Church of Isekai -2. Борис Беленький

him again. He doesn’t understand they aren’t the dangerous ones – they like to join in the laughs and maybe in the spitting, but they would never start it. Doesn’t matter – they are all guilty. His specialty being a “Librarian” allows him access to some “World Library” and he learns poison making and manufacturing of simple weapons. He instructs an Artifactor in his group and everybody gets armed. Food is easy to procure – plenty of edible plants around. One day a small Monster shows up and the team attacks and kills it. This is a joy for everybody but makes him wonder what draws the Monsters to a person and what would be a repellent. He concocts a poison but adds to it a “lure” that attracts the Monsters and soon enough the two bullies and two more of his mates are dead. He screams at the team for having been lacking in training and taking too long going up the Levels. They managed to fight off a few Monsters and he makes sure that everybody understands that it was all thanks to him and without him they are nothing. All the time he’s building up his own Levels reaching 7 while not letting anyone to go over 2. They don’t understand where all the energy and experience is going to. They are suspecting something and at some point a fistfight breaks out. He’s ready with several poisoned sharpened sticks. Two boys and a girl are dying, an Artifactor is hugging the remaining hysterical girl while the Librarian is “taking revenge” on the dying one for having ignored him earlier. In the morning the bodies disappear and he admits he may have over-reacted. He will protect the remaining teammates, they have his word. Soon enough there is a new Bus and now the “remaining teammates” become the overseers and trainers. He yells at them for being too soft and that he can’t carry the whole team alone. They actually believe him and start basically running his show. He comes up with an idea to feed the Newbies to the Monsters having sprayed them with poison first. Some Dwarfs and Gnomes build a Mansion for him and several more houses and even a wall around the Camp. He poisons them all and orders to kill them on-sight. First – why pay with a potion recipe if he doesn’t have to, Second – if they’ve built such wonders for him they might build something even better for his enemies. He appoints a couple of direct reports and the rest are declared “cattle” that they can do anything to. By that time the “remaining teammates” are dead – the girl just didn’t wake up once and the Artifactor was easily replaced by a newcomer. Just like that – encouraging the Human Vices for the few and keeping the commoners terrified plus an occasional drop of poison to remove the old “lieutenant” promoting the young and eager. How many times he told someone that it’s time for him to move up the ranks but the old Chief won’t just resign, right? So here’s a little phial – if you want a promotion – you can guess what you need to do.

      Saved by the Doc Part 2

      I was knocked out of my meditation to see Kate-Nectar looking shocked and worried at me and several low-levels crowding behind her. I feel that she just cast several Necro-Heals at me and for some reason I needed it. As I’m starting to stand up, she tells me that she felt me dying or, since we’re basically aren’t alive, she felt my soul leaving the body. Since she took over the Boss’ Mansion for the needs of her newly-formed Medical School she was able to run up and save me. The curious students are slowly sneaking in and looking at the body of the Old Boss and me standing next to it. Let me think – this is not the first time I’ve read someone’s soul and I was just fine. What’s different this time? I look at the captured essence of the Librarian Level-20 and see that it’s fully “Energized” – that can’t be, I’ve drained it the moment I’ve captured it. I drained it again, asked Dr. Nectar to stand next to me for a few minutes and go back to reading his Soul but this time just the last few hours.

      Here he is, all happy having captured me in a cage. Getting even happier threatening his Underlings. Yes they will be punished and the Punishers will be happy to do it but then the Punished will remember it and will try to get back at them while the Punishers will know it and will focus on taking down the first and they’ll always be busy fighting among themselves. Shortly after, a totally different scenario plays out and he’s brought down. For some reason he doesn’t think it’s a problem. Let’s see… Looking up… looking down … Oh here – He has a well-hidden Energy-Storing Artifact that gets his soul “re-Energized” even while in my storage. That … is … AMAZING. Apparently he read up on this anti-Necromancer trick in the World Library that he has access to. Nice… So once I’ve focused on reading his soul, he almost managed to take over my body. If it wasn’t for Kate-Nectar I’d already be getting collected by the Dark Cloud. Well maybe not – even if he’d push me out, I’d just cast a “Stasis” on my body and drain his soul again while it’s in me, then go back. After all, the Magical Abilities are stored in the Soul not in the Body, and in a fight between a Necromancer’s soul and a Necromancer’s body with a Soul of a Librarian I’d still win. HOWEVER I can’t risk that he doesn’t learn something else.

      I come back before Dr. Nectar gets worried enough to kick me out of my meditation again, look around and walk toward the wall. Then I smash my fist at that wall. The Level-1s gasp and look at their instructor probably thinking if she can treat Mental Issues. Yes, she can but that’s not necessary. I cast a Quick Aging spell (Necromancer tricks are more than just souls and bodies) and a large metallic panel inside the wall turns to rust and pours to the ground. I hear the gasps again and I feel a strong disapproval from the Doctor. She noticed that my reserve’s almost entirely used-up and she doesn’t approve of this because she’d feel better with a Fully Charged Necromancer nearby. Yes, but if our World is indeed someone’s Video Game or a Show, they want Scenes that can be played and replayed so we need to churn them out. I reach in and take out several Crystals. The students are silent, the one who gasps now is Dr Nectar. I contact my Necro-Drone – a dead small flying creature called “Brownie” that I can control even at large distances, and order it to fly to me. Then under the wondering gazes of the Crowd I open the window, and just stand there. What they don’t know is that while waiting for the “Drone” I direct the Librarian Soul into my Magic Storage Crystal. Now I have access to the Librarian magic as well as the two other types I’ve copied before – Healing and Assassin. The soul, however, seems to still have the Magical properties. Before I’ve only created copies of souls and taken the Magic from them. I actually never bothered to see if the Copies still have their Magic. Apparently they do. OK, I’ll keep it in mind. But that’s beside the point.

      I can’t risk having this soul inside me, so when the Brownie arrives, I lay it on the desk and tell the now-larger crowd that they are about to see some Necromancer Magic. If they are too sensitive they are welcome to leave. There won’t be any blood though. Everybody stays and I focus on the Brownie and insert a “De-Energized” Librarian Soul into it. I also re-power it with my energy so now the Identifying Text Pop-up reads “Necro-Librarian Brownie”. It sits up and tries to talk. Sorry, you can’t, I’ve made sure to take that away. It stands up and starts walking around making hand-gestures apparently typical for the Old Camp-Boss, and the audience breaks down laughing. I’m controlling the Brownie – it would've not been able to walk, unless Dr. Nectar spends hours on very fine repairs. She sees me doing that and keeps silent. In fact there’s a frozen murderous stare on her face – apparently her students have told her Stories about their lives in the Camp.

      I tell the Students that I’ve captured the Soul of the Old Boss but when I wanted to do some experiments on it, the setup backfired and that Soul almost took over my body. Thank you Dr. Nectar for saving me. Now I’ll keep that soul in that dead Brownie and I’ll lock it into something sturdy until I no longer need it. The Brownie raised his head and shock his fist at me then walked angrily around. The audience rewarded my Marionette Control Skills with a burst of laughter and I addressed the Brownie, “What, you don’t like being locked into this body and then into a birdcage? Really? Well, what lesson did we all learn today?” I forced the Brownie to squeak angrily, “Never. Ever. Ever. Make. Your. Necromancer. Angry. Lesson’s over, class dismissed.”

      Dr. Nectar takes the hint and starts herding her students out. A Fox-Girl we’ve came across and saved earlier turns around, looks me in the eyes, hugs her beautiful tail to her chest and nervously says, “Please don’t let it take over you. Don’t become like him. Please.” I smile and assure her that I’ll never become like him – I don’t need to scheme and plot to keep the people fighting among themselves – I am a Necromancer, I can just suggest to the people