The Lich's Master

Chapter 3: How Not to Kill a Lich

Kyle fiddled with the phylactery as the Lich floated around its boss room. He seemed to be in some distress, and the more he looked around, the more he seemed to suffer.

Kyle turned his attention back at the Phylactery. It was a fist sized crystal bottle that would probably not break if he tried to smash it into the ground. Crystals were sturdier than glass according to in game lore, and the bottle was quite thick as well.

The green liquid swirled and churned inside constantly, its colour seemed to reflect the Lich’s mood as it was getting darker and darker as it flew around.

“MY BOOKS! MY CENTURIES OF RESEARCH! MY LIFE’S AND DEATH’S WORK!” He let out a cry of despair, sending chills down Kyle’s spine.

“YOU DESTROYED THEM!” He continued to cry.

“Sorry about that.” Kyle averted his gaze. As… terrifying this Lich was, he seemed more and more desperate as time passed. Sure, it was a very powerful being that lived for several centuries, but at the moment, he seemed very emotionally vulnerable. “You were trying to kill me though.” He reminded the Lich.

“YOU BARGED INTO MY ROOM ALONG WITH THE OTHER HUMAN! HE EVEN SCREAMED AT ME!”

Kyle covered his ears. “I was kicked into your room, and the other human was trying to kill me.” He tried to clarify. “I never intended to kill you.”

“YOU DID KILL ME.” The Lich protested.

“You wouldn’t let me leave!” Kyle argued back as he placed the phylactery into his inventory. “I didn’t want to die!”

The Lich stared at him for a short while, then sighed a puff of green mist into the air. “OH WELL.” He muttered. Kyle’s eyes widened as he noticed his voice didn’t nearly deafen him.

“Uh, can you… always try to speak with a lower voice?” He asked after a moment’s hesitation.

“SURE…” The Lich responded. Kyle breathed a sigh of relief. “So… what happens now?”

The Lich shrugged. His bones seemed to creak as one of his ribs fell down.

“I NEED TO RECOVER. I NEED CLOTHES. I NEED TO CONTINUE WITH MY RESEARCH. I NEED TO MAKE YOU AN ARMY.”

Kyle blinked a few times. “Wait, hang on.” He raised his hands. “Slow down. Let’s put a hold on the army. I don’t think the other people will be very happy to see a skeleton army pop up.” He bit his lips. “How powerful are you, exactly?”

The Lich shot him a quick glance as he reached down and took his fallen rib. “I’M A SCHOLAR. DON’T EXPECT ME TO DESTROY ARMIES FOR YOU.”

Kyle sighed. “Guessed as much.” He glanced around the room, the hopped off the throne. “Tell you what. I’ll come back tomorrow, so you’ll have some time to recover and think. Plan and such.”

The Lich’s green eyes glowed even brighter. “OKAY.” He said with an almost cheerful voice. Almost.

Kyle hurried outside and took a deep breath of relief as he reached the exit of the cave. He hurried to his small home not too far from here, he needed some time to think and plan.

It was that night when he checked the system again. First up, he opened up his own profile.

‘Kyle – Lv. 19 Unclassed

INT 10 | WIS 10 | DEX 10 | STR 10 | CON 10

Achievements: Lich Killer

Player Kills: 5

Glory: 25’

Kyle sighed. He really couldn’t be angry at the damn Knight anymore. He had, somehow, mostly by pure luck – and the Knight’s ridiculous strength and lack of intellect – gained a pet Lich. Kind of.

He scrolled to the next tab, where the quests were listed.

‘Cacophus’ Plea: The Lich seems to be troubled by something. Find out what it is and decide whether you want to help him.”

Kyle furrowed his brows. So, quests with multiple choice endings were a thing in this game. Good to know. He made a quick mental note to ask the Lich what was wrong. If he was truly going to help him get more powerful, then it made more than a little sense to help the undead scholar.

As his eyelids began growing heavier, he closed his status panel, dismissed the other notifications, and pulled the fur blanket over himself. Tomorrow was going to be… odd, to say the very least.

-

Birds’ chirping announced the dawn, and a loud crash immediately followed, startling Kyle awake. The young man leapt out of bed and rushed to the door, only stopping to grab a cloak from the hook on the wall.

‘Player Killed’

‘Gained 100 EXP, 5 Glory’

The notification popped up just as he closed the door behind him. He stopped in his tracks and narrowed his eyes as he looked at the path leading up to his house. Where there used to be a gigantic exotic leaf on the path, there was now a hole.

“Seriously?” He exclaimed with disbelief. Had the same Knight seriously fallen to the same trap as the day before? Unbelievable. It was utterly, completely unbelievable. A bot, he tried to unsuccessfully convince himself, but he already knew this game couldn’t be botted.

No, that was a real person. A real person with quite possibly short term memory loss.

With a sigh, Kyle fixed the straps of his boots that he had put on so hastily, then reset his traps before heading back up the hill, then down the other side. The Lich Cacophus’ cave wasn’t too far away, and he soon reached its entrance.

Immediately, the clacking and creaking of moving bones reached his ears. He tightly grasped the hilt of his sword and prepared himself to pull out and smash the phylactery if the Lich tried anything. With a deep breath, Kyle ventured deeper into the cave, keeping an eye on the seemingly passive skeletons.

He soon reached the boss room, or what was now Cacophus’ normal room, as the Lich was no longer registered as a Lich. He hesitantly pressed his palm against the door and pushed to open it.

“HELLO!”