Necro Romancer

Lowell Hertia, a young mage who met with the well-known adventurers group "Quatro Domini", the group Alexis belonged to a long time ago.

Alexis Fuller was their mage, covering the group's rear. Maria Theresa DuPont was a woman of the cloth and ventured with the group as a healer and exorcist of the undead. Wulgar, a half-giant hybrid hailing from the far, northern mountain ranges of Gigante, is the group's vanguard. Lastly, Rodney Hood, a former small-time thief, acts as the thief and leader of the group. He's responsible for numerous tasks within and outside the group. He holds the party's funds and is the one responsible for accepting quests on behalf of the party.In battle, he looks out for everything and is usually the one making plans of attack and or escape. Being a thief required a high IQ which Rodney was suitable for considering he was top of his class during his school days.

At a close distance within the inn they met on are the spectral bodies of Mavis, present day Lowell and Alexis. They're unable to interact with anything, let alone even move. Their only choice is to watch events unfold.

The memory started to shift, the trios bodies' began to sink, as if they're riding a dragon who's plummeting straight to the ground. Once they've reached the bottom, a new memory took place.

This phenomenon kept repeating over a hundred times, maybe even more. The trio lost track. Still, with this many memories being shown, the friendship of Quatro Domini with Lowell was strong.

This friendship developed over time. The distance of their destination, Necropolis, helped as well considering that it was a ways off from the town they were staying at.

Various memories ranged from taking subjugation quests on towns or cities they stayed at to hanging out at tourist spots when there's nothing to do.

A lot of the memories were fun for Alexis to relive whereas Lowell remains clueless, his memory still haven't returned. At s0me point, they entered a memory where barely anything is visible.

They were stuck inside what seemed like a wardrobe. On the other side were the hushed voices of Lowell and Theresa who are seemingly meeting in secret.

Mavis and Lowell looked around the small space they were in trying to discern what's going on. Alexis on the other hand didn't seem to play along. Instead, she just looked at herself, sitting inside the wardrobe quietly listening in on the conversation going on outside the bedroom.

"Master Lowell, you know we can't keep meeting like this." Theresa said while being embraced in Lowell's arms.

Theresa, being part of the clergy from a young age, had developed a habit of calling her superiors in the church "Master". Even now that she's an adventurer, she refers to most of her friends, except Alexis, with that title.

"I know.." Lowell replied in bated breath. "But don't you think this is exciting in its own right?" Lowell asked excitedly.

"Perhaps so. But Alexis seemed like she's onto us. Nobody can find out about us or I'll be excommunicated from the order." Theresa stated. Those who are sworn members of the church are made to save their chastity for their God hence they are forbidden to have an intimate relationship with the opposite sex. Theresa is no exception.

"I was talking with Rodney earlier and he says we'll reach Necropolis in five days." Lowell shifted the subject.

"Then it seems we won't get to do our little excursions anymore. Unless…" Theresa said wistfully. "You know, you get along really well with Rodney and Wulfgar and I'm sure Alexis would like to have you around as well even if the two of you don't see eye to eye most of the times." Theresa continued with a smile on her face.

"And what about you Miss DuPont? How do you feel about me?" Lowell asked half-jokingly.

"Of c-course I'd l-like you a-around…" Theresa muttered, her face glowing red. She then hugged him tightly, digging her face on his chest. "I love you." Theresa said, her face bright red that it started to make her sweat.

Lowell lifted her head to get a look on her face. Theresa resisted a little but ultimately let him lead her. As they got lost in each other's eyes, Lowell reciprocated his feelings towards Theresa. "I love you too."

The two started kissing each other passionately, hands touching each other all over. The once cool room has become steamy hot as the three people inside started to sweat profusely, with one, more specifically the peeping tom inside the wardrobe, is starting to lose her consciousness because of the lack of oxygen.

She spent the next three hours trapped inside that wardrobe before the two outside would fall asleep and she could make her escape. The very next day, Alexis was more impolite towards Lowell for seemingly no reason.

The memory started to shift once again and this time, the three spectral bodies are finally at the end destination:Necropolis.

The land around Necropolis is dead. No flora or fauna to be found. The once flourishing city used to be a hub for trading as it connected several big cities. But ever since the Lich rose into power and decided to invade the city, it quickly fell as the Lich commanded its limitless undead army.

Though the city fell to ruin, a lot of its treasures are still hidden within the vaults, simply waiting for someone to find them.

The party made camp just outside the vicinity of the spreading rot. There have been reports in the past of people being exposed to this rot for a prolonged period of time which led to their deaths and eventually turning into zombies. But research made by the Mage's guild proved that there are no effects on the individual as long as they're not in direct contact with it.

Before they made their way inside the city though, Rodney had to go inside by his lonesome to chart a map for the group. This way, they don't spend too much time exploring dead ends.

Rodney's philosophy towards this is quite simple: find the boss and you'll find the treasure. In this case, as long as he can pinpoint where the lich is at then he'll also find the artifact Lowell is looking for and also some other treasures.

This wasn't as simple when doing it though as Rodney took the entire day charting a route to the lich's lair. He had to avoid countless undead lurking around the dead city, at one point almost getting caught as his foot got stuck in a gutter.

Back at the camp, the five start to formulate a plan. As Theresa is a priest and an expert at exorcising the undead, she proposes to go directly to where the lich is and exorcise it causing the rest of the undead to disband.

The lich's lair was well within the heart of the city, surrounded by a sea of undead skeletons and zombies. Getting a party of five inside unscathed would prove extremely difficult but not impossible.

Some plans were put forward like sneaking through the sewers but was ultimately denied as Wulfgar was unable to traverse the tight area, let alone get inside it. Another plan was put forward that could work. A diversion.

The idea is that the group would plant bombs and place rune magic at the farthest side of the city, detonate them and wait for the undead to swarm the affected area. From there, they should meet little resistance when approaching the lich's lair. It wasn't a guarantee but the members were up for it.

After finalizing their plan, they went on to have a feast before the big operation. The campfire grew bigger throughout the night as they eat food and celebrate life. A lot of words of respect were exchanged between the members though it could just be the alcohol talking. Lowell proposed becoming a permanent member of the group which was well received by the three except Alexis who wavered a bit before agreeing to the proposal with a wry smile. One thing is for certain, they can't call themselves Quatro Domini anymore.

The moon shined its brightest as the group retreated to their tents to rest. The night passed by quickly and soon, the sun rose beckoning a long and arduous day ahead.

As morning came, the group got ready for their operation. Rodney checked his items and tools. Wulfgar sharpened his battleaxe with a whetstone. Theresa offered a prayer to her God for success. Lowell organized his spell scrolls and Alexis was fixing her hair.

With that, the group made their way to the Necropolis in search of treasure. Unbeknownst to them, a great evil sleeps within the confines of the city of the dead.