Entering home, Dezen saw Alex, waiting for him at the table.
Before he sat, or said anything, Alex spoke.
- There was someone from Church of Alen. They have some special task for you.
Dezen looked confused and asked.
- Did they... Or rather he, or she, said something about this task?
- No.
- Okay, thanks. I will go to the Aren, after I rest a little.
After using the teleportation station, Dezen didn't even have to go to Zan to be taken to Derek, or go to Church of Alen Mercenary Association, to get information about that task. Instead, a golem responsible for watching over church's teleportation stations approached him.
- Dezen Astord, right?
- Yes. You want to inform me about that task, or take me somewhere?
- Both, but I am supposed to take you to the place of this task, only whether you accept it.
- Tell me more about it first.
- Lately, some strange cave has been discovered. It is build from unknown substance, resembling both earth and rocks. It is also inhabited by giant, beautiful worms, also unknown to us. Worms alone possess no harm, but inside of the cave does. We assume it contains deadly gas, ignoring magical defences. We don't know much about it, but golems are immune to it. After testing it with undead, it turned out that they are immune too. The task is about overseeing this place with them.
Dezen thought for a few seconds, before he asked.
- Why don't you task your necromancers with it?
- We want someone with strong undead to do this, as we value this place highly. Unluckily, we do not yet have such necromancers. However, besides your undead, golems will be guarding inside of the cave too. Outside will be protected by formations, fortifications and church members.
- If it is so important, why are you choosing me, who is not formally part of the church?
- The church is intrigued by it, but it has no military, economic, or any real use from it. That means, we do not treat it as something important, rather like some anomaly worth attention, something interesting.
Dezen went silent for a second.
- I think, I will refuse, since guarding it, would slow down my development.
- You personally are not needed there, only your undead with the role of the guardians. We can even deliver you corpses of animals and plants you will send there, so you will not end weakened.
Dezen thought about it for a few seconds, and then responded.
- It sounds like it has no real downsides, and I can't find any, so I will accept it.
- Now, we have to discuss what undead you possess, which are you willing to send, and when. We understand that you don't want to be separated from your servants, which are your main weapons.
Dezen discussed the details with the golems, and went back to his village pleased.
The next months he spent peacefully, slowly developing. Not only by cultivating, doing researches and tests, but also by buying knowledge from Church of Alen.
His main source of entertainment during this time was observing worms, from the cave his undead are supposed to guard. He didn't do it by himself, but via spell, letting him use senses of chosen undead, and control it. In addition, he even had a second spell, letting other people do this, so Alex could watch them too.
At first, it was fascinating, but after a few weeks, watching them became boring, but still was better than nothing.
When Dezen thought about it, he came to the conclusion that it is the next example, of how interesting thing can become boring, when is often repeated in short period of time. Then, it made him think, how to avoid such situation in the future.
Dezen even shared this though with Alex, but he came up with something much better than the solution.
- What if you made a spell resembling this situation? I mean, making someone extremely bored with doing something often, to the point where they will start finding excuses to not do it, or just admit they don't want to, like cultivating. It would slow down someone's development, what should be useful.
- This is... Good idea. Really, really good. But it has few flaws. Like, cultivating gives pleasure, thus even if it works, such spell would have to make it incredibly, incredibly boring. And we can't forget that mages will also be doing it because of self-discipline.
- And we don't know any magic, able to do such thing, but still it is a good idea. We just can't make it real yet.
- Yea... Anyway, time to go prepare for travel. You still want to stay at home, yes?
- Yes. I don't want to deal with so many people, I-
Alex stopped, not sure what to say.
- No need to explain yourself. I understand it will be uncomfortable for you. Once, it was for me too, but I got over it. And it's not like your presence would change much. You don't have any experience in trading, and my undead are better at fighting. Also, you will be safe here.
What Dezen was talking about, was his idea how to travel through the world, and earn money on this, along with getting new undead - he plans to become bodyguard of caravans, and learn from them, how to become merchant.
This way, he will not only earn money, but see many new places, fulfilling his dream of travelling, and get new undead, from creatures he will kill on his way to them.
However, he can't do this yet, as it would be too dangerous. Normal people can travel, and their biggest threat will be animals, but when mages travel, their biggest fear is encountering criminal mages.
Criminal mages will most likely attack them, not even because they want to rob them, or gain some sick pleasure from killing, but because of the fear, that they will be discovered.
Discovering isn't too hard, the stronger spells mages use, or the stronger they are, the further the distance that they can be felt, is. This situation can be prevented, by using spells designed for it. However, most of the mages can make such spell, only as active spell, which needs to be constantly used to work. While creating isn't hard, many people can't do it for hours, without a break. Only the most powerful mages can make this spell a constant spell, which will work until it's dispelled, or destroyed.
If discovery happens, lodges, kingdoms, or churches will probably be informed, and start hunt on them. This is the exact reason why criminal mages will attack travelling mages. Even other criminals, since they could be caught, and give information about them, for some benefits.
Currently, Dezen doesn't believe he is strong enough to travel, but he doesn't plan to do it yet. Instead, he wants to rise in strength, and prepare. At least for 1 year and 2 months.
During this time, he will not only develop, but also gather information, like what products he could sell at the Aren, what are the closest cities to it, where they are, their names, and so on.
He also spoke with Zan, asking what services he could provide for the Church of Alen.
The highest paying ones, were creating and refuelling enchanted items of necromancy. It was because Church of Alen has very few necromancers, so their production abilities of this magic are low. Also, it would slow down their development, so it is good for them to temporarily rely on Dezen. They even told him, that whether all of his products will have high quality, he will be offered a contract, and knowledge how to create enchanted items with sources of mana.
As the name says, they are used automatically fuel enchanted items, so mages don't have to do it by themselves, or by another mage. Their main flaw is that materials to create and improve them, are difficult to get.