We rode quickly west, passing quite a lot of guard stations, all filled with empire soldiers protecting the road from the wandering undead creatures that plagued the wastelands. The air was cold and warm at the same time somehow and very dry. It was also covered in a perpetual darkness, even when the sun was high in the sky. Undead monsters roamed the lands and everywhere I looked, I saw some kind of creature that was brought back by the curse on the land. According to the lore of this world, the Archlich, Xero, was once the most powerful Dragon Mage in existence. When he was at the peak of his power, he was struck by a powerful curse that made his body a mortal human. Driven mad by the loss of his once-great power, Xero shed his old identity and began another path of magic. His mind twisted and driven to insanity, Xero eventually turned to dark magics to gain back what was stolen from him. This eventually led to him becoming a lich and declaring war on the living, causing a calamity and completely destroying the life of the very land he ravaged in his vengeance. After the fighting was done, Xero took the lands and then seemingly disappeared for centuries though no one dared try to take the land back.
As we passed the final guard station a chill suddenly passed through my spine and I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched by something. I turned my head to the North a bit and stared into the distance. Nothing but monster filled dead forest and barren mountains greeted my vision. 'Hmm, if he's an Archlich... It's probably Xero...' I thought as I pulled up beside Jarex.
"The Lich is watching us already, I can feel it." I muttered in a low voice so as to not disturb the others.
"You can feel its magical sight? That's incredible considering you are not a very high level yet." Jarex was truly impressed. I just shrugged and pointed to the north.
"It came from that direction, the mountains, I think." We turned north and began trekking through the dead forest. The monsters that were in our path were easy to handle and each of us could fight quite a sizable group individually so we fought alone but remained close in case something happened. As I fought, I constantly absorbed all the Death and Soul energy I could. Suffusing and bolstering my body to further resist the corrosion and magic of the Lich. If this continued, I could possibly become immune to the Lich's Death magic! I madly absorbed as much energy as possible, keeping an eye on my advanced stats page, checking my resistance percentages constantly.
[ Death Resistance has reached 100%, Death Resistance has turned into Death Immunity]
[Soul Resistance has reached 100%, Soul Resistance has transformed into Soul Immunity]
[You have gained Soul Magic and Death Magic]
[You have unlocked the Death and Soul Skill Trees]
[You have unlocked the Skill tab of the Character Menu]
[Here, you may spend skill points you gain from completing special feats to learn skills from skill trees you have unlocked.]
As the slew of messages hit me, I didn't pay any mind as I had been battling continuously for the past 4 hours or so. I was currently resting in my tent, meditating to absorb energy. I released a deep breath and opened my eyes, power filled every corner of my body and I felt like a coiled spring, ready to destroy this thing and save the princess. All I needed was the Lich's Phylactery crystal and I would be in complete control. I could probably enslave the Lich, which wouldn't be a terrible thing. A controlled undead was always useful, especially a Lich that was once the greatest Dragon Mage.
I shook my head and stepped out of my tent for some fresh air. I looked to the mountain looming in front of us. The pressure from the Lich's gaze barely a bother for me anymore. 'I'm growing so fast, too fast...' I remained silent as I focused my sight to do it's thing and find this Lich and it's phylactery. As my sight intensified, I passed over many leagues of land to the mountain in the distance, as my magic got closer, I could feel resistance and had to push through. The resistance was tough, but I managed to get through and push into the mountain. My sight dove deep underground, through a large dungeon-like structure and to a chamber below it all where the lich sat on his throne. The phylactery crystal was embedded into the lich's forehead coming out like a horn on it's head. The lich also sported Dragon Mage robes of very high quality as well as a corrupted looking Dragon Staff, it gave off a strong Dragon Aura, but I felt confident in withstanding such pressure now. The Lich suddenly looked up and right at me, or so it felt like, since it couldn't see exactly where my magic was in the room, it only knew someone was looking in. Though it should be alarmed now, and indeed, as my sight returned, I saw countless undead flooding to the mountain to fill, guard, and prepare. I looked over to the guard on watch.
"Wake Jarex, the Lich knows we're coming as is preparing, I know we aren't exhausted yet and the way is clear now. We should move before the Lich is ready. Also, notify the King to be wary of possible retaliation out of our control." The guard quickly got to work rousing the camp, I waved my had and packed everything into my storage ring. 'I'm so powerful, but I know this power is just the start. Just what did I start?' I wondered silently as I watched the mountain while the others prepared. Jarex was up quickly and camp was packed up in a few minutes. "Let's go, I'm going by air." I spoke, then activated my transformation. Taking my Dragon form for the first time. As the transformation took hold, I felt the power within me expand as my body began to change and grow into my Dragon. My power continued to soar as the transformation completed, after a moment the energy waves died down and I stood grandly in the center of the clearing. Everyone gasped as the light hit the brilliant violet, red and silver colored scales of my incredibly strong body. A 600% increase wasn't a boast, I felt almost invincible before I remembered that I was now immune to the Lich's magic. 'This is going to be ridiculously easy.' I thought to myself as I took to the air beating my powerful wings to rocket towards the mountain, keeping an eye out for undead. But there were none, they had all gone to the mountain to prepare for us. How nice of them to all gather in one place for me, I grinned, an awful sight on a dragon face. I circled back around to regroup with the rest of my comrades before slowing my flight to keep pace as we traveled towards the entrance to the dungeon.