Strings Attached

[You really want 'Shapeless One' huh?] The system asked me, snarkily. I sighed but only because I detected a tingle of opportunistic gloating in the system's inhuman voice.

I was walking through the space between Comillas and the forest. This was a vast grassland that I was becoming increasingly familiar with. As I stepped deeper and deeper into this largely unclaimed territory I looked around at my surroundings and studied the farms around me.

The farms that surrounded me were populated by a solid number of laborers; almost as many laborers were here as there were people living in Comillas. They were hard at work, and I watched as they deftly managed their tools, plowing into the dirt at their feet, watering crops, and spreading seeds at once mechanically and also with the precision of having done this work for years.

"I do want access to my power." I confessed in the confines of my mind. I put an emphasis on the word "my", so as to stress that it was a power of mine that I had access to by birthright and not something that ought to be denied to me. I heard a gentle chuckle from the system at my remark.

[You really do. We can tell. You're the sort to be annoying about that. So... We're deciding on how to best make a trade. How to have you perform a task for us, one that you may otherwise not be willing to do, and in exchange for the completion of such a task, we will see fit to unlock your power.] The system announced, proudly displaying its hand since it felt it had a superior position.

I grimaced at this, annoyed at the arrogance the system displayed at this moment. But I also bit my tongue and quelled the part of me that wanted to speak out and tell the system to lose the attitude.

I knew I could handle whatever it was going to ask me to do, and a part of me wanted to try and corrupt whatever objective I next received. I thought about it, as I strode in the direction of the forest.

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The forest began to creep into view in the distance. I could see the outermost trees way off at the edge of my vision. The sun was still high in the sky, though it was now inching past its peak and beginning what would become a long, and painfully slow descent culminating below the horizon.

I must have been walking for over half an hour, somewhat idly and not directly towards the forest. Some time had passed, and I was beginning to feel the full might of the sun's rays on my skin. It wasn't uncomfortable, but I definitely felt it.

It was at that moment that I felt the system creep back into my mind. For the first time ever I actually had an almost premonition like understanding that the system was about to whisper to me. Curiously, I readied myself to listen to it.

[So we've come up with an idea that we positively love. Which means that you will probably not like it. But hey, one day you'll be in a position to do what you want with your powers, so just... just humor us, this one time, okay?] My strange companion said into my mind. I sighed and waited for it to expand on what it wanted. I didn't have to wait long.

[So here's our idea. We want you to grow more familiar with using necromancy. Necromantic magic is seriously powerful, and we believe that it could a potent tool in your arsenal with regards to gaining worshipers. If you want to gain access to your power,] The system was trying to sass me back and put an emphasis on the word "your".

[You need to do something simple for us. The necromancy subdomain is even being kind and providing you with early access to one of the powers you'd otherwise gain when you earned the lowest tier of influence over it. You need to animate three corpses. Once you do, we'll unlock your 'Shapeless One' power. Not a minute sooner. We've even gifted you with the potent necromantic spell that animates corpses just to speed this process along.] The system said, speaking sternly.

At that moment I received a surprising and helpful notification. It sprang to life in my mind, like it was waiting for just the right moment.

[Alert:

You have just been granted access to a tremorsense upgrade. This upgrade comes in the form of the passive power belonging to the subdomain of 'necromancy'. The power is entitled 'Cadaver Collector'.

Cadaver Collector allows you to detect corpses on your tremorsense mini-map. The symbol to detect corpses is a cross. For now, you either need to cast your magic through someone else, or be within sight of a corpse to raise it, but one day you might be able to just select crosses on your mini-map and raise them using powerful necromantic energy.

You have also been granted access to the 'Create Undead' spell. This is the second most basic necromantic spell that raises the undead and is guaranteed to work, unlike 'Reanimating Spark'. It allows for the creation of three types of undead beings. What follows this part of the alert is basic information about the sorts of creatures you can create.

Zombie: Zombies are the lowliest of the corporeal undead. They are walking corpses that exist either to create more zombies or to follow and obey the commands of their creators. Zombies that come about as a result of unguided phenomena exist to create more zombies. Zombies that follow the orders of their creators are the results of magic or a specific divine power.

Skeletons: Skeletons are the animated bones of corpses. These strange creatures are considerably more intelligent than zombies and possess a small amount of strange, innate, wisdom. When they are created if there was any flesh left on the bones that form their body such flesh immediately falls off their bones. Skeletons seek out weapons and armor and equip any such items they can find.

Ghouls: Ghouls are above and beyond the strongest kind of undead the 'Create Undead' spell can create. Ghouls are corpses that weren't just animated but given a tiny spark of free-will and cruelty.

These strange creatures not only intelligently seek out the flesh of the living, but they also possess the ability to infect living creatures with a feared disease that can kill and reanimate their victims as ghouls. Ghouls are known and feared for their immense hunger, but they are intelligent enough to form their own civilizations and distinct religions, though they are on the lower end with regards to undead sapience.

Special notes:

Undead created by you are not like other undead beings. Whether you create them with a spell or with direct application of unlife energy, the energy that animates undead beings, undead creatures you create are not only maximally ferocious, they are also highly intelligent and capable of growth.

Undead you create you are capable of destroying. You can choose to cease animating them, which causes them to cease being undead, reverting them back into corpses. Undead they create, whether it is by conscious acts of destruction as it would be if they were victims of a ghoul attack or by unintelligent means such as perishing a day or so after surviving a zombie attack, are considered to be your creations as well and come into being under your control.

At the moment any undead entity you create that is more advanced than a zombie, including skeletons, automatically worships you and possess greater intelligence. This is true to the extent that somethings you animate may become more intelligent in undead than they were in life. Once you become a skilled enough necromancer even zombies will come into being automatically worshipping you.]

The final part of that notification was quite exciting to me. And I read it several times before the notification winked out of view as they usually did. After I read it, I began to scheme about how best to corrupt this mission and twist it away from what the system was intending.

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I reached the edge of the forest, while my mind was racing. I was envisioning ways to twist this request on its head while still securing access to my power.

"How can I corrupt this objective most effectively?" I wondered. I took my first steps into the forest and closed my eyes.

It took my not-so-mini-map a few moments to spring into being in my mind. When it did I immediately noticed a few additions: numerous crosses littered the mini-map, and I studied them as I considered what to do.

"I was never told that I had to kill things myself. Just that I had to raise three corpses from the dead." I muttered, beginning to formulate a way to fulfill the objective given to me in a way that I enjoy and that didn't require me to go and inflict harm on something.

"I could just... use these spells to transport bodies from one place to another. Or even to take meat from one place to another." I quietly uttered, a plan beginning to crystalize and come into being in my mind.

It was at that moment, while I was studying crosses and beginning to birth a plot to advance my powers without violence, that I detected the first suitable corpse for my plan. As I mentally ordered an assessment of it, I began to smile as I read the information my power was providing me with.