I left the bar extremely confused. To me, it felt as if I had spent more than a day in there, yet, on the streets of the city of Boltward, nothing had changed. The same vendor was selling the same merchandise in the same spot wearing the same clothes that were just as dirty as they were when I last saw them..

Only I was a bit different.

When I died my “magic” died with me. I was unable to cast a single spell because, as Morrigu told me, as a human I was using mana veins to cast my magic. She later proceeded to force me into casting spell after spell while directly pushing her magic into my bones to create mana-circuits within them to take over a vein’s functions.

“Normally, this would take years to happen. But, as we don’t have that much time we will just cheat our way through…” she said before injecting me with mana. That was the second time I felt physical pain since I became a walking dead.

But, right now, that was but a memory. Still fresh and unpleasant, but a memory nonetheless. What I received ought to be permanent. A small price for receiving a tool that would help me repay my debts to Diederich and everyone who helped him.

I raised my hand, focusing my mana sense on it to see if any mage could tell the difference, but the armor which hid my undead nature also ended up hiding the magic flowing lazily through my body just as well.

[Cursed Touch: Weakness] Via my touch, their strength shall wither, it will rot and perish under my gaze. Their blows shall not bring me harm, for that's what I have decided! Cost: 10 [MP]

Effect: Target's [STR] reduction [Cursed Touch: Rust] They came to me dressed in the bulwarks of iron, hiding beneath it as under their second skin. One blow of winds of time was all it took to shatter their armors as well as their hope, for nothing escapes death. Even metal. Cost: 10 [MP}

Effect: Target's [Armor rating] reduction

Target's [Armor durability] reduction [Cursed touch: Frailty] Stripped naked, exposed before me, they kept on fighting, not wanting to understand the foolishness of their actions. And so, I made them realize the volatility of their existence. Their skin started rotting under my spell, covering in blisters and rash, for body of mortals is theirs, all together with its mortal's flaws. Cost: 10 [MP]

Effect: Possible lose of [Resitances]

[%] increase of damage taken

Vulnerability against [Death], [Plague], [Poison] sources [Cursed touch: Exhaust] Deprived of weapons, armor, and facing their doom, they began running in a desperate attempt of survival. Little fools failed to understand, that one can't run away from death. No matter how quickly you run, no matter how far you go, death is always coming after you, getting a stop closer with each beat of your heart. Cost: 10 [MP]

Effects: Target's [Stamina] Consumption increase

Target's [Stamina] Regeneration reduction [Necromancy - Lesser Animation] And once they fell, they were raised again, to serve the purpose of the Keeper of Time. Their bodies, once broken, raised up once again, deprived of weakness, of flaws, perfect in their form. They set in the formation and left my castle, as my servants - the knights of World Order. For that was meant to happen, as I decided so. Cost: 5 - ??? [MP]

Effect: Animates the puppet of the once [living] creature, whose level is lower than that of the [User] and gives [User] control over it.

Or

Animater the puppet of the once [living] creature, whose level is equal or higher than that of the [User] - [Warrning]! The [User] will not have control over such a puppet.

Can't animated puppets of [Higher] grade

Hours of playing with bodies, empty husks, treating them with dark, horrible magic. Magic, which flew through me, like a cold, sticky mud, leaving a disgusting ‘aftertaste’. These hours paid off.

Still, the horrible sensation which followed each time I cited the unholy verse, made me promise myself that I would never use them, unless, the life of one of my companions or my un-life would be threatened

After all these contemplations, I decided to return to the barracks. Because, what else could I do? I didn’t have any money - yet. As the commander was just negotiating the reward for a few days long mission for the entire House… No, wait. I did have a small bag filled with coins that Natasha had given me, but what could I get for it? Food? Alcohol? Yeah - I doubt my stomach tolerates those. Weapons and armor? There is no way I can afford something better than the House’s private armory…

And so, I walked across the city. People were walking out of my way, bowing their heads, and greeting me politely. I tried responding to all of them, but, let’s just say I was fairly outnumbered. During one such distraction, I noticed a small, bit ruined bookstore selling damaged, old books. Usually, these were rather expensive and only nobles could afford them. Someone probably set up the store, picking and restoring ‘good for nothing’ goods, giving commoners a chance to read and educate themselves… The problem was that rarely were there any peasant or petty bourgeoisie that had money and time to waste on it. It was like in my home village. Liz and I were exceptions to the rule. Two individuals in a settlement habituated by over a hundred people. And, I was reading only because of Liz as well… Poor owner. His business must be doing poorly. And so, I decided to enter it.

A small ball attached over the door rang as I walked in, summoning the shopkeeper from the back room.

“Oh, a customer? Come on in…” he appraised me carefully “... noble sir, tell me, what a man such as yourself is looking for in a place like this? I will try to provide as much assistance as I can.”

In very nice words he asked why I wasn’t buying in a better part of the city, in one of the shops for nobility, as for guessing by my armor, I could afford it.

“Oh, I am just used to finding gems in the less likely places. Regular stores are repeatable, offering nearly identical merchandise, you, on the other hand, might have something interesting.” I responded with a rather general answer, wanting to appear as someone a bit more sophisticated. “I see, I see! What a wonderful approach!” the old man tried to coquet me, hoping I would be a bit more generous. “...Anything I can help you with? Is there any particular subject you are interested in?” “No, not really. I tend to get anything that would catch my eyes… But, do you have anything related to swordsmanship? Or tactics?...” Now, I wanted to list my real intentions in the middle of the list, so they wouldn’t appear as my main goal “... something about evil magic and curses? Or some myths and legends?” “Oh, young customer is interested in many subjects… I can understand military formations and tactics, or even legends and history books… But curses?” “As an adventurer, you need to have wide knowledge about a vast number of topics. Often it is the knowledge that saves your life - with what venom were you poisoned? What spell was used to curse you? Same goes to old myths and legends - because there are monsters somewhat bound to the stories about them, or even beasts to whose rumors gave life to.” I shrug my arms.

Shit. I made two mistakes. One, the mix of subjects was far too diverse, and later, instead of just telling him to mind his own business, or add more subjects to the list, I started explaining myself. Based on my clothes, I clearly had a higher status than him. Noble would never waste his time answering so thoroughly to a commoner, even a polite noble.

“...Did that sate your curiosity?” I tried asking with an amused tone, clearly suggesting that what happened was rather an exception than my normal way of talking. “Oh, please, forgive my rudeness, dear customer! I didn’t want to pry! I know each and every book in my store, please, sit down for a moment, I will collect all the titles that you may find interesting.”

I waited patiently for him to deliver me books from all mentioned subjects, there weren’t many of those. Bah, none about dark magic (not that I was surprised, he definitely didn’t want a visit from the city’s church officials). Atop of that, most of his books were in really, really poor condition. Damaged covers, yellowed pages, some text here and there would be missing, but I also didn’t fail to notice that some of the pages were brand new - rewritten with pretty, careful handwriting, attached in replacement of pages that were impossible to be read.

History of the continent (obviously, since humanity came, as one of the late kings would proudly state, history starts when we have landed on this land, everything before that was a mistake), myth, legends, one book of ancient army maneuvers, long time replaced by the new, more flexible variations. Eventually, I decided to get them all - the money in the bag was just enough for that.

After this purchase, I returned to the House’s mansion, located the single room which was given to me (very small one, barely two and a half on four meters, with a single desk, bed, and chest as well as rack on armor and weapon. The House didn’t spoil their cadets, not that I needed spoiling. Leaving my weapon next to the bed I jumped on it, opening one of the books. We had just returned from the mission, adventurers were busy getting drunk in the bar and captains were fighting with guild officials to get a well-deserved reward, and that meant no training sessions for me.

And so, I started a book about history and legends.

And obviously, I skipped the boring part and skipped right to the heroic battles.

Hero Rhonnank unsheathed his sword and pointed it towards the sun, asking his Lady for a Blessing. He opened his mouth and screamed, inspiring his men, readying them to the battle *May this judgement day be merciful on us, for we are the messenger of justice! Today, the black blood of the Demon Lord shall be spilled on the ground and feed the earth. Today, we raise our blades, and deliver the sentence passed by the Goddess! Punish them, Asterouse!*

Lost in the lectures, which actually proved to be quite enjoyable, I stop noticing the flow of time. Afternoon turned into evening, evening into night and night into morning. I have just managed to finish my second book, when I heard knocking at my door.

“It’s open, come on in.” I said not even bothering to get up from my chair. “Hey, Alabaster, I was wondering if…” it was Thomas “... wait, you spend your night in armor? And you were… reading… with a helmet on?”

… well, I didn’t need to rest like they do, so undressing seemed really dumb to me. Especially since putting heavy armor on was really time-consuming and usually required help from someone else. And, I needed to be “fully dressed” in case someone stormed into my room - I didn’t want them to see how “skinny” I was.

I got up from the bed and grabbed the blade off the wall, strapping it to my belt.

“... let’s just say I have been prepared since some time ago.” - technically, I didn’t lie here! “... what is it, friend? Morning training?” “Hm? Oh, no. Not this. We have just returned from a long-term mission, so we are exempt from obligatory training for the next three days, still, some of the boys don’t want to get rusty, and we want to go tackle some easy quest. You know, still trying to get into the House, and showing initiative would score us some additional points. What do you say? Hm? Taking a one or two days long quest for a copper or bronze rank?” “Do we have the instructor's permission?” “We are not prohibited, and everything that is not prohibited is allowed!” - Ah yes, the famous credo of adventurers. Buuut, indeed, instructors are also humans, they want to meet with their friends, family, and relax for a few days as well. That means that I would be left without supervision and training of my own as well. Three days of boredom is all that awaited me.

And I had no time for that.

“Sure. Lead the way.” “Hm? You don’t need to… ah, already forgot, you are already ready.'' A huge man smiled warmly at me “... it’s very reassuring to work with someone so earnestly respecting and honoring his duty. I look forward to working with you, Alabaster.” “Likewise, Thomas. Likewise.” We exchanged a ‘warrior’s greeting’ grabbing one another’s forearms, before leaving the mansion and heading toward the guild.

Name: Asteruse Race: Skeleton Soldier [Lower Undead] [Self-aware Variant] Level: 1 [364/500] Attributes: STR: 27

VIT: 31

END:∞

RFX: 23

DEX: 26

INT: 18 ➝ 19

WIS: 13 ➝ 14

SPI: 4 Skill proficiency increased Skills:

[Sword Usage - Apprentice level 11]

[Shield Usage - Apprentice level 8]

[Bow Usage - Apprentice level 1]

[Nature Magic - Novice level 1]

[Mana Sense - Low - Passive]

[Life Sense - Low - Passive]

[Combat Maneuver/Team tactic - Novice level 3]

[Heavy Armor Usage - Novice level 4

[Hand-to-hand Combat - Novice level 4]

[Stealth - Novice level 8]

[Mind Magic Resistance - Low level 8]

[Dark Arts - Curse Words - Novice Level 3] [NEW]

[Dark Arts - Necromancy - Novice Level 2] [NEW]