Reincarnated As A Necromancer

Chapter Six

I'd gone on a guild quest by myself, well that's not entirely true. I had my summons with me. There was Sara, there was Death liberty and my new summon I'd recently gained, a great bear I'd named Fluffy. After naming it, it had turned in had gained the ability to turn into an undead great bear.

Upon finding this out, Renei suggested I take on a quest to deal with a high level beast that had taken up residence in the mountains, only a days ride, by carriage, from the next village over. If I could tame such a high level beast I'd break level fifty and gain a powerful beast.

I had hired a coachman to drive the carriage and was seated in the back with Sara, with Fluffy stored in my beast inventory.

"I didn't think Arlene was going to let us go by ourselves" Sara said casually. I leaned on the side of the carriage and was lost deep in thought.

"Yeah, I guess" I said only half listening to her. My mind was wandering and my eyes flicking between the trees and countryside.

"Is everything okay?" Sara asked as she gently placed a hand on my forearm. I looked at her, I'd managed to create her physical form using my own imagination. Yet her eyes were intriguing marbles that I couldn't have imagined in my wildest dreams. They were compelling and yet beautiful.

"I've received several letters from different kings. Each are asking me to come to their kingdoms and serve under them. Somehow the news that I'm a hero has reached all the borders of the land" I explained before turning and facing the trees by the road once more. 

Sara didn't say anything more on the subject. She must have been contemplating what that meant. 

I had thought about allowing myself to become my own independent power. I could create a small army of the undead and if I continued levelling up than that small army would be larger and far more deadly. Sure a zombie great bear is pretty deadly but it wouldn't stand up against a dragon or a high level cleric. I needed to get stronger, I needed to be able to be so powerful that even holy attacks wouldn't have any effect on me. 

I decided to break the silence, "What would you do if you were in my shoes Sara?" I asked her. She put a finger to her temple as if she was thinking and processing.

"I think" she started then cleared her throat. "No, I believe that gaining powerful allies and taming powerful beasts as well will help us" she told me seeming confident that was what would be best.

"How do I know who I can trust though Sara? I know I can trust you as you were a gift from the gods" I asked and told her. 

She looked at me queerly as if I'd forgotten something important. I had no idea what and then it hit me.

"The rat of destiny" I said aloud to myself before opening my inventory and checking on it. The description had changed. It now read "Upon taming one more beast, the rat will awaken from its slumber".

I shrugged, "I'll tame this beast and we'll see exactly what this Rat of destiny is" I told Sara. 

"Any gifts from the gods are powerful and have an even greater potential" Sara told me and I swear I saw a glimmer of her future potential shimmer across her body. I quickly looked away, somewhat freaked out.

-

In the late afternoon, we arrived in the village and decided to stay the night at the inn. I left Sara and the coach man with a pouch of silver at the bar. I'd re-join them later but for now I wanted to talk to the local guild representative about any extra information he had on the beast. 

"I've received reports from local farmers about livestock going missing, the hunters in the area have told me that animals have scattered. That along with the missing livestock is causing a famine amongst the locals" he explained. 

"Have there been any tracks or markings from the creature?" I asked him. He looked at his notes and shuffled through the pages. He ran his index finger along a few lines as he read them.

"A farmer mentioned he found a black claw wedged in a downed fence. It wasn't a bear or wolf as those are common and the local farmers recognise their claws. The claw itself is larger than a great bear" he told me. All of this meant that I was not dealing with a normal beast. This was going to be a magic creature. 

"Thanks, uh what about the hunters. Have they come across anything strange?" I asked him. He looked down at his notes again and flipped through, skimming through the information until he reached something of interest.

"A month ago a hunter came across a bear with large slash marks across its chest and belly. The thing was ripped open but the meat of it was untouched by whatever did it. At the time I thought it was a bandit or adventurer practicing in our hills so I didn't question it back then" he explained.

 I went back to the inn and found Sara and the coach man were waiting on their dinner meal. Sara ordered me a third and then I gave her the rundown of what I'd learned. 

"That confirms my suspicion" she simply said and then noticed my look. "Oh I thought it might be an adolescent draconic beast, perhaps a Wyvern or Cockatrice. Something with a nest. It would explain why no remains have been left behind" she explained. "At any rate, both are dumb creatures that we can easily tame" she finished.

I have the ability to evolve creatures as part of my beast taming skill, so the idea of taming a dumb creature didn't bother me. I smiled, tomorrow we would find its nest and it would be mine. Even a weak dragon has great potential and to have a dragon at all would be enough to make some of these kings realise I'm more of a threat than they originally presumed.