Norris just looked on in the meeting, isolated and helpless as the meeting progressed. He wanted to try contributing but he was jointly rejected by the council members.
Norris sat abandoned, the meeting ruthlessly advanced without him.
To fix that..... Norris took out his infinitepad and zoned out. To be honest, he really didn't care. He was on the verge of making a breakthrough. He's here out of courtesy, he had no time to play politics.
The data from the magic was more important. His infinitepad was on record. The conversation could be listened to after anyway.
Oh poor Norris.
***
"Now mage Norris, you're in charge of the logistics for magic-related matters. I hope we have some good news," the noble asked. Everyone's gaze was focused on Norris.
Norris answered promptly after receiving a reply from ASPECT, who had been in charge: "Well, it's going fine. We are a little short of finished scrolls, but by the end of this week, everything should have been done as scheduled."
"How about your battle group? Any progress?" A council member, a zombie, asked. This got everyone's attention.
"We're neat," Norris answered lazily. He was not planning on staying and sharing power. They knew he was not planning on staying. He knew they knew he was not planning on staying.....
But they still asked. He understood. Desires were endless. They were afraid the taste of power might attract him. But that didn't mean he'd condone them just because he understood.
As for the noble, Norris and everyone were sure that he was happy to see this situation. He wouldn't want the people under him banding together. So this created a situation where Norris couldn't get any helpers.....not that he wanted them though.
For Norris, this showed him once again. Politics was not for the weak. He'd rather create a spell than involve himself in politics. Unfortunately, life was never satisfactory. He found himself in this mess.
***
A horde of lesser undead stretched out as far as the eyes could see. Lesser undead were stuck there killing, fighting, and evolving.
When an undead killed another, it got stronger. Who knew? It might have been a lumberjack in its former life. It might also have luckily seen an axe-structured bone. The previous life's techniques might luckily have remained as a trait on its soul, making it pick up the bone as a makeshift axe and wield it efficiently…..or not. It swung. It hit a zombie. The zombie died. It didn't even notice—it was already swinging at the next thing in front of it.
It might have been lucky enough to have known a secret technique from its previous life involving the use of mana, maybe to help protect itself against monsters or for logging efficiency through augmentation. It used this technique instinctively, though with a little twist. Flesh and bones were way different.
But every kill made it… weirder. Its bones got darker. The sword started glowing faintly. After 10 kills, it was taller, tougher, the sword stuck to its hand.
Then it killed enough, and the death realm blessed it. It became an adept level.
It was an Adept now.
Cool, right?
Nope.
And the battle continued.
Nobody won here. The horde didn't care. It was like a giant blender—everything got churned. A few lucky bones came out sharper, but most just got spit back in.
Except, of course, you evolved to sublimation.
***
Coming out of the meeting and on his way back to the the lab, Norris took a quick detour. He went and took a look at the battlefield of the lesser undead. Norris, looking at the battlefield, felt a complicated mix of emotions. After they died in the material realm, they would face all this. Thankfully, he had sealed his mom's soul.
He didn't listen much in the meeting but at least he heard this part. The war had already began. Whoever has more undead evolved to fit their domain would gain a massive advantage.
He looked around and saw them. Shepherds of the different domain using different techniques to evolve the undead to their own domain theme. For the crimson domain, skeletal undead with armour should do it.
He looked at an adept-level skeleton using an axe-structured bone to fight.
Its use of an axe to chop of other lesser undead neatly at the centre of the pelvis was too precise. Like it had done it often. Who knew what circumstances this warrior had faced to have this kind of hobby?. Was it a kind of ritual?? Norris looked away, still curious though.
He might never know. That was a lumberjack turned undead.
***
Norris was back in his factory. Well, he called it a factory.
The undead were walking lightly, almost floating. Norris connected to the psychic network. Waves of joy were transmitted. For the undead, joy was a luxury. A fleeting moment. For joy to be this stable meant great things were happening.
This infected Norris, making him in a good mood. He suddenly felt like being quirky.
"I'm back," Norris imagined himself saying it like a Nigerian artist, Naira Marley, from his previous life, who had released a new hit single after a hiatus.
He was having a moment, feeling nostalgic for a sec. Norris clung to these absurd moments—they reminded him he wasn't fully one of them, he was a transmigator with two lifetimes.
Such a random thing made everyone in the test site who were relatively free stopped and took a look at him. How do they understand English? The psychic network.
Norris, though, wasn't embarrassed acting like nothing had happened. A popular saying from novels he read, "As long as I'm not embarrassed, then they instead will be the one to be", perfectly embodied his mentality.
Mortimer, the lich, came just in time to clear the awkwardness in the room.
" Greetings mage Norris, I hope the meeting went well", he took a brief nod as greeting
Norris responded lightly, not feeling embarrassed at all. His lack of self awareness….or pretence made even Mortimer cringe.
"Well the meeting was what you'll expect from a meeting among top figures of intelligent species. Politics and interest."
Mortimer pretended not to hear it. Knowing too much could bring you into trouble. He was now selectively deaf.
"Well Norris, we have created a something great. Combining the mummies ancestral magic to our environs we have managed to create a masterpiece...."