cast over myself that was quite powerful if needed. But I was holding off for the time being.

I sat next to the lake and produced a simple dagger. Setting my teeth, I used the dagger to open a gash underneath my rib cage. The few thin muscles parted before the sharp blade. There was very little pain, which I was thankful for. Following Damiens instructions, I pressed the phylactery into the gash. The jar was far too big to fit, but a moment later, I received a prompt.

Would you like to integrate your phylactery?

Doing so will grant you a greatly increased health pool, strength, and death energy. This comes at the cost of increasing the amount of death energy you give off, further limiting your spells, making it increasingly difficult to cast anything other than death magic, including dark magic. It will also hinder your ability to work soul magic, since your tether is no longer outside of your own body.

Warning! This step means that if you are slain, you will die permanently since your phylactery will be destroyed.

Do you wish to continue?

Y/N

I selected Yes and my phylactery started pushing inside of my body before it disappeared. Power surged through me, and even as I watched, strands of dark flesh grew. My increased health must have been what increased the amount of flesh covering my body. As I stood, I opened my character sheet to see what had changed.

Character Soul Level: 51

Name: Ezekiel Verniac

Race: Human Lich

Unspent Stat Points: 0

Spent Stat Point: 255

5 Stat Points per level

Health: 1139(1708.5)

Health Regeneration: 31.225(46.837)/sec

Death Energy: 1161(1741.5)

Death Energy Regeneration: 22.425(33.637)/sec

Mana: 329

Mana Regeneration: 12.252/sec

Carrying lbs.: 1140.75(1711.125)

Stats:

Intelligence: 45 [multiplier:1 .311]

Spirit: 31 [multiplier: 1.23]

Vitality: 98 [multiplier: 1.15]

Resilience: 52 [multiplier: 1.15]

Death Core: 111

Agility: 66 [multiplier: 1.1]

Dexterity: 42 [multiplier: 1.21]

Experience: 332110.9 of 36421.3

I let out a low whistle. That was a lot of health and death energy, though I still didnt really know how to properly utilize it. All I understood about death energy was that it replaced my stamina, and it could be used in a variety of ways to enhance both myself and creatures I created. I was still learning. The regenerations were quite impressive as well. Id gotten a fifty percent bump to my health, health regeneration, death energy, and death energy regeneration rate.

If you didnt know, the value of health regeneration scores are very deceptive. You almost never regenerate at that rate. If that was the case, were you to pour all your stats into health regeneration, youd become able to out-heal damage being dealt to you. The health regeneration score more reflects healing in absolute ideal situations, which never happens. For a regular person, they would be lucky to see ten percent of their score, if they heal naturally at all. We as Liches have a bit of an advantage, though we still cant regenerate lost limbs, and severe wounds wont close on their own.

I take it, it worked? Maxwell asked.

It did. I stretched. There was just enough muscle now that I got a sensation of stretching, something Id not felt in a long time. Ahh, that feels good. I have a lot more health now. I went over the changes with Maxwell and Raven.

There was a horn in the distanceId grown to recognize that sound over the last couple of days. Our pursuers had found or detected something.

You gave off a pulse of death magic, Raven explained. We best be moving. The hunters are coming.

We skirted around the edge of the lake. Eventually, a small stream wound its way out of the still waters, and we followed it down the valley. We had been working our way north since leaving Omark. Our initial plan had been to cross over the mountains into the neighboring country of Fae folk, but as soon as the pursuit had begun, all the major passes had become blocked by contingents of holy knights.

Theyd given off so much holy magic, there was no way we possessed the strength to break through. I didnt know how theyd gotten in place so quickly, but it felt like a wall of holy magic had gone up around Valdor as soon as the hunt began. Traveling north and staying on the edges of the mountains enabled us to dip in occasionally to avoid large contingents and lose them in the winding valleys.

Unfortunately, the mountains were becoming more filled with followers of Olattee the farther north we went. In the early days we tried circling back and heading south. If we could make it down into Dothar, the undead nation, wed be far safer. My pursuers had a similar thought.

As the valley opened before us, flickering lights of a small village danced in the distance. It was the first one wed come across, and we needed supplies. Setting our path toward it, we quickly lost sight of it once we descended from the mountains.

A forest of thick pine trees spread out before us. The darkness was not a problem for either Raven or me, both of us being creatures of night. Maxwell, knowing my nature early on, had acquired a buff that he could apply to himself that would allow him to see in the dark. He whistled a short ditty to reapply it as we entered the forest.

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