Whispers of a Dead Empire

Another day another chapter. I just finished this Arc on my patreon, so just a few more chapters from here on out before we get to the adventurers, and the fun will begin :D

I broke the surface of the water and ran my fingers through my hair, trying to clean out the grime and dirt that built up there. I really needed to take better care of myself since I couldn't stand being unclean. I wish I had the foresight to pack shampoo and whatnot into my bag, but I didn't think this would happen.

Oh well, nothing a good scrubbing couldn't take care of. I vigorously attempted to clean my hair and scrub the rest of my body down. I really missed the luxuries that my life on Earth afforded me. You never really know what you have until you lose it. Though saying those words felt beyond cheesy for me. But they were true.

Once I was happy with how clean I was, I decided to just float for a while. The water here was clean, though I wouldn't drink from it. I knew far better than that. Perhaps I wouldn't get sick, but I wouldn't tempt fate. But I chose a great time to take a bath.

The sun was directly in the middle of the sky, and it was mostly clear, with only a few clouds in sight. The water was the perfect temperature, and there wasn't a soul in sight. Even the zombies that filled the forest with sounds seemed to be a little more quiet than usual.

Alessia was resting against a tree that overlooked the small lake. Her pole-ax was within arm's reach, and her mace was fit through a small loop I made for her outfit. Her arms were crossed, and she hovered a few inches off the ground. She was alert and gazed across the area, looking for potential threats, which I highly doubted that there were, but who was I to argue, whatever made her happy.

She was a fascinating figure, to say the least. She was very serious about her job, and she seemed a tad possessive, which was a little cute. But I would have to have her scale it back with the bosses. I mean, after all, they wouldn't hurt me. As for outsiders, I don't think I'll interact with them all that much. It would keep me safe, though I would have to live with only dealing with the undead. But they were not so bad, mostly.

The zombies stank and were noisy, while the skeletons just hung around. The ghosts were, well, ghosts. They said little. But I also had to focus on getting some diversity going on; I need higher tier undead to keep this domain functioning, especially once I expand it.

But that begged the question. What was Alessia going to evolve into? She was growing more solid and could affect physical objects well enough. There was just so much that I didn't know about the undead that I couldn't even make an educated guess. Hell, I didn't even know what the skeletons would evolve into.

But that would come with time. I quickly spun in the water, swam to the shore, and grabbed the towel that I had hanging on a branch of a low-hanging tree. I took some time to clean up the surrounding area to make my lake look a bit more appealing, though it would suck that I couldn't use it once my domain opened up. Maybe I should make a lavish bath down the road. That sounds amazing.

I dried myself off, and pulled on my underwear, and sat down on a smooth rock. Now it was time to design some clothing for me that wasn't just for working out. I wanted something to hide my identity once the domain opened and afford me a sense of mystery.

Naturally, I would default to a cloak, but one with a hood that was a little tighter than what Kharon had. I opened up my menu, opened up my creation tool, and quickly designed a cloak for myself. I wanted it to be something that I could wrap around myself and throw off in a split second. I messed with a few designs before; I painted it a deep purple, with specs of blue mixed into it. It gave it a vortex-like appearance, and I thought it looked gorgeous. I added some pockets around the inside, along with a few buttons near the top that could quickly come undone.

Once I was done, I named the template, The Empress' Cloak and spawned it in. Inside I painted it the same camo grey I had the rest of the uniforms painted as, just in case, I had to make a run for it and could flip the cloak inside out. I made a handful of shirts and pants to wear under it as well.

The clothes spawned while I was busy throwing on my training outfit. They were not anything too special, just general clothing that looked nice and didn't break the bank. Once I was dressed, I walked over to the cloak and picked it up to feel for it.

It was soft, and the fabric felt lovely, and I could only hope that it wouldn't get uncomfortable. I threw it over my outfit and saw that it came down to just below my knees and gave me far more than enough room to move around freely. I spun around once, enjoying how everything felt, yet something seemed like it was missing.

I wanted something that would add another layer of mystery if I was seen. Something that would have the adventures whispering about me. But what did that require? I thought it over for a moment, and then it clicked. I needed a mask, but it would have to be something that would fit along with the domain and its theme. It would have to be symbolizing my status.

So, should I do something like Anubis? I mean, Anubis would fit the theme I had going on, but I felt like the mask would be a little too large for my taste. I wanted something that would be small and fit close to my face. I opened up my menu with a quick gesture and used some steel to create a template for a mask that perfectly fit my face and then made it snow white.

Now that it was a blank template, I could experiment. A kitsune mask would be cute, but I don't think it would fit the theme. So that was out of the question. An oni mask would be awesome and fear-inspiring, but I wasn't feeling that either at the moment. I stared at the template as I kept drawing blanks, which was a little frustrating for me.

I stared at my medium for a moment, summoned my soul claw, stared at the colors for a bit, and played with it. What if I painted the mask the same color as my soul? Purple with white hues mixed in and just created various designs around that?

I mindlessly painted color onto the mask, erasing attempts if they didn't seem right until I came across something that I enjoyed. I kept the mask mostly white and added in patterns that seemed to never end. Long strings of orange wrapped around strings of the whitish purple and traveled across the mask. The way the colors melded and were drawn on the mask would have been impossible on Earth, and they were literally breath-taking.

I adjusted the patterns a bit, painted the mask a light grey, got rid of the bright white, and painted a single scarlet teardrop under the right eye hole, and blended it into its surroundings. Once I finished, I glanced it over and was mesmerized by how gorgeous it was. I loved the way the orange complemented the purple and how they danced around each other. I think it was rather fitting. Now I just had to add in some cushion on the inside and a band to hold it in place. Along with a few holes so I could breathe.

Once I finished with the last touches, I saved the template under the name 'The Mask of Eternity. I spawned it in and waved towards Alessia. "Hey, are you ready to train?"

She grabbed her pole-ax and quickly covered the distance between us. She mouthed something, which from my minimal ability to read lips, looked something like a yes.

"Good." I reached out and grabbed the mask that I spawned in and put it on to see how it fit. The system was pretty spot on when it came to stuff like this. How it fit across my head made it feel as it was a second skin. Even the point where it extended outwards for my nose was perfect.

"Alright, so I want some sword training and then some polearm right after." My words were slightly muffled through the mask, but nothing that projecting my voice couldn't fix. "Would you like to go to the honor guard training area?" I figured that would be the most comfortable place for her. Plus, it would be fun to be around the undead that was training to defend me. I may even pick up a thing or two from them all.

She stepped close to me, and I opened up the map to find the location, and I hurried us over there. The world blurred and stretched as the teleport function worked its magic. A few heartbeats later, the world went back to normal, and we appeared in an area devoid of most forms of life.

All the trees looked to be cleared out, and the start of a base camp looked like it was in progress. It wasn't anything fancy, but just a place to stay. A few ghosts patrolled the perimeter in a group of four, and two skeletons were sparring with swords. Other than that, though, the area was empty. I was curious about where the rest were, but I'm sure I would figure that out later. I just wanted to get the dreaded training out of the way for now.

We walked over to a small area with a small ring worn into the Earth, and I thought about what weapons I wanted to use. I was actually considering being very bougie and creating my own weapons. I mean, this is my domain, after all. But for now, I guess the essential gear will work. I gotta learn the basics if I want to get anywhere.

I spawned in two swords and two spears and tossed a set over to Alessia. "Alrighty then. Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"