Year 2062

32 years after the Great Merge. Present day.

 

“What was it this time?” Thanatos asked, curiously.

Sol looked over in her direction, he had just been enjoying the view of Yggdrasil.

“Big undead bull- nasty one,” Sol said, casually.

She tucked her wings in and sat down next to him.

“What is it like? To live?” she asked, staring out over the endless blue sky.

Sol shrugged. “You really don’t know a lot, for someone who judges our souls,” he said jokingly.

She looked down to her perfect hands. “It is not whether there is true context, like a right or wrong. It is always what each person perceives as good.”

“You know about my sisters, my team,” Sol explained.

“I know everything,” she said.

“But you don’t know what living is like,” Sol joked.

Every time Sol died, he came to Yggdrasil where Thanatos would be. Time stopped here indefinitely so it wasn’t like he was in a rush. They became good friends. It sounded crazy but they grew to know each other. She was an omnipotent being who spoke to thousands of people at once, yet Sol was her favourite person to talk to. And Sol liked to speak to her too.

“Who is that woman you are with?” She asked.

Sol rolled his eyes. “Elora? She seems okay; a bit uptight though.”

“Her soul is troubled like yours, but it's coated with gold. It even skipped a beat when she saw your face and your… ”

Sol burst out laughing.

“You’re annoying,” she said, and with a wave of her hand he was sent back to the land of the living.

“Elora, will you relax!” Tower demanded.

“I’m not going to relax; your friend just died and you’re standing around like it’s not a big deal,” she shouted.

Sharp leaned into Tower. “Did no-one tell her?” he whispered.

Elora fell down to her knees and held Sol’s head. Half of it was rotted off by the miasma. She closed his eyes with her hand and then wiped a tear from her eye.

“Enough games,” Tower said, chucking a stone at Sol.

He caught it swiftly, scaring Elora. His whole body had been completely healed within a second.

“He’s an undead!” she screamed and flames grew in her hands.

Tower grabbed her wrist. “No he’s not. Have you not heard of the Immortal?” he asked.

She looked down to Sol who was now getting up. He was practically naked. His whole body was covered in tallys, each one representing a death. On his back was a huge black skull with a sword stabbed through.

“You’re- you’re the Immortal?” she asked.

Sol bowed respectively. “In the flesh, my lady.”

“Put some clothes on,” Tower ordered. “You already scared her enough.”

Sol smiled as he took off his tattered clothes, exposing his muscly physique. Elora looked away, but only after a few seconds.

“You always like to be the center of attention, don’t you?” Spike remarked.

Sol looked at the giant mohawk on the top of his head then back at him. “Yeah, I’m sure,” he joked.

Sharp bent down by the undead beast and examined it. “This is probably one he sent off, acting as a deterrent,” he said.

“No doubt,” Tower added, he then turned to Elroa. “Lady Evergrand, how did you want to split the loot?” he asked.

“I don’t need coin, but anything that suits my class I’ll take,” she said. She was now back to her composed self.

“It was very rude of you to scare me like that,” she said to Sol who had just finished changing.

“I’m surprised you didn’t read the job description,” Sol said.

“It’s not like your names matter if they’re all Aliases,” she complained.

“Then I apologise,” he lied.

“Perhaps you could treat me to a drink then,” Elora said, much to the confusion plastered on Sol’s face.

Sol was quite a ladies man, he even considered himself a lady killer, but for a person of the highest noble houses in the entirety of Gaia to ask him for a drink was definitely worrying.

He instead focused on Sharp who had put his hand over the undead beast.

Would you like to loot Level 49 Undead Armoured Bull? Yes/No Loot: Undead bones x37 Undead meat x21 Undead Brain(damaged) x1 1 silver 23 copper 1 Undead Horn Bone ring COMMON Split loot to deposit pool? Yes/No Split evenly among party members? Yes/No

All of the body parts the system deemed useful were then carefully extracted from the undead bull. They came along with coin, and on rare occasions equipable items. On even rarer occasions, spell books and monster cores, which the group had never received before in their lives.

“We got an item,” Sharp said. He held it up and allowed the others to inspect it. It was just a plane ring made from bone.

Bone Ring COMMON +1 Strength +2% Increase damage to all undead. Durability: 13/13 Affinity: None

“Not bad,” Sol said.

“If we’re taking out large groups, I think Elora would benefit the most, or Spike,” Sharp said.

Elora dismissed them. “I already came prepared for the undead,” she said, while showing them a glowing bone ring on her finger.

“Right. Spike, it’s yours then,” Sharp said as he chucked it over to him.

He popped it straight on his index finger. The rest of his fingers all had piles of rings on them, many offering nothing and just for show.

“Sharp, I-I don’t know what to say, it’s beautiful,” Spike joked with a fake tear in his eye.

“Split the rest,” Tower ordered, ignoring Spike.

Sharp nodded.

Sol felt meat and gold drop into his storage pouch hooked on his waist. It couldn’t hold much so he would probably drop the meat later.

“How far away are we?” Tower asked.

“ETA 20 minutes. I don’t think we’ll encounter another one; this breed is a lone wolf compared to its brethren. They like to keep to their own territory,” Sharp explained.

“That’s good news, I don’t fancy jumping down the throat of another,” Sol said.

“Always a chance Mr. Immortal.”

“At least I’m immortal, not you. Could you imagine someone who never stops talking and never dies,” Sol said.

“Sounds like paradise,” Spike said as he carefully maintained his mohawk.

The group laughed.

“Mute, can you skip ahead? Sharp struggles to see through the trees,” Tower said.

The quiet elf scampered off into the wilderness. The group travelled through at a light pace. Since Sol never wore armour he could run much faster than the group, although he could never keep up with Mute. Even for an elf she was fast.

Armour was far too expensive to use when Sol literally threw himself into monsters. He could survive longer, but it always cost him so much.

They soon arrived at the foot of the mine. It looked far past abandoned. It was under a small mountain range, and at the top there was a fort that looked to be in the same state as the mine. Mute jumped down from the tree to join the party.

“I say fort first,” Tower said. Even though he was the leader, he often liked to offer suggestions.

“Start our way at the top and work our way down,” Sharp said.

“Exactly,” Tower agreed. “Get your raven up and scout it out. Mute stay with the group.”

They walked around the mountain ledge and up a dusty trail that led up to the fort.

“Uh, Tower,” Sharp said, “There’s people up there.”

“Come again,” Tower said.

“I said there’s people up there. About 20. They have a small campfire going, they don’t look well off,” Sharp said.

“Masks now,” Tower said.

They all threw their masks on, leaving Elora to look the odd one out.

“Have you got any spare?” Elora asked.

Everyone turned to look at her. “Sorry, I didn’t think we’d be seeing anyone so I didn’t dress accordingly.”

Everyone again looked at her perfect robe and hair.

 “Are you joking?” Sol rhetorically asked.

“Oh no, definitely not. This is a battle robe, which enhances my fire damage. I would have brought my dress to greet the masses, a mask would only help me blend in with… you,” she said, oblivious to who she was speaking to.

They all ignored her and carried on trudging up the fort.

“Sharp, let me know when they spot us and how they react,” Tower said.

“Yes, Sir,” Sharp replied.

“What do you reckon they’re doing all the way out here?” Sol asked.

“Seems strange doesn’t it. They’re not farmers, perhaps refugees. Many are too poor to afford proper transport let alone teleportation.”

“Or they could be with the target,” Sol warned.

The group looked wary of the comment. “At least they’re not chanting and wearing dark robes,” Sol added.

“One noticed us,” Sharp stated. “Now alerting the others. They seem cautious; they may think we are trying to kick them out.”

“I’ll take the lead. Don’t act hostile but don’t let down your guard either,” Tower said.

They all put their weapons away and Tower strode in front as they approached the large wooden gate. The fort seemed larger and it was made of stone from the surrounding mountains.

“What do you want!” the man shouted, “And why do you hide your face? Do you have no pride.”

Tower cleared his throat. “We are the Unwanted and this is Lady Evergrand. We mean no harm to you or your people.”

“How do you know there’s other people up here?” the man said.

“Shit,” Tower whispered to himself.

“Fuck off!” the man shouted. He then threw a small rock off the edge. Tower didn’t move, he already knew its trajectory and it landed just by his feet.

“I didn’t want it to be like this!” Tower shouted and then turned to the elf. “Mute, mind if I throw you up there?” He asked.

Mute didn’t seem to mind at all as she walked to stand in front of him.

“Just to let you know. I gave you a chance!” Tower shouted.

Tower applied a buff to himself and his muscles increased in size. He grabbed Mute by the bottom of her chest piece and threw her as if she weighed nothing at all. The man grabbed an old spear from the wall, but by the time he had turned around it was cut in half. Her longsword was now only inches away from his throat.

Mute wasn’t the type to mess around; she did things efficiently and with haste. She would rarely give enemies time to do anything against her. She was also the top duelist among the recruiting stage and of all Fodder ranks.

“I surrender!” the man screamed in a high pitch tone, with both his hands in the air.

The group below could only hear the poor man sobbing from the top of the wall. A few seconds later, the wooden gate swung open and Mute was standing there.

“Nice job, Mute,” Tower said.

As they entered the main courtyard, they saw roughly 20 people gathered in an old open barracks. Many of them were babies and children that clutched onto their mothers.

“Sol, fetch me that man,” Tower ordered.

Sol nodded and brought the sobbing man down in front of the scared group.

“Which one of you is the leader?” Tower asked.

Sol put the sobbing man down in front of the group and held a dagger to his throat. A piece of wood was thrown out from the group, hitting the crying man in the face. He clutched his nose and cried more.

“Samson you bloody fool, you told me they were bandits not the Unwanted,” a lady said as she came out from the shadows. She looked fairly old to be in charge of a group; her hair was grey, but she looked no older than 50.

“Finally,” Tower said, “Someone that has some common sense.”

“I apologise for this man,” the lady said. “He has worms for brains. My name is Ester, what can I do for you fine people.”

“We are here to investigate the mines below- monster activity,” Tower lied. “We just need to ask you some questions and warn you that your safety may be compromised.”

‘Tower has a way with words.’ Sol thought. The man looked utterly brutish with his huge stature, but he was always well spoken. There was a reason he was the leader. Of course, he was not a smooth talker like Spike, but he came off as very kind yet assertive.

“Monsters? In the mines?” she questioned. “I have not seen any.”

“We wouldn’t be here otherwise,” Tower said.

“Now that you mention it, we have felt the mountain shake a few times,” Ester said.

“That’s not good,” Sharp muttered so only the group could hear.

Sol let go of the sobbing man and he crawled back into the barracks.

“How many of you are here?” Tower asked.

“27. The rest are inside the fort, gravely ill unfortunately.”

“Where are they?” Elora asked, interrupting their conversation.

“They are through the doors and on the right, why do you ask?” Ester said.

Elora pulled golden red vials out of her storage necklace.

“Oh we cannot afford those my dear,” Ester said.

“We are here to help. As a member of the Evergrand family it is my duty to look after the people,” she said proudly.

A vein was about to burst on Tower’s forehead. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

Ester glanced around to her camp before answering. “There was a monster horde attack in Dellaview a few weeks back. We were forced out and weren’t allowed back in. I managed to help these poor mothers and those that were in the hospital at the time. We lost over half already. We tried following the roads, but we were ushered off by Guards.”

“I am sorry for your loss,” Tower said, and turned to Elora. “You may help these people now.”

He turned back to Ester. “I will contact HQ and ask them to send in a group to help you after we have completed our mission. In the meantime we can offer food and other amenities you may not have.”

Sharp seemed uneasy at Tower’s proposal. The man never liked to stray from the mission but he had to suck it up.

“I only ask one thing of you and that is to hide as deep within the fort as possible during our mission. We save lives, not endanger them,” Tower said.

“Of course, we will do as you say. I only want what’s best for my people,” Ester said.

“As it should be,” Tower added. The giant man summoned a pot of soup from his storage pouch and placed it down within the center of the group. They all were weary of the faceless man, but with a nod from Ester they started to take bowls from it.

Elora had disappeared into the fort, and Sol went in a few seconds later to scope out the place. Tower had told him to find a suitable position for the refugees. He searched the entire fort, starting from the top to the bottom. He thought he had found the perfect place in the west lower side, but there was a huge gaping hole in the bottom. He held onto the doorway as he peered into it.

It led down directly into the mining area, and it was no normal shaft. It was a huge open cavern with different floors, littered with rail tracks.

You are entering the Field Dungeon Necromancer’s Playground. Average level requirement: 40 Difficulty: Hard

“Oooo fuckkkkk,” Sol said.

He alerted Tower to come to where he was immediately. A few minutes later the giant man bent his head into the room and looked over. The same prompt appeared for the man.

“Oooo fuckkkkk,” Tower said.