Eventually the whole squad managed to form a line, fully prepared for the departure. In the meantime I was able to greet few other girls that were about to become my companion in arms. Besides Henrietta, Natasha and Agnes there was one more warrior in the squad - a brown-haired girl of average size holding a bastard sword named Zuzanna Alexandra Fiora Phenellopa Maria Gertruda von Betrix - from one of the Houses which were His Majesty’s personal advisors, in short, Suzy. As with most of the higher noble Houses, she was forced into serving in any army-related formation, for a few years, in order to be recognized by her own family - such tradition.

Beside warriors, we had two scouts, which even now where keeping their distance from the main team - one in front, scouting the area ahead of other adventurers and one at a similar distance behind it - their job was to keep the squad safe from any possible ambushes and inform Natasha about any possible threats via magical devices which let them communicate freely as long as the users remained within a specific distance.

Brigitte the Bitch and Olivia the I-Don’t-Give-A-Fuck were mages assigned to the team. There was also a girl named Charlotte, a novice priestess who, as I quickly learned, greatly adored Adam - her Captain in charge. I quickly learned that the Head-Priest was nice enough to not spread any ill information regarding my persona - this or the news simply didn’t reach her ears as she was stationed outside of the main camp.

“Listen lasses… and lad, I hope you are prepared! Other teams have already marched out. We were given the western edge of the special area to patrol. The plan is to move from one fortified checkpoint to another and lure every undead from the area with Charlotte’s magic. Any questions?”

Henrietta raised her hand.

“Speak!” “Estimated time for operation?” despite being a very talkative person, she formed her question in a rather plain, direct, way, just like every soldier should. “We are supposed to deal with this matter by the end of this day, but, in case of any difficulties, we might repeat the same process tomorrow.” “Chances of such events occurring?” she quickly appended to her previous question. “Low, close to none. Anything else?” “No, Lieutenant-commander!”

How very different from their previous greeting, when they greeted her with an aye-aye, which had greatly infuriated Natasha. It was clear that they loved their commander as a person and were ready to joke and rejoice with her while off-duty, but during actual quests and operations, she ordered around with an iron fist.

“Good. March out, soldiers!”

At a steady pace, starting from the right leg we moved out holding a somewhat spread out formation - wide enough so a sudden ambush of enemy archers wouldn’t decimate us from the start, yet tight enough to close our ranks in seconds if the enemy would charge us headon.

I moved first, with a shield ready to protect myself and the people behind me, on my sides. Slightly behind me, Suzy and Natasha moved defending the flanks. In the middle of formation Agnes moved, ready to act depending on the situation, either leave the formation charging onward doing a skirmisher job by causing chaos in the charging army, not letting them form a line, or defend the mages and priestess, whose backs were protected by Henrietta. One - Two - One - Three - One formation. It will work perfectly in tight corridors of dungeons and verus mindless beasts… such as animals and undead.

We walked for an hour or so before we reached our first destination - a small reinforced camp, with a few wooden walls raised in all directions with some provisoria archers towers which were quickly occupied by two mages. Charlotte the priestess stood perfectly in the middle of the camp, digging her staff in the hard soil as she started to chant her spell.

“Oh, Merciful Mother, the Lady of the Light and twelve disciples who follow her, grant me your powers, and answer my plea. Bestow upon me your light, make me a beacon that will show the way to everyone who is lost. Offering my life, I beg thy!”

A powerful pillar of light split the sky open, casting grey clouds of the day aside, hitting directly the staff and sending the light-force in all directions.

This force… was wonderful. So calm, so warm… it smelled like home… and tasted like the most wonderful dish. Sensing it, my hunger once again reminded me about itself, for this spell looked like a mass of Essence falling from the air. I tried ‘inhaling’ just a little, to see if I can feast on it… but, the tiniest dust of this magic burned my insides.

In the end it was nothing but a trap. A lure - a promise of feast that no mindless undead could ignore. This light kept on pulsating across the area, and in a few more minutes Brigitte called from a watchtower.

“Approaching enemy spotted! Seven walkers, three creepers! Distance - around five hundred meters! Awaiting for further commands!” “Let them come closer, once they reach the range of your spell, start a bombardment!” “Roger that! Charlotte, can you relocate the ‘fountain’ three hundred meters further to the west? If yes, I will be able to wipe them off with a single spell!” “I… I’ll try to!” the priestess yelled, gritting her teeth. Apparently maintaining the pillar was quite an exercise of one’s mentality. Either that, or requiring lots of mana.

Priestess whispered a few more words, forcing the column of light to move in the desired location. Seeing it coming, I moved off its trajectory.

“Alabaster! Don’t be a fool! It will do nothing to you!...” Brigitte yelled seeing my behavior “.. only impure beings such as undeads or evil spirits of demon-kin will suffer upon contact!”

Yeah, that’s what I thought - exactly my reason to step out of the way.

“My armor is enchanted…” I yelled in response. I didn’t lie - Captain Godric himself said that it hides the aura of the user “... I have no idea how it would behave upon touching such a force!” “It should be fine… but whatever.”

I watched the beam moving from the safe distance before I once again stood in my previous spot. Yes, just standing on the path it once crossed sent a painful shiver down my spine which I tried ignoring.

Later, I watched the undead approaching the beam, trying to get as close as possible, yet being pushed back by the holy force, like moths circling around the torch, doing their best to land in the flames despite the pain and certain death that awaited them.

“That’s enough!” Mage yelled, informing the priestess that she could cease her powers.

The beam vanished, leaving undead confused, chasing after still vanishing streams of light.

“Goija, the flame giver, and six chosen that bow before her, hear my call! To follow your teachings is my desire! To cleanse this world of impurity is my wish! Send down the waves of sun to purge the unworthy! By your grace! Fire storm!”

And then, an explosion sent a powerful shockwave covering the area in raging inferno. And to me… that was…

“See, male? That’s the power of knight-level mage! Do you think you can do the same?” she asked, proudly puffing her chest out. “... killing ten lowest rank undeads? Yes, I think I can do that, maybe even faster than the time you needed to start a chant… that was… excessive. That leaves a question - do you kill roaches in your room with fire magic instead of your shoes?” “You are just…” “He is absolutely right, Brigitte! What was that supposed to be!?...” Natasha looked far from being pleased “... you were supposed to send a few smaller fire balls! Why did you use your ultimate spell for these small fries!? You are supposed to wisely manage your mana supplies!” “I… I am… sorry, commander.” “You are on a mission! Its low rank is irrelevant! You are acting like an immature cadet trying to show off and assert dominance! That’s your first and last warning! Did you understand that!?” “Y-yes commander…” she whispered under her breath, I was almost sorry for her. “I didn’t hear you!” “YES COMMANDER!” “I hope it is true. Charlotte. Brigitte. Go rest. We will march out in thirty minutes, try regenerating your mana as much as you can… Also, Brigitte, by desperately showing off your rank and status you just admit that you are not worthy of it. You already are a knight of an Order, act like one.” Natasha hissed, walking past the mage “... Olivia! Keep an eye on the area! Some more marauders might still come, if they would move in a group, feel free to bombard them.. but for heaven’s mercy! Treat them as low ranking undead that they are!”

Olivia, the girl that looked as if she was permanently exhausted, just saluted nonchalantly in response, probably because she considered opening her mouth and uttering a word or two as effort too great to commit.

… And that was it.

Nothing else happened. Charlotte later sent a few more Holy-magic packed projectiles in the air in one last attempt to lure any possible undead that might have still remained around, yet none came. So, as the time came, we once again raised up and moved towards the next camp. Yet this time, after around thirty minutes, a voice resonated from one of the devices Natasha was carrying.

“Commander! Lucy speaking. Reporting a large group of zombies, located around one kilometer - forty five degrees further north - from the original path.” “How large of a group are we talking about?” “Around… hundred? Probably less, It’s hard to tell, they walk over the bushes which make it hard to count them.” “Can you confirm that these are only the lowest rank undead? Existence of such a pack without a leader is a rare occurrence.” “No. Once again. Bushes.” “Is there any other camp we can use for our advantage?” “No, we are perfectly between the two of them.” “Any elements of the environment we can use to reduce the impact of their numbers?” “No. If we intend to fight, we should lure them on the open field around the main road. We can lower their numbers with projectiles and magic. Besides these I don’t see any other non time-consuming option.”

Natasha became quiet for a moment, gazing in our direction.

“Lucy. Lure them toward us. Suzy! Get crossbows off the cart!” “String-bolts?” the noble lady asked, already walking toward the additional equipment we took on our journey. “Indeed. Rest of you! Get in formations! Three smaller groups! We will try scattering their numbers!”

I took my place in the middle, together with Olivia and Henrietta. Agnes was quite eager to join my little team, but as she was a skirmisher, her job was to remain “unbound” and dance all over the battlefield as an angel of death.

As soon as Suzy returned with two medium repetitive crossbows I was able to learn what “string-bolts” meant. Ten bolts in total - five pairs tied together with a steel string that hung between both weapons. Both warrioresses moved in opposite directions, stretching the string and aiming toward the location from which a mob of zombies was supposed to come.

Then, a minute later, a lone cloaked person came running from behind the trees. That must have been Lucy, who every once in a while turned around as if checking if she was being followed…

… and then, a crowd of zombies running clumsily at full speed emerged as well. Only then did the scout-girl bolt onward with all the strength she had in her legs. Once she passed the line made by the crossbow wielding knights, the two shot in unison. The sharp string cut through the bodies of a few zombies, losing some of its impet, eventually acting like Bola and tieing few more together. Around eight zombies were immobilized this way… No, actually only those who were tied had problems with moving, for those which were cut in two would start crawling with only their upper bodies over the ground toward us.

In perfect harmony, Suzy and Natasha pulled their strings back, and lifted the lever back and up, loading another bolt from the attached ammo chamber readying for another shot. Once again bolts were sent crippling another group. And another. And another. And after that one last time. Five pairs of bolts slowed down around half of the running mob.

As soon as they ran out of ammunition, they tossed their crossbows asides and ran toward their teams on the sides. Natasha joined Charlotte and Suzy covered Brigitte's sides, while Agnes… Agnes jumped at the side of the mass drawing attention from a group of around ten walking-corpses before running in the opposite direction from us. While dancing she kept on weaving her glaive to the sides, aiming for limbs. That was her job - not to kill, but merely to slow down yet another group.

And then, for the first time I heard Oliva actually speak - not just reply with a single word or monosyllabe. She sang the chant, and her voice was truly beautiful.

“Avitto, the Lady of Wind and the three enlightened students that stand by her side, send down a purifying breeze to cleanse the air of the stench of the corrupted…” “Goija, the flame giver and six chosen that bow before her…” in the meantime Briggite started her own chant… “Oh, merciful Mother, the Lady of the Light and twelve disciples which follow her…” Charlotte joined. “As three we call forth your celestial graces! Your sister Earth has been defiled by the touch of the betrayed!...” suddenly, they all started singing the same verses “... Grant our wishes to ward us from their evil! We offer you our hearts, our souls, and untainted thoughts. Accept offerings of us - unworthy, and send the lost back into the Mist! Wall of the Thirteen Wings!”

And so, the pillars of light emerged, creating magical gates between us and still marching mob. The bodies of monsters that walked past it caught fire. Shrieks of damned souls suffering the pain of holy magic echoed across the entire area. Some of them died, but not nearly enough. Most of them still managed to walk past it, even though severely burned, and some of them still covered in white and blue flames.

Together with other warrioresses I charged onward, running towards the weakened enemies. I crashed into the first undead with my shield raised, throwing him back into the wall of the light, landing on his back and crushed by the holy magic it tried getting up, but kept on stumbling. Eventually, flames completely covered its body, yet I couldn’t witness this spectacle, for I was busy fending off other undeads.

The armor which was granted to me perfectly masked my stench of death, for other undeads no longer ignored me. Before, they saw me as one of them, now, all they sensed was movement. A movement which kept on reducing their numbers - therefore, a threat. They pounced at me, trying to pin me down with sheer numbers.

Slash, step back, immobilize by stabbing its chest with my sword, then striking down with the edge of my shield, splitting its head open, then another step back. Slowly, I was giving back the field to them, respecting their advantage.

An arrow flew past me, digging in the eye of another walking corpse - it was Lucy, who now took better position on the hill and sent an arrow after arrow aiding us from afar. Once I managed to reduce the number of undead around me I looked towards the others. Our group was the smallest one, but, in the end, they were still attracted to the smell of life in which warrioresses were literally enveloped. Suzy was doing great, Natasha even better. The latter didn’t even move a single step back, her strikes were perfect, flawless, without any unnecessary movement, smiting enemies with deadly grace.

… But Henrietta was in trouble. The group which chased after her was the biggest one and made of the least damaged individuals and thus the most agile ones. They kept on quickly cornering her and the only way for her to make any distance between them was to turn her backs to them and run away, risking that they would start running after one of three mages still maintaining the Gate of Light, keeping another horde in check. Once again I checked if there was no undead around which could threaten Olivia before storming in.

One of previously fallen zombies, instead of getting up, kept on crawling toward the duelist. In the mass of other beasts she didn’t notice additional one which grabbed her leg and tried pulling her down. She didn’t, but it was still enough to slow her down and letting other beasts get on her sides. Their nails started scratching her armor, leaving long marks in silver metal which reinforced her mixed-armor. Overpowered from all directions, she started trembling and was about to surely die…

But, my blade managed to pierce the beast on her left. I raised my arm, lifting the walking corpse alongside the blade and threw into the mass, making beasts fall and entangle together with other members of its kin. Then, aiming in the mass of bodies, I kept on rising and dropping my arm. There was no swordsmanship in this act. Only mindless butchering deprived of grace or fluency of moves, actually, my attacks would be far more severe if instead of sword I was carrying a mace of meat-hammer…

Eventually, I managed to create just enough chaos to let my companion regain her footing. With some distance to better maneuver my body, I could finally once again focus on delivering more severe blows. My sword aimed for the necks, my shield bashed their heads. If one of them came too close, I would deliver a quick kick in their guts, sending them on the ground and then smash their heads with a stomp of my full metal shoe. My once perfectly white armor was now painted in green, red, and black dried blood of already rotting corpses.

Some of your enemies carried an [Essence]. Initiating Absorbtion Obtained [52 exp] Current Level Progression [54/500] Skill profiency increased Skills: [Sword Usage - Apprentice level 3 → 4]

[Shield Usage - Apprentice level 1 → 2]

[Bow Usage - Apprentice level 1]

[Nature Magic - Novice level 1]

[Mana Sense - Low - Passive]

[Life Sense - Low - Passive]

[Combat Maneuver/Team tactic - Novice level 1 [New]]

Eventually, the head of the last walking dead man was sent flying after an unusually clean hit of my blade.

This battle was over. No more zombies were standing. Natasha, Suzy, and Agnes moved back to the cart leaving their blades and spear and picked heavy hammers insead, walking all over the battlefield from one crippled body to another smashing their heads with one or two blows.

Once we confirmed the undead were no longer capable of moving on the hill, we dragged each and every corpse on a pile so we could later burn them. The reasoning was straightforward - some of the undead proved to hate the stillness of death and choose to return over and over again in various forms. I knew, for I was one of them. Only completely destroying the vessel till not even a single bone remained could guarantee the proper end of their unlife and this quest.

“That… surprised me. I never thought zombies could be this fast…” Henrietta finally said when our job was done. “Zombies are re-animated bodies of humans. I heard that some are even faster than the living… and that some even pouce like a toad, well usually those are more advanced variants either raised by more skilled necromancers or made from stronger bodies, but…” Brigitte started, though no one really listened to her. “You should have picked a better position, Hen, also, you should not have fought without your rapier, the blade is too thin, it's a far too weak weapon against the undead!” Commander scolded her with a serious expression. “T-That’s why I held it in my left hand! I was using it to fend them off, while I used my long sword to…” “Get completely overrun by their mass due to not being able to execute a strong enough blow to cut them down with a single hand?” “... A-also… their group became suddenly bigger! I was sure I could fight with less than ten… but because of some unknown reason, a small group stopped chasing Alabaster and moved towards me instead!” she tried to justify her loss. “Do you remember when I told you that my armor is enchanted? It keeps most of my auras and powers hidden inside. Undead have two sets of vision - the physical one and one life-sensing. Each of them are always hungry, so they chase after the life they consider food. To them, I was like an empty armor that they needed to destroy, but you… you were a buffet. I should have warned you about it… My apolo…” “No!...” my apologies were stopped by the Lieutenant “... lack of information and random occurrences are normal things on the battlefield! As a knight she should be prepared for it!”

Henrietta lowered her head even more.

“I know…” “She still did a good job!...” I decided to defend her name “...she kept her ground and even despite a crushing advantage on the enemy she didn’t abandon her companion. If there is anyone to blame, that would be me! As a shield bearer and front liner I shouldn't have left so many of them walk past me.” “You are still a cadet, Alabaster. When we are on a quest with your kind, we are told to always consider you as the line that would fail.” Agnes said from the other side of the quickly raised camp. “That… hurts my pride, I am not going to lie…” I said, deciding to give up “... I still think that…”

A noise of bones breaking could be heard from the pile of corpses. It was far away, so no one else had heard that. At first I thought it was just my imagination. But the same sound occured one more time, and I could see some essence emitted by a corpse, which must have previously killed some rabbit, perishing clearly consumed.

“Alabaster, why did you became quiet so sude…” Natasha asked, yet I silenced her by raising my hand. Normally, in an army, such act would he punished as disrespecting of your officer, but adventurers learned to ‘shut the fuck up’ when someone does the ‘shut the fuck up’ sign.

In the mass of corpses, something moved. A creature looking somewhat similar to other undead… but having a grey body clothed in rags. What distinguished it from other zombies was its feral appearance. Long, razor-like teeth which were sticking out from the lipless mouth, nails curled backward like eagle’s talons, bloodshot eyes as well as the fact it was feasting on the surrounding corpses.

“Guys… Tell me, have you ever met an undead who feasted on other undead?” I raised a question in an almost studious manner. “Sounds like a ghoul. Middle rank undead. Very fast. Very annoying. One of very few undead that has its vocal cords not only preserved, but somewhat even advanced enough to let out specific sounds...” “Are they grey-skinned, moving on all four limbs, and look like a crossbreed between human and… something with really long claws and teeth?” I continued slowly getting up and unsheathing my sword “... because, if the answer is yes…” the creature, still chewing on a hand of one of the zombies, looked in our direction and froze in place. It opened its mouth wide, letting the piece of meat fall off his mouth. The air vibrated with a piercing sound, weirdly resembling something between an eagle and a colossal lizard. “... I think the answer is yes.” “Ghouls!? Here?! How is that possible?! This battlefield is still young and it takes years for a zombie to become one!” Ghoul - The Corpse Eater Special titles: The Pack Caller

Familiar Unbound

Defender of the Black Swamp

When one says 'Walking Corpse' he usually means slow, clumsy bodies that mindlessly followe after the closest source of line on which it could prey upon. Very rarely that person would mean the feral creatures resembling and acting like a wild animals instead.

Ghouls are either canibals whose hunger raised them up once again; zombies, which starved for so long that it started feasting on fellow kinsmen; or victims of vampires which sucked from mortals not only their last drop of blood, but also their very humanity.

Fast. Strong. Deadly. Woeful is the fate of young adventurer that entered the crypt infestated by those tainted creatures.

“Unless… they came from another place as they were lured by the smell of the Deadwoods…” I said more to myself than to my fellow companions.

This enemy was both stronger and faster then what we had just fought and our team was already tired to begin with.

“Everyone, tight formation. Brigitte, do you remember when I told you to use your spell wisely, not wasting too much mana?”

The pile moved, and another twisted head popped out from the mass. And another.

And another.

And another one.

“Y-yes.” “I take it back. Go wild. It’s an order.”