Reborn with a Necromancer System - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Returning Strength Chapter 35: Returning Strength Kai commanded Shade to fetch fruits and small saplings while his mysterious benefactor slept.

Instead of eating them, Kai absorbed the life essence from them, turning them to dust after every ounce of life was stolen.

Kai checked his system each time after waking.

His age remained the same, so less than a year had passed, but he had no other way to tell how much time passed, or so he thought.

He checked the system after absorbing the life from an apple-like fruit.

Something changed.

[Life Essence: -3,264.] ‘Before, it was -3,266.

A fruit is worth two points of life essence?

With Shade only being bringing back five fruits and two saplings per day, because I can’t absorb any more in time before my caretaker comes back from wherever they go, I just need to see how much a sapling increases the count.’ Sure enough, once Kai absorbed a sapling, he saw another increase.

[Life Essence: -3,258.] ‘A sapling is worth six points of life essence.

Then…’ Kai did some mental math, ‘I’ve had eleven days of consciousness.

I’ll keep count from now on.

I don’t think my body will let me do anything until I get back into the positive.’ Over the next few weeks, Kai built up his pool of life essence and his companion continued to feed him the slop that tasted worse than any Earth medicine.

[Life Essence: -3,038.] One morning, he woke early enough to see them prepare the ingredients.

— One root that looked like it had a face: chop it into small pieces, and then grind it into a paste.

Five leaves from a purple branch: smoked and dried over a fire for almost a minute before being crumbled into the root mix.

The bone of a small animal: pounded into dust and added to the root mix.

A yellow fruit: sliced and squeezed until no juice remains.

Stirred until pungent.

Added to a small metal pot filled with water and stirred over a medium flame until thickened.

Served after cooling.

— Kai opened his mouth again.

If he had the strength to pinch his nose, he would.

The stranger sat the wooden spoon in his mouth again and waited for Kai to suck the spoon clean.

“I-I’m Vepice…” they said with a voice almost as soft as a whisper.

Kai’s eyes opened with amazement.

“You can talk?

You can talk!

I’ve been going out of my mind having nobody to talk to!” Vepice left the wooden bowl and spoon by Kai’s body and retreated backward.

‘Are they just shy, then?

I thought they were mute, but maybe not.

What kind of a name is Vepice, anyway?

I’ll work on them.

Having nobody to talk to while I can’t do anything is getting tiresome.’ Weeks turned to months.

His wounds vanished entirely, the strange medicine accelerating his healing beyond natural means.

But even with his body restored, he still felt weak.

His life essence was too deep in the negative.

He needed more.

He continued absorbing life essence in secret.

By the thirty-seventh day, his essence had risen even further.

“What is this, by the way?” Kai asked, struggling to point to the bowl of sludge.

For the first time, they spoke.

Their voice was soft, barely above a whisper.

“Medicine.” Kai blinked.

It had been weeks, and he had almost given up on trying to get them to speak.

‘So, now you talk?’ He eyed them warily.

“It tastes like death.” A pause.

Then, so quiet, he almost missed it: “I’ll…

try to make it better.” Kai raised an eyebrow, but the figure only turned back to their pot, stirring without another word.

“Pain?” they asked once, after Kai winced while shifting.

“Less than before,” Kai muttered.

“That medicine really works, even if it tastes worse than rotting garbage.” Vepice was silent for a moment.

The next day, when they brought him his next dose, the taste was different.

Less rancid.

Slightly sweet.

Kai licked his lips.

“Did you…?” “Honey,” Vepice admitted, looking away.

Kai smirked.

“Appreciate it.” They only nodded in response.

— By the fifty-fifth day, [-2,543].

His strength was returning.

The air around him felt richer, heavier, as though nature itself responded to his growing vitality.

He could feel the pulse of life in the cave walls, the gentle energy of the moss creeping along the stones.

Feeling returned to his legs, and he started to tense his muscles in the hope of not losing his strength.

Kai continued with his monotonous routine every day.

He felt as though he was becoming conscious more days than not.

He absorbed life essence in secret, his strength returning.

He kept track of the days through his system, counting every small increase in life essence.

— On the seventy-eighth day, [-2,129].

“You heal fast,” Vepice noted one evening, watching as Kai stretched a little without grimacing.

Kai shrugged.

“I’ve had help.” “But…

you cannot move?” “Not yet.” Vepice smiled for a moment before turning back to their cauldron of green goop.

‘I guess they like the company?’ Kai felt for Shade in the forest.

Though mentally taxing for Kai, it was possible to divide Shade into three smaller versions.

The days frustrated Kai to no end.

Almost no conversation, no change in scenery, no change in diet- ‘Wait…

that goop doesn’t turn to ash in my mouth?

Is it because it’s more like medicine?

Or because it’s all mixed together?’ Kai’s imagination swelled with the idea of being able to consume stews, soups, and anything that had enough ingredients to hopefully allow him to consume it.

— On the one-hundred and forty-first day, his life essence finally reached zero.

[Now that your body’s life essence is no longer negative, it will now resume normal functions.] Kai exhaled slowly, feeling something shift inside him.

Something powerful.

His fingers curled with newfound strength, his limbs no longer sluggish.

For the first time in almost half a year, he pressed his palms to the ground and lifted himself up.

Shakily, he walked towards Vepice.

‘I haven’t lost too much strength.

It shouldn’t take too long to get back to where I was.’ Vepice hesitated before stepping closer.

“You’re…

like me.” Kai frowned.

“Like you?

You’ve been here all this time and then you say that?

What do you mean?

Do you know what’s happening to me?

Do you mean that you’re also a-” Instead of answering, Vepice reached out, placing a scarred hand against Kai’s forehead.

‘-necromancer?’ Before Kai had a chance to question Vepice or check his system, a flood of memories surged.

CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Jhaydun So, we’ve met Vepice!

What sort of memories is Kai going to experience?