Senani and Kaz begin the walk from the woods towards the town. During the trip Senani and Kaz got to know each other rather well. As it turns out Kaz was quite intelligent and highly capable far more than a normal bull. This pleased Senani yet made him wish Kaz was a human. With his brains and determination, he could easily lead an army.
The trip to town was rather uneventful aside from getting to know one another. Once they arrived in the town, they we are notified that a lot of people had disappeared, and strangely there were graves that had been dug up and apparently robbed. Even the bodies were missing. This began the last time a stranger entered town. The guard to the gate to the city of Solamnia told them this and let Senani know they would be keeping an eye on him. As he appeared to be a simple farmer coming to town with a bull, they let him pass.
Once in town, Senani went to the stable. It cost him 20 bronze coins to pay for boarding for Kaz for the week. He was unsure how long it would take to recruit people to help with a farm, so a week was a good starting point. He then went to the tavern to see what he could find out.
Once in the tavern he asked the barkeep Otis if he knew of anyone looking for farm work. Otis told him that he could always adopt children from the orphanage. With the people disappearing and the troubles at the graveyard few people could be spared to leave. It would take nearly every able-bodied person to keep the town running.
The more Senani heard about the disappearances the more curious he became. He decided to do a bit of investigating. His first stop would be the empty graves. So, he left the tavern and began walking towards the graveyard. He soon arrived at the first grave. What he saw made him more curious than before. It did not appear as though someone was digging into the grave it looked like someone was digging out. The more graves he looked at the more convinced he was. The dead were climbing out of the graves no one was robbing them.
It was at this point he realized he really needed more humans in his army. The animals were great in the forest however now that they were in inhabited lands he was on his own. Yes, he was able to bring Kaz to the city, but a bull would not fit in many places. A bull could not be taken many places. Senani was basically on his own. It was at this point that his thoughts were interrupted by an urgent message from Kaz. He told Senani he needed him to return immediately. Something was wrong with him.
Rikki-Tiki then said "You need to hurry back to Kaz. His contract just changed. You have to get him out of the city now."
Senani did not take the time to get an explanation with what Rikki Tikki said he ran back to the stables. When he arrived Kaz was inside a cocoon. Senani quickly teleported himself and Kaz back to the Land Grant. Senani was more confused as who had ever heard of a bull in a cocoon? Fortunately, Rikki-Tiki volunteered the answer.
"This is due to your Animal Evolution passive skill. Kaz is evolving. The evolution could take some time. You should go about your business and when the evolution is complete, I will notify you." Senani returned to the real world from his Land Grant.
When Senani arrived back at the stable, the stable master came in with a donkey. He looked at Senani, investigated the empty stall Kaz had been in. Then asked Senani if he knew where his bull was. Senani responded, "Clearly not in the stall I paid for him to be in." The stable master was flabbergasted. He placed the donkey in a stall and had the stable boy take care of him. He then apologized profusely to Senani and began an investigation into where Kaz had gone. After all an animal disappearing from his stable could ruin his reputation and his livelihood. He refunded Senani his money on the spot and told him he would make this right. He would find Kaz or he would compensate him for his losses.
Senani chuckled to himself. This could be a profitable trip after all. He then returned to the graveyard to investigate why and how people would be digging out of graves. Senani decided the best thing he could do was to find a place to hide and wait. To that end, Senani looked around the graveyard to try to find a place to hide. At one side of the graveyard, he found a Mausoleum. He sat down and waited on something to happen.
At midnight he began to hear a faint scratching sound coming from one of the graves. As the hours moved on, the scratching got closer and closer until he could see the dirt moving. Clearly something was trying to get out. Senani wondered how so many people managed to get buried alive. Then a hand came out of the ground. There was no flesh on the bones in the hand. Whatever was coming out of the grave was clearly not human anymore. Slowly more and more of the creature became visible. First a hand then an arm, a head. As more came out of the grave the stench of decay was overwhelming. Senani was struck with a fear he had never known. He was clearly staring at the skeleton of a dead person. And now it was staring back, only where its eyes should be there was a deep red glow. Senani then called for wolf to come to him. This was clearly not an enemy he could fight alone with a hunting knife.
When Wolf arrived, he charged the skeleton, knocking it apart. Yet the glow continued to burn in the eyes of the skull. Clearly it would take more than disassembling it to destroy the undead before him. Senani grabbed the skull and teleported to his Land Grant. He figured if he could keep the skull separate from the rest of the corpse, perhaps it would not be able to reassemble, and if he were lucky maybe it could even talk.
Once Senani was back in his land grant he attempted to talk to the skull. The first question Senani had was a simple one. How are you alive?
To his surprise the skull answered. It said, "I have been called from my eternal rest by the master. He has called us all to seek. He seeks the one hidden from sight for centuries. More of us come each day. It will not stop until he is found. Under the Mausoleum you will find the master. Move the sarcophagus to the left to enter. Enter and join our ranks."
At that moment, Rikki-Tiki notified Senani that the cocoon Kaz is in is cracking. Senani ran to the cocoon, he still carried the skull. Upon arrival at the cocoon Senani could see cracks forming all around. Bright light erupted from every crack. Suddenly the top fell, and the light became so bright you could not look at it. When the light dimmed a creature walked out. It had the head of a bull and a muscular human body only the body was covered in thick fur much like a bull. It was black with white spots, just like Kaz.
Senani spoke to it, "Kaz is that you?
The creature responded, "It is me. I feel far more powerful. I believe my race is called a Minotaur. I can now serve you much more efficiently."
Rikki-Tiki informed Senani, "Now that Kaz is a Legendary Minotaur, he is a prime candidate for the Mercenary Captain System stone. Would you like to use it on him? This will have great benefit to you in the future. As a Mercenary Captain Kaz will be able to grow his own army. As he is bound by a Covenant, all members of his army will also be bound by a Covenant to you indirectly. None of them will be able to act against you or Kaz."
Senani thought this was a great idea and used the Mercenary Captain System stone on Kaz. He then gave him the belt with the uncommon sword and one of the common swords. While Kaz may not know how to use them, it was better than being unarmed. Senani then informed Kaz of what the skull had said. He and Kaz then returned to the graveyard. Upon arrival the Senani placed the skull on the pile of bones. It regenerated its body and began moving toward the Mausoleum. It began pushing the sarcophagus. When it was unable to move it asked Senani to help.
Senani and Kaz walked into the Mausoleum and began to push the sarcophagus. Kaz easily pushed it aside and revealed the staircase underneath. The skeleton immediately moved down the dark staircase, heading the call of its master. Senani and Kaz slowly followed behind. At the base of the stairs, they waited for the skeleton to get far out of sight. They did not wish for its master to know where they were, and they did not know how much information the master could glean from its minions.
Once an hour had passed, they moved into the catacombs under the Mausoleum. This was an area clearly no living being had been in years. Senani doubted anyone alive even knew it still existed. They wandered aimlessly through the halls. No map existed and everywhere they went they could see bones and empty coffins. It appeared the master had been terribly busy indeed. They continued to move in, deeper and deeper. Eventually they came to a ring of statues. Before they entered the room, Senani received multiple notifications.
"Quest Received. Eliminate the necromancer and gain his System Stone. Quest Reward, 400 acres of land grant."
"Quest Received. Recruit the Death Knight. Quest Reward, Unknown Skill."
Senani decided he should summon Bear and the Pack leaders. Wolf would be too large to easily traverse these halls. The 7 of them began to move into the room. Each of them stood at a statue with Senani approaching the one in the center. It stood out from the rest, the ones circling it almost appeared to be protecting the one in the center. The one in the center looked like a noble knight in black armor. It was so detailed it almost appeared alive. As he stared at the statue the eyes began to open. They shone with an extremely bright red glow. The brighter the eyes became the greater the feeling of dread the statue exerted. By the time the eyes opened completely all but Kaz were on their knees before the statue. Such power and force applied a great pressure. Senani could not even lift his head to look at the statue.
The statue began to cackle maniacally. "I am the Death Knight Maximus. In life I served the King of Solamnia. In death I was the General of the Great Lich armies. Now I seek to make amends for the pain I caused the world in service to the Lich. In this world there are few who can stand up to me. Who are you Minotaur?"
Kaz responded, "I am the Minotaur Kaz. I was born a bull and I have recently evolved thanks to my master Senani. He is on his knees directly before you. I hope to be one of the leaders of his great armies. I ask that you allow him to stand and speak. His words carry far more weight than my own."
Maximus cackled louder. "Why should I listen to him? He is too weak to even look at me. I could destroy each one of you with a single swing of my sword. I contain an artifact system and am level 5 tier 2. You are only alive because you were able to remain standing. I am tired of hiding down here. If you can get me out of here and take me somewhere the Great Lich can not find me, I will train you Kaz and I will protect you. If your master manages to kill the necromancer that serves the Great Lich that seeks me, I will grant him the Mausoleum as it belongs to my family. I will train him in the ways of the sword as well. What say you Kaz?"
Kaz said, "It would be an honor to learn from you, however the only one here with the power to do as you wish is my master. Free him from your power and he will provide you a safe place to rest and train us."
Maximus cackled and released everyone from his power. He then awoke the statues surrounding them and spoke directly to Senani, "You are lucky to have Kaz serving you. Was it not for him you would all be dead? These are my guards. Each of them more power than a single army in this weakened land. Earn my sword and you have theirs as well. Take me away from here and I will train you both."
Senani closed his eyes and thought of his land grant. He teleported Maximus, his guards, and all Senani's minions to the land grant. Maximus spoke as soon as he arrived, "How do you have access to this land? Even the Great Lich King does not possess this magic. Perhaps Kaz is right and there is more to you than meets the eye. Defeat the necromancer and I will swear my fealty to you.
Senani was ecstatic. When Maximus had opened his eyes, he thought they were all dead. Instead, it appeared they would live to fight another day, and furthermore they may gain an extremely powerful ally and mentor. He then called Fred and requested he come with them back to the Mausoleum. The enemy's there were far less dangerous than Maximus. Until Maximus swears his fealty, Senani was afraid to leave him with his minions. Senani then returned to the catacombs under the Mausoleum. When he appeared, he had all the wolves, Bear, Wolf, Kaz, and Fred with him. He sent out all the wolves to search for the necromancer. Fred was to stay by his side. Wolf was to stay in this room. The paths were not wide enough for him to comfortably search. After a brief time Drizzt telepathically informed Senani that he had eyes on a human in a black robe. He told Senani how to get to him. Unfortunately, after he had relayed the information the human saw him. He then had Drizzt surrounded by skeletons. There were so many that he did not stand a chance alone. They bashed him until he died.
Bear and the pack were furious. They immediately converged on the area Drizzt had died in. They viciously ripped the skeletons apart and moved towards the necromancer. The ferocity of the wolves had no equal. The skeletons fell by the dozens. Finally Bear and John Wanky circled the necromancer. They lunged at him from each side, with the pack surrounding them he could not dodge. John Wanky managed to latch his mouth on the necromancer's throat first. His mouth was so large he managed to rip off the necromancer's head in one bite. By the time Senani and the others arrived the pack had already eliminated the threat. He knew this when he received the notification "Quest Complete, Reward Granted."
Senani touched the necromancer and removed the Necromancer System level 5 Tier 1. He then offered it to Fred. He realized how useful this could be, not only for his army but also for managing his farm. The undead were limitless and could manage far more farmland for far cheaper than living beings. Fred accepted.
The first creature Fred attempted to raise was Drizzt. He was after all a part of the pack. Drizzt arose, a bright red glow coming from his eyes. Senani inspected him and realized that his Covenant was still in place. Even in undeath he was a member of the pack and bound to Senani. The Covenant System was unbelievably strong. Fred then raised the ex-necromancer. To their surprise when the ex-necromancer pulled the hood down, they realized it was a female. She spoke, "It is only a matter of time before the Great Lich discovers where I am. You have removed my bond to him, but he will find me. He is still in this world."
Senani then moved towards the piles of skeletons the Wolves and ripped apart and realized that the eyes were still glowing. They rebuilt their bodies and moved toward Fred. He controlled the Necromancer System and was now the master of all the undead in the Mausoleum that were unliving. Senani thought of his land grant and teleported all the living beings and the ex-necromancer back to his land grant.
Upon arriving at the land grant, Maximus upheld his end of the deal. He swore fealty to Senani. Senani placed him in charge of his personal guard and as the combat trainer. He would only use them for combat in a dire situation, as he did not want to reveal his groups full strength to the world. "Quest Complete, Reward Granted. Skill Covenant Transfer received. Covenant Transfer: This gives the leader with the Covenant System the ability to transfer minions from the command of anyone with a Covenant to the leader to any of other beings that are capable of leading troops.
While Senani was talking to Maximus, Fred decided to visit the dead bodies in the land grant. They were significantly decayed by now but could still serve to reinforce the pack and to work the land. It was quite fitting after all, the men that attacked Senani's farm would now work it for all eternity. Over the next week, Fred managed to raise them all. The wolves were placed under the command of Drizzt utilizing Senani's new skill. The skeletons of the men that had attacked were placed under Wolf. Fred was in the process of teaching him how to farm, and he would be responsible for maintaining all the farmlands. Fred intended to spend his time growing his newfound powers.
Senani and Fred teleported back to the catacombs. Fred intended to seek out powerful skeletons. Senani told Fred to have 20 of the skeletons venture out into the town at night every night for a week. He told Fred to wait a night before he began and Senani ventured out into the city. He first visited the stablemaster.