"Okay… okay, let's try this."
Lucius was all alone in his small, dark, and sparsely furnished room, his eyes glowing with some kind of anticipation as he stretched out his hand in order to conclude his experiment.
This was something he had been thinking about for days now, and after he finally reached a milestone in learning about the current era and its current structure—as well as his organization and that of the enemy—he decided to once again pay closer attention to his own abilities and what they could do.
'So far, I have [Death Call], [Death Touch], [Soul Manipulation], [Death Transfiguration], [Death Probe], [Death Cloak], and finally… [Dead Safe].' He smiled to himself, once again pleased with his naming sense.
For this next one he was about to try out… he could already imagine the name if he managed to succeed.
'Here goes…' His eyes glowed brighter purple as darkness began to coat his pale hands.
Soft gusts of winds began to flow within the otherwise stale room, causing his long black hair to dance lightly. None of this distracted Lucius from his goal… the target right in front of him.
It was a sculpted bird—something he told Lili to provide for him.
'I didn't think she would sculpt it with such detail…' Lucius had actually asked for a sculpted figure without offering any specifics, but the competent Cult Leader showed just how capable she was by making such a masterpiece.
Just what couldn't she do? This was what Lucius felt as soon as he thought about her.
~FSHUUU~
The darkness that coated his hands began to gleam with some kind of forbidden energy—like a luster of light popping out of mucky waters. The luster was pale, warbling and humming with gentle vibrations as it slowly floated in the air around Lucius' hand.
"Go."
The moment Lucius whispered this, the floating luster—a Soul—charged towards the sculpted bird.
~WHUUM!~
The moment they made contact, blackness covered the entire bird, drowning it in chaotic energy that seemed to corrupt the surrounding air. Once the whole thing was submerged in the mucky color of death… it crumbled into a ball of darkness.
… Then…
~FUUUUU!~
A creature of malevolence emerged from the blot, taking the form of the sculpted bird.
Its color and overall appearance had changed, though—with this new entity turning pale, and embers of darkness hanging on to its visage. The greatest difference between the two, however, was one specific detail that separated the 'before' and 'after' of the bird.
LIFE.
False Life to be exact… but life nonetheless.
The sculpted bird now screeched with life, flapping its pale wings as it ascended into the air while leaving trails of blackness behind it. Its chest warbled with energy, and its eyes glowed purple, overall brimming with newfound power.
"Looks like it's a success…" Lucius whispered with an emphatic nod. 'I had a feeling I could do this, so I guess my intuition strikes again.'
He also had a name for it.
[Death Possession]
"With this, I can bring inanimate things to life with the cost of a Soul. That's pretty convenient."
Lucius could already think of a few uses that his new power would have for himself, and for the benefit of the Cult.
'For one, surveillance and espionage will become a lot easier with more of these things…' He smiled, beckoning the bird to come to him. The floating creature obeyed, swiftly making its way to his shoulder so it could sit on it.
This pleased him greatly.
'I should also be able to use this as emergency firepower… in case I need some kind of backup or fodder when I'm in danger.' A smile naturally crept on his face. 'By sacrificing Souls and sending them to possess nearby objects so they can be used to my benefit.
The best part about this ability was the ease at which he could release and call back the Soul that he was using. Hence, there was no risk of loss if he no longer needed the medium that the Soul was attached to.
'But…' Lucius thought to himself as he called back the Soul into his possession, watching the sculpture fade into obscurity. '... It looks like the medium can't handle the aftermath and ends up breaking down.'
That meant he couldn't use valuable objects as catalysts for [Death Possession] unless he was certain that the Souls used wouldn't be called back and would instead be bound for as long as possible.
'That will prevent waste.'
As soon as he was done with this thought, he collapsed on his hard bed, his black hair spilling all over the surface. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them to stare at the bland ceiling above him.
'It's been about a week since the incident… and ten days since I was summoned.'
A lot had happened within that time, and Lucius wasn't particularly thrilled about everything. However, if he had to pick and choose… he preferred this life to the one he had before. It took some getting used to, as well as hardcore learning, but he was rapidly acclimating to his new reality.
'As Lord Mors… I…' Before he could complete his thoughts, he heard a knock on his door, jerking him to a straight seated position. He could already sense who stood behind the door, so he did his best to act composed and cleared his throat.
"Come in."
The Cult Leader walked in, her pure black cloak bleeding to the ground with every salacious step that she took. It was subtle, but the elegance in her movements didn't go unnoticed on Lucius' watch.
Lili appeared to be nothing more than a commoner, but Lucius had known her long enough to recognize that just couldn't be true—or, at the very least, that couldn't be all there was about her. However, since it was too early to probe that far, especially with all that the Cult had to deal with at the moment, he decided to leave the matter for another day.
"Lord Mors, I have prepared the conference." Lili knelt respectfully, her head bowed as she made the announcement. "Everyone is in attendance."
"Oh? That's good."
After some recent developments, he had told her to set things up. As expected, she efficiently handled everything and got back to him within a few hours.
There were only two other people attending the meeting besides him and Lili—in essence, Legion and Luca—yet she made it seem like it was a whole crowd. Lucius found that to be a little funny, but kept his sense of humor to himself.
Rising to his feet in a way befitting a ruler, he clad himself in a lustrous black robe, its helm dancing right behind his feet.
"Let's go."
"Yes, Lord Mors."
As they exited the room and walked down the dark passage, Lucius remembered something and quickly brought it to the Cult Leader's notice—though he suspected she would be confused by his request.
"Lili… I'll need you to sculpt another bird."