necromancy 5

[13:59:02] No longer bound within the walls of Cinderfall or its dungeon, Saulot snuck out of city; the rune was still gleaming on his hand, but he felt no power from it affecting him... with that in mind, he just had to risk and try out to see whether it will actually have any effect, even if it would mean him getting hurt - as Firekeepers were telling him that attempting Necromancy would cause great harm to him, up to death even.

Whether that was true or false he was yet to see.
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Sneaking out of Cinderfall was easy for Saulot, however. The Art of Riftmancy was opening the doors of almost entire Valmasia before him, making him capable of traversing absolutely anywhere he had been at least once. With that in mind, he assumed to travel to Bygonegroove, the area under control by New Alterosi forces, thus unreachable for Cinderfall.

The forest itself, however, was known to host countless Yokai and bandits. Sure, they weren't really dangerous to Saulot with consideration just how much weaker they are in comparison to him, but they'd prove to be a nuisance regardless.
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And so exactly that happened. The moment he rifted out next to the academy, he spotted a pair of eyes spectating after him - a bandit, if anything, who just witnessed Saulot performing Necromancy.

That made him freak out of course, and the bandit began to run, but Saulot could not allow for such to happen, least he wished for the locals to know that there's Riftmancer who landed in nearby.

Lightning landed upon the head of poor soul that was making the living from robbing the passing by people and instantly killed him. Saulot wasn't going to even regret such decision, the old self was gone and he only looked out for himself at this point; the bandit would certainly tell about him to others and so he couldn't let him live.
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But he could still make use for that body...

Saulot was making his way towards the dead human and observing it.
(Saulot Vykos)

[14:14:24] Despite being the target of almost every single soul within Valmasia at the moment, Mazino decided to go out on quite a walk, since he really had nothing better to do at the moment, and he had a lot of time on his hands. As expected of someone with eternal life.

Mazino made his way through the Sarab Desert, then through the Trystle caves and even Deadland marshes, and eventually arrived to the Bygonegrove Forest.
Needless to say, Mazino left a trail of corpses behind him, wherever he goes the corpses follow, human and yokai alike, anything that he came across soon met its demise.

Eventually Mazino set his malevolent, sanguine eyes upon a youngling who struck a bandit who came at him with lightning magic, demonstrating a rather decent magical power.

Mazino slowly made his way towards the said person, whilst floating merely a few inches above the surface.
Depraved energies which Mazino didn't bother suppressing at the moment, surged throughout his body violently. The said energies would be so intense to the point where it quite literally distorts the atmosphere surrounding Mazino.
The vegetation around him would begin to wither and eventually fade completely under the overwhelming pressure of the depraved energies that Mazino was emitting from his very core.

After sizing Saulot up briefly, Mazino dissipated his levitation magic and came crashing down onto the grass with a loud thud.
His pale skin, sanguine eyes and lack of mana would be an obvious clue as to what Mazino really is. A beast, a vampire.

A single phrase escaped Mazino's mouth; "Greetings"
(Mazino)
[14:21:13] Casually picking up the body of a dead man, Saulot placed it over his shoulder; with a simple fact that he was physically fit as any decent magi is out there, combined with his physical trainings during time spent inside the prison, he was capable of carrying a grown male without any issue. Soon, he was going to head off to Deadland Marshes, the place abandoned by anything humane or sentient alike, and with Sunflower Village withered into oblivion.
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Though, he was interrupted... overhearing the loud thud in the distance, he flashed his gaze towards Mazino who stood nearby and immediately sized him up, assessing the possible threat from him.

He quickly found out that Mazino was a Depraved being, no question here, and Saulot was exactly that as well; but he rarely allowed his Depravity outside, mostly suppressing it to the point of disallowing such energy to escape into outside world, locking it within to cause lesser harm upon Lifestream. He was interested in Dark Arts rather than causing any harm upon the flow of the world's energy.

And soon, Saulot began to realize what he's dealing with - there was no denial to what Mazino is with those crimson eyes and pale skin, all combined with immense Depravity steming off from him. A vampire? He hadn't seen any other than Conquest, and even then she was murdered infront of his eyes.
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"Greetings."

Saulot casually acknowledged Mazino's presence, though made no rush to announce his name or speak further. He still didn't know his intentions here, and for all he knew this could end up badly.
(Saulot Vykos)
[14:29:45] Mazino shifted his gaze inbetween the corpse that Saulot was holding onto, and Saulot himself continuously.

He took a single step forward; essentially moving closer to Saulot as a sinister smile spread across his face. He motioned his dominant hand downwards, essentially telling Saulot to put the corpse down by doing so.

"I'm famished." - he would announce outloud in a rather malevolent tone.
The corpse was still fresh, so the blood should still taste well. Or so Mazino assumed, at least.

"It's either you, or him." - he would add ontop of his previous statement, following up with a brief, yet creepy chuckle.
Mazino was seemingly enjoying this situation. Surely the man wouldn't be silly enough to risk his own life for a bloody corpse.

Mazino fixed his gaze onto Saulot and patiently awaited for his response.
(Mazino)

[14:36:35] Saulot's brows furrowed, but essentially he realized that simply letting the vampire feed on the corpse would be the better choice to do - the dead man was of no value to Saulot, in fact that corpse was just for Necromancy practice, and whether he still had blood in him or not by the time the Necromancy ritual happens was absolutely irrevelant.

On that note, Saulot casually lowered the corpse back on the ground and took the step back; the bandits like this one were in big numbers out there, and even if in the process of Mazino's feast the body would be destroyed, Saulot could easily get himself a new one anytime he'd like.

"Go on then."

Spectating this ordeal in silence, Saulot crossed his arms and awaited for Mazino to get it over with. He was already behind the schedule by a really big number with that Necromancy practice, and wasting here all day wasn't in his plans.

Though, the fact that Saulot stayed here for Mazino to finish the deal could suggest to Mazino that he still needs the corpse... for something.
(Saulot Vykos)
[14:51:05] Mazino looked at Saulot as he simply stood there, arms crossed. That's not something you see everyday. Someone who willingly sticks around with a vampire? Ah, by now most people would go off running and screaming like goddamn lunatics.

Interesting.
Mazino emitted a loud grunt from the depths of his throat as he slowly opened up his mouth, revealing a pair of extremely long and sharp fangs.
He lowered himself down and simply clasped onto the corpse's neck and literally chomping onto it violently. Blood splattered all over the place and the corpse's bones were devastated. It was a gruesome thing to watch.
Mazino snarled like an animal as he was draining the corpse completely.

"Is that all?"
He shook his head briefly and then simply tore the corpse's limbs off and bit onto them, ingesting every single drop of blood. He kept on tearing through the corpse, limbs tossed over after being drained completely, his lungs pierced and crushed, his heart smashed under the overwhelming strength of the vampire.
And it went on, until nothing but a couple of bones and torn off flesh were left.

At last, Mazino stood up. He cackled as he had withdrawn a napkin which he used to wipe the blood off his face rather elegantly. Totally missing the fact that his whole attire was soaked in blood.

"Hope you enjoyed the show, youngling." - he'd say whilst moving even closer to Saulot.

"Introduce yourself." - he would add ontop of his previous statement. However there was something about the way he said it.. It was as if he wasn't asking for Saulot to introduce himself, but actually ordering him to.
(Mazino)
[14:51:05] Mazino: sry for takin so long got distracted irl)
[14:51:05] Saulot Vykos: (its ok)
[14:57:04] Mazino: im legit watchin a knockout compilation on utube)
[14:57:04] Mazino: lool)
[15:03:02] There weren't many things that could truly make Saulot run away in fear, although what he was about to witness was rather... gruesome.

He still stood before Mazino with his arms crossed, his face expressionless and his posture straightened. Though he knew that vampires were often bloodthirsty, and perhaps too much for their own good, thus he stayed on guard in case Mazino would decide to get something more fresh as a meal; the sounds that Mazino made whilst devouring the corpse was a clear testimony that he might be as well more of an animal than a man at this point in terms of mentality. The curse of Cain clearly corrodes one's personality, it seems.

The part where he drained the corpse through neck bite wasn't very pleasing to watch either, but at least it wasn't that bad in comparison what Saulot saw next; the animalistic nature rising, causing the show of gore before him. Saulot frowned and turned his gaze elsewhere for the time being, feeling that there's no need to watch such.
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The moment it stopped, he glanced back upon Mazino with the words leaving his bloodied mouth; he spoke no word on the enjoyment of the show, refusing to just stand and watch at some parts of it and instead simply turning his gaze elsewhere.

"Usually when people ask someone to introduce themselves, they say their introduction first. I'd figure an individual of your age would know about common courtesy."

The backbone!

Saulot knew all too well he was dangerous, but spoke in that manner to him regardless, though his voice sounded casual. Deciding to show manners first nonetheless, he didn't trust Mazino enough to be the one in lead of conversation, bearing in mind his nature.

"The name is Saulot, and you've just wasted away my reason to stay here. Have a good day."

With that note, Saulot headed away to find a new corpse to actually practice Necromancy upon. Whether Mazino would follow him or even try to stop him remains entirely another chapter in this interraction.
(Saulot Vykos)
[15:04:44] Saulot Vykos: (lemme know if youre tagging along or doing anything about me, still need logs for dev)
[15:06:27] Mazino: guess imma follow)
[15:17:32] It might not seem so at the moment, but here's the bloodthirst to blame.
Mazino's infact quite a honorable person. He holds etiquette very dearly, he always did, even before undergoing the transformation.
After becoming a vampire, however, his personality was tweaked quite a bit. What's the definition of etiquette to Mazino at the moment? Well, that's simple.
People need to be polite and humble in his presence, otherwise it might end quite badly. Everyone need to RECOGNIZE the greatness of this being!

Usually, at this point Mazino would've already forced Saulot onto one knee, essentially humiliating him.
However something caught Mazino's attention; unlike many others, Saulot didn't seem to be afraid.
Ontop of that, it seemed like he was about to do something with that corpse.

Intriguing.
Curious is one of many ways inwhich you can describe Mazino.

He laughed. Like a goddamn lunatic, acknowledging Saulot's courageous behaviour.
"The name's Mazino. I'll have you apologize for what you've said later, as for now, you've piqued my curiosity." - he would say and shortly afterwards, he would simply disappear. As if he simply vanished out of existence.
About thirty to sixty seconds later, however, Mazino re-appeared right infront of Saulot, holding onto a random bandit whom he had just brutally murdered.

A gap in the corpse's chest can be perceived, seems like Mazino quite literally teared the poor soul's chest open and pulled out his heart, resulting in his immediate death.

"Go on! Let's see what you were upto! If you manage to amuse me, I just might let you off despite your unsightly behaviour."
(Mazino)
[15:28:38] The interraction between the two was going as if Saulot was walking on the edge of a blade, about to either cut himself or slip rather bad, but just somehow managing to uphold some degree of balance to make sure that doesn't happen. He kept his composure before Mazino, for all he knew that showing fear would bring him absolutely nowhere; Saulot lived through many battles by now, plenty of which where he ended up being victorious, and some where he was defeated and had to live through brutality that would fall upon him.

But he had no response for Mazino's remark. Merely acknowledging that he would be 'forced to apologize' in the future at some point, he had nothing to say about that, nor he would try to act all macho about it that Mazino would not be able to do such; there was no point to brag or boast as of now.

He vanished? Well then...
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He looked around at first, thinking this is just some trick and Mazino is about to attack him. Spending some time at the same place, he kept on looking around out of assumption that Mazino would attack him after all, but almost a minute passed and he assumed it'd be best to just leave in that case, but...

Mazino appeared again, and with body this time. He arched a brow at such sudden request, and spoke casually upon his remark.

"This is no place. It's best we move to Marshes for the next procedure."
(Saulot Vykos)
[15:31:12] Mazino: <*Follows Saulot to the Marshes*>

[15:44:00] Heading into Marshes took a short time of travel; considering the fact that he was quite a fast individual himself, the duo soon reached the cursed land of vile creatures and endless swamps alike; obviously, Mazino would easily keep up, considering that he's even faster physically than Saulot could possibly be at this point.

At last, they arrived to the damned land, away from the prying eyes and those that could attack Saulot over practice of such Arts. The corpse was placed on the ground and Saulot had thrown a gaze back to the dead individual - to some extent, he even felt sorry for him due to sheer fact that he likely had a very gruesome death, but at least it was quick. Nobody lives long with their heart ripped out, right?
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"I'll require some time."

Saulot sat down on the damp ground without much regard to it; gladly, he had decent clothes with thick fur that could protect him against environment of swamp and thus it wouldn't be much of an issue for him to be here.

Sitting down before the corpse, he drew a deep breath and unsheathed his hand from the glove, digging the hand right inside the dead man's chest and smearing his hand in his blood - such action helped Saulot establish better connection to the physical link, one that is necessary to pull the soul from Lifestream and thus place it back into vessel.
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Reaching out with his other hand into air, he was slowly moving his palm about and tore open a gap in the Lifestream; his eyes were half-closed to aid with concentration, entirely focusing on the process. With consideration of the fact that Saulot had experience with tearing the Lifestream due to Riftmancy, he could easily pull such a feat, granted that he'd not be interrupted during the Necromancy ritual.

For Mazino, he could see odd, sickly blue light forming in the air; Lifestream itself was being torn, and it screamed in pain with Depravity surging all about, forcing even the lands of Deadland Marshes wither next to the duo.

But that scream went quiet once Saulot put effort into such; he hushed it down, just like the murderer silences his victim before snuffing their life out.

The light in the air continued to emanate, glowing faintly whilst Saulot searched for the soul of deceased human inside Lifestream.
(Saulot Vykos)
[15:57:39] Mazino gazed down upon Saulot who prepared for whatever ritual he was going to perform.

You'd have to be a dimwit to not realize what's this about. The way he interracted with the corpse; it was blatantly obvious that it's all about necromancy.

It's hard to find necromancers these days since the art is really frowned upon these days, and it's illegal as well. Saulot is most likely to get killed on spot if anyone comes to know that he practices necromancy. Especially the goody-shoes like the fellows from Cinderfall, they'll end his life on a whim if they find out.

"A necromancer... a rare sight these days."
Mazino cracked a smile as he perceived the light which came up as soon as Saulot started with the ritual. He backed off whilst refraining from talking or doing anything that might distract him. Mazino was itching to see how this is going to end. Sucess, or failure?
If the later, Saulot will have to pay for wasting Mazino's time.
(Mazino)
[16:07:53] That was the most hilarious and ironical part actually - Cinderfall already knew that Saulot practiced Necromancy, but they were convinced he does not wield it, moreover they were convinced that they placed a rune upon him which would block off any Necromancy attempts; they thought that they had him caged, but that was not the case.

Indeed, they were planning to kill Saulot at some point, but instead they decided that his Riftmancy was far too useful to just waste, and moreover they thought that they could have him as an ally during upcoming war; it could be beneficial of course to fight on the either side of the war, but ultimately he wished no part in it. Not right now, at least.
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Saulot spoke no word as an answer to Mazino's remark about status of necromancers across Valmasia, he preferred to rather focus on the ritual and continue doing what he had in his mind.

The Lifestream was torn, and the flow of souls within it was exposed to Saulot; his previous attempt almost ended in self-injury due to tearing the Lifestream apart, and it attempting to backlash upon Saulot as a form of punishment. But this time, he was ready for such and no soul could harm him bad; his face was scrunching in it's expression however, experiencing mild pain due to digging inside in search of the soul, all while the body infront served as a physical link to it.

The sickly blue light was spreading across the ground, creating a thin smog in the air as well; it was disturbing to watch for weak-hearted, and immense amounts of Depravity were rolling off from the ritual, dooming the already cursed land even further to wither and die as negative energies were spreading about.
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At last, the soul was found. Dragging it from the Lifestream itself, Saulot was forcing the poor man's soul back into maternal reality, only to be placed back into vessel soon enough.
(Saulot Vykos)
[16:15:34] Mazino: <*Would simply continue watching*>
[16:25:48] The ritual was slowly coming to an end, with the sheer fact that Saulot had at last grasped the concept of Necromancy; tear the Lifestream open, grasp the soul whilst using the physical link and transfer it back to vessel, then attach it to the mana circuits of the vessel. It sounded easy in theory, but in practice that was a lengthy, uninterruptable process during which the Necromancer had to perform at utmost efficiency with full focus upon the process.

Saulot was prforming the ritual just fine, incredible even as for novice in such Art. The dragged out soul of the simple human being was carefully shifted towards the corpse infront of Saulot, and soul was re-alligned back against the mana circuits of the body, which thankfully weren't burned out yet as it was the first ressurection; the body was still fresh too, and only one fatal wound was inflicted upon it which resulted in death earlier.

What could possibly go wrong?
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It was tough to pull off, but Saulot was managing it through; the soul was trying to cling on the body, a desperate attempt done instinctively out of will to live once more, even if that would mean living as undead. Still a better alternative for the most rather than to traverse the Lifestream or burn in the star.

All of the necessary steps were done. The soul was bound to it's new vessel, forcing it into existance as undead and obedient to Saulot's commands.

The corpse had opened it's eyes... it gazed around, first at it's creator and then the vampire next to them, but considering the skill that Saulot possessed, it had no memories whatsoever and could not have any purpose other than serving Saulot. It was not perfect either, sluggish in it's walk and acting as, well, quite literal zombie - it were one, after all.

"Rise."

With that command, the undead slowly began to rise at it's best ability - to Mazino's surprise and to world's horror, another necromancer was rising.
(Saulot Vykos)

[16:53:58] Mazino: <*Claps*> Rather impressive.
[16:53:58] Mazino: Where do you reside at the moment, Saulot?
[16:53:58] Mazino: Nostvale? New Alteros?
[16:54:49] Saulot Vykos: Neither.
[16:55:40] Mazino: Why not come with me? At Loranthis you could practice this art as much as you want.
[16:56:32] Saulot Vykos: Last time I've been at Loranthis, I've witnessed it's ruler be murdered by the current king.
[16:56:32] Saulot Vykos: If the ruler gets killed in a middle of a street and her pawns don't even care to intervene, I doubt my safety there.
[16:59:56] Mazino: She isn't dead.
[16:59:56] Mazino: Fool.
[17:00:48] Mazino: Conquest wouldn't die that easily.
[17:00:48] Mazino: She's alive.
[17:00:48] Saulot Vykos: What makes you say that? Her head was severed from her body.
[17:07:37] Mazino: Because we don't die this easily.
[17:11:53] Mazino: check skype for a sec rq plz)
[17:14:27] This information was surely useful; hearing from vampire himself that in order to finish the vampire even cutting the head off wouldn't be enough, that left only one option - full destruction of head and preferably the body itself too, perhaps burn it to the ashes and leave absolutely nothing. In case he'd ever have to deal with a vampire, that info would be more than vital.

As for the undead he just rose? He dismissed him, adressing to the walking corpse with the following statement:

"You can go. Go into hiding as of now, somewhere around this swamp and I'll seek you out if I need you once again."

The shambler had no choice but to obey the command of a necromancer. Previously Saulot wished only to grant people a new chance by rising them, but now... after his imprisonment in Cinderfall, much had changed. At last he realized that humanity will not accept him as he is, so why should he keep coming back with attempts to help it after denial from them for so long?
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Turning his head to Mazino once more, Saulot spoke; the Necromancy ritual was over, and at last he grasped the Art. There was no need for him to devote his focus entirely onto practice.

"I'll think over your offer. I don't have much else places to go, but I cannot take such rush decision either considering my first impression about Loranthis."
(Saulot Vykos)
[17:15:18] Saulot Vykos: Farewell. <*Saulot leaves the place*>
[17:15:18] Mazino: Very well.
[17:15:18] Mazino: Farewell.