Eternal Rest

Bones stared at the screen, his mind wrestling with the unexpected choice before him.

Race advancement available

Undead Skeleton > Undead Revenant

Would like to advance a Race: Undead Skeleton > Undead Revenant

Yes/No

"Revenant?"

Undead Revenant - a revenant is a form of an undead creature that inhabits a vengeful soul that has died a gruesome death and has possessed a body of a dead. Now, in the form of an undead, it seeks to haunt, terrorize and strike fear in the living or a subject of its vengeance. The Revenant has increased physical attributes and is relentless in pursuit of his target.

+10 to all attributes

Warning: the user will undergo a physical transformation

Bones read the description again and sighed. He hadn't expected this. The advancement was far beyond what he had anticipated. He thought perhaps he might simply upgrade from an undead skeleton to an adept, but this... this was something else entirely.

"Strange that I have only one upgrade available. There are a number of reasons why that would be, but only one comes to mind. I must have met certain hidden criteria and Revenant is the only option forward."

He read the description again. A vengeful spirit? Against whom? He didn't harbor hatred toward anyone in particular. Himself and the rest of the world, maybe… The gruesome death part fits perfectly, and as for terrorizing and striking fear...

"Ah! Right, I do have the Misanthrope skill."

The boost to his attributes was immense and welcomed, but the physical transformation gave him pause. He wasn’t sure what changes would occur or how drastic they would be.

He paused his thoughts, then chuckled. "Can't be worse than a skeleton, right?"

His mind buzzed with possibilities and concerns, but it was obvious he was going to proceed with the advancement. He just wasn't sure where he wanted the transformation to take place.

The workshop wasn't a good idea. If he collapsed or entered Eternal Rest, he'd be out of it for who knew how long, and he didn't want to disturb Hem or have them find him on the floor. Outside the smithy was out of the question for obvious reasons.

"Guess I'll just head to my room then."

Bones left a small note at his work table, saying "Advancing in my room," and left.

Once inside his room, Bones double-checked that the door was locked and the curtains were drawn. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for what was to come. The idea of transforming into a revenant filled him with a mix of anticipation and trepidation. He summoned Skully and instructed him to keep him company.

Bones then took off his robe, sat cross-legged as usual, and brought up the screen again, the option still waiting for his confirmation. With one last deep breath, he selected:

Yes.

You have chosen to advance a Race Undead Skeleton > Undead Revenant

Advancement initiating…

At first, the mana within his body steadily increased, much like it did in his empowered state, until he felt it reach his maximum. Then it went beyond, and a steady increase turned into turmoil. The excess mana scourged the pathways through his body, and unnatural changes started taking place.

Bones, in the meantime, was incapacitated, and once the transformation started, he entered Eternal Rest.

Knock knock.

"No answer?"

"Naw, I think he's still at it!" Hemdus replied. This was the second time the dwarves had come knocking. Hem found the note Bones left behind when preparing for work in the morning. He didn't think much of it as the dwarves knew it was only a matter of time until Bones had his advancement.

At noon, before taking a lunch break, Hem decided to check up on Bones again but left upon hearing no reply. It was evening now, and Darsumi visited the smithy, asking if Bones was still in his room.

"Nothing to it then. Let's go grab ourselves a drink and something to bite," Darsumi said. Hemdus nodded and followed Dar to the kitchen.

There are different types of Revenants, and they all share a physical image of a recently deceased corpse. While not a rule, most revenants fall under the category of zombies. Bones was not a Zombie. Through sheer system frolics, he was an undead skeleton, and now the transformation was taking place.

The excess mana rampaging through and around his very bones was dense and felt thick, almost tangible. Tendrils of mana attached themselves to the defensive layer Bones had from his Bone Aura skill and, like metal at high temperature, began to melt the layer.

Unconsciously, Bone Shaping activated, and the melted layer started to twist and bend around his bones. The new layer had no form yet, and after hours of erratic shaping, it solidified into the form of muscle tissue.

The engravings Bones had made on his arms were no longer visible straight lines. The incisions twisted and curved during the transformation along with the defensive layer, becoming a part of it. Pulses of blue hue gently glowed in the incisions between the muscle-like tissue on his arms, tinged with a luminous green.

Bones' overall mass increased with the expansion of his bone structure. He looked lean, no longer scrawny as before. He came to his senses by nighttime to the sounds of merry dwarves coming from the kitchen on the ground floor. Bones groggily stood up, clutching Skully for support. His head felt like a puzzle with thousands of scattered pieces. He reached for the door, groping for the doorknob.

"Skully… door."

Skully didn't respond. Bones' mind was in such a mess from the advancement that he couldn't form coherent thoughts. After great effort, he managed to open the door and tumbled down the hallway until he reached the staircase. Taking a step forward, he missed a step and rolled down the stairs.

Crash

Silence permeated the kitchen as Bones stood back up and, with heavy footsteps, proceeded toward the kitchen. The dwarves watched as Bones' head peeked out from the entrance, glancing their way. Both dwarves tensed up, their eyes widening. Bones held onto the door frame for support, then staggered into the kitchen and made his way toward an available chair.

Hem stuttered incoherently while Dar summoned a dagger and placed it on the table in front of him. Both watched Bones clumsily pull a chair and take a seat.

"Boney, ye alr—" Hem began to ask, but Bones held up a finger, motioning for him to wait while he took out a mana potion. He placed the vial on the table, and then his head abruptly slumped down, hitting the table with his forehead, breaking the vial and spilling its contents.

Dar was speechless, but the scene made him relax. He stored the dagger away and watched as Hem burst into laughter. They left Bones as he was, wiped the table clean, and continued with what they were doing. Around midnight, Dar said his goodbyes and left. Hem was ready to go to his room but pondered whether to leave Bones be or not.

He shook Bones by the shoulders, hoping to "wake" him up and heard a groan, followed by a raspy voice.

"Hem, wha… where am I?"

"In the kitchen, Boney! Ye doin' ok now?"

Bones slumped back in the chair, his head falling backward. "I feel like I haven't slept for months, you know?" Bones said and turned to look at Hem. His eyebrows raised, even though he actually didn’t have any, and a sinister glow flickered in his eye sockets.

"Hells, Boney… I dun think ye shoulda let anyone see ye like this."

"What? Why?"

"Ye mighta looked a bit harmless before when ye were only a skeleton, but now ye look proper menacing! Ye should see yerself in a mirror! I am off to bed! We'll talk in the morning, eh? G’night!"

"Alright. Good night, Hem." Bones said his goodnight and turned his focus to the blaring notifications awaiting him. Before doing anything, he popped open a mana potion and drank it in one gulp. Then another one and the third one on his way back to his room.

When he entered the room, he greeted Skully and thanked him for standing idly by and not helping with the doors. The mana potion alleviated some of the murkiness he felt, and Bones headed straight to the bathroom.

He stood stupefied in front of the mirror. Before the transformation, he looked like someone had wrapped his skeleton tightly in a thin layer of silk. Now, he looked like someone had skinned him, but instead of flesh and meat, he had thick, solid bones shaped like lean muscles.

Bones touched his face, feeling the solidified bones coating his skull and the lack of indentation. It actually looked better now. Then he noticed the glow in the mirror. He looked down and inspected the glow coming off both his arms. Probably incisions from engraving since I don't see the lines anymore, Bones thought.

He clenched his fists, and the glow intensified slightly. Bones could feel the qualitative jump in power. It was expected as he did gain a boost to strength, but it seemed more than simply that. He sensed both the layer and the engravings were part of him, like they had always been a part of him and not layers he did and added himself.

He unclenched his fist, then clenched it again, observing how the bone in his forearm twitched and strained, imitating the functions of a muscle. The transformation had turned his skeletal frame into something more formidable, with an appearance and strength to match.

"Fascinating!" he exclaimed in wonder. He couldn't do that before. At least not as naturally. He watched and observed the changes on his body, but the glow on his arms wouldn't escape his notice, neither did the faint tinge of green mixing with blue.

Curious about the changes, he brought up his notifications. There were many to go through, starting with successfully advancing from Undead Skeleton to Undead Revenant. He had gained a boost to his attributes he was still getting accustomed to, and was surprised to read he had gained two levels in Bone Shaping.

“Bone Aura is still here. I thought it would change or even disappear after the defensive layer fused with my skeleton. Is that the right word? Fuse?”

Bones continued and paused at the next notification, leaving him puzzled.

Affinity [Chaos, low] acquired

Many questions went through his head. How? When? Why?

He could have gained an affinity during the advancement. That's what he first thought, but a nagging feeling made him think back to everything that happened so far, and a realization hit him.

“Was it back then? The necromancer...and the blasts? Are you kidding me?”

The memory of the chaotic blasts from the necromancer's attack came rushing back. The raw, untamed energy that had surged through him during that moment. Could it be that the remnants of that chaotic magic had lingered within him, manifesting now with his advancement?

Bones wasn't happy about gaining chaos affinity. Being an undead already raised awareness in people sensitive to mana like Morem and perhaps Gareth, the ranger from the dungeon. Having chaos affinity on top of that, and he wouldn't escape the notice of others, less sensitive as well.

“Luckily, it's low affinity, so it shouldn't be as discernible yet. Long term, it might play right into my hands! There's not much defense against the unstable and disorderly chaos magic from what I can tell. How would it affect my spells, though? What about my golem? No point in overthinking it right now, but I should find more information on chaos mana. I'll ask Darsumi about it when I see him tomorrow…or is it later today? It'll dawn in a few hours.”

Bones stretched in front of the mirror for a while longer, watching as his solidified new body bent and stretched with flexibility, when it shouldn't have been possible to.

Satisfied with the result of the transformation, Bones left the bathroom and laid down on the bed with his legs crossed and hands behind his head. There was one notification he skimmed through and planned to go back to.

Skill: In pursuit of Vengeance [active] - Allows a Revenant to use a fragment of his soul to inflict a mark on the target of his vengeance and never lose them in pursuit! The Revenant will be able to sense the marked target wherever they are and when confronted with his target, he will gain a boost to his attributes all the while the confrontation lasts. Only one target may be marked at a time.

The level 25 skill he gained truly fit his racial upgrade. Bones was both intrigued by it and concerned about the cost of this new skill. What does it mean to use a fragment of my soul? Does it use a piece of my soul? Can I restore it back? Many questions clouded his mind.

“The skill seems like it would be best used situationally and definitely with caution. I won't know how it works until I try it out though.”

Bones pushed himself up into a sitting position. He had brooded enough over a skill he had no target to test on right now. While many great changes had taken place in the last twenty-four hours, Bones still had a golem to engrave, and he wanted it done before the heist.

“I think there’s less than a week before the festival? Yes, and I lost a day on advancing my race, so there should be five days left now. Thaddeus should’ve reached the capital and delivered the message by now…”