Chapter 105: Nathrezim Grammar

Drain Life...

When Jess got home that evening, he'd planned to get a good night's sleep and think about the spell tomorrow. But the sheet of paper and the promise of its magic kept nagging at him. He couldn't sleep at all.

He wanted to know whether he could turn this barely effective Drain Life incantation into a real, useful spell. After all, that had been his dream from the beginning: use his knowledge of Demonic, Orcish, and other spell languages to restore the messy incantations of these half-trained warlocks to their original form.

He suddenly sat up.

"Saeno, come out. We've got work to do."

"Why do we always have to work?!" Saeno complained, crawling out of the bag. "There's no paper left! Saeno is tired!"

"Different work." Jess climbed out of bed and pulled Gakin's papers from beneath it. He studied the line of words closely.

"Eramang, Xiliento."

"What are you saying?" the imp asked curiously.

"You don't understand it?"

"Why should I?" The imp grabbed the paper and studied it. "Ah, Demonic written in Common letters. The sounds are completely different. How could you pronounce it correctly that way?"

"Then what does this Demonic passage mean?" Jess asked.

"Is it a spell? I can't tell." Saeno looked it over again. "It seems to say... transfer, conversion, vitality, something like that. But the grammar isn't quite right for a spell. This looks like the ancient language of the nathrezim!"

"Don't tell me you don't understand the nathrezim's language either." Jess rubbed his forehead in despair. So the imp wasn't reliable after all.

"Who says I don't?!" Saeno examined the paper. "I don't know all the nathrezim words, but the way they pronounce them, there should be a linked sound here! Vitality and conversion should run together! So it'd be... Eramang, Xiliandor! And you have to speak like the big-winged nathrezim. Make your throat vibrate, lower your voice, and drive as much shadow energy as you can into the words. Those creatures are made of flesh formed from shadow itself. They aren't ordinary demons!"

"You're a real expert," Jess said, impressed.

"Only mortals with miserable fates are impressed by knowledge like this, Master!" the imp bounced around. "Live long enough, and you learn plenty!"

"I won't sleep tonight unless I try this." Jess looked outside and estimated how long it would take to leave the city. But Stormwind's night patrols were strict, especially late at night. If guards caught him carrying his bag and staff and began searching, he might end up in prison a second time.

"Maybe I should just practice on you," he said, looking at the imp.

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"Please don't, Master!" The imp dropped to the floor. "I don't want to suffer! What if I die?!"

"My mana isn't that powerful, Saeno," Jess said. "If I could drain you to death in one shot, would I have had such a hard time fighting that naga? Think about it."

"Fine, Master, go ahead. Just show a little mercy!"

Jess smiled and picked up Gakin's sheet. He was about to copy the gestures drawn on it when a question occurred to him.

This spell drained life energy. Did demons even have life energy?

The thought brought him back to his senses at once.

"This spell transfers life energy," Jess said. "If a demon like you doesn't have any, what happens if I try to force it out of you?"

"The nathrezim, right?" Saeno muttered. "I've heard about their life-draining magic, Master. What they take isn't life force in the narrow sense. It's vitality. All creatures—even creatures of shadow and the undead—have energy that drives them, as long as they're beings powered by some kind of energy. That's what the nathrezim drain."

"They can turn the life they take into death and shadow, corrupt stolen arcane energy into fel, then absorb it for themselves. I suppose only the Holy Light can't be drained successfully, since the power they use to draw out vitality is basically shadow energy."

"If this really is a nathrezim vitality-draining spell, I suggest you choose your target carefully, Master. I haven't got much to drain anyway! Even if you drained me to death, you wouldn't get much vitality. I'm such a tiny, pitiful creature!"

"Forget it," Jess said. "I'm too sleepy tonight. Another time."

The imp breathed a sigh of relief and went back into the bag, disappearing in a flash of arcane light.

As Jess lay in bed, he felt lucky he hadn't simply started draining things without thinking.

What if he drew fel energy into his body?

If the fel harmed him and he needed treatment, how could he possibly explain what he'd done? Better to find a chance to leave the city and practice on a mammal first, just as Gakin had done before.

There was too much to do. Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

He needed mage robes. He had to prepare for the Orcish exam, attend the warlock gathering, and, once Gred recovered in a few days, keep up his sword practice.

But if he wanted to grow stronger, he had to seize every chance to improve and waste no time.

In his previous life, he'd spent his days slacking off at work and doing nothing at home. Who would've thought moving to another world would make him so energetic?

Then again, in Azeroth, failing to get stronger could literally get you killed.

He'd already obtained quite a few valuable things lately. The most beautiful and precious naga scales, those from the chest and belly—if he could sell each for more than five silver, that was dozens of silver coins.

If the merchant's estimate was right, the pearl bracelet alone could fetch forty silver. Jess was reluctant to part with it, but maybe it carried some strange magic naga used to lure people. If so, he ought to sell it.

A questionable thing like that would bring trouble sooner or later. Silver coins, on the other hand, were clean and honest.

Then there was the orc command letter. He needed to find an antique dealer to buy it. If he could get a few gold coins for that... it would practically be enough to buy a toilet.

It had been only a little over a month since he'd decided to earn enough to buy his parents a house in Stormwind.

Of course he couldn't expect to find something as valuable as that command letter every month. But this was what growing stronger made possible.

Without enough strength, even good luck was useless when it came.

Now, whenever Jess thought about earning money, he counted it in dozens of silver coins. At the start, he'd risked his life for just two silver.

If he improved another step—became a junior mage, went further along the warlock path, or trained his body to handle greater dangers—he could surely earn more.

There were still more than ten years before the Scourge disaster. If he stayed patient, if only...

Then he remembered how many times he'd nearly died this month. But without taking risks, how could he improve? Today at Gakin's house, Erlan had slammed him against the wall with all his strength to interrupt his spell. When Jess fought back, he hadn't found it nearly as difficult to handle the man as he had during his first visit to the basement of The Slaughtered Lamb.