Grand Adventures of the Witch King

Always Prepare a Gift for New Neighbors

With the light and warmth permeating from the fire in the house, one was able to see the interior of the little place Ullo used to call home for a time.

The dwelling was relatively small, just enough for one person, with a single sized bed that had covers made from soft fur from beasts he might have hunted or used them to exchange for the covers, a little table with various sized colorful rocks, as well as small skulls of what seemed like bird and rodent beasts.

The thing was the house was built from clay and wood, with a small window that allowed ventilation that had a little leather cloth as a makeshift curtain. And the floor was just dirt that has been meticulously stomped into a hard and dustless surface covered by a large mat made from reeds.

In a corner by the small wooden door was a bow about a meter tall made of wood as thick as a toddler's arm, next to it was a quiver that was made of black animal hide with a couple of arrows in it. The tips of these arrows shone under the light of the fire, they were made of metal and were very sharp.

Beside them was a long spear that Ullo kept around, which he had exchanged for some beast hides like always, he didn’t practice in the arts of spears but thought it would be best to just have one, it had a large head that was very sharp and black, seemed to have been made from iron or metal that shared the same properties perhaps, with this being a different world there were obvious differences in almost everything.

There were a few hides in the room that were from different animals that he could only recognize due to the memories he got from the one that hunted them personally.

Some hung on the walls and a few were laid down on the reed floor. Like the soft one, he was sitting on.

The entire room was neat and clean, yet had a vibe as if he had just stepped into the room of a warrior like back in the day when he ended up traveling to the African continent, that was then before they even had a visit from the first foreigners, and their magic that time was so strong that he had stayed and learned, he ended up creating a few powerful spells that he used in till the end.

"Tsk! They took the sword." He said mild annoyance, as he tried to locate that powerful sword from his memory that almost reminded him of a few powerful swords made by great alchemists and himself back in the day.

“I wonder if it could match any of them, I get a feeling that it was barely unlocked to the limit.” He let his mind to the memories of the Ullo’s soul and looked at the times he used it and got a feeling that it was, even more, stronger than it seemed.

“But it is not time to think about that as am still weak, that little rabbit was barely enough fuel to break this spell and cure me of that concoction that seemed to have broken this body's strength and power.”

He looked at his arms and legs covered by burned clothing that was similar tatters and rags, even the armor on his chest was torn when his chest expanded it seems.

“Though am much better then when I arrived, still a have a look of a very malnourish man, but compared to that death warmed form I was in earlier this in an improved I have to keep up.” He spoke as he wiggled his thin and look boney fingers slightly, an action that would have resulted in having them snap right off his hand.

Indeed, the body looks better if compared to what it was like before. Less skeletal, but still thin and gaunt-looking with his thick hunch a few inches smaller.

"My spell worked excellently, but it can’t be seen as a spell. More like an ability still retained from my death and drop in power.” He pondered at this phenomenon deeper

“Which means I can safely assume that my abilities are not restricted in this world, well for now it seems. As I can’t access the others without starting my tome for real, leaving me with a few spells and chants that are not directly tied to that technique as for once I start there is no going back in the arts of magic and witchcraft.” His hand tried to rub chin but paused when he discovered that it was bare, an unconscious habit when he was always in deep thought in his past life.

And when he thought of his past life a smoldering rage burned in his eyes suddenly, making the fire also begin to light up and burn brightly, reflecting a fury in his heart!

As well as dense killing intent that rose out of and made the air colder creating a strange yet terrifying contrast of the fire burning brightly yet the air was cold.

But taking a breath he calmed down immediately, as did the fire. He then clenched his fist so tightly that it began to pop. He looked into the fire as he spoke gently, “This chance to a second life is valuable, as this time I will not be as merciful as I used to be when I grew in strength, this time I will use all manner of means to make a powerful and stable foundation even if it means letting rivers of blood flow just to have a single item akin to one brick being used for a skyscraper so that my path will be the best there ever was even according to the tome!”

His hand unclenched slowly, “There were methods and arts in my tome that would have enabled me to not fall like that, back then when I first got it for the sake of my humanity I had to derive my techniques as not to seem inhuman and in the end, let me possess a weak and unstable foundation because and because of that I paid a heavy price with the cost being my life. Not in this one and not ever again!”

His voice was soft, calm, and frigidly cold like a millennium-year-old iceberg, but the fiery determination was frightening.

He learned his lesson for his humane and moral ethics, but he had to admit that even if it was weaker than what the tome mentioned he was very powerful back then that he could defeat almost all the gods except for a few that were there since the beginning, even then he was able to match them equally.

After calming down, he was no longer upset nor angry at the past as it was useless to do so, but what is important was to learn from it and focus on the now and as well as the future.

And now meant he needed to get rid of his weak status, but how to do that, he pondered as he looked at his hands for a couple of moments while the weather outside was still raging.

Then his eyes went wide open when he thought something.

"Aha! Yes! That one will work!” He burst out loud jubilantly, only for him to calm down once more but not lose his smile.

“Although it will take time not to mention that am too weak at the moment. But it is the best, not only will it help me get revenge but it will help me heal and will be the best way to start my practicing my art! Ahahaha!" Even if his new voice was less hoarse and sounded more human once more, it was still sinister along with the dense killing intent being radiated by him.

Crisp, popping sounds like popcorn in a microwave came from within his body as he stood up slowly, pushing his body off the ground was slightly harder than he expected, but it was not enough to deter him.

“Haah! If I remember well, there has to be a few spots that these people have around somewhere nearby that contain some chicken type of beasts.” He added as the last popping sounds came off him when he straightened his back or at least tried to.

It was strange and took some getting used for him to be able to just stand on his two legs, the sight was akin to a tortoise trying to use its two back legs. As even if he had recovered from his withered state, his limps were just too weak to support his large and deformed hunch.

“Humph! They wanted Ullo to begin crawling on his hands and feet with that spell, didn’t they? I’ll leave them for now, as the wise scholars from earth had said, ‘revenge is best served cold.’”

He then walked slowly towards a small chest that was hidden from view at the side of the bed, making sure he doesn’t topple over like an actual tortoise, reaching his destination within moments he summoned his flame to drag out from the chest from its tight and narrow position as it was no longer easy for him to bend over without falling face-first into the ground.

Opening it with the flame, he found a large black cloak that belongs to the father of this body, he tore off the last threads holding the leather armor on his chest, which happily gave way for it couldn’t hold much longer either.

He then donned the cloak, it fit him with ease, making him give a small sigh of relief, with his current form he couldn’t wear any normal clothing until he got rid of his current physical state. Giving it a gentle tug, he turned around and walked towards the door ever slowly, and reached for the spear.

It was a little heavy for his skinny arms, but he didn’t need it for combat. Well maybe at the moment. For its use was to be a crutch.

"I have until the ceremony to get my Thank you gift for these people ready. Though after removing this spell from me, it will be impossible to regain this body’s previous strength with just the current ability to harvest life essence. But these people will help me recover and they will do so willingly." With a cold smile that matched the wintery winds of Antarctica, he opened the door and he saw that the rain was still pouring after all this place was a dense forest that was even larger than the forest and jungles back on earth.

Looking at the thunder flashing the dark clouds above him, he gave a gentle chuckle that let out a steamy breath in the cold air and then declared to the sky with a whisper.

"Ullo is dead and I have taken over, with this I will give him his revenge after that I will tread on my path no matter the obstacle and reach the place even higher than my past life, and rule beyond even life and death! This I swear on my name, that is Ezekiel Helstrum!"

Crack! Boom!

It was unknown if the lightning was agreeing to his vow, or was furious at the fact that it was helpless to even stop him and end him now with a heavy bolt of lightning.

Not that he cared so covering his head with the cloak's hood he then stepped out, the fire that was burning suddenly turned green and flew like a laser into his back, leaving the darkness to descend upon the house for the nth time now.

“Time to get me some fried chicken.” He hummed as he slowly limped heavily towards a target in his memory.

He let the chilling and wet air soak him, as he carefully walked through the mud with heavy footsteps, after 10 minutes by staying clear of the lights in the streets he reached his destination, or more precisely his first destination for this evening.

It was a large henhouse with thin poles for the walls it was bigger than even his room, and also had a thatched roof to keep the rain away as it rained almost every night.

Ezekiel peeked inside and saw his price, with a smirk he leaned back and balled his free hand into a fist and brought it closer to his face away from the rain.

When he did, it glowed a familiar green light, slightly opening his hand, he brought his lips closer and bit his tongue once more which he let a drop of blood once again drip into the flame burst and covered his entire hand.

He then brought it closer to a small gaping hole, the flame shrunk a little due to the rain, but he didn’t bother as he once again chanted the word.

“Maqlu!”