Now, in stories and epics, the hero is usually presented with a dilemma, a hard choice, or a trial so that his journey would begin, that is what makes a story, the challenges and trials that would guide our hero to the end, good or bad, happy or sad, or even incomplete in cases. However, that requires a plot, a hero, and a twist.
Here, Ludwig would receive his Twist, and he would use it incredibly well.
Let’s go back a few hours from now, and see what happened from the side of Ludwig.
***
The Two necromancers had been scribbling and writing away at Ludwig’s massacered body, while he, in a strange occurrence of what could be called magical, or mystical was able to see what went on.
Perhaps a ghost form? A spirit form, he didn’t know, but he was aware of his presence.
A notification had appeared in front of him, several of them in fact.
The first one, a clear declaration of his fate.
[You Died]
It was plain and simple, and gave him closure. He looked at this blue almost transparent screen and could only open and close his nonexistent mouth. After all, the trials of a hero, the hopes of the people, and the challenges against the vile and evil and the eventual revelation of the entire kingdom were nothing but fading dreams that died far too short.
‘What a shit plot’, Ludwig thought.
It was the first time he would ever mutter a curse word. And it felt… liberating.
Although too late, because the ultimate liberator was death itself. Now he could say whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, after all, who is there left to judge him.
The thoughts immediately were suspended as he saw the next window.
[You have failed the Eternal Quest, Quest of a Hero]
[You have failed the Eternal Quest, The Liberator]
[You have Failed the Eternal Quest, Defeating Evil]
[You may rest for now; your duty has ended]
It was that simple, a declaration of his detachment of his duties toward the people of Ikos.
After all, in the many stories he had read, a few of them had heroes that died shortly after being summoned, but in those stories, the heroes themselves weren’t the main characters. And the real heroes were those in the shadows that would take on the mantle afterward.
Yet, no such thing was going to happen to Ludwig, it was instinctive. His death was too plain, too boring and too pointless.
As he watched the necromancers, they began chanting some weird and strange words, a ritual of sorts. And the moment he heart them chanting the final words did he realize what they were doing.
They wanted to bring back his body as an undead.
And just as they finished, his presence, or soul or whatever it was got sucked back into the corpse.
Soon, he felt the aura of two powerful entities fighting on top of his corpse as he struggled to gain any semblance of control over his body.
While the two auras were fighting among each other, in his mind he heard something.”
“Don’t Move a Bone.”
It felt like an eternal command, something far too deep and primal within Ludwig made him follow that command instinctively. He didn’t know who uttered it, but he knew one thing. Whoever did, was so mighty that the mere thought of going against them would probably cause his entire existence to vanish.
And So did Ludwig, he didn’t move a Bone after he stood up.
He was aware of his surrounding, aware of the people next to him, he was alive? No, far from it, he was neither dead nor alive.
But in between, an Undead.
A notification appeared in front of him.
[You have Been Blessed by Necro, the God of Death.]
It was a simple text, that harbored a great deal of mystery behind it.
Without him uttering a word, his status screen appeared once again in front of him.
[Status Screen: Ludwig Heart]
Race: Undead
Health: 100/100
Stamina: Infinite
Mana: 100/100
Intelligence: 10
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 10
Vigor: 10
Luck: 15
Class: Hero ??? Skeleton Grunt
Title: [ Removed ]Predestined Hero! One who can save the world!
Possessed Abilities: [ Removed ] [Hero’s Starter Pack]
Passives: Resolve: {Negate One Negative Effect on the bearer.} Activates once a day.
Overt Genius: Increased proficiency in all sorts of masteries.
[ Removed ] Heroic Spirit: [ Removed ] Strong Resistance to Demonic Temptations and Mental Ailments.
Several of his abilities were scratched off, along with his former class of a hero.
And the majority of his stats were reduced by third.
On the other hand, his stamina was infinite. That is the price of Undeath, They Never Tire after all.
While he was occupied with his status screen, the man who would soon be revealed as the Tower Master of the Black Tower, would appear.
This made Ludwig tense up. Because in his blue eyes, he was able to see something far more sinister than the two Necromancers that had killed him.
An endless canopy of death was following him. Souls of creatures long since gone and long since they have perished were following him closely like ticks on a dog. They wouldn’t leave him be and wouldn’t move away, they would scream an echoless and voiceless screech of misery and pain. A pained lullaby only the dead can hear.
The Sounds of thousands of murdered souls, souls pulled away from their eternal rest and forced into servitude under the same person who had corrupted them.
The man spoke with a tongue more vicious than that of a serpent, lashing out with words that sounded far crueler than the mightiest of whips though he spoke not once out of decorum. The two Necromancers had felt that their end was neigh, and Ludwig thought that they would soon come and join the endless souls attached to that man.
The man would then proceed by raising his arm, manifesting something that Ludwig had never seen before.
Well, he did see a portion of it as he was being tested on, but now, with his new ethereal blue eyes, he was able to see it clearly.
A powerful surge of a liquid like energy that stemmed from the man’s heart, and channeled through his body assisted by the world outside, a manifestation of power that couldn’t be described, slowly at times and rapidly at times coiling around his entire body, and almost in an instant manifested into a ball of black flames.
It was… an incredible thing to behold, and thanks to his new eyes he was able to see it clearly. It was like… a mathematical formula? That was the closest thing Ludwig’s mind could think of, after all he never saw something like this before.
It was a change in friction, a transfer of heat and cold, all subjugated to a precise force that acted and moved at a specific speed and velocity to create something like this.
As if mesmerized by the spell, without him even realizing, he too had begun the same process, of channeling this same energy unbeknownst to even his awareness, through his body.
Yet, the quality was on a completely different level, if the Tower Master’s energy was comparable to a Sun, then the energy that Ludwig had in him was no bigger than a firefly. The energy failed to achieve the minimum required, in terms of understanding, experience, and knowledge, not to mention mana.
The application immediately died, sputtering a small puff of smoke. Only then Did Ludwig realize what happened and he was unintentionally mimicking the Tower Master.
This fact caught him by surprise and almost made him want to hide under the ground, yet he remembered well the words of the voice which asked him to not move a muscle, or bone in this case.
“Attack him,” the Voice once again ordered, and he immediately followed and was suddenly grabbed.
The Tower Master displayed interest and soon slammed his hand on Ludwig’s skull.
[You Are Being Subjugated! The Caster is far stronger than you are! You cannot resist!]
Just as that window appeared in front of Ludwig, another soon appeared in front of him.
[Resolve has activated!] {Resolve! Negate one Negative effect on the User} Resolve had entered cooldown.
“Let me assist you with that!” another time the voice spoke.
[Necro’s Blessing has activated. Your enslavement will not take effect unless you are in the presence of the Tower Master Bastos Van Dijk]
[Fakery of Death. As long as Bastos Van Dijk’s interest in you rises, you shall be warned and be aware of him, once he is away from sight, you’ll regain your full freedom. You cannot remove yourself from Bastos Van Dijk unless specified by the caster himself. You cannot try and escape from him or it will break the Fakery of Death and reveal that your will is intact and no longer bound to him.]
[Necro’s Eternal Quest]
{Deus Necros, the Lord of Death has found in you what could be called in the mortal tongue, ‘Interest.’ As one who is considered a neutral force that belongs to neither good nor evil, Necros finds himself to never be in need of a champion. You are no exception. Yet the interest you have brought to Necro was enough to make the Ancient Silence watch you closely. You are now given an Eternal Quest.}
{First Part} [Outgrow Bastos Van Dijk’s Control]
Difficulty level: ☠☠☠☠☠1
Ludwig’s Story which sounded like it had ended abruptly, has fortunately, or maybe, unfortunately, succumbed to the trials and tribulations of fate.
Ludwig’s Story as a hero of light has taken a different twist and turn. After all; what is a story without a Plot Twist?