"Watch Gawain then you might learn something."

The naked female body lay motionless in front of me. The very existence of a human being could be called an art, I wonder if it will be the same with this one.

With a slow motion I run my hand along the lines of the body. My bony hand is deprived of heat so at the point of touch the woman trembles, as if she put her head in the refrigerator.

The nakedness of the body, even I used to be affected by such things as excitement but now.... I feel nothing. I touched every flaw of the body, standing nipples or even hidden moles, nothing further. Now I felt like an artist touching a cloth, perhaps because I wasn't really alive now.

However, not wanting to stimulate the nerves even more, I eventually stopped.

"Slowly, gently, this is how a life is taken."

"I don't know how much you know so I'll start from the beginning." I said calmly like a teacher concerned about his foolish student.

"Here, here and here." I pointed to three specific points on the woman's face. "These are vital points, you hit harder and instant death. If you remember this, it will be useful when you fight against people."

"There are even more..."

"... In addition, we also have..."

"...Not to forget not to forget also..."

"Did you remember?"

"Master..."

"Good, as I won't repeat myself. Then now we can move on to what's after the skin, only where I have..."

And immediately as I said this I reached for my favorite scalpel always located in my back pocket, but then it came to me.

"Damn, I forgot where I was again, I guess we'll have to improvise. Yeah, well, at most it'll be a lot bloodier."

I took the sword from the nearest skeleton and, not being able to contain the excitement I had never experienced, I slowly and gently thrust it into the woman's bare foot.

"Aaaaa..." Shouted the bound cloth once recognized as a woman, but without the freedom of her tongue it was hard for her to make any louder sound.

Still, I didn't even spare her a glance, I dragged the sword further until a straight line stretching to the end of her thigh was formed.

Blood began to pour out in liters as not only was the tool practically dull, barely better than a stick, but there was also a good chance that I had cut in too deep.

"Gee, I think someone is about to bleed, rest assured everything is under control, you don't have to worry, I won't let it happen."

But as if in spite of my words, the woman's blood was draining faster and faster with each passing moment. With my free hand I collected the excess blood which, a minute later, no longer increases in quantity. That said, I did not pierce any major vein, old skills don't rust.

So I did it again and again until I could easily remove a large piece of skin exposing the muscles underneath.

"Aaaaa..."

"Shh... relax we're just getting started, no need to get so excited yet."

"..."

"Beautifully done , right?"

"Gawain do you see... Gawain, where are you looking.... Gawain look at the body..."

~~~

When I finished playing with the food and, in the process, a makeshift anatomy lesson, there was nothing left of the woman to identify her. Her skin had been stripped off, her muscles cut and even her skeleton was not left untouched. A ton of blood on the floor, the bed, the walls and even on my bones, but what fun it was. I played like a child who got a toy for the first time, it's just a shame that she had to scream so much.

I examined everything and everything was the same, the usual homo sapiens. The operation took an unnecessarily long time but the woman was still alive, she was on her last breath but it still counted. Ice magic, nevertheless, could be useful.

Thus satisfied, I finally decided to show her mercy, I sucked the vitality out of her as even after all my performance I still haven't forgotten why I came here. I took the sword from Gawain and then wordlessly decapitated what was left of the woman with one simple cut.

I took her skull and shouted " Skull to the skull throne..."

"Wait.... not this universe.... ehh... never mind.... maybe some other day."

However, I did not care about this awkward moment I left the room all the while tossing the woman's skull in my hands, at the same time whistling a tune unknown to anybody from this world.

#

At the same time as Samuel was leaving the bloody building, a certain one-armed undead who had been left alone stared at the woman's corpse for a bit longer than he had been instructed. The skeleton even glowed with a slight blue light in its eye sockets, but that flame was quickly extinguished as it appeared. Then once he received the order he returned to the rest as if nothing had ever happened.

#

I managed to leave the house already, but before I took two steps forward I recalled something again, I forgot about the kid. The excitement had clearly not yet gone out of me.

Returning to the kid's room, I opened the door and then closed it once I was inside. It was just the two of us in there, me and the little boy who seemed to have just woken up. With two, it will be better.

"Come here boy." I said tenderly to the child, as far as a skeleton can speak.

The boy, still unaware of the danger he was in, like a good child approached me directly.

"You don't have to be afraid of anything, do you feel lonely, or do you want to know where your parents are?"

"Could you tell me, sir?" Asked the boy politely, showing an intellect I didn't expect from him.

"They are in a safe place boy, do you want to meet them?"

"Yes , please" Replied the excited child trusting the stranger.

"It's enough, all you have to do is close your eyes and in a moment you will meet them, in a magical land."

The boy answered naught to this, but politely obeyed and closed his eyes.

Seeing that the brat obeyed my command the smile came off my face. Standing directly behind the unsuspecting child, I grabbed his head and quickly snapped his neck.

A small lifeless carcass fell to the ground.

Guess I still had a bit of humanity in me that I will have to get rid of. Did I feel sorry for him, did he remind me of me when I was young or maybe, maybe I felt sorry for him that he didn't have time to grow up. His easier death was a mere craving, a whim.

Yet the body lay dead, still warm.

"Penny to penny, I cannot despise even the smallest mana." I whispered when I finished absorbing the child's vitals.

Then I left the house, not wanting to waste mana on resurrecting a useless corpse and watching the mess I had made.

~~~

I wandered to the market when, as planned, there was a pile of dead bodies of villagers brought by my undead minions, brought from all over the village and sorted accordingly.

"98.."

"99.."

"100.."

"Damn, why do the reanimated still have to count towards the limit, it was supposed to be so good... where is my army of zombies or hundred free skeletons. WELL WHERE ARE THEY, I ASK."

"Ehh... well, at least they won't go to waste."

"Just what to do with the pile of useless bones now?"

"Any ideas?"

"Master...."

"Wait a minute, that may even work."

"Gawain you gave me an idea, and even useful one, what happened. Of course it will have to be refined..."

~~~

Requiring no rest from their work, the undead began to dig the ground in the surrounding forest, some digging and others moving the bodies into the dug pit.

I, meanwhile, was just smiling prettily as I watched all this while sitting on top of a wooden gate and looking at the sun.

"It was a good day," I thought out loud.

"Yes, it was a very good day, let's hope for more days like this in the future."

"Hey Randaloph, you know you're worth almost 70 people," I jokingly hooked the wolf lying next to me, which still hasn't let go of its bone.

"--__--?"

"Yes, I was surprised too, but mana does not lie."

"Come on don't be mad at me anymore, after all I said I was sorry. It was just for the cause."

"Fine, fine... you win... nevertheless, how about for an apology complete your revenge?"

"So it seems I only now have your attention.... damn wolf. Back to the matter at hand, I think we're pretty much ready to hunt down the rest of the pack. Of course, I don't have a hundred percent certainty of success so you may want to wait a little longer to make sure... we can..."

"--__--!!!"

"Okay I get it , let's go straight forward just finish here ok?"

"--,__,--"

"Wait... Randaloph did you smile just now?"

"--\__/--"

"I understand, I understand, I didn't see anything."

~~~

A time passed, the undead finished their work so it was time to move on. On the subtle advice of a dog we headed west. I wanted to head east towards the local baron, but in accordance with a previously made contract I had to switch. A certain type of person is better not to upset.

"So Randaloph, as they say, revenge tastes best cold."

#

When the undead army left the village, a quiet and peaceful day passed in Wheatcut, and then another and another and another until....

The tax collector showed up, and everything changed. For some for better and others for worse.