Chapter 242: A Nightmare, Manifested (1/2)

-Daniel-

I grabbed the back of my neck, shaking out some mental exhaustion from the past three days. Turns out, setting up a necromantic ritual was hard work. Now that I understood the process, it made Torix's first blood sacrifice all the more impressive.

Even against mindless silvers and a few not so mindless eldritch, the setup proved difficult. It began by setting up a three-mile wide circle of runic inscriptions. To my surprise, the metal matrice that the silvers created actually made that part much more manageable. Dirt would've washed away before we finished. Metal stayed strong even when stomped on.

Without having to worry about the markings, I finished that part in half a day. On the other hand, gathering some semi-intelligent eldritch proved difficult. I actually had very few suppressive techniques at my disposal. For the most part, I specialized in lethality when interacting with eldritch. Finding the right mix of toughness and intelligence was trying for that reason.

Torix scoped out a few prospective dungeons with our limitations in mind. After passing through four of them, we found targets suiting our needs. Within the countryside of Giess, a few stone angels actually enslaved a village of espens.

These eldritch put the espens through pretty brutal living conditions, mirroring labor camps. These were relatively strong eldritch, sitting around the level four thousand mark. For me, it was child's play to beat them down into submission.

I simply floated over the village before landing in its center. Even without Event Horizon's crushing aura, my presence proved formidable. Wary of me, the angels attempted some intimidation.

Said intimidation failed.

A few cracked faces and broken noses later, they fell in line. That worked to our favor since the stone angels suited the ritual for a variety of reasons. They each owned undying bodies, meaning old age wouldn't get them any time soon. They proved plenty killable though as long as enough trauma was inflicted.

On the other hand, that immunity to father time gave the angels tremendous vitality and loads of memories. That worked to our favor regarding Torix's ritual. Without needing to find any other groups of eldritch, we transported them towards the ritual site via Spear's warps. Once there, we prepared the mana for the ritual to take place.

It took a few hours, and Torix was once again floored by my mana generation. At this point, he argued it was a selling point for the guild as a whole. I could fly in, charge a blue core, then zoom out before the day was over. Profitable business strategies aside, the final portion of the ritual was the most straightforward pat.

Torix needed a tough, mana pliable object for his phylactery. I took out a chunk of myself and melted it down into a dodecahedron. Once made, the ritual was ready to take place.

Around us, we surrounded ourselves with the dense, abundant life of the silver's territory. We cleared the field of spires within the ritual site, giving an open view of the sky. Around us, Torix controlled a vast army of silvers on the outskirts of the ritual site. I created golems of metal using quintessence for him to drain from. Combine that with the gargoylic angels, and the sheer volume of life mirrored a compact city.

I extended the Rise of Eden outward, using life creation all around us. A swarm of color expanded from the metal as quintessence rushed into the expanding jungle around us. After several minutes of growing a field of developing life, I added to this density further. The Rise of Eden even strengthened those here, giving them more life force.

Torix took the dodecahedron towards the center of the site, getting his mindset ready for the transferrence. I followed him, choosing to stay silent so he could organize his thoughts.

Torix floated the dodecahedron onto the monolith's centerpiece. It hovered over the central pillar, the red steeple made of congealed bloodstone, a kind of organic crystal. Intricate linework traced its surface with deeply etched lines spreading out from it. As the centerpiece, it acted as the ritual's heart.

Both of us standing beside it, Torix inspected the dense jungle around us,

”You've become rather adept at creating life. It's rare for an individual to create it with this sheer amount of volume. In fact, creating your forestry in these barren landscapes, it feels surreal as if living out a dream at times.”

I raised my eyebrows, ”I just have a lot of mana to swing around. I'm honestly not all that technical with quintessence yet.”

Torix peered around,

”Perhaps, though it's impressive nonetheless. I know that individuals with large mana pools tend to struggle with finesse in regards to their sorcery. It's the same as coordinating an army of a hundred versus an army of ten. The more you have to control, the more difficult control becomes.”

I cupped my chin, ”Maybe that's why I make too many crabs sometimes.”

Torix cackled before scoffing, ”You're more crustacean than human if we dwell on the topic. Your armor is a shell at this point, guarding the softer insides, much like an exoskeleton.”

I shook my head, ”It's more than a shell now. It's my blood, my bones, and my skin. I am it, and it is me.”

Torix tilted his head, ”How does your heartbeat then? Sweat as well, how does that work?”

I shrugged, ”I haven't sweated really since my last evolution. I don't think there's an ounce of water in me anymore. Besides all that, what about you? Do you really know how you stay alive in a body like that?”

Torix stared at his dry, cracking form, ”Hm...Perhaps some questions are better left unanswered. Now, we've prepared the recipients. The more living individuals we may fit within this circle, the better. You obviously took that candidly considering the throng of individuals here.”

Torix gestured towards me, staring down, ”I understand this last requirement of the ritual is staggering, yet I still ask it off you. The final piece of the phylactery process will require a primary energy source to act as an impetus for the process.”

I rolled my hands, ”Yeah, you said something about some lifespan, right? I'm ready for it.”

Torix met my eye, ”That is precisely correct. This will require upwards of a thousand years of your lifespan, Daniel. This is a serious commitment. You could easily die despite your vitality. I wouldn't ask this off you, but hopping between the bodies will be impossible otherwise. I simply lack the skill I would otherwise need.”

I waved my hand, ”It's actually not that big a deal. I got this perk forever ago. It gives me one year of life for each eldritch I kill that's over level 1,000. I'm sure that counts for silvers and Hybrids too. In fact, I think have more than one. It's hard to remember. Either way, I got wayyyy more than a thousand years left in me regardless.”

Torix coughed into his hand, ”Ok...Well then, I suppose it will sting a bit. What are a mere thousand years in the face of the Harbinger of Cataclysm? Nothing, apparently. I assume we'll begin the ritual now then?”

”Sounds good.”

Torix pulled out his grimoire, turning towards me. A few pages later in Torix's tome, and he began the ritual to lichdom. A hollow, draining sensation encompassed me as a dark aura gripped my soul itself. Torix murmured,

”This is a dark medium used to channel the life force. It acts as a 'room' for my soul to inhabit within the phylactery. The more you feed it, the more it will grow. This strengthens the structure of it, allowing me to expand my potential over time. Just feed it the bare minimum for now. We can develop it later if need be.”

I gave him a thumbs up, ”Of course.”

The dark thing began siphoning energy, expanding with each bit of life force I gave it. It burned a bit, like stepping into bathwater that was too hot. In classic Daniel fashion, I stuck to a reasonable amount of life force. With a connection fully established, I gave it a substantial chunk of my life force.

I underestimated how much I had at my disposal. A wave of vitality deluged towards the phylactery. Torix strained out his words, ”I told you to send as much as it needed.”

I let my hands slap against my sides, ”Look, man, I didn't even give it half.”

The phylactery laughed with glee. A few thousand years, and it began choking on the flood. After about twelve millennia's worth of life later, give or take a few centuries, the medium could take no more. Waves of blue mana flooded out of the monolith, falling into the metal below. Torix scratched the side of his head,

”Huh...that was...fast. Any estimates on the life force?”

I gave Torix a thumbs-up, feeling a bit drained, ”Plenty.”

Torix shrugged, ”I'd rather you not overdo it, but I'll accept any extra you've given. Now, let's begin the controlling process. With two minds, this will prove simpler than me finagling this medium on my own. This is dependent on the amount of life force-fed to the creature, however. You fed it more, so it will prove more difficult than normal.”

I pointed at the translucent, spooky specter, ”Do we like...suppress it?”

”Ahem, essentially, yes.”

My armor grinned at the ghoulish ghost, and I molded Event Horizon over it, condensing the aura over the thing. I thundered while pointing at the soon-to-be phylactery,

”Get in there before I make you drown in your own ectoplasm.”