Now, Lena was standing on the same hill she had stood on six years ago, and looked down on the same village. Maryda hadn't changed one bit. The small wooden wall surrounding the dozens of houses was still as laughable as before. It still looked as poor as it was half a decade ago. The sun shone the same way and the forest was still as green and peaceful as she remembered.

One of the things that had changed was Lena. She had become a monster and nothing of her new self reminded of the young girl she had once been. But her nature wasn´t the only thing that had changed. She was alone now. Gone were the ever-laughing Devos and his crude jokes. Gone was the ever cheerful Leila bragging about her magic.

What remained were two shallow graves on a hill. The only decoration were two large stones with their names.

Devos Langdon: missed friend

Leila Gendros: beloved sister

Lena had thought about burying them in Maryda but had decided against it. They had died in the attempt to flee their life in Maryda. It would be against their will. At least now they were free to go wherever they wanted to. She stared at their graves for a long time before finally making her way down to the village. It was time.

Her life in Maryda seemed to be a long-past memory. But now she was about to return. A few minutes later, she stood in front of the small wooden gate that marked the entrance to Maryda. It wasn't guarded and was always open during the day.

Behind the protective wall, Lena was met by the disgusting stench of human society. It had never really bothered her before, but with her death, her senses had become much sharper. She tried to ignore the smell as she walked toward the small wooden house that she and the other orphans had lived in.

It was more like a rotten cabin than a real house but it had been Lena's home for nearly her entire life. She had never met her parents as they died soon after her birth, and ever since, this small house had been her home.

Lena was aware of the staring villagers all around. Maryda had always been relatively isolated from the rest of the world. The only visitors that occasionally came to Maryda were small merchants and lost caravans of fugitives. In consequence, the appearance of a heavily armored warrior was a rather important event. But Lena completely ignored the gathering villagers. All she wanted was to see her friends.

Lena knocked on the half-rotten door of the orphanage. After a moment an older woman opened the door.

"What'ya want? There is no money here." The woman said with a voice even more horrifying than Lena's after her undead awakening, if that was even possible. She didn´t know the woman and suspected that she was the new orphanage mother.

"I'm looking for two kids that lived here a few years ago, a tall boy and a small red-headed girl. There called Arim and Nari." she explained. The woman eyed her mask suspiciously but answered.

"They are no kids like that here. Now leave, you're making a ruckus." she said and slammed the door shut.

Lena turned around and stared into a crowd of over two dozen villagers, eying her with interest. They all wore similar clothes and looked equally rough. They seemed rather suspicious of her and Lena wasn´t sure if they could help her. Suddenly a middle-aged man stepped forward and bowed.

"In the name of all Maryda, I welcome you Miss Adventurer. Such an individual like yourself rarely comes to a remote place like this." he said with a wide grin, revealing too many black teeth.

"I may have overheard your discussion with the old Gramo and would be honored to assist you with your search. It so happens that I know where these people you're looking for life." he paused and looked at her as if expecting something. It angered her for some reason.

"Then fucking say it and don't make me wait even longer." she exclaimed angrily. For some reason, that guy hit her nerves.

"Well,...I...you know....life is hard and information is valuable." he said nervously. Lena understood now why this guy angered her. He was ready to sell people out to strangers without questions. As if sensing her mood the man and the rest of the crowd took a collective step back. But he was right, life is hard and she would have probably done the same before her death. When you have nothing, you do everything to get at least something. Even if that meant selling others to an unknown fate.

She took out a single silver coin from the money Eshen had given her.

"If your information isn't worth it, your gonna pay it back with your blood." she said and flicked the coins towards him. Lena didn't like threats but she was still angry and wasn't going to be nice to a man who sold out her friends. Even she understood why he did it. The man only nodded.

"I know the man called Arim, he lives in a house outside of Maryda with his wife. I don't know if it's the same girl you're looking for but there is also a red-haired girl living with them."

Lena was hit by two very different feelings. She was happy that they were both alive and probably living well. But the pain that came with the man's words was unexpected. She knew pain, her death had been pure agony and she still remembered it clearly, even if she tried not to think about it. But the pain that she felt right now was different from the freezing agony of death. It was like a burning ache inside of her core.

"He....he is married?" she asked in a low voice. The man nodded and grinned widely.

"Ya, the daughter of some merchant, gorgeous girl. The guy hit the jackpot with her." he said and laughed. A few of the others in the crowd also made comments about his beautiful wife.

His 'Wife'! Lena didn't know how to react and was glad that her mask prevented the others from seeing her face. She felt between crying and smashing her way through a collapsed cave tunnel, as she had done an hour prior. In the end, she just asked for the exact location of Arim's house and left Maryda with a sour flavor in her mouth.

The house was located a few minutes away from the village and was larger than any other house she had seen. Except for Eshen's tower of course. A large garden surrounded the house with dozens of flowers. It looked quite idyllic. Just when she was about to knock, the door opened and two people stepped out into the sun. The first was a tall woman with warm dark eyes and blond curled hair that flowed down her back like a wave of pure gold. She was the first to notice Lena and looked at her with a warm smile.

"How can we help you, miss?" she asked. She truly is beautiful. That was all Lena could think of before her attention drifted toward the second woman.

Nari had changed in the past six years. She had grown a lot and was now as tall as Lena. Her childlike face and figure had been replaced by that of a young woman. Lena had been aware that Nari would have grown up during her absence but she hadn´t expected that she had also changed in another way. The fierce eyes that were once burning with desire and life were lost. All that Lena could see was a deep sorrow as if she had lost her will to live.

"You have to excuse her miss, my friend isn't doing so well. She had an accident in her childhood which she never truly recovered from." Arim´s wife said. She looked a bit nervous. Lena stepped past the blond beauty and took Nari in her arms.

Anny Travelis didn´t know how to react. The masked warrior in dark armor who was standing in front of her home hugged Nari without a word. A complete stranger. She was about to interfere when she saw that Nari hugged the stranger back and began to cry.

Nari was a childhood friend of her husband and lived with them since they married. Anny didn´t mind, even if the girl never spoke much. Arim had told her that Nari´s sister and two other friends of theirs had been killed by monsters and that it had traumatized her. Arim had taken care of her from that moment. He himself had been heavily injured, the fact that he still woke up at night shouting the names of his fallen friends only showed how deep his injuries really were. But Anny did her best to help them even if she couldn´t do much.

The actions of the unknown warrior put her on edge though. Who walks up to someone and just hugs them?

After a minute the two separated and the warrior took out a small bronze necklace and put it in Nari´s hands.

"You don´t have to fear them anymore." was all she said. The female voice from behind the strange mask sounded young. But it had a strange hollow ring to it, almost like an accent but...different.

"Thank you." was all Nari said, before hugging the necklace against her chest.

The warrior turned her way and Anny was facing the beautifully carved face of an elven woman. The dark mask even covered the woman's eyes. For some reason, she feared this woman, even if she knew that she wasn´t here to hurt her. Something about her made her mind scream.

"Who are you?" she asked. The warrior didn´t answer directly and the mask just continued to stare at her.

"I don´t think that you want to know that. I only wanted to deliver something." With each word from the woman, the feeling of wrongness grew stronger. Anny was sure that something was off with this woman. The fact that Nari had hugged her and didn´t seem to care at all about this situation only made her nervous.

"Could you tell me if Arim is doing well?" the sudden question made her stumble. Why was she asking about Arim?

"What... why do you want to know that?" She was wary. She wasn´t going to give information about her husband to a potentially dangerous stranger. Because Anny was sure of it now. This woman was dangerous, causing her senses to go wild. But before she could think of an adequate answer Nari spoke.

"He's fine, he works as a merchant now." she had stopped crying and looked up to the masked woman as if seeing something that Anny didn´t.

"You should take him for a walk on the hill near Maryda next time you see him." The woman said.

"And keep an eye on him for me would you?" the woman asked. Wait, did she sound sad?

"I...I will." She didn´t know what to say else.

The masked woman only nodded in answer and walked away.

Anny stood in front of her house and stared at the rapidly fading figure of the woman. She was confused and scared. This woman was dangerous she knew it, she had felt it. But when she looked at the smiling Nari beside her she couldn´t be anything but thankful. Since the first time she had met the girl, Anny had never seen her smile so openly.

After leaving Nari and Arim´s wife (I don´t even know her name), Lena walked through the forest and thought about her next steps. Arim and Nari were safe and had started a new life. She wasn´t going to disturb them more than necessary. Also, she didn´t really have a place in Maryda anymore, due to her new nature and the associated needs she had. The fight against the shredders and the fact that she had to dig her way out of the cave had used up more of her mana than she would have liked.

She couldn´t stay here anymore, the monsters in this region were scarce and her mana consumption was quite high, even if she wasn´t fighting or using magic. It was time for her to start her own life.

Apart from the fact that she needed mana, Lena needed a goal. What did she want to do with her second life? Want did she want to achieve?

She could probably live forever if she had enough mana and she would never age or get sick. She couldn´t live with other humans for extended periods of time because they may find out about her nature...

After thinking for hours while walking through the forest and the sun was replaced by a bright moon, Lena summarized the most important points.

-She needed mana, money, and power to ensure her long-term survival.

-To achieve this, she had to register herself as an adventurer, that way she could hunt monsters and get rewarded for it. This should grant her sufficient amounts of monster cores and money. The constant battle would also improve her general fighting skills.

But after achieving all of this? What would she do? Did she even want to live forever?

Lena realized that she only wanted one thing. The only thing that would fill the void in her chest, the only thing she really craved for. Life. She wanted to live. Not as an undead, not as a zombie nor a lich or whatever she was supposed to be. She wanted to live as a human again. Was it possible? Lena didn´t know, but she would try. Even if she had to search the entire world to find a way to cure her.

With new vigor, she made her way North, towards the kingdom of Knightfall and the equally named city. Also called the kingdom of adventurers. With over two hundred different adventurer guilds and many dangerous monsters, it was her best way to farm resources. Even if the higher density of adventurers and especially archmages would bring greater risks, it also meant more information.

Lena was nothing if not motivated, maybe even a little excited. She was traveling to a faraway kingdom filled with knights and monsters she didn´t even know existed a few years ago. It felt like a story from a book. She laughed. An undead girl armored to the teeth made her way to a kingdom full of knights.

As the sound of her laugh echoed through the dark woods, Lena decided that she should laugh more. Even if she was alone. She didn´t want to regain her human self in who knows how many years and live as a grumpy old hag who hated life. No, she wanted to be able to fully enjoy it.

"Okay, first note to myself, keep the bad thoughts away, and the morale high." she said in a commanding tone. Realizing how stupid it sounded she burst out into laughter again.

Malakim looked over the field of mangled corpses, as the disgusting stench of decay and death filled his lungs while he walked away from the piles of slain undead monsters. Undead, these foul creatures, soulless abominations, rejected by the gods, he had finally been able to purge this region from their infestation. Even if death itself rejected them, his burning hate would bring them to hell.

Looking down at his large sword, dripping with black blood he smiled. He had killed so many, but they never stopped coming, spreading like a disease. It didn´t matter so, he would purge them from this world soon enough. Turning his back to the field of death he made his way back to his team. He didn´t even look back as the field behind him erupted in flames, burning away every trace of the infestation.

It was time to return to Knightfall.