The Church of Isekai

Oh yes, one more thing. About us, small fliers. So you've seen Fairies, I'm a Sprite, your friend – a Pixie. There's many more of us. Two things in common. One – we very quickly forget our humanity and let the nature take over. So for example, when you see an Imp – run or get ready for a fight; they'll attack you in groups, scratching and biting. Then they take off, laughing and screaming. Don't try to reason with them. Fairies are harmless but silly – dancing on flowers, always happy. Don't bother asking them anything. Pixies, as you see, are larger and usually more organized. They even build some kind of housing in the trees and can detect and fight off strangers. Sprites should be able to do some kind of Nature magic – wind in my case – but probably it opens up on higher Levels. Another thing common to us all is a rather small lifespan. At the end of each day, most Fairies come together to one tree and settle in its large blossoms that close for the night. When they open in the morning, several of them don't wake up but rather fall to the ground. Other Fairies cover them with petals and fly off, giggling. The dead ones just dissolve shortly after. The same happened to a group of Imps terrorizing everyone for several days – they just didn't awaken one morning. The people from the Base Camp send out scouts to look for the dead Fliers to rip off the wings – apparently they need it for their Alchemy. So that's the other reason I want to be in your group – I feel it will let me stay alive longer.

"So you want to be our Wise Cricket, like in the Pinocchio story?" I asked. He nodded eagerly. "Oh yes, I'd like you to join. Welcome aboard! You know what's funny – the Cricket does all the singing and dancing only in the Disney cartoon. The original Italian 1883 book, 'The Adventures of Pinocchio', by Carlo Collodi, has the poor insect killed by Pinocchio before it returns as a ghost. Luckily I think I could arrange that too and you'd still be able to hang out with us." Kate and Constantine gave me a long, disbelieving stare. Yes, even as a zombie Necromancer I still carry my flag of NERDINESS high. No, I'm not trying to impress or annoy anyone; I just can't help myself.

Our new Sprite teammate smiles and then asks our Healer, "Is he always like that?" Before she has a chance to reply, our Pixie – the captain of the night-time Air Force – almost screams out, "ALL… THE… TIME!" As the team laughs, I sit there wondering – he just said he remembers nothing from before the Bus times – yet the Pinocchio cartoon seems to resonate with him. What else was there in his past that we should be aware of? Suspicious…  We didn't tell him our names and he didn't offer his. Let's keep it that way. In some stories, names had magical powers – who knows how it is here.

The First Nibbles Part 6

How do I let my classmates know about my name-revealing concerns? I wonder… I focused on their faces and looked inside them. I saw their souls connected to me with thin shadowy threads. I remembered reading about paper cup telephony – where kids connected the bottoms of two paper cups with a thread and, if it was stretched tight enough, anything said into one cup would be heard in the other. I have imagined holding a cup like that and spoke into it, "Please don't reveal your names to anyone. I have a feeling about it. Let's call Kate – Nectar – She's a Necro Doctor → NecTor → Nectar." I saw both Kate and Constantine first perk up in surprise, and then Kate nodded. "What about me?" I suddenly heard our Pixie's voice in my head. I replied, "I can't think of anything good. Maybe first name – Hop, last name – Terr for Copter?" ConstanPix spoke up, "By the way, let's introduce ourselves. I am Terry," our Healer continued, "I'm Nectar," "That's sweet!" the Sprite smiled, and as they all looked at me. I introduced myself as Mrak – that's an anagram of the name Mark which is not what I was called before The Busing. If the real name turns out to be so important, let me lead whoever would try to guess it on a wild goose chase. Besides, I happen to know that Mrak means “Darkness” in several Eastern European languages – appropriate for my new role. Now we're looking at our Sprite with curiosity. His face tenses for an instant, and then he says, "I don't think I remember my name, and I can't think of a nice nickname, so anything you'd suggest I'll take. Just Sprite is fine – I've never seen another one here." I responded, "We sure could, but in case we do have another one, how about Fizz? Would that be okay? Because there is a carbonated drink named Sprite where we came from, and it fizzes when you open it, and you are the Master of Air." Sprite smiled, "Not much of a Master, but I do like the name. Fizz… I like the sound of that! So… What do we do now?"

Now… Let me think… We do have Maslow's hierarchy of needs – Food, Water, Shelter usually come first. Surely, these days, we need to add Internet Connectivity to that, but for now, we could stick to the classics. I asked our newly-named Fizz, "You said you can help us with shelter. What do you suggest – some kind of a cave or maybe those black mystery boxes you had mentioned could produce tents? Could we go look for them a little? Also, if you know of many caves, let's go to the one closest to the River you've mentioned." Our Sprite smiled, "Yes, can do! The only problem is – we'll have to go there through a rather dense forest, and I can't fly there. I'd have to go over the trees, and you might not see me through them. I can't walk through them either so…" "Not to worry, you don't have to fly through them – you can ride through them. On my shoulder or in the hood of my robe," I replied, "Same for you, Terry." And OFF WE WENT…

Fizz was a great guide. He talked about the meadow plants pointing out the edible ones, at least for him. It turned out, when I focused on the local flora, I did get pop-ups before my eyes labeling some. When I focused on specific weeds, I got information about their Medicinal and Alchemic properties. Terry, the Pixie, tried eating a few flowers that Fizz pointed out but said nothing. I was wondering – now as we are technically Zombies, do we still have the sense of taste? Can a poisonous plant harm us? I guess there's only one way to find out… I knelt next to one bush with berries that Fizz described as sweet, picked a few, and put them in my mouth. Then a few more… And a few more…  No text popped up as I was doing this, but I think I only felt a slight tingle on my tongue after the tenth tasting. Kate-Nectar was looking at me intently. I said, "I am starting to feel the grass on my palm. The taste seems to be coming slowly too. I think I am beginning to feel it. Do you see any text when you're looking into this bush?" Kate and Terry shook their heads and decided to try a few berries. I was thinking – maybe we are the first Zombies in this World and it's not sure about the framework of the interactions between us and most of the surroundings? Or maybe Zombies always take a while to re-awaken their bodies fully? I do wonder, if regular humans get their energy from food, do Zombies just get powered up by Necro Energy? And if so, where does it come from? I get it from the surroundings, probably, as I see my Energy Indicator slowly going up even without me actively collecting it. I wonder if Kate and Constantine, or Nectar and Terry… yeah, let me think of their new names as their Zombie Instances… so I wonder – do they get some of my energy or should I specifically feed it to them? I noticed Terry suddenly picking up the pace picking those berries. I looked through our connection and into him – I see his Energy Indicator actually edging up. The same seems true with our Healer. So… Maybe… Maybe… because they have taken over their own bodies and came in with my Necro-Energy in them… Maybe they are able to consume food to sustain themselves? Interesting… What would happen later? Would they somehow get de-zombified? I guess there is no "Advanced Zombie Studies" book I can read… Well, as we Nerds know, if the book hasn’t been written yet, then it's your duty to do so.

Settling in Part 7

We continued on our journey, following our Sprite guide. He flew very close to us, level with our faces letting us continue the conversation. Our Pixie, having figured out how to use his newly-found freedom of three-dimensional movement, dashed around us, occasionally falling into the grass. Then he quite suddenly put his feet on my shoulder, grabbing onto my hair and slapping me on the back of my head with his wing. "You've mentioned you'd carry us in the forest," he announced. "So, I'm just getting to my seat earlier. Besides, I can't fly that slow – when I try, I fall onto the ground." I OKed his… landing? shouldering?… and asked him to please sit down and hold on to my shirt collar. Also, see if he can fold his wings somehow before a gust of air or a tree branch knock him off. As Terry started settling in, Nectar  asked Fizz, "All the Fairies I see fluttering around are girls. Aren't there any boys?" Both Terry and I turned to Fizz, and he replied, "I don't know why, but the Full-Sized and the Half-Sized are about equal between boys and girls for most types. Maybe a bit more boys among the Paladins and a bit more girls among the Tree Mages. Before you ask – Half-Sized are Goblins (You've seen one), Grundels, Leprechauns, Gnomes, Dwarfs, and so on. They hold on to their human memories a bit longer than us, small fry, but eventually they just merge with their new essence. On the other hand, maybe one had to be a Goblin inside to become a Goblin here. Maybe you had a natural propensity toward being a Medic before. As for your question – there are very few boy-fairies. Most of the boys become so-called 'Brownies' – they also fly but mostly at night. They are a bit more industrious – they also live in a tree but they build it out with leaves, grass ropes, branches, and stuff. They hide in their nests during the day and fly around at night and never meet with the Fairies. The larger ones of the Flying Folk, like the Pixies, can be boys or girls. I don't know if there's more of one or the other. I've never seen another Sprite. Oh, there are also Sylphs and Nymphs – they are spirits of Air and Nature. I know they exist because every so often I get a text pop-up saying that, but I see nothing there, and if I stare for too long in that direction, the text disappears." Terry perked up: "So there are other Pixies? Do they also live in a tree? Is it far?" I noticed as Nectar was looking downs hiding her smile as I have turned my head away from the "Chip (Pix?) on my shoulder" doing the same. Our Sprite replied, "Not far at all. Nothing is really far here. The place I'm taking you to is about 15 minutes’ flight from the Fairy Tree, about 20 from the Brownie Housing and the Pixie Camp. The Base Camp of the Full-sized is farther off. Some of the Half-Sized are living there too, some in the forest." Terry turned to me, "Do you think I could fly there, take a look?" I nodded slightly, trying not to knock my passenger down, "Yes, in fact I'd like you to fly reconnaissance ideally once in daylight and once at night. I think you should be able to see at night. If not, then don't."

As we continued walking by the edge of the forest looking around, Terry suddenly took off from my shoulder, flew masterfully between the trees and came back screaming, "I see a Black Box!" We turned to Fizz: "Are these the Random Stuff Boxes you spoke about?" He shrugged and led us into the forest. There, on the ground between two sky-high pines stood a large black trunk. So… it might have goodies or might kill you, if you believe what Fizz heard from the Full-Sized Campers. Well, there's only one way to find out. I started looking into it. I got nothing. Absolutely nothing… Nectar was standing next to me looking between me and the Box while was Terry nervously flying around it. I said, "Well, we might as well try. After all, I doubt the box can really kill a zombie. Terry, feel free to open it, Nectar, please go stand behind this thick oak tree." Terry tried to pull the top upward, but the box wasn't budging. Maybe it's meant for the full-sized crowd. I told Terry and Fizz to join Nectar behind the tree, waited for them to get there, and then opened the box. I heard a melodious ringing of a small bell, and the box opens. We seem to be in luck – inside there are several sets of clothing, a doctor's bag, a dagger, and several small knives that could be used for throwing or in the kitchen. Maybe we could have Terry carry one of them as a sword if we can craft a scabbard. By the time we made it to the cave that Fizz picked for us, we became loaded with goodies from several more boxes. A small pile of clothes, cooking and dining utensils, hammers, axes, saws, shovels, and a sack of Gourmet Flower Seeds. The cave’s location was the best and, at the same time, the worst thing about it. The ground in front of it was covered with small pebbles for about 50 steps forward, left, and right so no one can sneak up on us soundlessly. The River was to our right; the Mountainous Ridge – behind and to the left; the Forest – directly before us. However, there comes a twist. Right behind us, clearly visible from the River’s edge halfway up the Mountains was none other than the dreaded Shimmering Veil. No wonder even the silly Fairies wouldn't come here.

We set all our possessions on the ground. I started giving out orders, "Fizz, you should be the Air Master – please find a comfortable spot, and try doing something with that power of yours. We would benefit a lot from it. See if you can maybe start a small breeze, or better yet see if you can listen into the depths of the cave. I fear it goes quite deep and might connect to some caverns. Ideally, I'd like you to continue being our guide even in the cave. So, start practicing, maybe meditate a bit – we absolutely need your air control. Terry – I don't know if you have any Pixie magic, but if you do, see how you can get to it and what can you do with it. So, get comfy but not next to Fizz, spread out you guys, look inside yourself, see what you can find and then after all your magic practice please fly reconnaissance. We still have a few hours of daylight left, but be back before nightfall. Nectar – while the boys are meditating – if you want, please go to the river for a swim or go through our possessions, pick whatever you want from the clothing. I'll go back into the Forest – we need firewood and a whole lot of thin tree branches for mattresses." Everyone nodded, and then Fizz and Terry went out of the cave, getting down on the pebbles on different sides of the entrance. Nectar started sorting the "loot" and I picked up an ax and a saw and marched off. I've been on tourist trips before, I've set up tents and I’ve slept in a sleeping bag. I had started a campfire and once, on a bet, done it without matches – the well-known method of a stick rotating with a bowstring between two dry planks of wood works just fine. I'd rather do it with a magnifying glass, but by the time I'm back with the firewood, there wouldn't be much sunshine. I think I could use my wristwatch for focusing the light or borrow glasses from one of my classmates currently in my 'Sub-dimensional Storage" bag. I still have it under my cloak with the Bone Illusion Artifact. I have not told Kate and Constantine anything that happened during the trip – just that the transformations had occurred and that the ten of us made it to this world with the seven dragged off to the Base Camp. Me carrying dead bodies around would probably be too much for them to bear, especially if you add to it the souls I had collected inside of me. Let them get used to the whole thing, including the fact of them being Zombies.

As I was cutting and tying the sapling trees for the bedding and large dead wood for the fire, I was looking into myself, analyzing my statuses. So, I've got a "group" section, and Nectar, Terry, and Fizz are there as Necro-Healer Level-2, Necro-Pixie Level-1, and Sprite Level-3. Whatever Fizz isn't telling me… He forgot everything, yet he got to Level-3. How? OK, we'll keep it in mind. There is also an "energy balance" for the group, with the Fliers getting about a third of the "group energy" compared to their energy reserves, totaling about one-tenth. It does make sense now that the Little Creatures thrive in a group with the Full-Sized ones. I guess it's all about balance – if I can get aerial surveillance and maybe some magic for a price of longer restoration of my reserve – I'm game.

As for my personal skills, there I was pleasantly surprised. I can put bodies into Stasis – a Suspended state preventing decomposition. I can control bodies for a while without inserting souls – basically like marionettes. I can yank souls out in some cases from some creatures, I can analyze those souls, read them like a book, erase parts of their memories and put the souls back if the body is still alive or Zombify someone if it's too late. There's a "Basic Repair" that can be applied to Bodies, and it also seems I should be able to sense the presence of some Living and Dead souls. No flying or teleportation, but still…  That's… a lot… of… power… A LOT OF POWER… And as we know, with great power comes a great electric bill.

Of Whacks and Booms Part 8

I packed up the firewood and the saplings into my Bottomless Bag and wondered if I had a Map. Apparently, I do, as it appeared immediately with locations of my teammates showing up with their images. Terry apparently gave up on meditation and started his patrol flight, expanding the limits of my map; our Sprite is still sitting near our cave, seemingly doing some Air Magic and Kate-Nectar is busy with something inside of it. As I was getting close to the cave, I saw another Black Box standing under a large tree next to a big boulder. I remember it wasn’t here before – I would've noticed it as I was going into the Forest, as my footprints are right here. A brand new one, huh? So far, all the goodies we got are amazingly useful, and I’m sure Kate has finished sorting through them. However, I think we have everything we need. What is it that this World is trying to give us all of a sudden? I started looking into the Box and for some reason felt a very strong sense of excitement. The box will be good for me! It’s exactly what I needed and wanted and dreamed about. My Inner Being needs that box! That’s when I stepped back. My Inner Being is a Necromancer – for it to be happy would mean for there to be lots and lots of Necro Energy, meaning a rather big “BOOM!” So… I’m not touching this thing.