The Runesmith

The Lich hesitated, the stairs leading up to the great expanse were right before it. Its minions had already paved the way forward but it was still second-guessing itself. Something deep inside of its very being was telling it to go back and wait. The army it had now was huge but with time it could get bigger, was there a reason to rush?

Just as anxiety about leaving the confines of a dungeon filled its core, there was also immense curiosity about what was out there. This second feeling overshadowed its fear and made it take the first step up. It had been able to defeat its enemies before, it should be able to get through this again.

The fleshy ones that had run must have been trembling out of fear as they didn’t enter the dungeon at all. This was a confirmation of its power, that nothing out there would be able to stop it. There was nothing it should fear and thus it started walking slowly. Up and up the stairs it went all the way to the promised land that it had imagined for its short existence.

Finally, it was there, the monsters it created spread to the sides to make a path for the Lich. A gust of wind hit its boney face which it couldn’t really feel due to its physiology. There was one thing that it could feel however, and this was the ambient mana in the air. To its surprise, the concentration was lower than expected. Considering this was the region that the armored one came from and the beam attack was quite concentrated it was a bit confusing.

This Lich was expecting a bit more from the great beyond, it was hoping to find a place filled with magic and answers. As it stood now there wasn’t really anything here besides large green objects that were somewhat alive but didn’t seem to possess any intelligence. All of them had a faint trace of mana but it was so minuscule that it wasn’t even worth investigating.

What the monster desired was the place that the armored one came from. One of its creatures discovered the location it was staying but the Lich needed to make sure it was still there. For this reason, it moved forward to a place where it could use a spell. The monster army that it created started shuffling their feet to make way while also a large part was still walking through the dungeon entrance.

The monster’s skeletal staff which was now enhanced by various mana stones and gems it found in the dungeon started producing a green glow. Normally a human mage would need to vocalize the magical words during spell casting, this monster was a creature of magic, and thanks to one of its skills it could forgo such a limit. This lessened the time required to produce the effect and countered most interruption attempts that regular mages were susceptive to.

Soon the result of the spell started taking shape. A large amount of green mist started swirling around the menacing Lich. This mist started taking shape of small skulls with glowing eyes. Within a minute a huge number of these swirling ghost skulls was hovering around the skeletal caster.

The monster raised its staff into the air and the dancing skulls followed after it. A sudden high-pitched screech escaped from each skull's mouth as they suddenly burst forth in all directions. Some of them flew up into the air while others sunk down into the earth while traveling in all possible directions.

Were it trees, stones, or even living beings, nothing could interfere with these green phantoms. They just passed through everything they came in contact with while constantly releasing a banshee-like wail. The Lich remained locked in one spot while moving its staff around, the spell continued to feed it information as it spread its mana senses into these fast skulls.

It could see it all, the whole landscape of this world revealed itself to it. Previously it could only contemplate the information its undead minions related to it. Their senses were dull and could not really interpret this world as well as their master. Before it was a large walled-out fortress, not even an hour's walk from this location. It was clear that the fleshy beings it met in the dungeon had their nesting ground there. If it could take that place over it would allow it to create an even better army.

This was only the tip of the iceberg as one could see many roads leading from this settlement. The monster knew that wherever there was a path that something had to be at the end of it. Even the dirt road leading from this dungeon brought it to that city. The world was truly vast and the monster could not stop shaking from all the possibilities.

Even though the city was revealed to it, this was not the first act it was going to perform. No, there was something else that it was targeting, a vastly smaller building about halfway toward this settlement. This was the location that it needed to go, the being that allowed it to exist in this state was there. The mana pattern that was inside of it needed to be studied further and perhaps making that creature into one of its minions would produce an interesting effect, it just needed to know.

There was a problem as the skulls that it sent out started being snuffed out. When trying to pass through the city walls a strange energy dissipated them. The phantom skulls were able to relay a lot of information along with the mana pattern.

The moment it felt it the Lich felt disgusted, what was that dreadful mana, it felt like it was something that went against its very being. It felt instant animosity, this mana could not be left alone to exist, and anything that was able to produce it needed to die. It was as if a switch was triggered inside of its head that it almost failed to control.

This was not the only setback that it had noticed. The same energy existed in the lair of the armored one and its spell had been eradicated as well. To add insult to injury there was a large number of fleshy beings hidden in the woods, examining it and even hidden corridors that were filled with more beings.

The Lich was becoming conflicted, what was it supposed to do first? Should it go after the larger threat that was the city filled with strange creatures or do what it wanted and pay a visit to its armored benefactor? What if the beings from the city decided to interfere with its plan? What if the armored one decided to run to that city to seek shelter?

After the incident in the dungeon, it knew that it wasn’t truly invincible. That beam of mana could kill it but only if it continued to not dodge it as previously. It had made a blunder of focusing on the mana pattern too much. If it increased the strength of its magic shield then even that beam wouldn’t be able to make it through.

The decision was practically made for it as a familiar construct appeared near it. It was one of the blue armored insects and for some reason, it was generating the armored one’s mana pattern. It was as if it was being beckoned there by it. Something inside of it continued to push it toward that direction. It was unable to keep itself from pursuing this truth that it had been waiting to unearth for its entire existence.

Finally, it had made a decision, it just had to go after it, there was no other way to scratch this itch that was forming inside of its core. It just needed to get to the source of that magic pattern. The city would have to wait for it but this didn’t mean that the troops that it gathered here would remain stationary.

It beckoned the Skeletal mage over that was part of the obsidian ones. One last phantom skull remained from the spell that it made and it slowly faded into the skeletal spell caster. The moment it did their vision became combined and it could use the creature as a proxy. It would use this skeletal magician that was the closest to it in stature as a means to order its army.

Finally, everything moved, the monsters turned towards the city filled with people and the ones hidden away in the forests and below ground. While it contended with the armored being, its army would siege the city and keep everyone from interfering with the research. The many magical devices that were stored there would all be examined and the one that made them taken apart, in the end, it would consume all of the knowledge that were in its bones.

…

“It took the bait…”

Roland had been surprised by a strange green ghost phasing through into his workshop. It was created by the skeletal monster and was potentially some kind of tracking spell. The moment it was here he triggered a lesser divine spell that was able to quickly eradicate this hex. At first, he thought the plan had been a failure but the monster seemed to act as he had expected it to.

He had sent out a spider drone into the forest to be stationed at the edge of the detection range of those other undead. it was then ordered to produce a magical effect that should have been detected by the Lich. Previously it had not been able to contain itself from charging toward his mana and this time around it was the same.

“Even if that was a tracking spell or detection spell it shouldn’t have been able to notice anything yet.”

There was no reason to panic yet, he had been making preparations for an entire week. The monster had a keen mana sense which was one of its biggest fortes but this he was going to turn into a weakness. This monster was intelligent and it possibly could learn from its mistakes. Thus if it was logical it would have probably sent its army to his workshop first before committing to an attack by itself.

That was the logical and better strategy when going to an unknown location. It had many disposable minions and no morals to hold it back. Yet instead of following that thought process, it started moving in the direction of the spider drone Roland left behind. Just like in the dungeon it gave chase and thanks to this he could move to phase two of his plan. Unless the monster split itself from the main forces he would have probably been forced to retreat but as it stood now his foolhardy plan had some merit to it.

“There is certainly something with that monster that draws it to my mana, now I’m sure of it but this doesn’t mean that it will make the same mistake as last time.”

While the easiest way to take care of it would have been the large mana cannon, Roland wasn’t sure about the validity of that approach working. Previously the monster didn’t activate its magical defenses and took the hit intentionally. It could have easily lasted through the blast because as it stood, the creature's magical stats were above Rolands.

This was quite a dangerous move and he knew it. The only reason that he was able to reason himself into this situation was that he was on his home turf. Here where his generators were along with the many turrets and other magical devices, he felt more ready than ever. It wasn’t as if he had never been able to defeat a monster that out-leveled him, one of his titles was Tier Breaker.

“It’s coming here but that small army is on the move too.”

On his map, he could see the mass of dots moving along with the large one representing the Lich. While it had increased its speed and was going through the forest by itself the skeletons were going through the main road. It seemed that they were going to attack the city while the master went after the spider drone that was now baiting it to the first trap.

‘They will be fine, right?’

This time around he was alone in his home with only Agni keeping him company. Bernir along with his wife and Elodia with the orphans was behind the city gates. The five tier 3 undead that he was seeing on the map were also heading towards the city that was still waiting for the backup it was promised. While they could probably contend with the blazing skeletons the five obsidian ones would potentially produce casualties.

‘At least one of them was capable of flying, it won’t have trouble getting into the city but that guy should be able to handle it.’

“Awoo!”

“Well Agni, this is it, remember to keep to the plan, I won’t be able to save you if something goes wrong otherwise, and just remember… if he gets too close, just run away.”

“Awoof!”

Agni’s ears stood up at attention and his tail started wagging. For a change, he would be able to actually help out during a critical moment. Usually, he was left behind or had to hide behind his master or sent away to hide somewhere to not get in the way. Now on the other hand he could actually help thanks to one area he was superior in, his speed.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Both of them sprinted out of the confines of the workshop where the larger map screen was. The distance between the dungeon and his house was around half an hour on foot. The monster had a faster traveling speed than that and it seemed impatient. Its forces were also moving towards the city which had to contend with its own problem.

‘Would be nice if I could get that baldie to take care of this Lich for me, but no use even asking him.’

The whole thing was made on the assumption that the Lich would abandon its army and chase after the mana pattern instead. If he tried to explain it to anyone else then it would probably fall on deaf ears. There was also the problem of too many people being at risk if the guild master left his post and thus he was left with a small window of time to take care of this monster.

‘I probably won’t have much time before it calls for backup, I need to take care of it and get out of here if I fail…’

His presumption was that the Lich would give chase but this didn’t mean that all of the monsters that were with him would just wait there. Just like that time the gargoyle variant saved the Lich in the dungeon he had to expect something similar to happen here. First of all, he needed to have his enemy drop his guard, after the last time with the magical cannon it was probably at least slightly weary.

“Okay Agni, remember what we practiced, lead it through the route and use the trees.”

“Woof!”

Roland wasn’t sure about this but he was unable to create a golem that was near the speed of his ruby wolf. What he needed to do was lure the monster towards his house but through the zones that he had prepared a nice welcoming. As it stood now the golem that was baiting it here would be caught up to around the halfway point towards the destination, from that point forth it would be up to Agni to get it here where he was waiting and the final trap awaited.

‘I wonder how those guys are doing, those monsters are acting a bit strange this time around, it’s as if they noticed something… wait isn’t that the location of that tunnel?’While Agni was going for his designated spot Roland took time to look at the situation. He could see three of the tier 3 undead going towards the city by following the main road. The two other tier 3’s on the other hand were going in different directions and it wasn’t his house. One of these locations contained an entrance to the thieves guild that he actually knew about but wasn’t available for merchants like him to use.

‘Could that spell have revealed some of the hidden locations?’

Now, this was quite the predicament. The thieves guild tunnels went under the city. Even if the wall held out it would be meaningless if the two undead monsters went through the tunnels and sprung up inside the city. Roland quickly sprinted back to his house where the crystal ball was connected to Elodia’s house.

‘Shit, Lobelia better be there… I should also probably contact Arthur, maybe he can get something done…’

His plan involved taking the Lich on a hike through the forest and during that time the monsters would surely attack the city. Now with the threat of them getting into the thieve guild tunnels, everything got a lot more complicated…