First Necromancer Book One: A System Descent LitRPG Adventure, page 1
FIRST NECROMANCER
Book One
COLDFANG89
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To Nana and Papa, who believed I could accomplish anything and loved me unconditionally.
To Mom, who worked nonstop to provide me with a future.
To my wife, who offers unwavering patience, support, and love even in the darkest of times.
To my beautiful daughter, know that I will always love and be proud of you.
To all those who dare to dream.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Afterword
Acknowledgments
About the Author
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Chapter One
Awareness slowly crept to the forefront of Drew’s being as an uncomfortable pressure rose to prominence. The serene comfort of his previous unconscious state swiftly evaporated as an urgent need came to his attention. Despite his current grogginess, it made itself known in such a way that it could not be denied.
He needed to pee. Badly.
Being the kind and thoughtful husband he was, he reached down to gently shift the covers and shuffle out of bed via the barest of movements… except his hands met only air.
Did Amber steal the covers again?
Drew grumbled groggily at his wife’s thievery.
Come to think of it, it was pollen season. Amber’s allergy-fueled snoring should have been shaking the walls – banishing any thought of returning to sleep until he applied his marriage-saving earplugs.
But all was silent.
There was no snoring, no creepy-yet-endearing sleep muttering, no tossing and turning as her husband’s movement provoked an unconscious bid to claim the soon-to-be-vacated bed space. He couldn’t even hear the distant whine of Freya in the backyard – she had an uncanny ability to sense when one of her owners was awake. It was true silence.
It was in that moment that Drew’s actual surroundings finally registered in his mind.
Drew wasn’t in his bed. His wife wasn’t next to him. There was no night-pee-friendly connected bathroom nearby nor an excitable dog stirring within the house. No, he was in a nondescript white room.
He blinked rapidly, reaching up with his hands to wipe away what must have been a hallucination brought upon by his semi-wakefulness. Alas, even after clearing his eyes, the room remained, as did his urgent need to relieve himself.
Ugh, this is the worst. I’m stuck in a dream while needing to pee, and there’s not a single bathroom in sight.
Drew shook his head in frustration as he propped himself up off the cool white floor he’d found himself lying on.
That was when it hit him.
It was cold. Like, really cold. Drew felt a shiver run up and down his spine as he rubbed his arms to gain some semblance of warmth. He was naked, other than his silky heart-patterned boxers, which only made things worse.
Drew turned around to take in his surroundings, the last fogginess of his mind swept away by the sudden influx of cold. He was definitely in a dream, that much was certain. The room itself was bright but contained no light source of any kind.
The walls never seemed to meet the floor or the ceiling, and it was almost like the entire room had been hollowed out by some unnatural machine. Without any doors or windows, the room felt bare. Like a prison cell.
Did I eat something bad before bed last night?
Drew’s confusion was only heightened upon seeing a perfectly normal-looking office desk, complete with two chairs. One of which was currently occupied. Drew could have sworn he had been alone in the room just moments prior.
*DING!*
A chime or bell went off, and Drew jumped briefly as the silence was broken. The sound seemed to echo within his brain. What was even stranger than the sound itself was that he could have sworn he’d briefly seen the word ding flash before his eyes before quickly disappearing. Thinking that his dream-self had somehow gone insane and that this was the start of a nightmare of some kind, Drew quickly looked back to the figure sitting behind the desk.
The man had short brown hair parted to the side like a fancy businessman, yet he wore a plain black t-shirt, tan cargo shorts, and what appeared to be Crocs. His well-groomed, short beard remained unmoving, much like the rest of him, which made zero sense considering the suddenness of the chime that had just blasted through the air.
What’s going on here?
*System initiation of the Sol System confirmed. 1,000 Human Progenitors randomly chosen and confirmed. Tutorial introduction commencing…*
Drew both saw and heard the mechanical words, yet, despite hearing them, there was no origin. The man sitting at the desk remained still. Additionally, the words had met his ears without any inflection of accent, gender, or anything else. Even their mechanical accent seemed subdued, watered down to some baseline verbal sound.
Hearing voices in a dream was certainly a new concept Drew hadn’t experienced before, and he found himself feeling unsettled.
*DING!*
*Welcome to the Tutorial Introduction, Drew Wright.*
It was at this moment that the man sitting at the desk stood and beckoned Drew forward with one of his hands.
Still cold, still needing to use the restroom, and very confused, Drew walked over to the man to seek comfort in some sense of normality.
“Welcome, Drew Wright,” the man said, nodding his head ever so slightly. “Please, take a seat.” The man gestured to the open chair.
“You know my name?” Drew asked, the words croaking out as he sat down. He didn’t know what was going on, but he needed answers, if for no other reason than to progress the dream further so he could wake up and finally relieve himself.
Only the man’s mouth moved. “Of course. Knowing you is part of my purpose. I am your guide for this basic introduction and tutorial on The System. You may call me Spock.” He showed no emotion at all, and it was almost as if he was acting on autopilot. His facial muscles stayed tightly controlled, and Drew couldn’t get a feel for the guy at all. He felt mechanical.
“Did you say your name is Spock?” Drew asked with his eyebrow raised.
“That is correct,” the man replied, again with no unnecessary movement as he spoke.
“Cool freaking name, your parents must be pretty awesome,” Drew said with a smile.
Might as well make a friend in this strange dream.
“I don’t have any parental figures,” Spock replied blankly.
Drew clicked his teeth. “Well, now I feel like an asshole. Sorry dude, my condolences.”
Maybe something happened to his folks?
“Any chance you can tell me where I am and what I’m doing here then?” Drew asked.
Spock nodded. “That is the entire purpose of my existence. Please, answer one question of mine first before we go any further. Would you prefer the ‘fast and easy’ explanation or something more in-de
Drew mulled it over for a second. He was about five seconds away from losing control of his bladder, and the cold was really starting to get to him as his body had begun to uncontrollably shiver. He needed to get out of this dream as quickly as possible.
“Uh, the fast and easy option, if you don’t mind. Also, could you point me in the direction of the closest bathroo—” Drew began to say before a chime rang in his head again.
*DING!*
*You have chosen the “Fast and Easy” option.*
Zzzzzapppp
Drew’s entire body seized up, locking all his muscles into extremely painful spasms. He couldn’t even manage to scream as his jaw, throat and mouth rebelled against his body’s natural response and pain coursed through his body.
His mind blanked as his entire existence seemed to boil and steam from the inside out. He didn’t know how long he endured the excruciating sensation, but at some point, it suddenly stopped, and his body finally relaxed.
He spent several seconds lying on the floor processing what had just happened. One thing was certain: Drew never wanted to go through whatever that was again. His body felt weak, like it had been hit by a truck, and when he tried lifting himself up off the floor, having fallen from his seat, his arms trembled.
Spock stood over Drew, while leaning over to offer him a hand. His mind still reeling from what happened, Drew accepted the assistance as the man hefted him back into his chair. Spock walked back to his own chair before sitting down.
That was when the aroma hit Drew’s nostrils. The pungent smell of burnt hair and urine. He looked down at his boxers and found that he’d pissed himself. Before Drew could process anything further, Spock spoke.
“I apologize for the pain you experienced, Drew Wright,” Spock said mechanically. “You chose the fast and easy explanation, and although that experience was likely highly unpleasant, I would wager that your future self will be thankful for your choice.”
His voice and words cut through Drew’s mental fog, and Drew found himself back in control, though feeling very weak.
“I pissed myself, dude. What the fuck was that?” he hissed as he rubbed his temples while glaring at the man sitting across from him.
Spock began to speak as if reading from a script. “You are not in a dream. You are not dead. These are the most common thought processes that sapient beings experience during the Tutorial Introduction. The pain you experienced was necessary to ensure you are in the correct state of mind for what follows.”
His gaze bored into Drew. “As you are likely aware, even if you have not yet processed it, dreams never contain any element of pain or smell. In the event there is pain, you are awoken immediately. Remaining here despite the pain, along with the other sensations previously mentioned, is proof that this is waking reality.”
Moments passed as the words sunk in. Spock was right. Dreams didn’t contain smells of any kind. Drew looked down at his wet boxers, feeling them clinging to the skin of his thighs, before frowning.
They definitely don’t contain pain. Every time I’ve gotten a charley horse in my sleep, I’ve woken up in a panic immediately. But if this is all real, then I’ve been… kidnapped? And I’m hearing and reading weird announcements inside my own head. That doesn’t feel like a great sign.
His brow furrowed as he thought about his situation. “This is real?” he asked, looking up at Spock for confirmation.
“Yes,” Spock answered in a perfect monotone.
“Why am I here and not in my bed next to my wife?”
“I will answer any questions I’m capable of answering. But first, please be aware that the time you spend here is extremely limited. It will be to your personal detriment if you spend too much of your limited time asking questions. It could even mean your future death.”
Again with the mechanical tone. Is this guy really human? It’s like he’s emotionless, yet if all this is real, maybe he’s got real answers. Unless I’m actually drooling on the floor of a psych ward right now…
“Okay… what am I doing here?” Drew asked cautiously. He didn’t know what Spock meant by ‘future death,’ but after the pain from earlier, he wasn’t willing to risk too much.
“Life as you know it will end in seven days,” Spock answered bluntly.
“Uh, come again?” Drew asked, flabbergasted by the man’s answer.
“Humanity, or rather the Humans of planet Earth, were doomed to die in seven days. I do not know the specific cause of this doom, as I’ve only been given select information, but it is certain that your planet, and all living beings on it, would have died in the span of one week.”
“You said ‘were’ and ‘would,’ so I assume that’s no longer the case?” Drew asked, trying to hold back his panic. His current options were insanity or potential apocalypse. Nether were calming prospects.
Wait… why am I not panicking? That’s definitely panic-worthy… Why haven’t I had any attack—
Spock interrupted his thought. “Correct. The System, which is something akin to an extremely powerful artificial intelligence program of unimaginable scope and scale, has intervened on your civilization’s behalf. Unfortunately, this comes with several major negative consequences for your people. Survival of your species on this planet is not guaranteed.”
Yet again, his voice contained no emotions of any kind.
“What kind of consequences? And why would this AI program step in to save us, only to let us rot over something else?”
Seriously, why am I not panicking? Usually, I’d be a puddle on the floor right now just imagining these kinds of scenarios…
“To expedite this conversation, and to save you precious time, allow me to explain,” Spock began. “The System slowly expands throughout the multiverse, and it has limited abilities to interact with non-integrated space. To save your planet, and all living things on it, The System was forced to expend a large amount of energy to integrate Earth quickly. Doing so floods a planet with an energy you would likely refer to as ‘mana’. The sudden influx of that much mana has side effects that are detrimental to a non-integrated civilization. In Earth’s case, the mana will rapidly mutate animals into ‘mana-infused beasts.’ Additionally, your planet will begin to spawn what you would call ‘monsters,’ which are natural mana-based lifeforms. Both beasts and monsters are extremely dangerous and will kill many people.”
“Holy shit… you can’t be serious!” Drew exclaimed, his mouth hanging open. This was starting to sound too complex, too specific, to be the result of some kind of psychotic break-induced madness.
Spock didn’t even acknowledge Drew’s outburst. “Finally, as was the case with many prior civilizations integrated quickly, most of your world’s modern technology will cease functioning. I do not know the specific reasons why this happens, only that it does. The System has determined that most of Earth’s weaponry, including most firearms, will be rendered useless. Electricity, the energy source your civilization relies on, will also no longer function. The System has concluded that technology and electricity should return to a usable state after a period of roughly one hundred years.”
That’s it. There’s no way my brain, sane or otherwise, could come up with something like that. This is real.
Drew gasped, taking a deep breath. “Well, how the hell are we supposed to survive then, man? Our guns won’t work, our power grids are going to go down… Hell, our entire logistical system for food and goods is going to be screwed. Why am I not having a freaking panic attack about it?”
“The System is currently infusing your body with mana. You will likely feel cold during this process. At the same time, it is stabilizing your brain chemistry to prevent erratic thoughts and behavior.”
“Hold up, are you saying The System is fixing my fucking panic and anxiety disorders?” Drew asked, slack-jawed.
“Any health conditions will be repaired during this process, yes. As for your continued survival, your species will have access to The System itself.”
“I… I don’t understand,” Drew said, blinking. ‘The System’ was going to fix his mental health. Something he’d been dealing with for ten years, and it was doing it as a side effect.
“In layman’s terms, your people will become capable of mana-infused progression. Surviving combat scenarios will provide exponential growth in the form of increased physical and mental attributes, along with a selection of powerful abilities and what this planet would call ‘magic.’ This progression is represented by levels and grades.”
