logs

[14:16:57] The forest of Bygone had relatively small populace when it comes to people that wander back and forth; any travelling individual would find this forest far more eerie, quiet... recent wars had left a lot of scattered corpses around - some Cinderfall troops that were either captured or fought these grounds, others belonged to Bulwark of Alteros. Even patrolling soldiers around.

And this place was exactly a perfect place for training grounds for Saulot; the darker Arts were hungering for practice, for perfection. Those whispers of Depravity, although handled by his psyche just fine, often inspired a wicked flame of descend, diving further into practice of horrible magics.
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And that was exactly what Saulot was doing here - looking after the destruction left by wars. One of the corpses was taken by him, few resembling different forces - and to make it even odder, Saulot crafted quite literally a pocket dimension with the Art of Riftmancy, storing the corpses in the area of white noise and unexistance alike.

The hooded, tall posture was travelling through the forest. Pocket dimension had few dead stored in, and Saulot was just dragging another by his leg.
(Saulot Vykos)
[14:24:38] Zender was for the first time lost. He did not know where he was. He does not even remember where he came from and why he would be there. He decided to explore to try to find a way he could lead. At the moment, he was in a place that said Lionhold, at least that was what the board said.

Then he began to look around and saw a man do strange things, but he put his idea out of his head and went to ask the man in directions.

"I'm sorry ... I'm lost here! I do not know where I am! Could you help me?" Zender was extremely sympathetic and careful with the words he used.
(Zender DeMarco)
[14:29:45] The corpse was required for what he had planned in mind, the same as the others he gathered so far and placed inside of the pocket dimension; they were stored properly and easily accessible for this Necromancer in training, and he could soon proceed.

Though, a voice? Who'd that be?
_____________________________

Zender arrived at quite... not convenient time. Normally, Saulot would assume that it's either one of those that could be associated with Outlaws as they travel around all the time, or it's perhaps some of those from Cinderfall - neither could be trusted, and perhaps one of not many of his options would be to take their life, just to make sure they will not tell anyone of encounter.

But this one was a child. Unlikely he's already associated with someone.

"You're next to Lionhold Academy. For the future referrence, I'd advise to not approach just any hooded stranger so easily. Others can have quite a murderous intent on their minds."

Saulot still held the corpse by it's foot, dragging it off further into forest at direction of swamps, also known as Deadland Marshes.
(Saulot Vykos)
[14:34:01] Zender listens carefully to what the man says.

"Well ... thank you for helping me situate. Do not worry! I'm strong enough to deal with these people."

Zender notices the corpse the man was carrying. As the children are curious, the blue-haired young man dares ask,

"Why do you take a corpse?"
(Zender DeMarco)
[14:40:51] And the curiosity of the child was probably the only reason as to why he still did not feel startled to do something about his presence, otherwise the fact that somebody would be stood nearby could actually prompt him for aggressive actions.

"For something that you're too young to see. Leave, unless you wish to be horrified."

The Art of Necromancy wasn't for those faint of heart... a lot found it disgusting, solely for the fact that you were forcing the rotting corpses to rise on their feet once more, forcing them into this world after pulling their soul from the Lifestream itself.

It was also amongst the most Depraved Arts... that fact alone could make many scatter away, the gut-wrenching feeling of the Lifestream being torn apart is something that not everyone can stand.
(Saulot Vykos)
[14:45:58] "I understand!" Zender decided to listen carefully to the man and asked a more direct and objective question. "Then, without showing me, since I'm a child, tell me what the goal is?" The blue-haired young man had never seen such a thing. It was the first time he had seen such a thing.

* ZAP *

Zender froze time for two seconds. During that short time, he observed the corpse well.

"Where did these corpses come from?" The young man was curious and kept asking questions. In the end, Zender was not letting the mysterious man do his job.
(Zender DeMarco)
[14:47:40] Bandit: Quick! Get them!
[14:47:40] Bandit: Suffer!
[14:52:48] Saulot could not spare time to stand here entire day for a chatter, and sighed deeply in the constant questions that the child had to ask him; without further await, it had seemed that Saulot placed down his staff, "pouring" out creatures from it - whereas in reality, those were the undead stepping out from the pocket dimension, crafted by skilled Riftmancer.

"Explain him what is what, and please, make sure he doesn't bother me."

Three armed skeletons darted their gaze at the child after Saulot allowed them to step out from the pocket dimension in which he transported his creations. They stepped closer to Zender, with a terrifying visage opening to him as undead marched closer and blocked his sight.

"We will speak for master. That is none of your business what his goals are. The corpses are from the recent war." - whether Zender would be intimidated by undead or not is one story, but they did not seem to be hostile, rather ensuring that he could not disturb Saulot at his work.
_____________________________

Meanwhile, he was preparing for the Necromantic ritual. Two more corpses were spawned from the pocket dimension after the staff was pointed downwards, and laid down next to the first one.
(Saulot Vykos)
[15:00:28] It seemed that three undead had left the mysterious man. These living dead were armed and they approached the boy. They wanted Zender not to interrupt their master's work.

Zender had an unexpected reaction. He was not afraid. Though almost threatened, the boy acted as if he were playing.

"Okay, living dead, I can not take a peek, I need to gain knowledge! I love discovering new things every day!"
(Zender DeMarco)
[15:06:27] For as long as Zender would not try disturb Saulot's work, the skeletons would allow him to stay around and maybe even ask questions while he was here. The child was not expected to be harmful, and if he wished to sate his curiosity on certain things, so be it.

After all, undead had mind of their own too and were sentient. Of course, if Saulot had ordered them something, they'd be forced to obey, but the thought of the youngling talking to them was amusing to the living dead. After all, most are just scared of their existance, though for a good reason.

"Then speak. What do you want to know?"
_______________________

But Saulot wasted no time. The Necromancer tore a window in the Lifestrea, if only to delve his hand into it; the scream of the world's energy itself had echoed as a horrible, terrifying sound to those nearby, soon to be silenced by Saulot's raw magical power.

That did not stop the immense Depravity rolling off, however. The feeling of disturbance in the air became apparent. There was -something- wrong going on, and to those who had little experience with such amounts of negative energy in the air could feel it's foul nature giving them chills.

The corpses on their own were a link to the souls of the dead. Once the Lifestream was torn, Saulot was searching for the souls that belonged to these bodies; the tear of world's energy could be characterized as a sickly, blue hue in the air, an obvious anomaly and disruption of the natural flow.
(Saulot Vykos)
[15:11:34] Zender was rather curious. When he asked the living dead if he could watch, they left on one condition. The condition of not disturbing or interrupting. The young man with blue hair accepted soon. He sat down beside the living dead and began to watch. The necromancer had already begun the ritual. There seemed to be several cries of desperate people or possessed souls. It was really scary.

"Well ... what are you?" Zender then decides to put a question to the three living dead who surrounded him.

"And why did you leave the mysterious man?"
(Zender DeMarco)
[15:17:32] That was the question that many undead couldn't even answer, due to sheer fact that most did not remember anything at all from their life as the living; in fact, it took a much more experienced Necromancer to make sure that the dead keep their memories, but unfortunately Saulot was not that skilled, and could not grant such luxury.

They stood silent at such question, pondering... well, what was it again that the master called them? Undead, right?

"We used to live once, but we died. Our master brought us back into existance." - even if skeletons wanted to tell more, they simply could not. They didn't remember anything from their past lives, and simply didn't know answers.

"Our master is busy. We're here to make sure people like you do not disturb him."
_______________________________

Meanwhile, the sickly blue hue was expanded in size, covering the land before Saulot in a smog akin to the fog, one that spread withering and chill against the forested ground. It was a sight uneasy to bear, but that was another advantage of skeletons nearby - they were mostly blocking Zender's sight, leaving him to see only occasional slips of what's going on there.

The souls were dragged out from the Lifestream, and Saulot began to carefully distribute them into corpses before him... it was a lengthy process, one that required a proper soul transference from the Lifestream and back into bodies respectively, which is why Saulot needed to be indisturbed.
(Saulot Vykos)
[15:24:22] Zender listened intently to the undead. The conversation with those three was being very funny and interesting. Without wanting to be disrespectful, Zender began to laugh.

"You look like triplets hahahaha!"

Zender was clear. He put in a little bit of what the necromancer was doing and focused on the conversation with the living dead.

"Do you feel pain, do you have feelings?"

Zender had forgotten that he was still lost.
(Zender DeMarco)
[15:32:03] Perhaps Zender found the most of it hilarious, but the undead could feel little about it. They were brought back into existance, their souls ripped from Lifestream itself and bound to Necromancer that rose them; without Saulot, none of them could possibly exist anymore.

"There is no pain. We do not see a lot, I suppose there are little feelings."

Skeletons were confused at the topics of this conversation, but whatever floated Zender's boat. They were there as simple guards and had to do their job in guarding Saulot while he performs the ritual.

Though... clearly, skeletons weren't much for conversation partners.
__________________________

The undead that had forces granted back to them began making their first movements; new skeletons were created in the land with less Depravity in it than, for example, Deadland Marshes. Local grass was withering, and any animal could clearly feel the unnatural forces at the north end of the forest, fleeing from there with all their might.

As for Zender... all he could feel is a chill. Clearly there was something going on.

The undead were slowly rising, now bound to Saulot's will. Their first movements were sloppy, the cold bones still being used to movement once more.
(Saulot Vykos)
[15:38:52] The necromancer has just brought dead to life. The corpses were climbing the earth. Zender diverted the attention of the living dead and focused on what the necromancer was doing. Since he did not want to interrupt the ritual or anything, he decided to remain silent and decided to observe. The boy was gaining knowledge. As many say, knowledge is one of the greatest powers ever. Zender was very attentive. He used the power of time to freeze the time a little and went to see what was going on more closely. Then he returned to the same place and returned to normal.

"I did not know it was possible to do such a thing !!" Zander was amazed and at the same time horrified.
(Zender DeMarco)
[15:44:51] The dead were rising indeed. The immense Depravity filled the air, produced by both the ritual and the fact that undead were brought back to life - now fully functional, they were staring upon their new master, bound to him just like the skeletons that were guarding Zender off from the ritual

"Quiet down. You will disturb our master."

The skeletons were strict in that sense. They were given the order to make sure that he cannot disturb Saulot's ritual and they had to carry out that order, no matter what.

"We are the proof it was possible as it is."
_______________________

Saulot observed his new creations. It wasn't long until he pointed the staff outwards to the recently risen undead and opened up the pocket dimension to them, soon ordering.

"Walk into this and remain inside."

They had no say about this, rather silently proceeding to the entrance of pocket dimension and entering it. The undead were wholly obedient to Saulot, not daring to question even a single word of his, even after they were just brought back. It was almost an instinct to them.

Soon, the three recently risen corpses just disappeared in the plain sight... they vanished, entering the crafted dimension that was created by Saulot.
(Saulot Vykos)
[15:53:23] "I'm sorry for the inconvenience! I do not want to disturb you"

Zander apologized to the skeletons for making unnecessary noises. As stated before, he did not want to interrupt but rather to learn, to gain knowledge. The boy decides to turn to the skeletons again.

"What happens if your master dies? Will you disappear?"

The blue-haired young man got up slowly so as not to disturb the necromancer and held out his fist, hoping to receive it in return. It was a sign of friendship that Zender used to do. For him, that signal was very important. Zender thought only cool people deserved a change of fists.

"Do you have names?"

Zender wanted to know the names of the three undeads to know how to deal with them.
(Zender DeMarco)
[15:56:48] Hm? The boy was still here?

For better or worse, he stayed, which prompted Saulot to arch a brow. He glanced back at his skeletons that were conversing with the boy, each sparing a confused glare at another; they did not know names that could be given to them, due to fact that they were recently risen as well.

But before the undead would speak, Saulot made his way closer to the boy instead, gazing down upon his visage; it seems that he had decided to stay, despite what he was witnessing so far. Didn't it scare him off, or suggested that he probably shouldn't be here?

"It seems you found quite an amusement in my creations." - Saulot spoke to the boy.

A smirk came up on his face, apparent to the child only by a curve underneath the clothing, thus suggesting that Saulot was smirking beneath the concealing garments over his head and face.

"Why are you still here? Looking to become one of them, hm?"
(Saulot Vykos)
[16:06:11] Zender continued to talk to those three undead. Apparently the three undead did not know their names. They looked confused.

"You do not have names ?! So you're going to be Ding, you're going to be Dang and you're going to be ... Steven!" Zender decided to name them all three.

Then the necromancer decided to approach them and began to talk with the boy.

"" If I want to become like them? No! I was just trying to get to know Dang, Ding and Steven. Do you only bring the dead to life? "

Zender smiles at the necromancer.


"What's your name, lord of the undead?"

(Zender DeMarco)
[16:12:09] Lord of the undead was a bit of exxageration when speaking about Saulot, considering the fact that he's actually novice when it comes to this; he was merely practising the raise of undead, all while creating more skeletons for himself in servitude, but nonetheless that title was flattering.

"There are more applications to this Art other than just bringing the undead. Far more than you could probably imagine."

And that wasn't a lie. The Art was considered a 'holy' one among Azraelites, and entire religion of Azrael had a very deep connection to Necromancy as the type of magic - though there was one big distinction about Saulot, he wasn't Azraelite himself.

"You allow yourself to ask too many questions. My name is of no concern to you, and it should stay that way."

Obviously, his appearance wasn't concealed for no reason. Saulot had plentiful to hide, and he wouldn't just expose his identity to Zender like that.
(Saulot Vykos)
[16:13:00] Vale: (Hey guys mind if I join the rp in a bit?)
[16:14:43] Saulot Vykos: (i dont mind)
[16:20:41] "I'm sorry it was not my intention to annoy you! So I can treat you as a Resuscitator? It sounds great!"

Zender was enjoying talking to them.

"Well ... I'm very curious! That's why I ask a lot of questions!"

Then Zender moves on to the more emotional part. He begins to feel that the man felt alone or that he looked sad anyway. It might have seemed like an impression, but that was how he saw things.

"Well, I need to go Risen! I really enjoyed this moment!"

He decides to say goodbye.

"Goodbye Dang, Ding, Steven and Raiser! We'll meet again someday!"

(Zender DeMarco)
[16:21:32] Zender DeMarco: thnx for rp)
[16:22:24] Saulot Vykos: (likewise)
[16:22:24] Zender DeMarco: (ahahah)
[16:25:48] Vale had been wandering around the forests for quite some time. It had been been a long time since he had found himself in a good fight and feared that he was beginning to get rusty. Well it wasn't like there were many people who came all the way out here anyways so there weren't that many potential fights to begin with.

"Hmmm...I'm bored." Vale thought to himself as he decided to lay down on the grass. The clouds were covering the harsh rays of the sun and a gentle breeze was blowing. It certainly looked like a calm day. One of those days Vale hated.

"I need some excitement." The Ookami would say out loud still unmoving in the grass.
(Vale)
[16:30:56] The child had left soon enough. Understandable why though - Saulot was slowly losing patience with the presence of a child that asked way too many questions, perhaps for his own good too. The undead warriors stood next to Saulot had dropped their guard for now, looking around to inspect the area for any potential tresspasser.

Though, as soon as Saulot turned, he saw yet another figure in the distance; Saulot gave a signal to undead that accompanied him, ordering them to follow him suit and stay on guard. What's with this place having so many people as of recent? It used to be less. Must be the tension due to past war.
____________________________

"Another curious child?

The man in concealing garments addressed out loud, the speech directed to Vale after he made a closer approach. He wouldn't do anything just yet, but Vale could clearly see that Saulot had a company with him - several undead warriors that followed him around.
(Saulot Vykos)
[16:35:12] As he rested, Vale's nose would soon pick up the scent of decaying flesh nearby. What was even stranger was that this smell had seemed to move and it was moving in his direction. Eventually Vale saw Saulot who'd approached him along with an apparent group of undead soldiers.

While Vale didn't want to admit it, Saulot's undead crew had looked incredibly cool to the child strangely enough. In the boy's mind strong guys always had some sort of crew accompanying them so Saulot's undead soldiers gave Vale the impression that he was strong.

The Ookami was incredibly interested by this art despite the fact that it literally used dead bodies to function. "Are those dead people you have under your command?" Vale asked the stranger visibly interested in the matter.
(Vale)
[16:41:10] The undead followed him suit, obeying his gesture without a question. The sole reason why they existed once more was Saulot, and their souls were bound to maternal realm only thanks to Saulot's efforts with magics; it was the Art that defied death itself, but that caused the unnatural force to go against the Lifestream, pouring out a constant stream of Depravity whenever they walked.

Certainly, the undead crew was quite an assistance in whatever battle Saulot could possibly have to face, but even on his own he wielded a myriad amount of various powers of different magics. His own strength was formidable enough to go toe-to-toe against many famous combatants of Valmasia.

"I had figured such fact would be obvious." - the muffled voice spoke through the facial cover in his possession. Of course they were under his command, that's how Necromancy functioned after all.

"And for how long have you been here?"
(Saulot Vykos)
[16:44:35] "For a few months, I've been...encouraged to move out from the west to here due to a lot of things." Vale would say with a neutral expression on his face. However it was clear from his tone of voice that he was rather displeased with the whole situation.

As he spoke Vale's eyes would wander from Saulot to his undead minions. Vale was truely curious as to how his spell worked. He wouldn't mind learning something like that himself. However he was far too prideful to ask for assistance or something like that.

The Ookami would have to try to figure it out himself if he really wished to learn the art. "What about you?" he'd ask to keep the conversation going.
(Vale)
[16:48:51] Not exactly what Saulot meant with his question, but it seems that Vale only understood it that way, which implies that he didn't see what was happening before his arrival. Fine enough with Saulot, there wasn't a need to stay alert due to his presence, and he didn't spy earlier on the ritual.

The Art of Necromancy was rather tough, and learning it took Saulot several years; clearly he enjoyed the fact that he had managed to grasp it at last, and could afford himself the luxury of bodyguard escort at all times - even if this time of escort, that was better than nothing.

"I travel wherever I want. I do not linger to one place."

Thankfully, it was rather easy for Saulot to traverse all around entire of Valmasia. Whilst he was speaking here with Vale, in the next minute he could be already at Loranthis.
(Saulot Vykos)
[16:53:58] Saulot was just like how Vale lived a short time ago. Only recently the Ookami decided to settle down around these parts so that he could strengthen himself without having to be caught up in the power struggles between the west and the east.

Vale wasn't looking forward to being forced into some army of a village and having to follow orders from someone. Scratching his head for a few moments the Ookami would rise to his feet. He needed practice and here was someone strong looking standing right in front of him.

Since he wasn't sure when he was going to get a chance like this again Vale would say to Saulot,"Fight me and test out how useful these little undead are right now."
(Vale)
[16:59:05] Oh, how it unexpectedly escalated until this point. The child asking to fight him? He had assumed it's his Ookami nature kicking in, considering that Saulot had met another young Ookami that felt up to challenge just like this one. Though, that young Ookami still fell by Saulot's hand, even during unfair one-versus-two, with Saulot being in disadvantage.

And this one wished to humor such idea? Very well.

"Attack him."
____________________

Saulot wasn't going to wait anymore longer. The undead immediately lashed out from their original place, rushing upon Vale with the gear each held; swords, knives, spears and axes.

But he knew he couldn't just rely on undead here. They were minions, after all, and knew that a lot depended on him as well. The crimson lightning sparked across Saulot's body.
(Saulot Vykos)
[17:03:21] A burst of lightning would surround Vale's body as the Ookami bared tooth and fang towards Saulot. If he had paid enough attention then he would notice a much larger gathering of lightning around Vale's hands than the rest of his body. This lightning would then be condensed mostly around his claws.

Vale felt like he had almost mastered this technique he was developing. He just needed one more push to get it where he wanted to. The crimson lightning that Saulot conjured up intrigued Vale. While he could call crimson lightning to strike down he couldn't keep it around his body like an aura.

Perhaps this was something he could look forward to as well if he had kept training. However now wasn't the time to think about this. All Vale needed to do now was focus on his opponent's movements.
(Vale)

[17:04:12] {combat} Vale has been defeated by Saulot Vykos! They're unable to continue fighting.

[17:11:02] The fight was an easy one for Saulot; before Vale could know it and launch the ligthning before himself, the massive assault was brought forth upon the Ookami; Saulot quite literally teleported right at him and conjured an explosive, potent force of both dark flames and crimson lightning.

Sheer force of explosion would've left burning marks and patches upon the skin of young Ookami; that prompted Saulot to arch a brow. Of course, he knew that he had made significant progress ever since his younger age, but this? This was impressive. Maybe he could assert himself as quite a powerful magi after all.

"Don't maim or murder him." - Saulot casually addressed towards his undead minions once Vale was swept off by explosion and left at their mercy.
___________________________

...But that doesn't mean they'd not harm him completely. The undead swarmed him at his defense broken, beating him down with blunt weaponry, particularly leaving bruises and hematomas all cross his body; black-eye too, and maybe a bloody nose and lips to remember this encounter. And even a couple of stabs with knives at his limbs?

That'd hurt, but by no mean those were deadly wounds or dangerous wounds for another magi. Dealing those blows, he was thrown off by the skeletons as well once they were done ganging up on him, following the order of their master to not maim or kill him.

"Done yet?" - he spoke to the young Ookami.
(Saulot Vykos)
[17:15:18] The rather noteable injuries that Vale received in the fight really made him feel alive. He truely knew he was fighting a strong opponent and couldn't afford to be careless right now. Standing up he'd wipe off some of the blood that was trickling down his lower lip.

Once more lightning would brilliantly flash around his hands. Keeping a careful eye on each one of Saulot's minions Vale began to formulate a plan for him to at least get some damage off on Saulot. He couldn't afford to let his opponent get off without any injuries whatsoever.

"Not by a long shot." Vale responded breathing heavily. He was injured by not discouraged.
(Vale)
[17:15:18] Vale assumes the Vritra stance!
[17:15:18] {combat} Vale has been defeated by Saulot Vykos! They're unable to continue fighting.
[17:16:09] Vale: (bruh you do some nice damage)
[17:16:09] Saulot Vykos: (ye lol)
[17:24:41] Saulot decided to let his minions have fun once again after this little charade was done. Yet another flash of crimson lightning before Vale's eyes, and all he could truly feel was pain - the scorching done against his young flesh had probably gifted him a few battle scars by now to remember once he ages, and the lightning struck at him again and again would do its best at making the situation even worse for him.

The undead always kept him busy, swinging their weaponry at Vale, all while they were constantly chasing him down without ever giving him a rest. The undead warriors followed him suit without any hesitation, willing to do anything to protect their master.

"No killing. This kid doesn't deserve dying."
______________________

Oh, the irony. The practicioner of Dark Arts, a Depraved person, and still knew when to stop and that he should not kill people for such reasons. And if it were one of those cowboy hat rebels, or perhaps Cinderfallen folk? They'd show him no mercy, just because they're like that, yet they claim to be the good guys.

And Saulot grew irritated quick if his orders were disobeyed. The skeletons were observed in their performance, and if one of them would dare to go against their Master's order, he'd dismiss whoever quickly, detaching their soul from the vessel and letting them die. For good.
______________________

Vale could not overcome such force, obviously. Once again, he was ganged upon by skeletons beating him down, mainly with blunt weaponry, but to say that it hurt less than sharp weaponry would mean to be ignorant. Even at the places where he already had large bruises he'd get struck again, forcing moderate internal bleeding upon his flesh. It wasn't deadly, of course, but that hurt a lot...

"Enough."

The undead crew stopped in the middle of their act, somewhat grumpy because the fun was taken away from them, but obeyed Saulot nonetheless. Nobody would dare to.

"You're done now. I doubt you can keep going."
(Saulot Vykos)
[17:25:32] Saulot Vykos: (nobody would dare to disobey*)
[17:31:31] Once more it seemed like Vale was completely overwhelmed by the gang of undead along with Saulot. No matter what move the Ookami tried to pull off he was thwarted at every turn by Saulot's efforts. The blows of the blunt weaponry on his body hurt almost as much as the occult lightning and flames which scarred parts of his body.

Soon enough Vale was on the floor bloodied and out of breath. Slowly trying to stand to his feet the boy was visibly struggling with this task alone. Yet for some reason he refused to lay flat on the ground and accept his loss. "I can keep going...until I die..." Vale would say clearly too hurt to back up his words.

Vale was desparate for a way to become as strong as Saulot was so that he could hurry up and kill Cucco already. He'd also wanted to get back at the Outlaws for mouthing off to him. Vale sure had a lot of grudges in the west.
(Vale)
[17:39:12] And indeed, he was overwhelmed by his magics. Saulot had bigger sheer magical power, had a back-up of undead and moreover had a lot of experience in fighting - he knew the routes of the battle and could battle rather skillfully, taking on different threatening foes in the past. Vale wasn't a match.

Ah, that sort of determination. It was all too familiar to Saulot, especially considering the fact that he was exactly like this before - brash, young, refusing to give up no matter what and upholding quite a spirit.

"Admirable, but spirit alone is meaningless without power."

The undead stood by their Master, Saulot Vykos, and awaited further command by him. He glanced at each of his minions and soon spoke once more, throwing a brief glance at Vale whilst saying so.

"Help him rise on his feet."
______________________

The undead followed his command perfectly and trotted over to Vale, helping him stand up back on his feet, regardless if he was keen to accept their help or not - they literally just grabbed him and put him on his feet again, soon returning to their Master

"Learn to acknowledge when your strength is not enough to take on a certain obstacle. Fighting wrong people like this can end with your death."
(Saulot Vykos)
[17:45:10] Saulot's words were confusing to Vale. As far as the Ookami was concerned his own strength was limitless. All he needed to do was find a way to use his power to its full potential. Vale also had trouble with turning down fights as his very nature made him prone to never backing down.

With his feet still slightly shaking Vale dusted off his pants as it had gotten quite dirty as a result of the previous battle. The occultic feather that Cucco had given Vale was also playing a role in the boy's refusal to give up. The power that it had made him desire made Vale eager to get in as many fights as he could in order to get stronger regardless of his opponent.

Due to combination of Cucco's feather, is own personality and the depravity that was slowly starting to take a hold of his body Vale found giving up and incredibly unlikely scenario.
(Vale)
[17:51:08] Many of those that thought of themselves more capable than they truly were had overestimated themselves and ended up getting into situations where they could not survive, and Occult alongside with Depravity were some of the major causes; gladly, although Saulot himself practiced both Occultic and Dark Arts that were trying to make him slip, his psyche was strong enough to control it at all times.

The true challenge is ability to percieve reality as it is, one that many magi lack. They fall in Hubris, the fatal pride, the delusion of own's limitless greatness and ability to defy absolutely anything is the greatest challenge that many magi fail to overcome - and that challenge never ends.
____________________

But perhaps Vale wanted such fate for himself, perhaps he percieved Saulot's words wrong, as if he was telling him to give up on everything he fought for and against.

But no, that wasn't the case. Knowing when it's time to back off is what kept Saulot alive so far, despite all of the deadly circumstances. He acknowledged that he has limits too, and avoiding overestimation is never bad.

"You look quite shaken up, you know that?"
(Saulot Vykos)
[17:58:49] "I'll be fine with some rest. Always have." Vale responded. The Ookami was already awaiting his recovery so that he could get right back to training. He needed to do so if he wanted to keep up with the sorts of people he found himself in fights with. The boy couldn't allow himself to fall behind by any means. Vale wanted to become stronger no matter what it took.

After responding to Saulot the boy would then look at his hands. His opponent had been far too strong this time to properly test out the technique he had been developing. There was always next time. In Vale's mind only the weak doubted themselves and those who were weak never lasted that long anyways.

Vale was going to prove that he was truely strong through never doubting his strength no matter what challenges he faced. After meeting Cucco Vale was sure that he never wanted to throw away his pride again.
(Vale)
[18:05:39] Stretching his staff outwards, Saulot had opened the access to pocket dimension on it's very tip; it looked quite odd, obviously... like a gap in the universe itself, leading to the areas of white noise and unknowing.

"You three, climb inside. Your time is up."

After ordering the skeletons to climb back into crafted dimension, they paced towards the gap on the staff, casually climbing inside. It's like they vanished from the thin air, disappearing into self-crafted place by Saulot.

Powerful magics and raising dead, now creating whole dimensions. Just what Saulot was capable of?
____________________________

"Whatever floats your boat."

The necromancer wouldn't bother to lecture him. Why would he anyway? Whether Vale decides to heed Saulot's words or not, that was entirely up to him; it was an advice if anything, and if Vale would rather not use it, well, let's just hope he had his own path figured out then.

"I'd stay to entertain the thought of the little spar we had, but it seems you're out of juice, so."

Saulot spoke, hinting that he'll be leaving soon.
(Saulot Vykos)
[18:10:46] Catching on to Saulot's hints Vale nodded his head and begun making his way back to where he usually sheltered himself. Hopefully he wouldn't run into any trouble before he got the chance to rest himself. While Vale shuffled away he walked with a noticeable limp enough to give away the fact that he was injured.

However his injuries weren't bad enough to be anything to worry about. With time Vale would have been good as new and ready to get himself into more fights. After all he needed to get strong as quickly as possible so that he could return to Whychwood.

As he walked he'd turn back to Saulot briefly and say,"The name's Vale." The stranger didn't appear to be that bad so Vale figured that there was no harm in sharing his name. Maybe they would have seen each other again later.
(Vale)
[18:15:53] Placing the staff back where it belonged around his back, Saulot turned around to make his way elsewhere. He still had places to be, and staying around here forever wasn't in his plans at all. The two were going to part their ways, and only fate could tell if they'd meet again in the future.

"The name's Alan."

Unfortunately, Saulot could not give out his true identity. That was the whole point of concealing his own appearance, duh...

He was still wanted in some places, and nobody was supposed to acknowledge him, as Saulot, to be the one who wielded Necromancy. In Vale's memory, he'll stay as a shady individual with hood and mask on his face.
(Saulot Vykos)