Unlife

[15:09] Nidaz says, "Val, come."
[15:09] Valamir says, "Yessir"
[15:10] Nidaz says, "Mmmhmm."
[15:11] Nidaz asks, "So.. What do you think that this all is about?"
[15:11] Nidaz says, "The reason for me to bring you here."
[15:11] Nidaz says, "This is."
[15:11] Valamir says, "Nidaz. Gonna level with you here. My head's been fucked up for the past few months. So I ain't got the damnest clue right now."
[15:11] Nidaz says, "..."

Sighing, the necromancer would slowly begin to descend while in the air, until his feet touched the cold floor of his lab. Undead were already waiting for him there, who brought his chair over to him, where Nidaz soon sat down.

His silver-colored gaze fell onto his apprentice, who seemed to be as distracted as the fleshcrafter himself these days.. Well, happens, but this needed to change.

Regardless, the time has come for what would probably be the biggest step in Nidaz's research in the study of necromancy! And also.. What would be the price to get the power of 'voices'.

Truly, a big step.

For this, there were several bodies placed over the tables around the lab, the main one was on Nidaz's table, the one that would be used by him. All were in excellent condition, as if they had recently died.

And they did, because that was a necessary factor for the procedure to be conducted..

Gesturing towards the bodies, he would return a look at his apprentice and soon his voice would come out, "It is very simple my dear apprentice, just look at what is resting on the tables and you will know." And now he would wait for an answer as he prepared everything else that was needed.

After all, this was not just about him, but also about Val! This was an opportunity for him to learn the art of Fleshcrafting, using those bodies that were provided by the necromancer to him.
(Nidaz)

A squint was given as Valamir's eyes scanned carefully over the bodies.

Comparative to what Val's usual tendency to be quick to get the picture, he took... Quite a bit longer than the would-be 'norm'. It wasn't as if he was dense. More so... Strained.

"Uuuhm… Bodies... Apprentice..."

oh.

"Ah! Right! You said there was work to be done with Fleshcrafting and such! Yes! I remember now!" he'd proclaim at first, snapping his fingers.

For now, though, rather than move closer. He'd wait. Not really certain what the point was, of having so many fresh bodies to work with, as opposed to just one or two.

"Hmm... So... What was the work that needed to be done, again? I mean... It's been a while since I've actually utilized the techniques... So I may be missing something from the idleness' affects."
(Valamir)

Crossing his legs and opening a smile, he points in the direction of one of the bodies, in this case the one that rested on the table closest to Val and then said, "I want you to open that body and study its internal organs! Heart, stomach, spine and brain!

Several points, which are connected to the magic circuits. Study them and tell me what you found! Then, fill their circuits with your mana and try to control the body!

Here is your task.. If you are not able to do this, there are some animal bodies in the boxes, do the same with them, it is easier than a human body." Finishing speaking, he would rotate in his chair, positioning himself facing his table and the body that was over it, "In the meantime, I will try to revive this body over here and bring his soul back to it!

Necromancy.

It will be something like what I did to you, so this is another reason why you are here. You.. 'Helped', in my research. So, this is the least I can do for you, allowing you to see the progress!" He comments, without looking away while addressing Val.

Without further ado, it was time to perform the procedure, one that would need extreme attention and concentration, "Now, focus on the task I gave you.. Because I will have to concentrate now!

So avoid asking too many questions.. Just.. Work." As he said that, his right hand was slowly raised and then positioned over his guinea pig's forehead on the table.

No more words had been said, for now it was time to work.
(Nidaz)


No questions were asked. Anatomy wasn't hard at all to understand. He was a Medic after all. And what doctor in this day and age wasn't familiar with human organs at the very least?

Not a good one.

Val simply offered a nod- Grabbing the body, and hoisting it over to a separate table. It was much easier to work with dead people, over living. Dead ones didn't squirm or fight when you tried to do experiments on them! So there was no need for restraints as well.

"Mmh… I see." he'd respond.

He was far more interested in the aspects of soul manipulation. But that would have to come afterwards.

Unzipping the top of his bag, he'd reach in, and scramble a hand around for a container within- Pulling it out, and placing it next to the cadaver.

Opening the box, their array of tools would be readily available inside, albeit messy and disorganized. He'd shift some tools around, and then take out the scalpel, and a pen.

First came the incisions, for which he used the pen to mark the approximate areas of where he'd need to cut, marking the locations with square-like shapes, albeit missing one side, so that it can simply be closed and stitched back together afterward. No sense wasting a perfectly good body. Two marks were made. One, rather long mark on the torso, and another, smaller one on the forehead.

With the marks set, next he brought out the scalpel- Pressing the sharp blade into the flesh to get the cut going- And then carefully dragging it along the lines he had made on the torso- Creating a vague 'flap' of sorts, that he could peel back to look inside. Soon enough, he did the same thing with the forehead. A bit less careful, given the skull protected the brain for the moment.

Now it was time for the more tricky part. He made one more mark on the revealed bone- A single, black dot. With that, he put the scalpel and pen away, before getting out a small mallet and something that looked like a shiv- Pressing the sharp tip steadily against the black dot- And of course, as would be expected, the mallet came down on the blunt end to hammer it into the bone, causing cracks to form, until eventually, a decent portion of the protective barrier of bone was broken apart, allowing visage of the unsightly gray matter!
(Valamir)

The task was given and his apprentice soon began to perform it, without complaints, without questions, perfect. It was a good opportunity to learn, especially now that Nidaz had time to do so..

Which was relatively rare, considering the fact that he had to deal much more with Achyon's political problems for the simple reason that he was a Councilman, than anything else.

His life was a mess, no wonders that Trik offered him the job so easily. Alas, it was not something he was going to complain about now..

He had work to do.

Taking a deep breath the Necromancer would begin to concentrate his mana into the palm of his hand, his eyes were open at this time, but which remained focused on the body. Slowly mana would begin to flow from the man's fingertips and then go in the direction of the body's circuits.

In small quantities, but steadily as always.

Mana traced its way through the various mana circuits that were over the dead man's head, thus beginning to fill the brain circuits with energy. Such a procedure took only a few minutes, where as it was a dead body it was even easier..

If that were a living person, the very own mana of the being would oppose that of Nidaz, which would cause pain to the individual and would also hinder the procedure.. Something that obviously doesn't happen with the dead.

Truly, this was good.

From the brain, mana would flow to the body's backbone, beginning to fill the circuits that surrounded it. After it was completely filled, the mana flowed into the heart.

This was quickly filled in and then started to beat! As one should. With each beat, mana began to pulse and go to the other circuits that were spread throughout the body, filling every single one, thus concluding the first part of the process..

And now the situation complicated started.

The necromancer's eyes were quickly drawn towards an orb of light that seemed to float around the body, but which just stayed there.. Hovering around. It didn't move, either to the body or back to where it came from.. It just stayed there.

The soul, something so pure and beautiful to see and at the same time so fragile, more resistant thanks to the barrier that protected it..

To move it, someone had to know on how, where Nidaz was that person.. His reaserch all lead to this moment, it was now or never.
(Nidaz)

Valamir was more so focused on his own work for the time being. Unable to take his eyes off the corpse that he was handling, as he would soon have to run his own mana through it, in order to gaze more intricately at the circuits tied to the organs!

And so, without much further procedure- He began. Pressing a hand to the side of the corpse that laid with open incisions, he'd close his eyes, thoroughly searching through his own circuits, until he reached the hand that was touching the dead flesh- Using this to form a vague connection, somewhat similar to using metal as a conductor for transfer of electrical charge.

His mana gradually flowed in from his circuits, and into the cadaver's inactive series of them. This would be the first time he worked with circuits as complex as his own. And at that- Also empty, meaning more mana was needed to explore the alien circuits in full.

The man's eyes opened once more, Sienna hues aglow as he started to use a vague 'crutch' he discovered, by 'spiking' his own mana with Occult energy, he was able to seek out the circuits with a certain amount of ease, given the innate nature of the magic, to act anonymously in infesting a host entirely.

Circuit by circuit, the mana eventually reached the organs, causing them to give off a dull glow from the reintroduction of mana, which then would soon fade as it regulated amidst the spread. Every bit of flesh had circuits tied to them in one way or another.

The mana eventually spread through limbs, causing vague reactions from the decaying musculature, resulting in a few seizes, and flinches from the dead flesh. Once it reached the neck, it stopped however. The brain was not reached before Valamir ran out of energy to continue, having acted a bit hastily in the process after the lower organs, over being slow and methodic throughout. The result was the expended mana beginning to escape through the body's pores, giving a vague look of mist coming up from the cadaver, as the magic faded back into the world around it.

Simply put; Valamir wasn't quite ready to revive a human corpse just yet.
(Valamir)

During his experiments with the soul, such as they were mainly done with living beings, Nidaz was able to discover that the only way to manipulate a soul, was with an indirect form utilizing his mana, due to the fact that there was a protective barrier to the around the light orb..

An annoying thing, that one day he would have to find a way to destroy it.

Another thing was that the body used in the procedure should be that of someone who at least died recently, in less than ten years at the most. Otherwise, the soul would not appear.. He didn't know exactly why yet, he had no way of knowing..

But his tests led him to that conclusion.

And now, it was time to carry out the last stage of his experiments, this being to trap the soul back into a body. Something he had never done before, so that would be relatively new for him.

But he already knew how it all worked, so it shouldn't be a problem if he did it correctly.

Again taking a deep breath, he would begin to make the guinea pig's body mana, begin to move towards the orb of light that floated above.. First, what could be noticed is that the mana coma out as small shiny particles, just like cosmic dust, but that soon began to take shape..

The adopted form, seemed to be of chains, that moved almost as if they had their own life towards the soul, meandering in their path. Where there was not just one chain, but several, which began to envelop the orb..

So, starting to hold the soul with the fleshcrafter's mana.

All the while Nidaz was watching that closely, his eyes 'glassy', ​​so much so that he didn't even blink. His focus was totally on that procedure, because the smallest possible error could have huge consequences..

Something he was not willing to do.

With the soul trapped by chains made of Mana, the necromancer would now continue the procedure, starting to force the soul to go into the body, which was being pulled by the mana of the necromancer that surrounded it.

Such a factor was only possible due to the deal that Nidaz had made with an Primordial, the son of death. Something he never regretted.. Since this allowed him to do things like this.

But still, he would one day try to get his soul back.

Slowly the soul was moving towards the body, but it seemed to try to escape at all times from the necromancer's chains and what was quite new to see.. Never before have souls tried to escape from their mana, perhaps because they were attached to the bodies.. Maybe, that was probably it.

Regardless, he couldn't let that happen, so he increased the amount of mana that was flowing into the body, making the chains of mana around the soul even more stronger than before! Something that would probably make Nidaz tired, but he didn't care much at the moment..

It was now or never, he could not fail this time.
(Nidaz)

Although Nidaz was able to remain calm and collect, Valamir on the other hand, seemed to be quick to let his temper toward failure get the better of him. Eyebrow twitching at the sight of the limp body. Surely, he should've been able to revive it?

And so. He'd try again, rather mistakenly, on the same body. This time, pressing both hands against it, starting out immediately with Occult-infused mana.

At the very least, this wasn't horribly distracting, aside from the usual depravity that such actions would generate.

Of course- Such continued haste, would not end well, and from any other perspective- The result would make it look like Valamir was burning the body in Occult flame out of sheer anger, in spite of that not quite being the intent.

As said event is on-going, the young mane mutter a "son-of-a..." before backing off, and reaching a hand into his bag- Fishing around in it.

Eventually, he'd pull free a few chunks of Tyrium, and quickly shoved them into the Occult flame, that of which was rapidly eating away at the cadaver.

Luckily, the peculiar ore was able to, per say, kill the flame, before it was able to reach the table, and then likely more of the items inside.

Val had failed his own test here, so hopefully, Nidaz was having more luck.
(Valamir)

This was not the first test that Nidaz performs on a corpse, he was already a man of a certain age, who has already performed several experiments during the years of his life, multiple of which were situations like that one..

Calm was the only thing he could keep at moments like this, as he had learned from his mistakes that nothing good would happen if he got angry.. Or showed any other emotions.

Such experience was demonstrated in the way he behaved, standing in upright posture, with his eyes fully attentive and from time to time some features taking over his face, such as a smile, but in general it was kept in full nullity..

He knew how to do it..

As he now advanced into the final stages of his experiment, it was time for the soul to enter the body, which already touched the chest of the corpse. Such an action caused more mana to come from the body and start to envelop the soul, but this time this mana did not take shape and so it just looked like a thin layer of cosmic particles around the orb of light, which was soon completely engulfed by mana.. Being taken directly into the body.

More and more mana was used, which made Nidaz shiver due to tiredness, but he never stopped the procedure.. Not even for a moment. He had to finish what he started.

The soul quickly made its forced way to the center of the body, in the center of all the magic circuits, in the place where it is normally located.. Thus, the mana started to connect the circuits direct to the soul, beginning the process to imprison it there.

Which helpless, was not able to do anything.. Now being under the total control of the Necromancer.

So on, the procedure was completed and so Nidaz could stop making his mana flow to the body, such an act that made him stagger back and fall sitting onto the chair, extremely tired. It was the first time he actually did something like that, so it was expected to drain him a lot..

Even though he performed similar processes.

A few seconds of silence followed. Nidaz stayed collapsed on the chair with only his eyes turned towards the body, which remained immobile.,

This fact continued for seconds.. Not even a inch of the body moved.. Until.. Something happened! Movements were noticed! It has started.

Spasms started, followed by movements in the fingers that started to beat against the table and then in the shoulders that started to move. Slowly the entire body would start to shake and sway from side to side on the table restlessly!

The first part is something that would occur frequently in the art of Fleshcrafting, but that was usually caused due to the will of the fleshcrafter, but here it was not Nidaz making the body move, it was moving on its own!

It was working.. It truly was working!

And then, suddenly, the body that was just having simple movements before, stood up from the waist up, but still sitting on the table. It started extending its arms forward in the air and opening his eyes! Which seemed almost empty, with only a false 'hint' of life.

After all.. This was not a truly revived person.. Just 'half', something that only a necromancer could provide.

The being screamed in with all its might for a moment, as if something was coming towards him! Like he was about to die. But then.. He stopped abruptly and looked around, where upon seeing Nidaz, he shuddered in panic and fear.

The necromancer, on the other hand, had a huge smile on his face, weak, but it was there. After all, his experiment had been a success, he had actually revived a person and it was right in front of him!

Success in the end.. He had done something that not even Trik was able to do! But this.. Was only the start.
(Nidaz)

Val, busy cleaning up his own mess of a revival attempt for the flesh, paid little mind to Nidaz's work at the time- Quickly shuffling the ore he had used as a counteractive measure back into his back- Along with his box of tools.

But then that /noise/. That awful, shriek-like noise. It was an annoyance on top of the failure Valamir's attempt had resulted in. And he hated it. His first reaction was turning with a hand partially raised whilst engulfed in Occult flame.

Then. He saw the source of the noise- Which allowed curiosity to overwrite the anger well enough for the time being.

An Undead creature. One with imported sentience. Peculiar, and wonderful in its own right. Yet, it still smelled of death and decay, like any other cadaver.

A lie couldn't be made in regards to this. Such a feat made Val envy his mentor's own Primordial-given gifts. But, not to any degree of wanting to sell his own soul toward stealing souls from... Wherever Nidaz might be taking them from.

Taking souls from people already in the mortal realm worked well enough- In spite of currently lacking the ability to fully see them.

"Hmm... Any idea who this one was before death? Or did you just grasp at straws, Nidaz?" he'd question. Staring intently at the Undead.

"Either way... These things are superbly ironic... Difficult to create. Yet? So easy to undo in comparison."
(Valamir)

The man stretched out his hands in the direction of his creation, a gaze of pure fascination was given to that being, mainly because he clearly had his own mind and was not one of the meat puppets that Nidaz normally used.. No!

It was something new!

Standing up with some difficulty, while leaning on one of his undead, the necromancer would begin to speak, "After years of research, study and having given in to many things, I finally achieved one of my goals..

One of many.. But which was a great step!

I accomplished something that not even the great Fleshcrafter that Trik, was able achieve! Not Wolfgang! Not anyone else! It was me and only me!

And you, my dear Val, saw everything from the beginning.. You know its true." He would comment, taking a brief look in the direction of his apprentice, before returning his gaze to his sentient undead, "You will be called Primis! The first of many of my beings who shall receive a second chance at life." When he finished speaking, he would snap his fingers and undeads would approach the being on the table and take him by the arms.

The creature in turn tried to scream, but it was as if something prevented it from speaking and even move, this being obviously Nidaz. So, he was taken somewhere by the necromancer's servants.. For more test to be conducted later on.

Now, he would answer Val's questions, "An Osrona warrior, he tried to invade the Silverwall mines. It was his worst and last mistake..

I recently received his body and now I gave it life again! A second chance. Fascinating isn't it? And yes, very, very difficult to create.. But I am sure that I will find an easier way to do it.

Soon..

Anything else?" He would question, the weak tone was clear in his voice, he needed some rest..

Regardless, this not only completed his necromancy experiments, but it also served him to acquire what he would offer to the voices.. In exchange for what was offered to him.

The Gift.

Everything seemed to fit together and soon, Nidaz would get what he wanted.
(Nidaz)

Val simply shook his head as he watched the revived figure be dragged away. How disappointing. How...

Pathetic.

This was what they had been trying to work toward? A creature with sentience only to the point where the Necromancer desired? Uninteresting and dull.

Mere walking cadavers were the others- And this new one? All it had was a voice, in relativity to what free will they would've had in life. It seems his own workings in this would need modifications, if they were toward what he imagined for the future. But oh well. This was Nidaz. Not him.

"You've given a puppet a brain... How wonderful... I don't understand it though. Why not bring someone of actual worth back? Osronan, undead or not, are ill likely to simply obey mindlessly. And if they do? Goes to show it's not that great of a step forward...

Funny enough, I think I even prefer Mistakes' company over something like that... Just a screaming cadaver... But I suppose this is only the first, then. So I shouldn't be too hasty in that wording... Mmh."

Val then turned over toward Nidaz, and rolled their shoulders.

"I may need... Assistance. It's becoming harder and harder to restrain my own magic... And the Occult has... Destructive side effects on unattuned things... Cadavers included..." he'd mention, briefly gesturing to the partially destroyed body he was using previously.

"Any recommendations there?"
(Valamir)

The necromancer raised his eyebrow when he heard his pupil's words, what kind of question was that, could he not notice the answer to the question in front of himself? Alas, Nidaz would have to answer..

After all, he was a teacher.

Waving his right hand in the air, with a relatively null expression on the face, words were soon emitted, "Well, first I needed to conduct tests, this is what I did. Because if I failed and damaged the body? I couldn't bring the person back to life..

It would be even worse if this was someone important., It is a risk that I am not willing to take.

And these creatures are forced to obey me, clearly they can act as they want, but I can prevent that since my mana is the one that flows through their bodies. They can talk and think, something that Mistakes do too, but only thanks to a lot of work done in order for him to be able to do..

These undeads are much simpler, but complex at the same time in a way. Do you understand?" Finishing up, he would shrug.. And wait for an answer.

Now the issue about occultic powers was not something that he could help a lot with, after all he was not an occultist, he didn't know how it could affect a person. Of course, cosmic magic was similar, but on a much lower level than occultism..

Again, shrugging, he would continue, "I can't help much with this, I recommend going to talk to a more experienced occultist, maybe someone like that can help.

Otherwise.. Take some time to master your own magic. It should work. If not? I don't know what to do!"
(Nidaz)

Master his own magic? He did desire to do that, though... With Imogen's recent absence, that has a far more bumpy road than what would normally be appreciated by the young Occultist.

"Perhaps... Mmh… Maybe... Tell me. Have you seen Imogen around lately? I may need their assistance with something... And perhaps yours, someday soon. But... I do need to figure something out... Something Selene told me about quite some time ago...

Even if it means my head will likely be hunted by the majority of the world for it, like Imogen says... It should at least be a thrill between that and my own head rolling if that is the case..."

He'd nod, smiling slightly to himself with a chuckle. Then, shaking his head as he moved to the former subject.

"That's fair enough... Mmh. But perhaps I'm going about this wrong... I am just trying to imitate a single method of creating undead...

And it does make sense, now that you point it out... I guess I thought you'd already had a growing success rate beforehand."
(Valamir)

He would nod to the young man amiably, "I will help you soon, don't worry. And no, I haven't seen her in a while, she must be looking after her son.." He would shrug, it wasn't something he really cared about, since the mafia hadn't even helped him in a long time, "Alright, now I need to rest. Would you like to say anything, before I go?"

And then he would wait for an answer, so he could go home and rest.
(Nidaz)

Val gave a light nod, and allowed a grin to creep along his features.

"I am curious. Do you know anything of something by the name of Death Magic?

Imogen and Selene were quite... Informative about it. So I was wondering if you might have any ideas about it as well."
(Valamir)

Picking up his cane, he starts walking towards the man, "Just that it's a rather rare 'branch' of occult.. Only a few people were able to achieve it. Besides that? Nothing."
(Nidaz)

The young man offered a light chuckle, and simply nods.

"Well then. You know what exactly I'm aiming for. Of course. First comes research..."
(Valamir)

[19:30] Nidaz says, "It does yes.. A lot of reserch."
[19:30] Valamir says, "Question is... Where to begin... The Witches are rather secretive, so they've been of little help..."
[19:32] Nidaz says, "Then."
[19:32] Nidaz exclaims, "Steal it!"
[19:32] Nidaz says, "From another occultist that knows about it."
[19:33] Valamir exclaims, "That's the plan! I'll tell you about a little something I've been looking into regarding that, when you've more energy to plan this type of thing out!"
[19:36] Nidaz says, "Sure.."
[19:36] Nidaz says, "Do it."
[19:37] Valamir says, "Mhmm. Rest well, Nidaz."
[19:47] Nidaz says, "Mhm."