《Skeletal Rebirth》


 Prologue. Argus Fellford

    "Huff puff". The sound of his own breath grew louder in his ears. He could feel his legs shaking as he forced himself to continue on wards. He knew that for the second he stopped moving, he would be hunted down by the pursuing shadows. Relentless, it was the only word that could describe the on going pursuit. As he continued to run for is life, hundreds of knives showered him in intervals. Arms, legs, and back, throbbed as wounds continued to increase. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to keep on running, that escaping was futile. But he continued going forward. Like a mad man possessed by a ghost, even as his consciousness was fading in and out, he ran...


    Argus Fellford. A genius that conquered both magic and steel. Peerless in might, technique, and cunning, was just going about his day as normally as possible. Even though today was the day that the many guilds would be coming to recruit members, Argus wasn''t particularly nervous. No. He knew that he could get into any guild he wanted, and that all the guilds, even the top most prestigious, would want to recruit him. Although he doesn''t consider himself to be arrogant, he also didn''t consider himself a fool. All the students attending Velsoria''s Adventure''s Academy, knew that he would be the one. The one that everyone had their eyes on. The precious gem that all the guilds wanted. Denying that fact, was like denying that the sun would rise. And the only people trying to deny it, were the people full of envy. Because Argus was a genius, he was also an enemy. An enemy of all the other students. Most gave up on competing with him, but a few stubborn people would continue their futile struggle. Only to see their own limit. And as they kept trying to out shinehim, they would always end up seeing the same thing. The gap between a true genius, and themselves. And as the gap grew larger, so did their malice. Till finally, they snapped.


    "Huff puff." Trying to catch his breath, Argus hid behind trees and stones. His body was bloody and bruised. His eyes were slowly drifting to the dark. He felt sleepy, and his eyes felt like lead. But he knew that he would perish if he were to fall asleep here. As he tried to gather himself, he constantly cycled through his thoughts. Poison, traps, betrayal. Those were the things that brought him to his current predicament. Poisoned by his brother, and tricked by his best friend. And even with this betrayal, he didn''t have a shed of hate or anger towards them. That was because he knew why they did it. His brother, unlike Argus, was not blessed with talent. Hard work was the only thing he had going for him, but to his father, wasn''t enough. Always compared to Argus, always abused to be like Argus, it was only a matter of time before he couldn''t take anymore. And his best friend, Oliver Ruther. Rivals as genius'' but friends none the less. Both loved the same woman. And though she loved Argus back, Oliver didn''t concede. Pressing on without holding back only to berejected multiple times. Crushed by the love of his life, he couldn''t move on. Time had stopped for Oliver, agonizing over it, he had lost himself. Until he help commit the biggest sin in his life.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    As Argus was coming too, he began to hear his pursuers. But without any strength left, escaping was impossible. "Move... Move." He started pleading his body. "Move... Please... MOVE!" He sprung up from his position with his constant self motivation. It was all he had now. His strength depleted, and his body poisoned. Willpower was the only thing left that continued to push him. He could hear the footsteps following closely. And the longer he ran the closer they got. Running, running, and running. Even if he couldn''t out run his pursuers, maybe he could out smart them. Looking for anything he could use, Argus continued moving as he searched his surroundings till... *Shhhhhhhh.* With just a slight sound, Argus knew what it was. A river. It was his only shot. Knowing that his chances of survival were slim, he still jumped. *Splash!* The cold water surrounded Argus and like the hands of Death, pulled him under the rapid streams. And this, was the last time anyone heard of Argus Fellford...

 Chapter 1. Awakening

    A bog of darkness and death that anyone with a brain would stay away from continuously bubbled about. Foot steps could be heard along with the sounds of groaning, and the scraping of metals. "Alright ladies, it seems we''re practically at the spot of the request. Start setting up a base camp and look for some provision." The booming voice came from a man, about 40 years of age. A large upper body with solid muscles that were probably built from the over sized claymore sheathed onto his back. A noticeable scar went from one side of his face to the other across the bridge of his nose. Carrying the air of a veteran warrior, he continued to command the others that were with him. Quick steps approached the veteran warrior, he turned to see one of his companion step forward. The thin man quickly readjusted his posture and pulled out a notebook, skimming through the notes and nodding in satisfaction he began his report. "All tents have been set up along with the barbed fences, we are still surveying the lands for food, but it seems this bog isn''t suitable for wild life. Some plants that were harvested in the area are edible but are to few in number to sustain our group. One of the scouting parties have also reported that they had seen a numerous amounts of Skeleton Soldiers wondering around. The number isn''t so large that it would effect us, but large enough to become a nuisance if provoked." The thin man concluded the report and began to walk back to his previous station. In his own thoughts the veteran warrior began to recollect the information regarding the task they had taken up, pondering as to why they were needed for such a simple request. Normally tasks and requests such as surveying lands had always been given to the lower adventurer parties. But this time, the person that put up this job request had strongly requested high level adventurers. Something wasn''t sitting right with the veteran warrior, he knew that whatever the task was, it wasn''t the true aim of this request. "ARGH!" A yell immediately resounded the area startling all the adventurers. Turning their heads looking for where the scream had came from another yell had resounded. "Oh god, Skeletons!" With that sudden out cry all the adventurers began to scramble for their weapons, and in matter of seconds, a battle between the living and the dead had begun.


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    Darkness. All it could see was darkness. An unending darkness along with the weight of something. Stuck in position and surrounded by the nothingness it began to panic, trying to thrash its way into freedom. It''s struggle was not in vain as one of it''s arms was able to break free. Continuously fighting about, after countless amounts of thrashing and wiggling, it was able to bring its upper body out of it''s prison. With the feeling of relief, it began to look around. "Where is this place?" It continuously surveyed the foreign lands that laid before it as it began to to wrestle the rest of its body out of the ground. Successful in it''s endeavors for freedom it noticed that it''s arms were not of flesh, but that of bone. Obsidian, it''s hands and arms, legs and all, were comprised of obsidian bones. Shock ran threw it at the realization that it was not human anymore, but oddly, it felt peace. Nothing about the flesh-less body felt out of place, in fact, it didn''t even seem to noticed any differences to being human. The only reason it was shocked was because it had retained it''s memories as a human named Argus Fellford. As time had passed, Argus was slowly trying to adapt to the situation that he was currently in, he understood that he probably died during his attempt to escape from his attackers. Looking at his hands again, he pondered about how he turned into a undead skeleton, it wasn''t like he had ever dabbled in dark magic, nor did he ever make an attempt at necromancy. Unable to come up with any reason as to why he had become a skeleton, he decided to just place the reason on fate and destiny.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    He rose up and began walking about with no idea as to where he currently was, judging by the rotting trees and logs along with the unending muddy field, he concluded that he was in some sort of swamp. As he continued along his aimless journey he happened to come across a mass of undead skeletons. Most of these flesh-less fiends were wielding weapons such as, swords, axes, spears, and a few even seemed to be equip with tower shields. He also noticed that towards the end of the skeletal army was a small group of floating skeletons. "Liches! And more then one. Something serious must be happening in this swamp land." The skeletal horrors that Argus had laid his glowing blue eyes on was a small group of undead monsters known as a lich. Skeletal mages that could cast mighty spells and raise corpses into more undead soldiers. Just one of these spell slinging undeads could cause quite the trouble when fought against, but a group like this would most definitely bring chaos to the living. As Argus continued to study the undead platoon, the group of undead monsters started to march in a single direction. Curious as to were the skeletal army was headed, Argus began to follow behind, not sure as to why they suddenly began to move. Unsure if he would be attacked or not, he kept some distance from the undead, and after what felt like an hour of stalking he managed to see why they had marched in that specific direction.


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    A small band of armed humans began clashing with the undead monsters. Out numbered by the skeletal army, one would expect the human group to fall, and that would be the case if not for the leader of the group. A big man with a noticeable scar, was running around and swinging a long claymore cutting down small numbers of undead with each cleave. With the shout of their leader, the adventures began swiftly getting into formation. "All spear-man in front! Don''t let those undead bastards get through to the archers and casters. Archers, use the hammer-face arrows and aim for the back lines. Mages are to begin casting large fire and earth spells along with supporting the spear-man. Priests are to start healing the injured and await further orders in case of sighting stronger undeads. Don''t let single undead get through to the base!" After relaying orders, the army of skeletal menaces began to dwindle down, using the knowledge he had gained from fighting the undead before, every order given was aimed at the weakness of the undead enemies. The ground was scorched in some places, and in areas that didn''t see any fire magic, was instead riddled with rocks and arrows. Most of the weaker Skeletal Soldiers were dealt with, and the only ones that seemed to actually put up a fight were the Skeleton Knight. Because they wielded tower shields, they were able to defend against the arrows and most of the earth magic that was cast. Looking around the veteran warrior noticed that something wasn''t right, attacks like these were common, and after looking around the battle field there didn''t seem to be any more threats in the area. Even knowing this, the veteran warrior could help but feel anxious, cold sweat could be felt on the back of his neck. He turned to his companions to see the aftermath of the battle, only a few spear-man were injured and even less were killed. "Let''s clean up the rest of these flesh-less freaks and--" before he could finish his sentence he was cut off by the screams of his troops "LICHES!" as they were shouting five out of the seven Liches had cast a fire spell. Unable to react fast enough the veteran warrior turned to see multiple fireballs head straight for him. Weapon sheathed he knew he would be burned to a crisp, and as he saw the flames about to engulf him, a black shadow had ran in between him and his fiery death. In a split second the flames of wrath had been dowsed out and in place of the burning inferno was a field of frozen swords. Shocked by the scene in front of him, the veteran warrior turned to see his savior and to his surprise, there stood an obsidian skeleton wrapped in tattered clothing with glowing blue eyes, holding onto a sword that was covered in a silver frost.

 Chapter 2. He Who Seeks the Light

    A cold chillpermeated through the air, an unnatural cold that seemed to devour the slightest bit of heat. The frozen spectacle that was in front of him was undoubtedly the cause for the hungering chill. Dumbfounded, not knowing if the thing in front of him was a reality, or just an illusion he had conjured before death. The skeletal monster before him began to turn his head and soon, it was looking right into his own eyes. He sensed no hostility from those blue glowing orbs instead, he felt relief. The obsidian skeleton began to face the liches, it grabbed the blade of it''s sword then-- "BOOM." A loud crackle of thunder consumed the silence, the obsidian skeleton was standing still, in his hand was a sword clad in lightning. It immediately kicked off the ground and flew straight at the liches, brandishing the lightning sword, little sparks of lightning began to appear and flicker following the trace of the sword swing. The sparks began to grow, and after reaching the size of fist, burst into ethereal blades of lightning shooting in the direction of one of the liches. Unable to dodge the lightning fast blades, one of the seven liches were instantly vaporized by the shear heat of the swords. The more the skeleton swung its sword, the more flickering apparitions appeared. The liches had begun to chant in unison, gathering mana to fight back against the obsidian skeleton. By the time they cast their spell, two more of the flesh-less mages had burst into a brilliant light after being slew by the unending dancing blades. The sight was unbelievable, gliding around the glacial swords while displaying such dignified swordplay, one would not be able to describe the scene in front of it. The glowing swords of lightning dancing in the air seeking their target, the orbs and sparks of lightning flickering endlessly, and the frozen field shimmering due to the magnificent lights floating above it. Only minutes had passed when the glorious spectacle had ending, mesmerized by the power of the obsidian skeleton, the group of adventurers remained still as their mouths hung open. The skeleton turned to face the veteran warrior and began to walk towards him. He knew that if they were to fight, he along with his group would be completely decimated. Knowing this, he should have felt some sort of fear as he watched to obsidian skeleton walking to him and yet. The longer he looked into the blue lights were its eyes should be the more he felt calm like, the skeleton in front of him not monster. The answer finally hit him, the reason he didn''t fear this entity was because it felt human. Looking at the skeleton and pondering his sudden realization, the being in front of him had opened his mouth and with words not fitting of a skeleton it greeted them. "Good-evening, or is it morning? You really can''t quite tell in this place but I digress, the name is Argus and if you''d be so kind. Can you tell me as to where exactly this place is?" Staring at the skeleton with eyes wide and mouth ajar, the veteran warrior composed himself and began to speaking to the undead anomaly.


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    After my battle against the liches, I turned to speak to the person that looked to be in charge. To my surprise, he didn''t seem to hold any hostility towards me at all. With that in mind I spoke to him in my up most friendliest tone, "Good-evening, or is it morning? You really can''t quite tell in this place but I digress, the name is Argus and if you''d be so kind. Can you tell me as to where exactly this place is?" He looked at me completely stupefied but quickly readjusted himself, he then started to introduce himself. The veteran warrior identified himself as Zerok Medvella, the leader of the adventurer group known as Lobo Sword. He then answered my question as to where this place was, Graverot Marsh. Once know for being an elven forest, it became contaminated by death when a human kingdom had dispatched an army to exterminate the elves and harvest the trees. The amount of death was enough to give birth to a dark miasma which plagued the dying forest even more, eventually the miasma began producing dark mana which started raising the grudged filled dead from their graves. After digesting the information I had received, Zerok started to ask questions regarding me and my ability to handle magic so skillfully. Thinking about if I should reveal who I was in depth I decided to answer, "Well like I said earlier, my name is Argus and as you can see, I''m a skeleton. As for my ability to use magic well, I guess I didn''t lose my touch after dying. It''s not like I gained these abilities after turning into an undead in fact, it seems like I''ve lost the ability to use certain magics." The man looked at me with utter confusion and explained that the ability to manipulate mana was lost centuries ago, and that the only way to use magic was by using a mana infused crystal. Shocked by this sudden news I asked about the mages he had in the back that were able to cast spells, his response was that they all had mana crystals embedded on there staffs and wands. I then questioned him about the liches, he told me that monsters that can use magic were usually created or effected by mana in some way. In the liches case, they were skeletal monsters that took in a large amount of dark mana and thus were able to use magic without a mana crystal. The only thing I could come up with was that fact that after I had died, that somewhere in time, the study of magic was either forbidden due to fear of creating a strong mage, or lost and forgotten due to something wiping out most of the mages. Maybe a war that spread across the world had broken out, or maybe there was an order to expunge all mages, either way, it seems like most people in the world now aren''t able to freely manipulate mana. "Only if I had known this before I want out and starting casting spells left and right. They might try to capture me and send me to some magic academy for experimentation." While I was trying to think up a plan of escape, Zerok had begun to thank me for saving him and his group, he then told me about why he was here and how he felt something weird was going on. I internally agreed with him about the fact that something was definitely happening in this swamp, the group of liches were the proof of that. I asked him if liches usually attack in groups, but he quickly informed me that it takes a large amount of dark mana to even create one lich let alone seven. I could see worry etched on his face. Even though he accepted the request to survey Graverot Marsh, he wasn''t stupid enough to risk him and his group to die for some coin. Soon after thinking it over he thanked me again and bid me farewell, he then turned to his group and began telling them that to gather everything and start heading back to town. "Smart choice" I thought to myself as I watched the group of adventurers quickly taking apart their base. Luckily for them, no undead skeletons attacked while they were busy deconstructing everything and without any hindrances, the group called Lobo Sword was swiftly exiting the rotting marsh.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


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    Alone again with only my thoughts, I decided to take a look around Graverot Marsh. With my knew found knowledge of the current world, I decided that I probably shouldn''t leave the swamp until I had a solid plan. Lucky for me, being an undead meant that I wouldn''t be attacked by the other skeletal monsters as long as I didn''t attack them first. Knowing this, I was glad that I didn''t have to worry about being attacked every step I took. After walking about a couple hours or maybe more, I can across a small house that was standing next to a surprisingly large tree. Interested in the change of scenery I began to make my way towards the singular house only to be drawn in by some sort of magical light. Slowly getting closer to the house, I could now make out what looked to be a bright pale green light floating in the middle of the house. "What could this light be that seems to call out to me?" Thinking about the light that seemed to draw me in, I found myself at the door of the house. Reaching to open the rotting door I heard the whispers of an unknown man. "Those damned liches still haven''t came back! With the amount I sent there shouldn''t be any problems, Did they perhaps know that this was a trap? Damn it all! All that work setting up a request and getting a decent group for nothing. No I shouldn''t be to rash, Maybe they just put up more of a fight then calculated. I should go and check to see, I might even have to kill them myself." After the man had finished speaking, steps could be heard quickly approaching the door. Standing still face to face with the man, he let out a loud yell. "GAH! What in the hells?" He quickly stumbled back a couple steps and continued to speaking "What the hell is this? Some new species of undead? Hmmm, I can''t seem to feel any hostility from it. Maybe I should try to control it." The man brought up his arm along with what looked to be a lantern, but instead of a normal light, the color light was that of a pale green, and what swirled around the center of the light was that of the souls of the dead.

 Chapter 3. Lantern of Harvest

    At the house that I had found built under a single tree I continued my staring contest with the robed man standing in front of me. Examining the robed man that was holding onto a lantern I couldn''t help my curiosity and began to speak. "It seems like I''m meeting quite the number of people today, and in such a dreary place none the less. Allow me to introduce my self, I am Argus-" before I could finish my introduction, the robed man began to distances himself from me and started shouting. "You! You have self awareness! how is that that possible!? All undeads are mindless monsters that attack the living! Even liches with heighten intelligence aren''t self aware!" He frantically began waving the lantern in my direction and increasingly became more shocked. "What!? Why can''t I link you to the Lantern of Harvest!? You... You must already have a soul trapped in that skeletal body. What a powerful soul it must be! To be able to reanimate a corpse be it''s self, I must make it mine." The robed man quickly chanted a short spell which made the lantern glow even brighter, seconds later a big group of undead monsters started crawling out of the ground. Immediately surrounded by the newly raised undead the man ordered them to destroy my body. I reflexively distanced myself from the closest skeleton and drew my sword. "May lightning bare it''s fangs, and sunder my foes." Finishing my spell lightning began to form and coiled around my sword, With my weapon enchanted by my Storm Armament, I quickly began dispatching me enemies. Watching me strike down multiple skeletons the robed man began summoning more undead monsters, "Heed the words of your new master, Incinerate those that live with your magic." With the raise of his lantern the pale green glow shined even more intensely and began to raise liches from the ground. Seeing the new enemies I recalled the events that had happened earlier today, "It seems this robed necromancer was the cause of the attack. "Well it''s a good thing I''ve already fought against some liches, I at least know I can take them out with ease." Thinking these thoughts I began to chant another spell, "Birth the lightning that will aid me in battle, Bless the lightning it''s truest form, forge the lightning a path to follow in order to seek the ones to destroy." The spell I cast was the same one that destroyed to liches earlier, thinking about how they couldn''t keep up with the blades of lightning, I thought it was a good spell to go with. The flickering sparks quickly became deadly blades of lightning and began to seek out the liches, with the liches now occupied I continued to clean up the rest of the skeletal minions with my lightning clad sword. Unable to except defeat the necromancer began running while chanting another spell, this one seemed to sap the lantern of the pale green light, and after the light had gone out a tremor had started to rumble around the house. With a sudden explosion, the area where the house was turned into a huge blast of dust throwing tiny pieces of the rotting house wood into every direction. Two big crimson flames began to flicker into existence, and after the dust had started to settle the giant skeletal monstrosity began screaming its battle cry.


    The giant looks like a normal skeleton with a few exceptions, the most noticeable difference being it''s shoulders and arms. Two massive curved horns covered the shoulder joints of the giant, it''s forearms were much thinker then the rest of its arms, and inside of its rib-cage was a giant black crystal that pulsed out an ominous energy like that of a heart. I quickly summoned more lightning blades to dispatch the few liches still left, monitoring the giant I swiftly began to dodge it''s rampaging arms. The speed of the arms were quick, but because of how heavy they were, the time it took for the giant to recover after an attack was long. Taking advantage of an enemy was one of the most important things to learn in a battle, and with the opportunity staring me in the face, I was gladly ready to take advantage of it. Every time the giant swung its arms, I dodged while creating more blades, and every time the giant needed to recover from it''s swing, I would kick of the ground and quickly rush towards it. Sending the blades of lightning to pierce the black crystal in it''s chest the giant started become more defensive, obviously the black crystal was its heart and it would try to do anything to protect it. While the giant was distracted, I decided to cast a more destructive spell. I knew that I needed something with enough power to break through its rib-cage and thus began to chant. "Ancient power be drawn to thee, bless the winter winds your might. Let not restraint your frozen grace and grant your foes a cold embrace." The spell activated in a flash and a giant fist encased by a gauntlet of ice was quickly formed, the spell called Fist of the Frost Titan was one of my ancient magic spells which borrowed the might of the now extincted Titans. As the giant fist was hovering beside me, I swiftly made my way up to the chest of the giant skeletal monster. Still struggling with the lightning blades it failed to notice that I was already about to deal a fatal strike. By the time it had noticed me I struck it''s chest with the Fist of the Frost Titan which easily broke through it''s bones, skeletal enemies had major weakness to blunt attacks and without any guard or protection, the gauntlet went straight through its chest and landed on the black crystal. The impact created many cracks in the crystal heart, and within those cracks, ice had already invaded and began causing the crystal to start breaking slowly. Not wanting to wait for the wedging process to finish, I delivered another devastating blow to the crystal which shattered it into tiny fragments. With one final roar, the giant skeletal monster slowly fell to the ground. The lower half of its body was in the ground while the upper half had fallen over. The crimson hatred in its eye socket had quickly burned along with all of its dark mana. "GAH!" I quickly turned to the direction of the noise only to see that robed necromancer get stabbed by a Skeleton Soldier. "He must have tried to run away when we noticed his giant was killed." With that in mind, I calmly walk over to his body and saw the lantern in his hand, picking it up I began to examine the item the necromancer named Lantern of Harvest. The lantern no longer shined that unnatural pale green light, instead it didn''t seem to be shining at all. I continued to look at the lantern till I noticed that were the light would normally be produced was instead, a mana crystal. Remembering what Zerok had told me about the mana crystal, I began to infuse mana into the lantern. Slowly the lantern began to glow again, but instead of the pale green light it had produced earlier, it now had a bright green flame in the middle of it. Curious as to what it was I began to feed it more mana until- "WHO DARES AWAKEN THE GOD OF DEATH VELVAGRYN!" Staring at the once silent lantern, a face that lacked a nose was now attached to the green ball of fire and continued to stare back at me.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    As the green ball of fire and I continued to start at each other, it decided to break the silence again and started to speak to me. "Who are you undead anomaly? Where is this? And why are you so big?" I continued to stare at the flame called Velvagryn then began to answer his questions "Nice to meet you Velvagryn, I am Argus Fellford as you had called me earlier I am undead skeleton. The place we are currently located is a swampland named Graverot Marsh, and to answer your final question well it''s simply that I''m not big, you''re just small." The flame began looking around as if to confirm what it had just heard. Only seconds passed before the green flame starting yell all sorts of nonsense. "I am Velvagryn! The God of Death, how could some one as majestic as I be reduced to this!? Continuously shouting and mocking me when it had the chance I started to get a little fed up and shook the lantern violently around. "GAH! STOP SHAKING ME AROUND YOU UNCULTURED PLEBEIAN!" As the flame continued to insult me, I continued to rattle it around. "ARGH! STOP! STOP! ALRIGHT YOU WIN JUST STOP FLINGING ALL AROUND!" Satisfied, I stopped moving the lantern and instead place it on a rock, looking at the disoriented flame I spoke. "You call yourself a god of death correct? So why is the so called god of death stuck inside of a lantern?" The flame looks back and starting to speak as well.


    "Yes you are correct. I am Velvagryn, The God of Death, and as you have so politely pointed out, the reason as to why I''m stuck in this lantern well, the only thing that comes to mind is that my main body must still be slumbering."


    "Main body? Does that mean that the current you is a false body?"


    "No. It would seem that the thing I''m currently trapped in, is something of my own creation. The Lantern of Harvest I call it. Has the ability to draw in and collect souls along with life essence."


    "So this is an item you created? Then why have you appeared inside of it? Did it happen to consume your soul to?"


    "Insolent! you really think I would be taken in by my own invention? You obviously also don''t know that Gods like me can''t die. The reason as to why I''m here must be because I used apart of my mana to create this lantern. And while my main body is asleep, this mana crystal of mine must have gathered a tremendous amount of mana to actually be able to call forth my conscious."


    "I see, so the reason why you''re here is basically because I infused this crystal with mana, Well lets not make that mistake again."


    "WHAT! Did you just say that you infused my crystal with mana?"


    "Yes that''s exactly what I did, now could you please stop shouting all the time. I know I don''t have ears or a brain but you''re still giving me a headache."


    "Ah-hmm, apologies. I was just surprised that there was some one, or in your case something, still able to control the flow of mana. You see, with the Gods all in slumber due to the Great War of the Gods, the people aren''t able to control or manipulate mana. Well that''s how it should normally be but you, you some how can still control mana. Tell me obsidian one, who was the God that blessed you?"


    I knew it. Somewhere deep inside, I knew that I wasn''t still in my old world. After learning about the how no one could control mana, I knew that something was definitely strange. If what this god says is true, then that means that the people of this world had never been able to control mana freely on their own. With the sudden realization that I was in a new world, a feeling of solitude crept over me. There wasn''t a single person here that I knew, and even if hundreds of years have passed and the people I loved had passed, at least in my world I would still be able to go home. With this sense of loneliness I sat down and looked up, Staring at the clouds I pondered about many things.

 Chapter 4, A Path for the Dead to Walk

    After I had recovered from my overwhelming sense of loneliness, I turned to the green flame named Velvagryn. Since Velvagryn was a God in this world, he must''ve had an almost limitless amounts of knowledge. Grateful for the sheer luck that I had in being able to get into contact with with him, I began to speak some more to Velvagryn in order to get more information on the world. "Velvagryn, there''s something I wish to ask of you."


    "I see, you wish to inquire me about my knowledge of the world."


    "Well, with you being able to read minds, I guess this conversion will move along more quickly then I expected."


    "I can''t read your mind Argus, I could tell what you wanted to know from reading your face."


    "You mean my face that has no definite features due to me being a skeletal undead correct."


    "Do you want me to answer your questions or not brat."


    "Sorry, I couldn''t help myself. Yes, I would like to know more about this world, and if possible, I would also like to here about the Great War of the Gods."


    "I can tell you about the world of the past, but not that of the present. Bound to slumber, This has been the first time in 500 years that my conscious has been awoken. Forgive me for not being able to answer all your questions but I will tell you want I know Unfortunate One. This world was shaped by the our Father Kahzarim, and life bloomed from the powers of our Mother, Seshazzrha. Along with the creation of the world, so to did the birth of us lesser gods. Our job was to protect the world from harm against forces to much for the world to handle. In the beginning of the world, Elves, Dwarves, Varathi, and Humans were the only living beings. After some hundred years, Seshazzrha started hating the humans, they waged war and theft to feed their insatiable greed. Angered, Seshazzrha took the humans'' ability to use magic and gave it to the Dwarves, without any way to fight or protect, we lesser gods gave humans there magic back through blessings. After the war and conflict the humans had caused, we separated the races and helped each one create there own kingdoms. The Human kingdom of Nossrax, the great Elven forest Velshrine, the Dwarven mountain city Tharmminus, and the Ruins of nameless temple."


    "Do these Varathi not have a place of dwelling?"


    "We built them a temple but the Varathi are beast people, and not all the Varathi are from the same beast family. With there beast like traits, the Varathi instead became nomadic. They travel where they want and live where they want. Of course some Varathi tend to have a more static life style, but even they move around from time to time."


    "I see, then what was the cause for the Great war of the Gods."


    "..." The now silent Velvagryn continued to stare at the sky, I felt a tinge of sadness when he spoke again, "the War of the Gods was our battle against Seshazzrha. All the lesser gods fought against our mother in order to protect the world from her wrath. The battle ended with us falling into deep slumber to recover from our grave injuries along with Seshazzrha." The look of sorrow had again taken hold of Velvagryn. What must it feel like, to have to fight against the one that created you? To uphold your duty of protection even against the one who order you to protect.


    Taking my time collecting myself and the new knowledge that Velvagryn had bestowed, I decided that it was time that I explore this unknown land. The world that Velvagryn had fought to protect, I wanted to see it for myself. Picking up the lantern, I told Velvagryn that I was going to start traveling. "Hmm, so you wish to see the world with your own eyes. I think its a good idea, even though you''re undead I see much intelligence in your eyes. But a journey in this world won''t be easy for you. The races might be at war again for all we know, and you being undead means that now one will except you at first glace. Knowing that the journey is going to be rough you still wish to go?"Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "Of course. Just sitting in this swamp won''t do me any better, nor will it grant me anything. I''d much rather go around and see more to this world, you never know, there might be something out there that could return me to my normal state."


    "I see. Well there''s no reason for me to stop you, and with your ability to use magic freely I doubt you would loss to much. Even though we have only known each other for a few short hours, I should still do something to help you even if just by a bit. I know, I''ll give you my Lantern of Harvest. With its power, it should make your journey a little bit easier."


    "But, aren''t you the Lantern of Harvest right now Velvagryn? also I don''t even know what it does."


    "True. Right now my conscious is trapped in this lantern, but once I sever my link with it the mana inside the crystal will only be yours.


    "And what about you? What will happen to you if you sever your link?"


    "Worry not Argus. All I''m doing sending my conscious back to sleep, in due time I will awaken and walk the world once more. But before I enter my slumber once again, let me explain to you, the powers and secrets that line within the Lantern of Harvest. First, When something dies it is because its life essences has been depleted. This comes in many forms. For monsters made of Magic, there life essences would be that of mana. For things like animals and humans, that would be there blood. Life essence is basically the fuel of life. The Lantern of Harvest can absorb the life essence of anything that has died. It can''t pull life essence out of something living but instead, it absorbs the life essences that lingers around the corpse. When something in this world dies, there life essence tends to stay near the body, but if not resurrected soon enough, the life essence will dissipate and will become a special kind of mana. This special mana is used in healing magic." He then briefly filled me in on the differences between the two manas, then quickly went back to speak more about masterful invention.


    "Along with it''s use of collecting life essences, the Lantern of Harvest can also collect the souls of the dead. Usually only animals and humanoids have souls, but sometimes a stray soul can enter say, a golem. When souls enter into things like, a golem, that said golem will become twice as strong and may be able to wield the powers of that soul. The soul of an ordinary person isn''t that big of a deal, but the soul of someone like a hero, that could bring some trouble. With the abilities to take both life essences and souls, the Lantern of Harvest can also place those into others. So basically to some it all up, with the Lantern of Harvest, you as an undead, can become immortal. By the time your soul starts to burn out, you can just consume another soul to reignite your own. The undead don''t have life so no need for life essence, but you could always us it to heal others. Why not become the Obsidian Skeleton Priest?"


    "I''m trying to avoid getting taken in for experimentation, I''m sure healing people as an undead would have people hunting me down for my entire unlife."


    "Yes I suppose, but you can''t have a fulfilled life without a few risks right."


    "Being a skeleton is already a giant risk on its own you know."


    "Again, I suppose so. But getting back on point, now that I explained to you about the Lantern of Harvest, I guess this is were we part ways Argus."


    "You really plan on giving me something like this? Isn''t it to valuable?"


    "No, not if your the one using it, you being from out of this world, I feel like you can bring great change to this one. And maybe one of those changes will bring back the old Seshazzrha."


    "Then, I''ll take you up on that offer, thanks for everything Velvagryn."


    "Haha, As a god I should always help those in need. Take care Argus, and let us meet again when I awaken." With those final words, the lantern shook, and a dazzling light burst out from its core. When the light settled, instead of the normal green flame, there was now a bright blue light that indicated that I was the new owner of this lantern. Picking up the lantern with a tinge of loneliness, I placed the lantern inside my rib-cage like it was a replacement heart. I covered my upper body with my tattered cloths to make sure no one could see the lantern. "Yeah, hope to see you again Velvagryn," with those words I turned and walked towards the exit of the swamp while bracing myself for my new journey.

 Chapter 5. The First of Many

    Taking his first steps out of Graverot Marsh, Argus began wandering through the forest neighboring the decaying swamp. No map in hand, Argus was forced to start trekking in a single direction. Hours passed while he continued to walk through the unknown forest and before long, a fog had begun to roll through the forest. Walking through the newly formed mist, Argus began to hear the sound of rustling. The rustling had not been there before, sure there was a couple of rustling in the trees and bushes due to the winds, but the constant rustling was not the work of nature. The air was still, and the fog unmoving, the tension in the air was also think. _______________


    Standing still surrounded by fog, I cautiously continued to observe the area around me. Unable to detect any enemies made me even more wary, without being able to sense anything I began to chant a spell. "Unseen to the eyes of mortals bloom in the midst of chaos," mana began to swirl around me as the temperature started to drop. Forms of ice and frost began to dance in the air and seconds after, the area surrounding me had become a frozen wasteland. The fog had continued to persist and after checking the area around me I didn''t see any enemies. "Hmm, I must have just imagined this unnatural feeling, I guess my senses aren''t failing me as much as I-"


    "BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!" Cut off from finishing my thought, multiple monsters began to shoot out of the ground. White skinned mole like wolfs immediately appeared out of the ground and starting circling me. Growling as they continuously bobbed back and forth, their abnormally large claws kept them from losing their balance. The fight began as the wolf moles quickly started to lash forward to me baring their fangs and claws, swiftly dodging the attacks, I drew my sword and made some space in order to cast a spell. "May lightning bare it''s fangs, sunder my foes," Storm Armament activated and covered my sword. With the loud sound of lightning vibrating through the air, the white wolf moles slowed down their offensive and changed up their movement. Incredibly fast and agile, some wolves quickly burrowed while others ran in a scatter. "These white wolf moles are annoyingly smart aren''t they." Following that thought I began to apt for a new strategy as well, cycling through the spells I knew, I rapidly tried to find one for this unfortunate situation.


    Alone again with the only the mist hanging around me, I knew those wolf monsters were waiting, stalking around looking for an opportunity, a chance to go in for the kill. Unable to sense the enemies along with them constantly hiding away from me, Most of my convenient spells were basically countered. "I guess an massive earth spell will have to do." As I thought that and before I could even start chanting, the white wolf moles decided to continue there assault, kicking of the ground with there mana infused hind legs, a white beast shot out of the mist like an arrow. Just barely able to evade I started to stumble around, and just as I was about to bring up my guard, five more of white shadows and pierced through the misty walls. Unable to dodge all of the fangs and claws, a few cracks had appeared on my bones. With the chance of me dying increasing, so to did my determination to survive.


    Half a hour had passed since the beginning of this war of attrition, exhaust was starting to get the better of the wolf moles. Being an undead and not have muscles or organs, my limitless stamina was the only thing keeping me alive at this point. Had I felt exhaustion to, these vicious beasts would have probably already been ingesting my bones, and without a vessel, my soul would have probably been sucked in by the Lantern of Harvest. With two of the wolf moles dead, the other few started attacking much less. With this upper hand, I quickly flew over to the closest wolf mole and instantly slew it. Stabbing my sword through it, the lightning quickly began to devour the beast turning it into a burning crisp. With another wolf mole dead, the remaining wolf moles began running and borrowing in order to escape. When the wolf moles were no longer near me, I noticed that the mist around me also started to dissipate. "Those white wolf moles were the reason for that fog? What a terrifying ability. Had I been alive fighting these, I would most likely fall prey to them." With the fog now gone, and the battle now over, I checked to see if anything had changed with the Lantern of Harvest. Pulling it out of my chest, I examined the bright blue glow and noticed that, flying around the core were the souls of the three wolf moles I had fought against. With that in mind, I decided to do what any normal skeleton would do, I tried consuming a soul.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    With the thought of consuming a soul, the lantern light turned into a flame and after that, one of the floating souls was viciously sucked into the fire. As the soul was burned away, I felt something inside me change. Along with replenishing my soul, my wounded bones had also seemed to be repaired. I also felt something flashing in my nonexistent brain. The thing that flashed through my skull was actually the memories of the wolf mole. In the blink of an eye, or in my case, the flicker of blue flames, I had instantly gone through the whole memory of the wolf mole. Along the memories of the wolf mole, I had also learned how to create the misty fog, and empower my legs. Amazed at the power that the Lantern of Harvest harbored, I began to play with the two new spells I had learned. The fog spells was just that, the ability to create a fog. On the other hand, learning about the leg infusion magic, I could also apply it to my arms. Excited by this new magic, I thought to myself that I had so much more to learn. Never had I heard of infusing mana into ones body, I had always wrapped my mana around my body in order to from a shield but. Never had I tried to infuse mana into myself. With knew found knowledge I continued journeying through the forest.


    Running through the forest with mana infused into my legs I started for a different direction. With the memories of the wolf mole, I had remembered seeing a village that the wolves had hunted in. Making my way there I was hoping that they had something to use in order for me to hid my appearance. After a short and enjoyable run with me new magic, I finally arrived at my destination. Stealthily moving around and making sure that no one was here, I began my hunt for some different clothing. Walking past multiple corpses made me grimace a bit, trying to respect the one that passed away, I tried to hold back feeding mana into the lantern. Passing by some broken houses, I came across an odd house. Normally, this house wouldn''t rouse any sort of suspicion, but among the ruins of around it, this house hadn''t been touched at all.


    Curiosity had a grasp on me. Still trying to move with stealth, I slowly crept towards the house. Opening the door slowly trying not to make noise, I carefully began to explore the house. The house was in pretty good shape if you ignored all the dust, and there was also no signs of an attack in here. Finding nothing on the first floor, I continued making my way to the second floor. Upon my arrival, I quickly turned my head to a door. A great amount of mana was radiating from the door, and every few seconds a pulse of mana would reverberate from the door and travel along the walls, roof and floor. Enhancing my self with mana along with infusing my bones, I cast Storm Armament on my sword and even chanted a another spell, "With fire and lightning forge my metal, with iron and steel construct my shield." With the spell completed, The mana around me began to twist and turn and after a second, hovering a bit from my forearm was a silver translucent tower shield. Ready for battle and thinking of another spell to cast, I slower approached the mysterious door.

 Chapter 6. Dancing with Steel

    Slowly as I continued my hesitant approach, with the door now in arms reach, I felt unsure of my well being. "Hmm probably should cast more protection spells just to be safe." With that notion I chanted another spell into existence, "Shield me away from the shadows of harm." The mana that was covering my body as an defensive enhancement began to glow. After the glowing ended, I could feel the mana that was wrapping around me expand into a bubble. The simple spell know as barrier was now in effect, and as the name suggests, it covers ones body in a transparent sphere of hardened mana. Now that I felt safer then before, I walked back up to the door and opened it... Well by opened, I mean I cast an earth spell to destroy the door so I could be ready to fight in a melee if I had to. Unable to withstand the barrage of earthen darts, the door was now completely eviscerated.


    Peering into the room that was once full of mana, I came across many different things. The notable being an empty suit of armor, and a green book with lines of golden metal that were twisted into an elaborate decoration. shifting through the notes that covered the desk, I had accidentally knocked something on to the wooden floor. "Clink" the small medallion like trinket struck the wood floor and began to roll towards the suit of armor before falling to its side. I cleaned up the notes and began to sift through them ignoring the trinket. Reading the notes on the desk, I had found that they were not just notes, but were in fact someones research.


    Carefully reading through the scribbles of research, I had come to a realization that other than mana and spells, there was a a large amount of different types and magic I had no idea about. The research that this mage had been conducting was mostly on summoning. It goes into depth about what type of mana crystal is used for something what kind of monster. How much mana is need to summon strong beasts, and also how to make a contract in case of summoning something with intelligence. There seems to be a difference between summoning a monster with intelligence compared to one without. Monsters with intelligence seem to need a contract, but will always show up to aid the summoner. While a monster without intelligence doesn''t need a contract but of course, it won''t always answer the summoners call. Therefore having a contracted summon was much more preferred.


    Getting to the end of the unknown mages research, there seemed to be something different written on the notes. It read "To my only granddaughter, I will not know if you find this place, for when you do I will be gone. Knowing all too well about the sin I''m about to commit, I hope you forgive this old fool for what is about to come. I pray for the day to come for you to find this place and receive my gift of knowledge. I know how much you wanted to become a summoner, and this is my final gift to you, my sweet little Lilana." Reading the letter meant for someone else made me feel a bit guilty. Seeing as the book and notes were still here probably meant the this, Lilana never made it here.


    After reorganizing the notes I went to pick up the ignored medallion, looking at it up close, I notice the flower like patters and intricate metal work looked very similar to the book. Standing in front of the green book with the medallion in hand, I turned the book over to the front cover and found a round gap. Placing the medallion into the circular opening I waited for something to happen. Oddly, with the medallion placed on the book even as a perfect fit nothing with the book had happened. Standing there dumbfounded, I pick up the book again to examine it only to be interrupted by a heavy "thud." I quickly turned to be greeted by a halberd that nearly crashed it''s blade into my skull.


    Barely dodging the speeding axe head, I managed to stumble myself back to balance. Regaining a steady footing I looked to see my attacked. With halberd in hand, the inconspicuous suit of armor was now in stance for another attack. Dodging the flurry of swings and stabs I was quickly backed up against the wall. Due to the small room and the giant suit of armor, making a dash towards the door was not an option. I also could take a unguarded attack, the first surprise attack I managed to survived had showed me what kind of herculean strength this armor wielded. It had cut clean through my barrier which didn''t even seem to slow down the iron monster.


    Up against the wall glaring at my opponent, I tried to come up with some ideas as to how I would get out. Thinking such thoughts, my armored foe drew his halberd in for a windup motion. Not wanting to take the risk of diving for the door, I held up my shield and braced for impact. "BOOM!" The mighty swing connected with my shield and sent me flying out of the room. Seconds after being clobbered I crashed into a house opposite too the one I was sent out of. Annoyingly, even without nerves, I could feel the pain in my bones from the both the impact of the halberd, and the collision into this house.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Stepping out of the debris of the now collapsed house, I looked back up to notice that the suit of armor had disappeared. "Not good!" I gripped my sword while surveying the area when, "BOOM!" a loud crashing noise erupted from the wall of the house. Slowly walking, the dust that was upheaved from the ground began to separate as it swaggered through it. "Birth the lightning that will aid me in battle, Bless the lightning it''s truest form, forge the lightning a path to follow in order to seek the ones to destroy," I hastily cast Festival of Dancing Lightning in order to combat the suit of armor. With sword in hand I kicked of the ground towards the iron mass, the blades of lightning also began to flicker as if it were a battle cry. Erratically the blades flew and flickered, flying past the armored enemy as they left burnt marks on the armor.


    Ignoring the blades flying around it, the suit of armor only cared about the attacking me. It quickly parried my thrust and swung its halberd with one arm in a giant horizontal arc. I took a large back step and managed to get out of range, but due to giant back leap I left myself open for another attack. Right as I landed on my feet the armored suit swiftly followed up its giant one armed swing with a pivoting step forward, pivoting into place the armor then grabbed the halberd with two hands. Yellow light began to emit from the the axe head, noticing this I again braced myself for impact with my shield raised. The axe head struck my magic shield but before sending me flying again, the halberd manage to cut into my shield thus breaking it.


    With the shattering of my Wall of the Silver Fortress, I was again sent sprawling in the air crashing into house debris. Standing back up with more cracks now, I silently thanked me skeletal body for not having a brain. quick and heavy steps could be heard from just beyond the house, I jumped from the pile of rumble back onto the main road of the village. Multitude of burn marks now sullied the once gleaming armor and continued to do so. Recasting my Wall of the Silver Fortress, I again made a quick dash to the suit of armor. Timing my magic correctly I bashed the armor with my shield, the attack didn''t connect do to it''s block, but it was enough. "Cast aside once now fallen and end with grace with a last protection," evoking the spell Silver Shard Scapegoat, the silver shield crack and exploded in a frontal cone sending shards of hardened steel to anything in front of it.


    The hundreds of little silver scrapes had put holes in the weakened armor, the shards of silver had been able to pierce through the burnt parts of the armor leaving only the dents on the clean silver areas. Hollow the armor was, thus the damage done would not kill it. With holes now covering its body, the suit of armor was having trouble not deforming. Now that it''s movements were more dull, I needed to end this fight quickly before it starts to heal or regenerate somehow. I got back into position and launched myself at the armor. Infusing more mana into my arms I grabbed the sword of lightning with two hands and heavily swung. Unable to keep up, the sword struck the side of the armor and quickly began to melt through it. Add more mana into the sword, the lightning began to travel faster which had made it easier to the the armor into two.


    When the sword finally made its way through the iron armor, the suit began to glow. Shock by the sudden glow I stepped back in case some last ditch magic was to be used. Only adding to my shock, the Lantern of Harvest also began to glow. Taking out the lantern and facing it towards the armor, a lone soul had made its way from the suit of armor and began to circle around the lanterns flame. Looking at the soul that was now bound to the blue light, I remembered the book which was on the second floor of the mages house. I quickly put the lantern back in my chest and started towards the house.


    The once untouched house now had two new fresh holes on it. walking through the hole that the armor suit made, I walked my way back upstairs and into the mages room. The book was on the floor and the notes were scattered everywhere again. "So much for my hard work organizingthe place," I bent down to pick the book back up only to notice that, on the spine of the book, there was a line of unknown markings. Sliding my skinless finger across the etchings, I could feel a bit of mana from it. Curiously I started picking up the notes that had been scattered about. "Maybe I can find out something about this book in the notes." Collecting the notes I noticed one had fallen into the closet of the room, walking up to the closet I prayed not to find another suit of armor. Opening the door, Normally this time. I found the thing that I had actually been looking for since the beginning of this whole mess.


    Walking outside towards the exit of the village, I looked back once again at the house that belonged to the unknown mage. Wearing a set of black leather boots with a metallic shin guard, black pants stuffed with some random bits of clothes, a gray cloth that was wrapped around the waist that drooped lower on one side due to holding a sword. A black long sleeve shirt again stuffed with random bits of clothes, black leather gloves with metal on the forearms, a black vest, and finally the most important piece of clothing of all, a hood to cover my face. With a full new attire of black everything, along with a traveling bag I took. I stepped out of the village with a big grin on my skull.

 Chapter 7. The Man that Calls Himself a Pirate

    Dust was picking up in the forest along with the insufferable sound of rattling that began to echo through the trees. In the middle of the dust store stood a short old man raging about. "God forbid that we get attacked ever damned time we enter these woods!" The shouting of the middle aged man was quickly drowned out by the intense stomping of the horses. The large wagon that carried the man and his precious belongings, was in the midst of being raided by a group of thieves. Covered in dark brown leather from head to toe, the thieves were relentlessly chasing after the man.


    Moving at such high speeds through a forest wasn''t the greatest idea, as the man riding the wagon was about to find out. This being a forest, there of course were trees everywhere, but to the man''s surprise not only were the trees standing, there were also trees that had fallen down. The horses swiftly jumped over the fallen tree, but the wagon had smashed its wheels into the trees thick bark completely annihilating the wagons ability to move.


    With the wagon now stationary, the thieves had quickly jumped of their horses and pulled out their weapons. Circling the wagon as to make sure the man wouldn''t be able to escape. The old man popped right out of the wagon and began glaring at his enemies. Drawing a weapon of his own, the man kicked off the wagon roof and landing outside of the circling thieves. With a surprising amount of skill and agility, the old man had dispatch two thieves twelve thieves. Wide eyed, the group of armed robbers quickly repositioned themselves and starting attacking back.


    _______________


    Pulling the book out from the traveling bag, I continued to read through it. Although I had read about half the book, nothing on the pages made any sense. Of course there would be things I wouldn''t get due to being from another world, but the book in front of me was just literally a bunch of gibberish. Frustrated and annoyed, I realized that I had completely forgotten about the soul I had obtained from the armored suit of nothing. With much difficulty in trying to pull the lantern out from my new clothes, I successfully brought it out and peered into the blue light. The soul was was swirling around with the other two wolf mole souls.Thinking back to the notes, the letter that was written to the girl named Lilana started making me think about who this soul belonged to.


    Looking back at how strong the armored suit was I decided not to consume the soul. In exchange for the armored suit''s soul, I instead ate another Mist Stalker soul. Reading through the mages research I was actually able to identify the creatures that had attacked me earlier, along with a multitude of new different monsters. With my body now healed back to its original state, I started to pick up my pace of travel. Speeding through the forest known as Deadmans Woods, I noticed a trail of dust picking up along the path, again with my curiosity, of course I had to check it out.


    By the time I got to the trail, the dust had died down. Looking at the markings that were imprinted on the dirt road, my guess was a wagon was pulled through here along with some others. Judging by the speed the wagon was moving in, the others were probably bandits of some sort. Infusing my legs with mana I sprinted towards wagons direction, hoping to make it there in time. With the thought of saving the wagon rider I could only sigh, "A skeleton that saves people in need, what would the world think of that right." Now able to see the wagon in the distance, I pulled my hood down lower and sped up even more. "Good thing the bandits like wearing a uniform, it''ll sure make it easier to know who''s who." Closing in on the bandits I drew my sword from my waist and was about to cast magic on it until it hit me, "damn, I forgot magic was a thing of the past now, without a crystal on me I''ll be suspicious for using magic. Guess I''ll stick to enhancement and infusion.


    With a preemptive strike, I stabbed my sword into the back of one of the bandits. Easily breaking his spine, I pulled my sword back along with the man and slung him at other. With great surprise, one of the bandits had shouted, "Damn! the asshole had companions, We need to retreat and regroup before-" before the bandit finished speaking the old man had used a crude weapon of which I had never seen. The weapon made a loud sound and shot something out from its metal pipe. The bandit that had issued a retreat now had a small hole in his throat, blood spewed from the hole and the bandit dropped like rock.


    With a cutlass in one hand and the foreign weapon in the other, the old man stood there with a grin on his face. The pressure he gave the other bandits caused them to flinch back. With half their group dead, the odds were definitely against them. The thieves were already having trouble with just the old man, now that he had a companion they new they had to retreat. The bandits all quickly started retreating, not wanting to chase after them I just continued to look in their direction. The old man gave out a hardy laugh as he watched them run away. "HAR HAR HAR! They thought they were tough while chasing after me but boy did they lose their balls when we swung steel." After composing himself from his sudden outbreak of laughter, the man turned to look at me, "didn''t really need your help, but ya saved me some gold, every time I shoot this thing all I hear is my gold going down the drain." Walking up to me the man put his hand out, "The name is Bowjack, captain of the Laughing Skulls."Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Keeping my face hidden as I introduced myself, I told Bowjack that I would help him with his wagon. With a big grin he acceptedmy help and told me about the spare wheels in the wagon. I walked back to find the wheels only to found several small children caged up in the back. Rage instantly filled my skeletal body, I rushed back to Bowjack and put him at swords point. "What the hell are there children in cages for Bowjack? Don''t tell me you''re a slave trader!" Bowjack stared back at me with eyes thinned.


    "You best pull your blade before I pull mine out."


    "I''ll put my sword away when you tell me the truth."


    "Truth? What truth? Did I lie to ya about anything I was doing?"


    "Don''t talk to me like a fool Bowjack, I want to know if i saved you from a group of bandits, or helped you commit such atrocities!"


    "You knights in shining armor types have always got on me nerves. Aye, I be transporting slaves, but I transport them to their parents. The Laughing Skulls are apart of the liberation guild. Me and my guildmates pirate slaves back to their homes."


    "And? You transport these kids in cages and chains?"


    "You accuse me of putting that shit on them! Obviously you never meet a slave before laddie, the chains and cages that are used on them are made with mana crystal dust. Tell me why I should waste time in looking for a mage to bust them out of their cages instead of running away?"


    "..."


    "That''s what I thought, If you''re going to be arguing with me all god damn day then you best piss off here, I got kids to send back home, before they send more bandits after me."


    Standing there, I couldn''t help but have to agree with Bowjack. I still knew to little about this world. I was so caught up in learning new magic that I forgot about everything else. Social standings, poverty, corruption, and the other things that existed in my world should also be in this world. Taking what Bowjack said to heart I knew what I had to do.


    "I... I apologize for my out burst Bowjack, You''re right, I helped out because I thought it was the right thing to do, even without know the circumstances. I would like to make up for the sudden interrogation. Let me help you bring those kids back."


    "... I''m impressed. Didn''t think you to be man enough to admit your mistake. Most people would have drawn swords over it, although we almost did. Fine, I''ll accept your help, You seem to know how to use a sword, and two people fixing the wagon is much faster then one. But I kick you off if you start piss about again ya hear."


    "Acknowledged."


    Like Bowjack had said before, with two people fixing the wagon we were already to go. With the bandit attack ending up as a failure, Bowjack had also managed to tie more horses to the wagon. Now with four horses instead of the original two, the speed of the wagon was much faster. I also secretly cast a wind spell in order to ease up the rocking, with the children in the back and in cages, I thought that this would at least help them be more comfortable. Continue down the path we ran into more bandits, normally Bowjack would just try to out run them, but this time he stopped to attack.


    Bowjack had given me the reins for the horses, not sure how to control the wagon I instead put more mana into the wind spell I cast earlier to control the entire wagon. Bowjack crawled to the back of the wagon and pulled out his mysterious rock shooting weapon. He told me to keep the wagon steady only to realize there wasn''t any rocking or rattling. "Well I''ll be damned, I may not know how to steer a wagon like a ship, but ya sure put me to shame real quick there laddie." He quickly began to shoot down the approaching bandits, but with me wind magic carrying the wagon instead of the horses, the bandits weren''t able to catch up to us. After killing about half the group, the bandits retreated again, "HAR HAR HAR! These new wheels we be using must be blessed by the gods themselves!"


    "Yeah, by the gods themselves," I muttered quietly. Having escaped the bandits a second time unlike before, after some time passed they never can back for a third strike. The slave trader that ordered the bandits must have lost a profit hiring them was the only reason I came up with. I peered back into the wagon and looked at the group of children bound by cages and chains. All of them had the same look to them. Eyes half closed with dried tears covering their cheeks. Turning back around and staring at the road I couldn''t help but feel resentment towards the world.

 Chapter 8. The Bastion

    The port side town of Rhanoa was bustling with activity. Merchant stores and little cart shops were set up all along the main road. Unlike the title it was given, Rhanoa was pretty much more or less a city than a town. With the numerous amount of people walking about, I instinctively tugged a bit on my hood. "Even with the hood on, I still can''t feel at ease. I dimmed my eyes as much as possible so I might be able to pass for a mask. Wait a minute, A MASK! That''s what I need, I need to find mask shop so I can... I don''t know how money works in this world... By all that is great, DAMN IT!" Caught up in my own dilemma, I failed to notice that Bowjack had left me behind.


    I began to quickly track him down. Running around the town had caught the looks of some people, but not minding them I continued my search. "Damn that Bowjack, he better have a damn good excuse for leaving me behind or by the gods of this world I''ll cut him apart." The frantic search unfortunately didn''t produce any results. Fury and rage began to rise, with the thought of Bowjack lying to me, I realized I must have been tricked. I needed to cool down and think, "Calm down Argus, you might not have a brain but you can still think." I calmed my nerves and started to think about where he could have gone and what I could use to find him. "Wait a minute, Bowjack said something about being able to sail a ship. He must be at the docks trying to smuggle the kids out!" I boosted my legs and shot myself towards the docks, with the sun sinking into the night, less people were out walking around. I still noticed peoples shocked faces as I passed by them, but I didn''t have the luxury to walk.


    Making my way towards the docks, I actually noticed that a few people were stalking around. I tailed the group that seemed to be moving stealthily towards a giant ship that stood out from the rest. With the dock being cluttered with boxes and crates for shipping, moving around with out being spotted was quite easy. Now that I was closer to the giant ship, I spotted the wagon that Bowjack had used. Finally finding the wagon I knew that the children were on board and ready to be shipped of to god knows where. "With my help he got the kids this far, but with my wrath I''ll end him here." Anger started boiling inside me again but I quickly calmed down, "Getting mad isn''t going to solve anything, I need to pin point the areas the children could have been taken to." As I was concocting my rescue mission, from the corner of my eye, I saw the mysterious group stealthily board on the ship.


    Quickly and quietly following after them, I made my way onto the ship. Luckily there had also been some cargo on the ship which helped my hide myself from the guards. Peeking up from behind the cargo boxes, One of the stalkers had had thrown a dagger at the guard standing right of the entrance. With the dagger sinking into the guards neck, the guard on the left was ambushed by another stalker. Dropping from above the guard, the stalker have stabbed his knife into the back of the neck. Within seconds the group of stalkers had silently taken out the entrance guards and proceeded to stealthily move on.


    Watching the group of silent assassins move through the door, I waited a while before making advancing. Making sure that there wasn''t anyone hanging back, I entered the door way and walked down the stairs. Scanning the room for the children what I saw instead were a bunch of dead bodies. All the bodies had the same knife wound around their necks, I was amazed at the how well this group had handled their deadly art. Walking through the room that was now littered with corpses I heard a loud sharp sound. Knowing what that sound was, I abandoned my stealth and rushed ahead.


    I made my way to the last room of the ship and before I could step into it, I heard Bowjack''s voice. "Well well, If it ain''t the Bastion of Rhanoa. Surprised I knew ya was coming? It don''t take a fool to know that you try to set slaves free before they can be shipped off. Well, to bad laddies, I made a little arrangement before getting here ya see. Those slaves be already heading across the sea. The reason I''m still here is to get rid of ya rats that keep popping up. So lets get ready and have some-" Before he could finish his words the rage had burst, I flew towards Bowjack with my sword drawn ready to cut him down.


    Defending against my attack, Me and Bowjack were locked in combat. The rest of the people stood there completely still, not processing what happened. "Well, if it ain''t the hero himself. Why try and kill the one you saved lad?"


    "Sorry Bowjack, I''m really not in the mood for a joke," I raised my head and looked him straight in the eyes, his faced slowly changed from a grin to a confused and shock frown. Revealing to him my flesh-less obsidian skull, the dimmed blue glow had now turned back into bright flames that they were.


    The group called Bastion of Rhanoa were the first to regain their composer. They quickly started attacking the rest of Bowjack''s crew mates. With a fight going on in the middle of the ship, Me and Bowjack both pushed forwards and set each other a few steps back. Bowjack raised his arm and aimed his self named pistol at me. Enhancing and infusing my body with mana, I continued my assault. With the pull of the trigger, a round metal pellet shot from the barrel of the pistol ripping through my clothes, the pellet had struck shoulder. Small cracks had formed from the impact but not enough to hinder my onslaught.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Being a skeleton week to blunt attacks, I prioritized of disarming Bowjack from his pistol. Now within melee range, I swung my sword in a downward arc trying to cleave Bowjack from his shoulder down. Pulling up his own sword our steel blades clashed but to Bowjack''s surprise, with my arms now infused with mana, the crushing blow was much strong then my preemptive strike. Not having the strength to complete block my attack, the side of my blade had found its way into Bowjack''s shoulder. "ARHG! Ya damned freak I''ll cut ya fucking head off!"


    "Not with that arm you aren''t."


    "GRR! Why do ya want to save those filthy rats anyways, your a damned undead!"


    "I may be undead, but that doesn''t mean I don''t have morals, I simply want to save them because I want to. But me staying here trying to kill you isn''t because of children, it''s simply cause you pissed me off." With Bowjack crouched on the ground trying to stop my blade from entering even further into is shoulder, I took and quick glance around the room. "It seems your little group has now been dispatched of Bowjack, I probably should also finish my fight with you."


    "HAH! If ya want to save those kids your going to have to get the information from me, now that ya killed my crew mates there ain''t no one else who knows where they are." With sweat dripping down his head he looked at me with a smug grin.


    "Normally that would be the case, but when has normal ever associated itself with a obsidian skeleton that saves the living? What I''m basically trying to say is, I don''t need you tell me what you know. I''ll get the answers I want from your soul Bowjack." The look on his turn from a grin, to a grim frightened look and before he could say anything I cut him off "May lightning bare its fangs and sunder my foes." The magical lightning quickly began to kill Bowjack, and after only a few seconds, Bowjack laid on the floor burnt to a crisp.


    Without pulling out the Lantern of Harvest, I secretly took the souls of Bowjack and his crew. Turning around after killing Bowjack I saw a figure approach me with weapons drawn. Pointing the slim blade at me, the assassin began to speak. "Who are you? And what are your connections with the Laughing Skulls?" Judging from the voice, the one standing in front of me was woman. Only being able to see her eyes and judging be voice alone, she was probably a young adult woman. With a tug of my hood, I answered her.


    "I am Argus Fellford, a traveler. As for your second question, I happened to make the mistake of helping out this man. Founding out that I was lied to, I tried to come save the children that he had with him, that''s about the only connection I have with this group called the Laughing Skulls."


    "Tell me why I should believe you? How do I know if you''re telling the truth? For all I know, you could be apart of the Laughing Skulls themselves."


    "And why would I kill Bowjack if I was apart of his group?"


    "Well for one, we needed him alive. He was the only one that knew where the slaves were headed. And two, you didn''t want Bowjack captured for interrogation, and so you killed him in order not to let him speak."


    "I see, you bring up some good points, but there wasn''t a need to keep Bowjack alive, I already know where the children are headed. So you don''t need to worry about that."


    "What! How do you know were the slaves were taken? Unless you do work for the Laughing Skulls!" Looking at the woman, I started getting annoyed.


    "Yes, you''re right, I do work for the Laughing Skulls, but I also work for someone else. You see I''m an infiltrator. I work for the enemy in order to learn about them and their movements."


    "Again, how am I suppose to believe that?" Tired of dealing with this woman I let out a sigh.


    "Okay, then how about if I tell you were the slaves were taken? Will that stop you from hounding me with these questions?"


    "No that won''t stop me from ''hounding you with these questions,'' but you will tell me where the slaves were taken if you don''t want a sword through your neck." With that phase said, the other members behind her had readied their weapons as well.


    "It seems like your paranoia is quite strong, you can threaten me all you want but its not going to give you any answers I don''t know. The things I do know about this incident I will tell you, So how about you all sheath your weapons and talk like adults?"


    "... Fine but you''re not getting off that fast, we''re gonna take you in so you can''t go running on us. After you tell us what we want to know we''ll let you off." The members of the Bastion of Rhanoa started escorting me for interrogation. during out walk towards were ever they were located, I stealthily consumed Bowjack''s soul. In a fraction of a second, all this knowledge and some of his memories had flowed into my brain. With the most recent memories and events now in my own mind, I got the location of the children. The place that the children were sent to was the human kingdom of Nossrax.

 Chapter 9. Playing a Game With Fate

    Standing in front of Rhanoa''s biggest tavern, the members of Bastion of Rhanoa had signaled me to enter. With my entrance into the tavern, many curious eyes had locked onto me. Silence plagued the once lively tavern and the thumping of footsteps was the only sound echoing through the wooden building.


    I was signaled to stop moving after we made our way to small cellar door, the members began to take my weapons and anything that looked suspicious to them. The woman from earlier told me to wait here before going into the cellar by herself. Surrounded by the other members, I sneakily started to analyze the building. Just in case I needed to bust out, I burned the image of the room into my head to start formulating a plan. The sound of a creak had brought my senses back to reality. Seeing the woman''s head popping out from the cellar, she beckoned us in.


    Now standing in a room filled with people, the silence was broken only when a tall man had stepped his way in front of me. "How do you do?" The man had greeted me with a smile, he then went on to introduce himself. "My name is Niles Valmirious, Leader of the Bastion of Rhanoa, and one of the officers of the liberation group known as White Wind. The one that brought you here is named Freia Medvella. My subordinate had briefed me in the situation so lets make this meeting short and pleasant shall we." The man in front of me had released a bit of bloodlust in order to frighten me, amused by his threat I decided to play back.


    "Don''t worry I don''t intend to make any trouble for..." I then proceeded to use one of my own original magic, "Earth Weight Shackles."Using a bit more mana then usual, I omitted the cast incantation. Making sure to weaken the spell, everyone in the room besides me hunched over. "As long as you don''t make any trouble for me, that is." Looking him in the eyes I saw a glimpse of confusion and fear. After seeing everyone''s reaction to the spell, I knew that my counter threat and gotten across to them. Satisfied, I began the conversion before Nile''s had a chance to regain control over the situation.


    "Well then Mr.Niles, I would like to clear up... One little mistake you made." He looked at me confused, "Don''t worry it isn''t anything ground breaking or something like that, I''m just correcting what you said earlier. Earlier you had stated that she had ''brought'' me here like it was against my will. So I''m just going to correct you in that she didn''t ''bring'' me here." I began to increase the power of Earth Weight Shackles, "I came here for my own purposes, and I should also make sure you know." Yet again increasing the power of Earth Weight Shackles, I saw some people crumble under the pressure of my spell, "I can also leave this place... ALONE." More people had fell to their knees, the woman named Freia had also been struggling in keeping herself up.


    Now with the situation completely in my favor, I decided to release everyone from my spell. The heavy weigh they all felt had completely vanished as if it had never been there in the first place. Relieved from the weight, everyone had fell to the floor drenched in sweat, I continued to look down on Niles with composure, this way he wouldn''t try to threaten me again. I snapped my fingers to remind the people resting on the floor that we weren''t done yet. "Looks like everyone''s a bit tired, should we instead postpone this meeting till another time? I wouldn''t want you all to collapse, although it looks like a few of you already have." I continued my evil way of speaking to them in order to not lose my lead in controlling the flow of conversation.


    "No no, Mr.Argus, there isn''t a need to postpone the meeting, a little sweat is good for the body no? He stood up and composed himself, still smiling as he continued talking. "Well than, if you don''t mind, why don''t we go into my office to continue our meeting." He began walking towards a door with Freia and waved his hand towards me telling me to enter.


    Walking into the office I began to scan the area, two sofas that were separated by a table were facing each other. Behind those sofas were bookshelves filled with numerous amounts of books. And opposite of the door we had entered was a desk with a single chair behind it. Niles and Freia had sat down on one of the sofas, gestured for me to sit on the one across from them. I walked to the sofa and sat facing them with my up most gentlemen like position. With us now seated, Niles brought out a little folder of notes. "Well Mr.Argus, Freia had told me that you were working for the Laughing Skulls, I would like to make sure with you if this information is correct."


    "Truthfully, I don''t work for the Laughing Skulls, I had only said that in order to calm this one down," I gestured to Freia, who then angrily retorted.


    "WHAT! Then why did you tell me that you knew were the slaves were being held!? You''re telling me everything you said was a LIE?!" She unsheathed her knives and before continue her antic Niles had intercepted her.


    "STAND DOWN, FREIA MEDVELLA! THAT IS AN ORDER!" Niles shouted at Freia ordering her to stop.


    "But this man no, this scoundrel! He lied to me, to us! Giving us false hope just to crush it! I..." Before she could finish Niles had stopped her again.


    "Officer Medvella, I know how you feel, but this isn''t the time or place to start pulling out your weapons." He then gestured to her to look at me. She saw that I had a hand out, knowing that the invisible weight had something to do with me she flinched back a bit. Seeing her come back to her senses, I brought my arm back down and started speaking.


    "This is the reason why I lied in the first place, it seems like the officer of the Bastion of Rhanoa has quite the temper." She looked back at me even angrier then before, but after her resent scolding decided not to make another scene.


    "Mr.Argus I would like it if you stopped bully my poor subordinate anymore, she seems to be reflecting on her mistake so could I ask of you to drop this behavior?" I looked at him, then shrugged my shoulders.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "I don''t mind dropping it, Its not like I have a person grudge against her. Plus with there being a chance that shes related to someone I know, I wouldn''t want him to hear that I bullied his relatives." Freia''s expression changed from a scowl to confusion, so I decided to tell her about Zerok. "Well it seems that Miss Freia''s last name is Medvella is it not?" She nodded in acknowledgment so I continued. "Then would you happen to know of a man named Zerok Medvella?" She gasped at the unexpected name. With a shocked expression she spoke.


    "You... You met my brother? Zerok... Zerok is... still alive?" The tone of her voice was filled with emotion. With tears welling up at the corner of her eyes she looked at me for answers.


    "Well now, I guess I was right after all. Yes Zerok is alive, or at least he should be. We separated ways while ago. But if you wish to find him then you should ask around about a adventure group called Lobo Sword." Learning that her brother was still alive, Freia had started to cry. She quietly wept for little and composed herself afterwards. Niles hadn''t said anything but he looked relieved at the news. With a sudden shift in the mood, Niles had thanked me. I told him that it was just coincidence but he thanked me nonetheless.


    With the now composed Freia, we continued out little meeting. I told Niles that even though I didn''t work for the Laughing Skulls, that I had information on them. I began with where the children had been taken, that they were sent to Nossrax in order to be raised as either slaves, or soldiers. And that the Nossraxxian Nobles had been demanding more slaves to be sent to them. I also told them the children that were sent to Nossrax had been taken from a bandit group that raider a slaver''s caravan. "It seems like Bowjack was ordered to get the slaves back from the bandits." Niles had thought out loud.


    "With the slaves being transported to Nossrax, we don''t have much of a chance in getting them back. Usually only citizens of Nossrax can enter the kingdom, we would be searched at every check point. Damn it. It seems like news of Nossrax waging a war against the elves were true. The plan on buying slaves in order to supple their war efforts. Tell me Argus, do you know if the slave were of different race?" I knew why Niles had asked that, and I also knew the answer.


    "Yes, the only race of children I didn''t see in the wagon was human. There were three Varathi girls, two of which were wolfkin, and one that is lizardkin. Four elves, two boys and two girls. And one male dwarf." I saw the flames of wrath swirling in Freia''s eyes.


    "Bastards, Why can''t they just enslave their own kind instead of tormenting others!" Hatred was seething out from every word she spoke. I understood how she felt, seeing those children worn down and surrounding by cages and chains, I had began to resent my former species.


    The meeting was still continuing but nobody had spoken a word. Freia was still angry, and Niles seemed to be in deep thought. I too was also thinking, with the information I had gained from Niles about Nossrax, I knew my self promise to save the children wouldn''t be possible. With Nossrax now in a state of war, there wasn''t any way for me to hide my identity while trying to gain entry into the kingdom. I needed more power, more than what I had now. I needed to travel around the world and gain all the knowledge I could possible get. With an unlimited amount of time, no matter how long it takes, I deeply wanted to help the people of this world.


    With out anymore info about the Laughing Skulls, Niles Freia and I, had wrapped up our meeting. Niles had asked me if I wanted to join the Bastion of Rhanoa, while Freia kept telling him that inviting me wasn''t a good idea. Ignoring Freia''s insulting advice to Niles I declined his invitation and told him I was going to continue traveling. Freia had told Niles that she wanted to take a leave of absence from the Bastion of Rhanoa in order to track down her brother. I told her about what direction Zerok had left Graverot Marsh in just in case that would help her narrow down her search locations. After leaving the tavern, I opened the small bag that Niles had given me. Looking at the contents inside of of the bag, it looks like Niles had given me some gold coins for my information about the slaves and maybe some for telling Freia about her missing brother. Its not like I wanted to ask, so I just left it alone.


    I continued along the main road of Rhanoa until I found an inn. "The Pig''s Belly," is what I read, without any reason to turn away from it, I entered the inn. Finding myself in such a merry atmosphere I couldn''t help but grin, "how long has it been since I''ve seen people having so much fun not worrying about a thing." I walked up to the inn''s proprietress who greeted me with warm smile, "Welcome to The Pig''s Belly hon, Now don''t mind the craziness and tell me, how can I help ya?" They woman looked to be in her forties and had some weight to her. But all that along with her voice gave off a motherly charm.


    "I''ll take a room for the night."


    "Would you like something to eat for dinner with that? I can make anything ya like sweetie."


    "Ah well its a shame I ate before coming here, Maybe some other time."


    "Oh well, then do you want breakfast in the morning before you leave?"


    "I''m going to have to decline again, I''m planning to leave very earlier in the morning tomorrow."


    "Well that''s to bad, but at least that''s less work for me huh haha!"And with that hearty laugh, I paid for my room and began making my way upstairs. Walking past a group of what looked to be students in uniform I happened to over hear their conversation. "What! what do you mean!? what happened to my village?!" the girl exclaimed in a sorrowful voice.


    "Calm down Lilana, I know how you feel but that''s the truth. It seems like your village was raided by monsters about two years ago. No one knows when exactly it happened but apparently there were no survivors."


    "What!? What about my Grandfather? Surely he would be alive, he was a great mage, there''s no way he would be killed by some measly monsters."


    "No is sure what happened to Master Horrus, we don''t know if hes alive or not, but his house was a complete mess when we got scouts got there. They say it was almost falling apart, and that some of the other houses had been completely obliterated."


    "No, that can''t be possible..." The conversation died when the girl sat there without any movement. "It seems like I found the granddaughter of the unknown mage. Hmm, I can''t help but feel like fate is playing with me. There''s no way for this my coincidences to happen in a single week is there? Well fate of not, this girl might be the key in unlocking this book, and maybe even the knowledge of magic that I don''t know. I need to make a plan for this." Thinking this, I began to prepare a plan in order to meet with her alone.

 Chapter 10. Norria Village

    Inside the room I had rented out, I sat myself down on the edge of the bed. Being forced into another world had pretty much kept me preoccupied, even the thought of being an undead had been placed on the back burner due to how busy I had been trying to figure everything out. And not only was I in a state of confusion, it also seemed like fate had one out for me. Only until now when I had a chance to pause for a moment did I really, truly realize I wasn''t the same.


    Looking at the bed that wouldn''t be used for sleep, I decided to turn my focus away from my longing of the past. "Lilana..." The name of the granddaughter that was mentioned in the unknown mages notes. "Ah, his name was Horrus if I remember correctly." Recalling the conversation I had over heard, Horrus had been the name of the unknown mage. Thinking back about how I had pretty much ransacked his house, I gave a small prayer for forgiveness to the mage that was once called Horrus.


    I pulled out the book that I had taken, carefully observing the book I began to plan out my thoughts. "If I want to open this book, I''m going to have to meet up with Lilana... Hmm, now that I''m sitting here thinking about this, wouldn''t this girl just go to here town? She seemed to care about here grandfather enough to make a ruckus outside. Haa, I wouldn''t be having this problem if I wasn''t so stuck on learning offensive and defensive magic. Had I known I would die so early in life, I would have learned some support magic."


    Realizing I started to get off track, I pulled myself together. "Well at least I have a long time to plan out my moves." I pulled of my glove and stared at my skeletal hand. "Didn''t expect myself to be so weak. To think that I''m so close to founding out a new type of magic to me and yet." I didn''t finish my sentence. Normally being emotionally strong, there wasn''t really anything I couldn''t pull myself out of. But the longer I stared at my flesh-less hand, the more I longed for my past body.


    A couple hours passed before I could pull myself away from my self loathing. I had gone through countless emotions within those hours like everything had been unplugged. Why had the gods played with me so? A skeletal body with the emotions of a human. Not being able to eat or sleep, yet longing for both. Questions that won''t be answered and yet I had sat there for hours searching for one. "I... I might actually go crazy if I keep this up." Saying this out loud to myself, I got up from the bed and looked out the window. "I''m gonna have to let myself fall into the abyss of magical knowledge if I don''t want to break into insanity." whispering this I stared out of the window to look at the now rising sun.


    I walked out of The Pig''s Belly and was greeted by the silent streets of Rhanoa. With the sun just starting to rise, not even merchants had begun their day. Walking towards the entrance into Rhanoa I had spotted a peculiar shop. Grabbing my attention I approached the closed shop and began to window shop. All sorts of trinkets had been placed around the store. They ranged from accessories such as rings and necklaces, to horns, powders and the most intriguing item. A small crystal like object the size of fist.


    The reason for my interest for the stone was due to being able to feel the mana. Unlike the mana that surrounded me at all times, the mana that was contained inside the crystal felt like it already had its property changed. I pulled myself from the window of the store and took a look at the sign that was posted on the store. "Mozaar''s Magic Store... Well isn''t that quite the... plain name." Staring into the store once again, I decided to come back to this store once I finished my current objective. Continuing forward to go backwards I exited Rhanoa and started heading towards the ruined town were Horrus had once reside.


    _______________


    After the bad news I had received from my classmates, I was pretty much forced into the room we had rented. I was so shocked to hear about my village and what had happened to my grandfather, that at one point I had tried to make a mad dash towards my village. My friend Malia had locked me inside the room with her continuously calming me down. After weeping for god knows how long I had fell asleep. After the sun had raised higher in the sky, my classmates and I had grouped up and left the port town of Rhanoa.


    Sitting on the carriage we had brought with us I looked out towards the vast sea of forests. I didn''t realize how anxious I was until Malia spoke out to me. "How are you feeling Lilana?" Malia had said in a gentle tone while looking at me with her warm brown eyes.


    "I''m... I''m fine. Sorry about yesterday, I know I shouldn''t have tried to run out like that but..." I looked down trying to keep myself together. Malia had pulled my head onto her chest and started to comfort me again.


    "I know its hard for you right now Lilana, its fine if you want to cry." She continued to stroke my hair, even with being the same age, Malia had a very motherly feeling. Whenever something went wrong she was always right there to comfort me. I pulled myself away from her and shook my head.


    "Thanks Malia, But now isn''t the time for me to cry. I... I need to figure out the state of my village and what had happened to it. I still can''t believe that my village was destroyed while my grandfather lived there."


    "Master Horrus also had Sir Lennerd with him didn''t he?"


    "Yeah, Uncle Lennerd was staying with Grandfather. That''s all the more reason as to why the Norria Village shouldn''t have been taken down by some monsters. Plus, there aren''t any monsters living in the forest here that are strong enough to take down Uncle Lennerd."Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "Maybe some new monster moved into the forest then." Another one of my classmate had stated.


    "That wouldn''t be possible Krist, my Grandfather is a great mage that studies summoned monsters and creatures. If a new type of monster suddenly starting making a nest in the forest my Grandfather would have known."


    "We will found out more when we get there, so lets conclude this topic. Lilana should also rest a bit, I''m sure you haven''t realized how anxious you currently are but I can see it taking a tole on you." Malia had said this while embracing me with another hug. Now that she had pointed it out, I felt a bit fatigued. I took Malia up on her offer and used her shoulder to take a rest.


    With the constant shaking of the carriage, I ended up waking up. Even with the short nap I did find myself to feel a lot better. After conversing with my classmates, a little after an hour had passed we had made it to Norria Village. The six of us had stepped off the carriage and just stared at the now ruined village. I could feel my heart drop at the sight of my destroyed home town.


    Malia, Krist, and I had formed one group while my other classmates had grouped into another. With the two groups formed, Lester my classmate in the other group had called out to us. "While this place may be in ruins there could still be monsters in the vicinity I want all you to proceed with caution. When you''re done investigating we will meet back up at the entrance to Norria Village." After receiving orders from Lester both our groups had started to move in different directions.


    I had told Malia and Krist that I wanted to straight to my Grandfathers place. They both nodded in agreement with me and started to walk towards my Grandfathers house. Looking at all the ruined houses on the way, I could feel tears starting to form. Malia noticed this and tried to comfort me. I knew that it could be dangerous here but the more I walked through the destroyed remains of my Village I couldn''t help but want to crumble down on the spot. With Malia''s help we managed to get to my Grandfathers house.


    Two big gaping holes marked the side of the house. One was on the bottom floor while the other hole was where my Grandfather had put his office. We stepped into the house and made our way up to my Grandfathers office. Looking at the room, everything had been scattered around. I examined the room to look for anything out of the ordinary only to notice that there hadn''t been any sort of remains. "If Grandfather had perished along with Uncle Lennerd, wouldn''t there be some sort of remains? Now that I think about this properly, I don''t remember seeing any sort of remains anywhere and yet." While thinking of what might have happened to cause all this, I heard Malia shouting


    "Lilana! Krist! Somethings wrong here! There''s... There''s Think fog covering the village!


    _______________


    After some time had passed since we had split up from Lilana, Malia, and Krist. Harold, Delilah, and I had walked quite the distance away from the Lilana''s groups. Moving around the ruined houses and searching for any sort of clues, Harold and Delilah had pointed out what had been on my mind. "Hey Lester, have you noticed?" Harold had said while walking towards me.


    "Yeah, I think we all have pretty much come to notice that there aren''t any bones anywhere."


    "..." Harold looked hard at the ground trying to think of a reason as to what exactly had happened here. As I was about to tell Harold not to think about it now, Delilah came into the house and gestured us to follow her. Snapping Harold out of his thoughts I began moving towards Delilah. "Did you find anything?" I asked her.


    "Yeah I found something in the streets a little further ahead. I think It might hold some clues as to what had happened here." After talking for a brief moment we all ended up walking towards two clumps of steel.


    "This is what I found." She said solemnly.


    "Hmm, a random suit of armor in a deserted village. Plus, there''s only one suit of armor here." I questioned. While think about why a suit of armor was here Harold had pointed something out.


    "It looks like this armor was in battle, and from the looks of the damage it sustained, it must have been quite the battle."


    "Isn''t it obvious for a suit of armor to be damaged in battle Harold?" Delilah had said. Wondering why Harold had pointed out something so obvious I then quickly noticed why he had said what he did.


    "I see you spotted the reason why I said those things Lester, truly the man worthy to be class president huh, strong and intelligent hmhm." Not following the conversation Delilah had a look of confusion on her face.


    "Its as Harold had said, this suit of armor had definitely seen some fierce battle. And with the looks of it in pieces like this, the man inside the suit should have surely died but..." As I was about to continue on, I found a strange mark on the inside of the suit of armor. Taking a closer look at the mark I pulled back in shock. Both Harold and Delilah flinched due to my sudden movement and came over to help me up. "What happened Lester?" Harold asked.


    "Are you alright?" Cutting Harold off Delilah jumped in looking worried.


    "I''m... Alright." I said quietly. Harold and Delilah both sighed and relief. "Delilah, Harold, we should pull back, find Lilana''s group and leave this place quickly." I said this while turning from the suit of armor and walking towards the carriage.


    "Whats the matter Lester?" Delilah questioned


    "That suit of armor was involved in foul forbidden magic." I answered.


    "WHAT!?" Both Harold and Delilah and shouted out.


    "I looked accidentally found a runic mark inside the suit of armor. But even without knowing what kinda of ruin it is, with all the evidence we found surrounding this village I''m pretty sure that this place was involved in some sort of forbidden magic. This is just speculation but I still think we need to leave this place now." I said as I upped my walking pace.


    As we quickly walked back towards Master Horrus''s house, before we even got half way there we were suddenly beset with an unnatural mist. The mist that surrounded the village was quickly turning into a think fog, and in a matter of minutes. The once clear village was now covered in a white sheet. With the sudden fog appearing before us, Harold, Delilah and I, got into a battle ready position. Not knowing where the enemy was, or even if there was an enemy, we all had our backs to each other so as not to get taken in from the back.


    Carefully watching my surroundings I noticed something. Two blue dots that floated in mid air. gradually getting brighter the blue lights stopped moving all of sudden. And after what seemed like an eternity staring at the dots a voice called out in a chilling manner. "Sorry but, I''m gonna need you to sleep for a bit." And before I could call out to my friends, I felt a strong hit and passed out.