《The Transcender of Death》 Prologue Deincarnation My name is Aprel. I am a healthy teenager at the age of eighteen...or at least I was. Right now is the most critical moment of my life...I died. A madman with a knife stabbed me to death, and before my dying eyes, when the police came in he slit his own throat to avoid prison. What kind of a coward is that? To take the easy way out in the most pitiful and shameful manner? And worse, he surrendered his life just to kill me. I feel...cold. I am slowly dying...I see blurry visions of...people screaming at me. It¡¯s no use...I am about to die, as my eyes slowly close into eternal sleep. I never really like to live that much, almost having nothing to live for. I tried to live though, playing sports, learning martial arts...in the end the only way I can live is because of...reading. I like to read the lives of others...and imagine myself being the protagonist of the story and enjoy the life adventurous life, especially fantasy ones in another world. Manga, games, and light novels...I am fond of them all. And now, I am passing away, about to meet my maker in the sanctuary beyond the sky above me. I am...filled with regret. I want to live¡­.truly live as a person, not just as a human being. I want to live a true fulfilling life...but now the darkness has claimed me, as I close my eyes for good. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.. ¡®...Hmmm? What is that light?¡¯ A dim, light like a small star in the night sky appeared...and it is growing bigger and bigger until it is blinding my sight completely¡­ ¡®AHHHHHhhh!¡¯ I shouted in pain a little...as I see...a...man? The man spoke in a...calm, soothing, yet powerful voice that echoes with each word. ¡°Greetings, young mortal.¡± The man has no clear depiction whatsoever as I only see a man colored in bright white. However...his stature is similar to a short round man, and his posture looks like a man sitting down cross-legged meditating. ¡°!!!.....!¡± I tried to talk but no voice came out. I have no idea how to react. I should be panicking and scared...I should be. But something is wrong...I feel no emotion, just...peace. I am literally at peace with my death? ¡­Ahh...I just want another chance to live my life without regrets. ¡°So you want to live? ...I can grant you that wish...but it will not be where you have died.¡± The man spoke as he placed his hand forward. ¡®Huh...how did he know that? Is that guy psychic?!¡¯ I thought in panic and confusion. ¡°No...I am a God, and I can read your thoughts.¡± The mans spoke as I am now filled with suspicion. ¡°...If you are a God....but first I did die right?¡± I thought a loud to confirm my suspicions. I should panic, but in my current state, all conflicting emotions are very short lived. ¡°Yes, you did.¡± The ¡®god¡¯ answered. ¡°...Why are you offering me this?¡± I asked as this is something that should not happen. ¡°...Because you are chosen to help change the world I am from into a better place...Although there will be trials in that regard.¡± The God said as I don¡¯t believe. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Also, you will have powers to help yourself in the new world to carry out my mission. What powers do you seek?¡± The man asks. ¡®...I do not believe this, but screw it all...I might as well amuse myself in this regard. Let¡¯s see...Ohhhh, how about superhuman powers and invulnerability, the power to control force, all the forces like electromagnetic force, gravity, and stuff. Ultimat healing capabilities and¡­¡¯ However my thoughts are interrupted. ¡°It seems you are skeptical. Choose two powers I mean.¡± The man clarified in his case. ¡®...Alright. I always wanted to be a force user...so I choose force manipulation, and I want a super body. One that has no flaws and can adapt, strong, etc...and can take the powers of others. My ideal kind of body.¡¯ I thought out my preferences. ¡°I see...then close your eyes. I must warn you though...there will be trials to test your capabilities, and if you die, another will take your place.¡± The man said with a smile. ¡®Give and take huh? I can deal with that...What are these trials you speak of?¡¯ I thought a loud. ¡°...You will find out.¡± The man said with a smile as he place his hand on my forehead, as a hot searing sensation attacked my mind. ¡®Ahhhhhhhhhh!!! Stop!¡¯ I shouted as darkness takes my consciousness away. ----------------------------------------------------- ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.. ¡®...Ow my head¡­¡¯ I said in my mind as I opened my eyes again. I have no idea where I am though¡­ I tried to feel for my surroundings. I feel like I¡¯m trapped in a goddamn coffin¡­.Wait¡­ I am lying back down on something hard and stony, I stretched my arms and legs sideways to feel nothing more than stone. I then pushed up to feel...more stone. ¡®Am I really trapped in a coffin?!¡¯ I shouted to myself in my head as I tried to remove this damn thing! However, it just refuses to budge! ''I am going to...GRAHH!!'' I shouted out loud (although no sound came out) as I...fired something from my palm in my anger and...blew the obstruction off my head launching it towards something like a ceilingceiling, and broke apart as dust and rubble rained down on me. ''...The God wasn¡¯t kidding.'' I said to myself as I tried to exit the goddamn ''coffin''...and looked around. All I see are¡­.torches and more and more stones, this time more polished and chiseled into works of art, meaning I am in a man-made room...or is it a tomb? ''...Am I really in a goddamn...oh don¡¯t tell me¡­'' I thought to myself...only to look down at my hands to confirm and see...white bone hands. ''...GOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDD!!!!'' I shouted to the ceiling as I then looked over my body, yet no sound still emerged from my fleshless mouth. I see white bones with certain tattoos here and there around my body in sun orange...in cloud-like patterns dyed in golden light, small ones at that...I cannot see my head as there is no mirror. ''Dammit! No no no no no no no no no no!'' I panicked and clasped my head in my dread upon seeing what I have become. I am...a frickin Skeleton¡­ Chapter 1: Goals and Aspirations Wandering around the crypt, I am now nothing but bones, with my bony feet clattering against the stone floor as I wander around. The corridorhas feldgrau stone archways on the ceiling and upper walls and some bird statues resembling owls on each side of the walls along with bipedal jackal statues resting on pedestals. The floor is feldspar tiled stone and the polished walls feldspar rock, its architecture a little well preserved yet cracks and moss remain visibly evident on surface. Before I went out, I panicked and cursed inwardly for some time, and even sat down near a stone wall hugging my knees for some time while I was still in the processing phase. After I grew sick and tired of the silence and boredom, I decided to explore my newfound surroundings. My vision¡­how I see is quite perplexing. I can see and hear quite well despite me not having eyes and ears, heck I can see and hear even better than before. There are no torches as far as I can tell, plus including the fact that I am underground and see no sources of light, I can still see as if I am under daylight on Earth. And I discovered when I focus my eyes and ears, I can hear even more subtle, distinct sounds, like the drop of water down the hallway or a fly buzzing around a moss-covered broken pillar. And¡­I can see colors¡­blue colors of unknown meaning or origins all around me as far as I can tell once I focus my sight to a certain degree. But when I tried to call out to it at a whim, the color¡­distorted a little as I willed it to move. Unsure if it moved by coincidence, I waved my hand again to confirm my thoughts as flicked my hand willing the ¡®color¡¯ to move, and found out it did after I did it three times willing the color in my eyes left, right, and up. I was quite alone as far as I can tell. I walked down the halls for¡­what seems like hours and I cannot determine any other walking skeletons like me, but there are other catacombs and¡­tombs, stone coffins like the one I was in to be exact with a heavy stone lidded sarcophagus. Many of them in rows, undisturbed which is strange, as I seem to be the only skeleton walking around. After wandering for some more ¡®hours¡¯, some characters (letters of unknown origins) caught my eye from the left, as I see what seems to be a metal sign plate of some sort hanging by chains from the ceiling, with writings etched into it. I do not recognize the letters, but for some reason, I can read them. Although the left half of the sign plate from my point of view is blurred out, the right half is still distinguishable and readable, with the words saying ¡®Library¡¯. ¡®There¡¯s a library here? Really? In a tomb? Did someone decide to bring a library with him or her to the grave or something?¡¯ I thought commenting on the sight a little. Turning left down the empty, dark flavescent stone corridor, I walked to see a door-sized entrance¡­and a broken wooden mahogany door¡­at least that is what I see excluding the moss and bugs, ranging from centipedes to beetles, crawling all over it¡­ Ignoring the ¡®door¡¯, I rose my head up, my eyes affixed to the door and then looking left and right, I see two other corridors, one on my left, and other on my right. Deciding to explore them later, I walked into the entrance, and see¡­countless serried rows of shelves filled to the brim with countless books and more¡­and each book looks to have about¡­a thousand pages or so. ¡®Really? Aye yae yae¡­¡¯ I thought to myself in complaints from the rows and rows of books...so many books...each with about a thousand pages or so contained. ¡®Must I really read these books...all of them? *Sigh*¡­Hopefully I will only read a few of them¡­I am a fan of light novels but¡­¡¯ I thought to myself as I walked over to grab one of the books, the cover of the book I picked too worn out for me to read, and walked to one of the tables meant for reading, the ones that are not broken down from the ages of time, and sat down one of the rotten but still intact chairs as I placed the book on the table and opened the book, starting to read from page one. And after what seems like forever and I read a few books¡­ ¡®....AHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Seriously God?! What the hell am I supposed to do here?!¡¯ I shouted to the God I met to the ceiling, but nothing came out of my fleshless mouth despite my attempts. My brain is fried! Assuming I still have a brain! I read a few books regarding¡­What seems like magic spells, but¡­ ¡®What the hell am I supposed to do? Survive? I will be hunted down as an evil being or something¡­what am I supposed to do¡­¡¯ I thought as I slumped down my chair.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. What I learned from the few books are the concept of mana, which is at a level I can understand at least, and¡­Alchemy. The level of Alchemy shown here is definitely not meant for beginners in general¡­so even though I read it to at least memorize the contents in case I decide to review it later on and/or forget its contents. How Alchemy works from the little information on the basics I obtained, I do not think I can use Alchemy unless I get more information on its concept. There are two types of Alchemy. Chemical Alchemy, and Alteration Alchemy. Chemical Alchemy is the concoction of various raw materials mixed together using certain methods and formula arrays, including tools and devices, and Alteration Alchemy is the kind that changes and manipulates matter to one¡¯s liking, although it is quite difficult and hard to master¡­and I have no idea how the formulas work as I am quite inexperienced and new to the concept. As for the Mana book, I sort of understand. The blue color I see around me is Mana assuming what I read in the book is correct. The energy around seems to be the energy around us, capable to be utilized as fuel for spells and ignite certain phenomenon that can be considered as miracles in general. There are even applications of mana and how it is used in general, used for powering certain items and how it is used for spell by powering an array of runes. Mages are more...selective in nature. Those who wish to learn magic must train hard to attain affinity with the mana around them and within, while there are those with talent born with a affixed affinity with mana which are rare and sought after by the majority to aidsociety as a whole with their skills. Another one is¡­Necromancy¡­ ¡®I am a skeleton man so¡­Wow. This fits me...so damn well. Is this your doing God? What are the odds¡­Dammit.¡¯ I cursed again, this time at myself. Necromancy is a form of manipulation of essence, be it Soul Essence or Death Essence and etc, mostly involving corpses and such. There are other applications of necromancy besides raising corpses, like manipulation of certain parts of the body¡­and that Necromancy is a derivation of Darkness magic, which Idon''t know in general. Plus, there is a slght mention of Death Magic, but I do not have the book for it so I do not know the difference yet. However, after reading all of them¡­a thought came to me on what to do in the future¡­which is something I rarely pondered on¡­and afterI pictured myself going up there and see the world for the first time...a comical image of me being hunted down, surrounded by priests casting holy spells on me and destory my poor body came to mind. I am a skeleton...what kind of skeleton I do not know but I am a skeleton¡­how am I supposed to live my life like this? Not only that, I realized that the books are in some of kind of ancient language or something. I don''t even recognize the words yet I can read them very well...I don''t know why I can read them, but I will just label it as a gift of God for now until I find the truth. Sure I do not need food or water or air, but¡­I am a walking target of hatred and persecution of society...which is something I fear the mostas it is definitely the most troublesome aspect of life. Worse¡­I have no manhood! I have dreams of making out with women and getting a girlfriend in general, but not having a living body destroys such dreams! ¡®What to do, what to do, what to do~¡¯ I thought frantically in my head¡­I am not used to such stress now that I think about it. And¡­surprisingly my emotions have calmed down somehow...as if all of my excess stress is being...killed. ¡®What to do¡­¡­.What to do¡­¡¯ I am calming down¡­fast, no too fast. I don¡¯t know why but¡­It must be because of my new body. I heard being a undead of some sort will kill one¡¯s emotions and twist one¡¯s personality but, this is the first time that I even experienced something like that. ¡®Something is wrong¡­my heart...wait, I have no heart. I¡¯m heartless...ha, skeleton pun. I make myself laugh¡­Well what would anyone do¡­I want myself a human body¡­or a living body in general. Male preferably¡­though if for some reason I am forced to have a female body, I will indefinitely get myself a manhood along with my female body. Anyways, what to do¡­¡¯ I thought as I pondered on my course of action. After a few more hours, at least that is what I felt like, I determined my own course of action. ¡®These books¡­yes, I need to prepare myself¡­So many books though, but I need the knowledge and the amount of books shows how powerful this placeis. I also need practice on controlling mana and spells as well. I don¡¯t know how much time I have, but as long as I am here, I should prepare myself for the future...heh, this is something I never done before hahahaha. If only I have this much motivation in my previous life...and all it took is the thought that I will die a agonizing death to motivate me to work this hard.¡¯ I mock myself as I thought of the situation I am in, as for the first time I am this motivated into doing something for once, for my own sake. ¡®I need¡­a living body to have beside this fleshless corpse I am in. For this, I must find a way to be ¡®alive¡¯...or in this case as alive as I can be. I just need a functional body that just says¡­me. I want to live¡­now more literal than ever in a sense. For that, I must learn as much as I can here. I need to find out how to live¡­as for how long I should live however¡­should I raise the stakes to attain true immortality? Hmmm...undead does not equal immortality so¡­I think immortality will come second.¡¯ I thought as I organized my goals in my mind. Thinking this, the only way I can achieve that is through¡­knowledge. And since knowledge is power, I will need read all the books in this library, as it seems chock full of knowledge not meant for the public judging from the few books I read. I walked around the library, taking and carrying as many books with me to the table, as I seated myself hearing my bones clatter on the chair, starting my preparations for the future to come. Chapter 2: Unwanted Visitors ¡°Ahhh, these stupid bushes. Where are we now? How long have we travelled through the damn jungle?¡± A humanoid rough looking bald man with...putrid green color skin and protruded teeth wearing leather attire and stout brown boots said as he trudged through the grass to see¡­a aged entryway etched into a mountain wall, with columns broken and the marble pillars in front of it demolished. The man was accompanied by a bunch of other men sharing his rough-looking features, dirty, unpleasant gruff dark green face, emerged from the blinding foliage beside him, as they are armed with various weapons, each either having short swords to their waist, maces, mauls or bows and arrows on their backs, or other weapons of preference as they eyed the entryway with curiosity as they wondered what lies within. ¡°Come on! Get over here, you little trash bags!¡± One of the men shouted from behind as he held a leash, yanking it hard as he pulled out¡­a female elf wearing light leather armor with thigh high stockings and high heels with a rope tied to a red collar around her neck, along with other elves with their collars connected together via ropes. One of the elves is a female child, wearing high class silken tunic dress dirtied with dirt and mud walking on her mud stained noble white low heels as her arms are tied together and her face stained with dry tears. ¡°Filthy Orcs¡­you will never get away with this!¡± One of the male elves shouted as then one of the Orcs walked to the elf from his left, drew his axe from his waist and swung it at the elf¡¯s neck, decapitating his head as the head dropped and tumbled across the ground. ¡°Any other smart mouths want to say something?¡± The Orc asked threateningly as the elves were silenced from the fear of death, staring at the head of their comrade. The elf behind the small elf child covered her eyes for her with her hands, to protect her mind from the atrocities before her. The men are Orc Bandits that managed to kill and captured refugees from a recent skirmish between two opposing races, the Elves and Orcs, and they managed to intercept along a rarely used dirt paved highway, since almost no one follows the path. However, because they do not know that they attacked a escort for a daugher belonging one of the Elven nobles, they were soon hunted down, losing more of their men as they managed to flee using the elf child as a hostage and used the opportunity to obtain more hostages along the way as they fled, and driven away to the edge of the lands through the forest beside said highway road. They then stumble upon the entrance of an ancient ruin after rummaging through the foliage to shirk away their pursuers. ¡°Is that a¡­¡± ¡°Ruin? Never saw it before¡­Not even on the maps we have.¡± ¡°How old is it I wonder?¡± ¡°Are we...rich?¡± The Orcs broke off in a conversation as they gazed at the ruins¡­processing what they just discovered. ¡°Oh¡­we might be rich boys! Hahaha! But first, we must take shelter. Night is falling, and them wolves will be prowling about.¡± One of them said. ¡°¡°~¡°RAHHHHHHHH!!!!¡±¡±~¡± The rest of the Orcs cheered in elation of discovering an untouched ruin in the middle of nowhere. After that, they then trudged their tired feet across the grass to the Catacomb, unaware of the being lurking inside the ruin, growing in power within the darkness underneath. -Stolen novel; please report. After some time, I left a pile of books around the table where I am reading. I am reading the magic systems, some of the books being two series of books regarding Elemental Magic and Darkness Magic in general. I left to go practice my newfound knowledge, wandering through the wide corridors to find a suitable location to practice my magics. Wandering through the corridors, I passed through¡­I have no idea how many stone owl and bipedal jackal statues I see, as I am failing in my search. I did find a Alchemy Room at the corridor to the right of the Library, around ten meters from the Library. The Alchemy Room holds a very intricately crafted cauldron, a stone table with a certain arcane circle with a hexagon inscribed in the circle, and some kind of chemistry table with tubes and beakers, and more stuff which I have no idea how they work yet. Besides that, I am wandering around the catacombs again, and soon found a good open space in one of the rooms down the corridor where I can practice my magic, although it is quite far from the Library but nonetheless still suitable. The room is empty and spacious, and with broken pillars on one side of the walls. Then I practiced my Elemental Magic, preparing the runes needed to cast onto the stone walls. ¡®Lightning Stream!¡¯ I thought as I casted the spell and fired a thick stream of purple lightning against the broken chiseled pillar, breaking it down even further as I studied the concept of Elemental Magics, conjuring it via runes. Spells are made via array and amalgamation of runes, and the effectiveness of such spells depends on one¡¯s talents or should I say, affinity with the spell. I had to learn the rune alphabet first and each individual rune''s effects and functions before going over the spells in general. I did practice with the runes in the library as the effects of each rune is harmless (except for that one time I almost sparked a fire that can potentially destroyed thelibrary), feeling each of theireffects and capabilities. The spell system I am learning is kind of direct, feel for all of the runes in the alphabet and connect with them when performing a spell, which I am doing right now as I perform another series of spells. ¡®Fireball!¡¯ I fired a ball of fire from my left palm at the wall, leaving a red hot scorch mark on the stone. ¡®Flare Burst!¡¯ A flashy stream of flames struck the same spot I struck, melting the rock into orange-hot magma. ¡®Water Bullet!¡¯ Firing a quarter sized bullet of water at the same spot, producing smoking steamas a quarter sized hole was punctured into the magma wall. ¡®Pressure Stream!¡¯ A laser-like stream of water was fired at the right of molten hot spot, its trajectory moving from right to left, cuttingthrough the stone wall like a sword and cooled off the magma while leaving a clean trail of destruction in the stone wall. I kept on casting spells as I prepared the runes and magic spells one after another, of all the elements, from fire to water to wind and to earth, I can conjure for now. There are more spells, but I am unsure if I can cast them yet as I need to improve myself with the lesser spells first, to get a feel for magic in general before advancing to higher levels. Whenever I casted spells, I feel some strain through my bones, yet¡­it feels enrapturing, as if I am feeling my blood circulating through my body. It is almost like exercise or a massage (a painful one), minus the annoying muscle pains and fatigue. Because of this, I feel a childlike excitement to practice my magic even more, excited to test myself in performing the mystic arts. After that I started casted Darkness Magic spells. ¡®Darkness Blast!¡¯ I fired a blast of darkness as the black effigy consumed and corroded the pillar. ¡®Shadowstep!¡¯ I concentrated as I tried to warp away, as I attempted to merge myself through the shadows, and melded my body inside the darkness as I moved a few steps forward as a start. After moving around the shadows, I adapted and understood what it feels to move through shadow as the book said, as I felt nothingness inside, and I feel lighter and more free within the dark as I move around. After casting the spells, I felt a difference between casting Elemental Magic and Darkness Magic, as if I am more attuned to the latter¡¯s spells. Noticing this, I made a self-note to experiment my affinities with the magic systems later on. After that, I practiced combination magics, and managed to form at least one spell I took a liking to. ¡®Dark Lightning!¡¯ I thought as dark purple streams of lightning demolished the wall, digging a deep head-sized hole in the wall, the marks showing signs of decay and crackling electricity. Feeling the need to practice more, and excited from the results of my hard work reading the books, I continued practicing my spells for what seems like hours, or days even, my spells growing more powerful and powerful after each use and as I use more spells. Once I felt satisfied with my progress, I ended my practice session and decided to return to the library through the same corridors I traveled in. However, while traveling down the corridors, I detected something¡­something like...Hmmm. ¡®What the¡­¡¯ Feeling this for the first time, I tried my best to grasp what the feeling means, detecting some indications of the¡­I think presences is the best word for the description. Following my instincts, I tracked the presences moving through the corridors via shadowstep as I saw¡­ ¡°Hehehehe, time to have some fun¡­¡± A muscular bipedal humanoid mass of dark green flesh wearing a leather tunic with his...large man jewels displayed naked in front of¡­ ¡®Is that an elf?¡¯ I thought as I peek through the shadows. Seeing through the shadows is strange, almost like looking through a translucent circularwindow through the darkness as I observe the interaction between the two...Intruders seem to be the best word for them. Chapter 3: Choices and Action Looking at the ¡®elf¡¯, I see a beautiful elven woman, her face as smooth as the highest quality silk and her eyes akin to blue opaque jewels glistening in the sunlight, stripped almost naked, with remnants of her armor still attached to her body while the rest of it lies on the floor, torn to shreds. ¡®Dang...If I have a manhood, I would definitely fall for her¡­Well I am still taken aback from her beauty but¡­I am quite uninterested. Shame¡­¡¯ I thought as I mull over the fact I am without a manhood. The elf¡¯s beige skin could be seen from afar, as she was crawling backwards against a wall in despair, deprived of her sword, which was a few meters ahead of her. ¡®What is that green dude though? Is he an Orc or something?¡¯ I thought as lumbering towards her was a muscular male bipedal humanoid with dark green skin, two meters in height, and less than one meter in width, snickering at her misfortune. The creature has a human like face, albeit very muscular with little to no fat and dark green skin. I am not sure if he is an Ogre or Orc, as my image of an Orc is a humanoid fantasy monster with a fat, bloated stomach and pig-like face, but this one is humanoid in appearance and with good muscular physique. I will just call him Orc for now¡­I wonder if he can speak. ¡°Well well...don''t fear me! I won¡¯t do you anything bad at all...hahaha!¡± The Orc said with a hungry tone, looking at her naked petite figure with degenerate eyes. ¡®He can speak?! And he speaks english!??! That¡¯s too fluent!¡¯ I thought as I expected there to be major language barriers, but to my fortune they can speak english! Although looking at the situation closely¡­ ¡®Uhhh¡­Ayeeeee¡­am I witnessing a rape? Should I help? Hmmmm¡­¡¯ Thinking over my options, one choice is to go reveal myself and save her openly¡­and risk being hunted down and killed by other parties should my existence be discovered one way or another. Plus, I am living in a tomb with a private magic library and a Alchemy Room, and who knows what else is there, so I can expect a lot of greedy invaders later on. ¡®Too risky. Maybe¡­¡¯ Option two, kill the Orc stealthily, which seems sound¡­but¡­ ¡®What should I do with the elf? Won¡¯t she gather her friends/allies and kill me, indirectly at least? I do not know the intelligence and culture of these people¡­and their viewpoints in general.¡¯ Option three, kill all who entered my residence and leave no witnesses of my existence alive. ¡®Too violent¡­I am not a psychotic murderer for crying out loud. And, it will undoubtedly draw attention to me should someone investigates their disappearance. Maybe I should¡­yeah that can work.¡¯ While I am juggling my options, Orc inched closer and closer to the almost naked elf as she whimpered and cried, tears trickling down her face. ¡°Please¡­someone help¡­anyone.¡± The female elf whimpered as she closed her eyes, not wanting to see her looming fate. ¡®Aye yae yae¡­¡¯ I can hear her voice even from the shadows due to my heightened senses. I am surprised I can think out my options here this well¡­usually I would panic from stress or something, but¡­ ¡®It seems being undead does have its perks, but I will still claim a living body later on. Anyways¡­.¡¯ I have decided to save her for now. I crept through the shadows towards the orc unaware, although¡­ ¡®Oh crap, I forgot whether or not they can detect me¡­¡¯ I thought as I did not take into account if there are people who can detect me in the shadows, as the book did say that those sensitive to magic or well trained senses can detect those traveling through shadow. Staying in shadow for a while, I did not see the Orc turning his eye to me nor did I see the elf turn her eyes to me. ¡®Uhhh¡­¡¯ I am sort of confused. I just learned the spell quite recently and yet I managed to move in undetected¡­Hmmm¡­ It would seem either I¡¯m skilled enough to move in undetected, or the people here are too¡­let¡¯s just say, amateurish. Pondering on this, I resumed moving through the shadow as I moved into the orc from behind, traversing as a shadow shifting from the ceiling to the wall, and then to the floor. ¡°Hehehehe, I hope you are ready, my sweet lass!¡± The orc said as he opened his jaw and laughed disgustingly as his hands crept closer to the elf. Seeing this, I slowly emerged from the shadow and rose up from the floor behind the orc, I quickly covered his mouth from behind and used a Wind Spell to explode the air pressure in his mouth, knocking him out. However, I failed to muffle the noise completely as a small, but medium volume sound of wind escaped my hand due to my inadequate skills. Though, luckily the elf was still closing her eyes overwhelmed from her fear. Taking advantage of this, I sunk into the shadow with an unconscious orc in my hands, testing my skills in dragging a person with me to the shadows, and¡­failed, as the shadows rejected the orc; I then gently laid him down with my fleshless arms on the floor without making a sound. Finding the limit to my mana usage, I cannot carry my victim with me¡­as when I tried, my mana storage is strained to the limit from pumping the mana needed to carry someone else with me to the darkness. Damn it, I wish I could store and use him later on as a live experiment. I so want to test my necromancy, and I need the live bodies to dissect so I can study humanoid biology to start preparing my new body. No one cares about a rapist¡­well at least those that aren¡¯t rapists will care, though shame I cannot take him with me. If I do, my mana supply will take a major hit. ¡®...Wait, I just thought about dissecting live bodies like guinea pigs¡­¡¯ I am starting to feel the change in my undead body¡­as I have little to no concern for the living in general which scares me a little. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®What will I become¡­¡¯ I thought wondering about my future again¡­feeling uneasy of the obstacles ahead of me. Shrugging off my thoughts, I decided to leave the orc here for now, and sank back down into the shadows as I escaped the crime scene, searching for the other presences. I need to ascertain my situation, and determine who infiltrated my residence and why the hell they are they here. --------- Elf¡¯s POV: Opening my eyes, I see¡­. ¡®W-What happened to him?¡¯ I see the Orc trying to rape me lying down unconscious drooling on the stone floor for some reason. I looked around the corridor to see only stone and torches, finding no traces of other presences here. The Orc has no wounds on him, yet¡­ ¡®Ah! My Lady!¡¯ Remembering my situation, I quickly lunged to my sword on the ground and grabbed it in my right hand before the Orc wakes up or any other orc sees me free. I escaped from the orcs to delve deeper in the ruins in hopes of finding something anything that can help me free my friends, but¡­I failed as one of them caught up with me. I was tired and my left ankle is bruised¡­regardless¡­ ¡°I must go save Lady Olivia before she is defiled by these brutes.¡± I muttered as I rushed off to the corridors searching for my mistress, holding my almost naked breasts with my right arm and my sword ready with the other. Running through the ancient corridors, my feet tapping on the sedimentary chiseled floor, I searched for Lady Olivia and the others as quickly as possible. Each room I saw was full of stone coffins or empty space occasionally statues of birds and human jackals on pedestals lining the sides of the wall as I rushed towards the pathway towards the ruin¡¯s entrance. ¡°Heh heh heh¡­¡± I heard echoes of laughter coming from down the right turn of corridor I am facing. Looking around and finding a room entrance to my right, I quickly hid by dashing into the room seeing more stone coffins serried in rows upon rows. There are more than enough coffins here to match a small army¡­ Shrugging off my unneeded thoughts, I ducked down behind one of the stone coffins, away from sight as I eavesdropped on their conversation. ¡°He must be enjoying himself with that runaway as we talk Ga ha ha!¡± ¡°Yeah, I want in on the hot action!¡± ¡°Me too, but boss is strict on us exploring the ruin. I see nothing but coffins and empty space. Are we in a tomb or something?¡± ¡°Maybe. Boss thinks we can make this our new hideout hehehe.¡± I heard their conversation as I poked my head up from behind the coffin close to the entrance, seeing three armored Orcs, one of them carrying a torch for light, passing by as I waited for the chance to move past them¡­ ¡®My Goddess must be smiling upon me¡­I don¡¯t know how I escaped, but I thank the mystic forces at work here.¡¯ Seeing them gone, I quickly rushed past them as I made my way to my lady. The lighting in the corridors are dim from the lack of torches, which are surprisingly long lasting considering this is an ancient ruin as the flames still flicker even against the test of time. ¡®They must be magical items¡­¡¯ I thought as they don¡¯t seem to be normal. There were records to such magic items before the End of the Ages, but the methods to make them were lost after that that period. I then sneaked out the coffin room and resumed running my way back to my lady ready to save her. -------------------------- The Skeleton¡¯s POV: ¡®Are you telling me criminals are planning to make a hideout of my residence?! Unacceptable!¡¯ I thought in rage after hearing the bandits within the shadows, stalking them from behind unaware¡­ ¡®I will definitely kill them¡­I need to test my powers anyways.¡¯ I thought as I followed them until they headed deep enough in the corridors. ¡°Hm? Hey, isn¡¯t that¡­?!¡± The Orcs then encountered their fallen comrade I knocked out, putting an end to their peaceful stroll as they clamored to the fallen orc. ¡°Hey Hey! Wake up!¡± One of the Orcs shook the unconscious Orc awake causing him to cough loudly, most likely trying to cough out the excess air I forced into his mouth, although he is failing to show significant progress in his recovery. ¡°*Cough**Cough**Cough**Cough* Ughh...What happened¡­*Cough*...I can¡¯t breathe right¡­¡± The fallen Orc complained as he continued coughing. ¡°What happened to you? How¡¯d you end up like this?¡± ¡°Did the Elf do you in?¡± Before the fallen Orc can answer however, I slowly emerged from the shadows rising from the floor, preparing a Gust Spell in my left hand and my Fire Bolt spell in my right, and thrusted my palm forward, firing a gust of wind at one of the Orcs. *Whoosh* ¡°Ahg!?!? *BAM*¡± And propelled one of the Orcs headfirst into the wall, knocking him out as its face collided against and bounced off the wall plopping back down face flat on the cold stone floor. ¡°What the?!¡± The two other orcs turned around to see me with my hand thrusted while the third orc was still coughing. ¡°*cough* W-What happened?¡± The Orc asked while still coughing as I fired a Fire Bolt at another one of the Orc before he can react. *Boom* ¡°Ahhhh! Ahhhhh!¡± The orc dropped to the ground flailing in pain and agony as the bolt exploded, lighting the Orc¡¯s upper body ablaze in scorching orange flames. ¡°Gomog!!! You!¡± The last standing healthy Orc looked at me enraged after seeing his friends attacked. He reached out to the two-handed Warhammer, with a light brown wooden shaft and octagonal dull grey metal hammer head, on his back and took it out, running towards me with his warhammer raised in his hands. ¡°RAHHHHHH!!!!¡± ¡®Angry!¡¯ I thought as I prepared my Lightning Stream spell in my right hand and waited for the Orc to get into range¡­he seems to be so angry that he did not even stop to consider how I, a skeleton, even managed to sneak up on him unnoticed. I continued preparing my runes as I am confident I can take him down as easily as the others. But¡­ ¡®Whoa!¡¯ The Orc gained a sudden burst of speed and I was soon within range of his war hammer. ¡°Dieee!!!¡± The Orc shouted as he swung down his weapon aiming for my head. ¡®Crap!¡¯ I thought as I wasn¡¯t expecting this¡­I¡¯ve never been in a real life fight before, especially in a medieval fight to the death! Cancelling my spell, I raised both my arms in front of me as I blocked the war hammer, feeling the bones in my arms straining from the collision as I fell down on my back feeling my bones rattling upon impact with the floor. ¡®Ow!¡¯ I thought as I felt pain in my arms, clutching both my arms together as I rubbed my bones of my arms for a second. I thought undead are supposed to be immune to pain, but it seems that only applies to mindless undead¡­ Pain is the body¡¯s method of communicating its state with the brain, and I seem to have one. ¡°What?! You supposed to die!¡± The Orc shouted in disbelief seeing me seemingly unharmed. ¡®Agh¡­No idea what you mean, but as if I would let myself die from that!¡¯ I thought after hearing his ludicrous words; as I charged my Lightning Stream spell in my right and left hands while still laying down on my floor. The Orc snapped out of his confusion as he tried to attack me before I finish preparing my spells, raising and then swinging down his war hammer, but learning my lesson I swiftly rolled to the left, hearing the war hammer hit the stone tiles in a miss, as I finished preparing and charging my spell. ¡®Chew on this, you puke green turd!¡¯ Still on the ground, I turned my head to the Orc and pushed both my open palms forward, firing streams of blue lightning from my palms as the Orc failed to react against the speed of my spell¡¯s lightning, as he was flung into the air and against the wall while lightning crackles all over his body. ¡°AHhhhhhhHHHHhhhhHHHHhhHHH~!!!¡± The Orc was screaming in pain as he squirmed on the floor helplessly while his body flashes periodically revealing a shadow of his bones within his body during each outburst of light. The Orc soon stopped screaming though after around five seconds¡­so I stopped casting my spell as I looked at the smoking pile of green muscular flesh. ¡®Is he dead¡­well it does not matter. I can work with him either way¡­Now¡­¡¯ I then turned my eyes to the other three orcs, seeing two of them knocked out (one of them is horribly scarred from the flames as his upper body is charred black) while the last one holds his throat as he looks at me charging my spell I prepare another dual Lightning Streams in my hands. Watching his friend suffer horribly at my hands, he crawled back against the wall in fear, cornered like a mouse in front of a cat. ¡°*Cough* No, no. Wait!¡± ¡®Shut up, rapist.¡¯ *PSSSZZZZZZAPPP* ¡°AHHHhhhhHHHHhhHHHhHHHHHhhhhH~!!!¡± I blasted streams of blue lightning at the Orc as I wondered what to do with them¡­ ¡®Hmmmm, might need to take care of them before taking care of the others¡­Good thing I learned some necromancy. I do need the helping hands, and there are a lot of coffins in this tomb.¡¯ I thought as I keep blasting my lightning at him, wondering what to do with him and his friends before dealing with the others trespassing in my tomb while hearing his screams echoed in the corridors undisturbed.