The undead, accompanied by the little girl, hid behind a house near the village center where they were greeted by the scene of what appeared to be an execution: a large number of bandits was forming a circle, keeping in check the villagers outside of it; in the middle of it were a scarred man that looked like the gang's leader standing in front of a badly beaten old man kneeling down, protecting two shivering children.
The bandit leader didn't really stand out, except for a large scar going diagonally across his face. Right now he was laughing while cleaning some blood from his knuckles.
"You're incredibly resiliant for an old man, you know?" [Bandit leader]
"...yes, and I can still entertain you for a while longer." [Old man]
"...and your attitude is just as strong." [Bandit leader]
Behind its cover, the skeleton was observing, thinking of a way to deal with the invaders. Beside it, the undead could hear the little girl murmuring the word "uncle", meaning that the old man was probably Gherman, the owner of the book shop it was trying to get to.
Two, three, four... this is problematic: I can count more than fifty bandits here. I may be able to kill them all with death magic, but I require a large amount of alteration mana and the sun's still shining strong... Wait... Why do I have to just deal with the bandits? The whole town seems to be gathered here, if I kill everyone then nothing will stop me from accessing the bookstore. I just have to make sure not to damage the building.
Having found an easier solution, the skeleton began thinking of the less collateral damaging spell it knew.
"Before I kill you and those two children for crossing me, I'm curious, where did you learn how to fight? I've fought a lot of people and even though you did not attack once, I could see from your movements that you're not just an ordinary villager." [Bandit leader]
"Heh... We're literally the village closest to Sanctus, we're always the first to get sieged, how do you think have I kept my position as the vilage's chief and my life during all this time? During my life I learned things that you'll never find anywhere." [Gherman]
"Oh... Ooooh! I know who you are, you're a legend spoken throughout Valian! Hey, I have a proposal for you: I'll allow you to join my gang, I can see that you still have some of your fighting spirit despite your age. So, what's your answer?" [Bandit leader]
The old man spit at the outlaw.
"Helping someone who hurt and killed so many of my people, that's not even passable as a bad joke." [Gherman]
"...I see, then I guess I'll take my time and savour the death of a legend." [Bandit leader]
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That's just cheating...
Thought the skeleton, apparently this "Gherman" had knowledge that only he knew, so killing him would result in that knowledge being lost, furthtermore he wouldn't help people that would hurt his people, meaning that killing everyone except him would not be of any help. Two options were in front of it: the easiest and safest one was to nuke the place and forever losing one piece of knowledge while still gaining access to the book shop, while the other one was to fight the bandits without harming the villagers in the hope that it would be accepted by the town enough to access the book store and the knowledge in Gherman's possession.
While debating on which of the two options to follow, the little girl jumped out of their hiding spot and ran in front of the battered old man while holding the light crystal between her and the bandit leader.
"Stop! I won't allow you to hurt uncle anymore!" [Girl]
"Sara! What are you doing, it's dangerous, go back!" [Gherman]
"Don't worry, uncle, I found help." [Sara]
"What? Who?" [Gherman]
"You, little girl, where did you get that crystal" [Bandit leader]
After the last sentence, the bandit's presence grew heavier, enough to freeze the little girl in fear.
"You... Who's the fool that managed to get robbed by a goddamn child! I swear I will kill you for making us look so stupid! From who did you take this?" [Bandit leader]
"..." [Sara]
"Ok, then I'll change the question, from which of them did you take this" [Bandit leader]
Said the outlaw while pointing at the cage of bandits surrounding them, only to be answered by a shake of the head.
"...then where is he?" [Bandit leader]
"..." [Sara]
"Answer." [Bandit leader]
"..." [Sara]
"I said: ANSWER." [Bandit leader]
"! ...he... ...ad." [Sara]
"What?" [Bandit leader]
"...he's dead." [Sara]
Silence followed the next moments, before a kick smashed through the crystal, breaking the arm holding it and stopping at the book held in the child's chest, sending her flying. As Gherman caught her, the sky began to darken and the bandit shouted in anger:
"Are you fucking with me!? How did you, a mere child, manage to kill a member of my gang! Wait, no, you said you found help, didn't you, who is he? Is he a member of Valian's grave diggers? One of their soldiers? Where is he now?" [Bandit leader]
"..uugh.." [Sara]
"Tell me, or I will break your other arm as well." [Bandit leader]
The girl shivered in fear, but did not answer.
"Tell me." [Bandit leader]
"..." [Sara]
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"I said tell me." [Bandit leader]
"..." [Sara]
"...sir" [Bandit]
"Do you want me to kill you so badly? Tell me where he is!" [Bandit leader]
"..." [Sara]
"Sir." [Bandit]
"TELL ME!" [Bandit leader]
"Sir!" [Bandit]
"What do you want!" [Bandit leader]
"The mana is moving, these clouds aren't natural." [Bandit]
Quickly shifting his gaze at the sky, he noticed large dark clouds moving on top of his head covering the sun, it would've passed for a simple rainstorm if it wasn't for their spiral motion. An enormous magic circle made of dark light covered the whole town center as the last rays of light drowned behind the clouds.
"Death magic, which spell is this?" [Bandit leader]
"...we don't know, some words are similar to the ones in other spells but the entire magic inscription is different from any known magic." [Bandit]
"Then where is he?" [Bandit leader]
"A large amount of mana is coming from that way." [Bandit]
The bandit pointed to the direction the girl appeared from, and near a building, a hooded figure could be seen. The leader took his sword and sprinted at the person. Using his momentum, the man thrusted his sword in the figure's chest, only for it to effertlessly slide in. During his moment of confusion, a skeletal hand grabbed the sword, holding it in place and causing the man to look at the hooded man's face, revealing a skull rapidly opening and closing its mouth.
A series of sounds came out from the monster's mouth, to humans these were sensless noises known as magic words, but to the undead they had a meaning and right now it was barking orders in magic language. It wasn't chanting an existing spell, but rather speaking to the mana in an experiment to see if it would react.
"The time the ones I look over is endless, the time the ones I look upon has come. Take them."
Because of the simplicity of the magic words, it could only manage this rough and crude phrase, but that was enough. The darkness in the surroundings began to swirl, as if reality itself was getting twisted. This mass of darkness covered the bandits, making them jolt and twist agony, no, fear. Shouts of terror and distress came out of the writhing men before collapsing on the floor, lifeless.
The experiment was a success, and the enemies neutralized. The undead released its grip on the weapon and quickly realized its mistake: while most of the bandits were dead, some of them survived. Its shock was interupted by a kick in its ribcage as the outlaws leader unlodged his sword. Gasping for air, as if he had just run for miles, the man glared at the skeleton after creating some distance between them.
"Ha... Ha... It's been a while since I last got hit by one of tho-!?" [Bandit leader]
"Dangerous."
Without being able to end his sentence, the bandit parried a slash from a large two handed sword. Without a second of delay, he twisted his head in an attempt to dodge a flying knife that appeared from behind the monster, grazing his cheek before flying off with a slight trail of blood. Kicking the ground, he distanced himself once more. The moment his feet touched the floor, his senses tingled and he ducked underneath an enormous mass of nothing that moved along with the movements of the skeleton's hand. And that wasn't the end still, as two magic circles appeared near the bandit.
Right now the only thoughts going around the undead's mind were to eliminate the survivors of its last attack. It didn't know why, but they somehow survived an instakill spell that never failed before: wether against the two men from Sanctus, the forest magic beasts or the animals, nothing ever survived. And yet these people were still standing, and something that could survive an instakill magic was obviously incredibly powerful and incredibly dangerous.
"We have the advantage! Fight!" [Gherman]
A shout from the old man drew the skeleton's attention: the villagers began grabbing and wielding the weapons from the bandits' corpses and ganging on the remaining ones. With an overwhelming numeric advantage, one by one the outlaws fell. A lucky happening for the undead as it now only needed to concentrate on the man in front of it.
Filled with cuts and bruises, the bandit leader scrambled for a way to survive this mess. He fought hundreds of people, sometimes more than one at the same time, but this was ridiculous: he had to fend off a two handed sword that shot light waves every once in a while, a knife that was flying around as if possessed and anytime he made a tiny bit of distance, some kind of spell would come flying at him.
As the last of his men fell, the bandit found a chance to stall for some time: one of the villagers wandered too close to their fight, and the man took advantage of this. The outlaw grabbed the villager and put his sword to the man's neck. Since the undead was here to help the town, it would definitely hesitate in front of a hostage. Grinning, he prepared to say something but was interrupted by a sharp pain in his chest: a large ice spear pierced both him and the villager. Did the undead not notice? Was it too late to cancel its magic? No, the monster simply didn't care. Someone that had the ability to survive death magic was probably strong enough to kill it, and compared to losing some knowledge by harming a human, survival was far more important to the undead.
Impaled by the ice spear, the bandit drew his last breath and fell to the ground, returnung to the death he had escaped before.
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The skeleton observed the leader's corpse in search of any remaining signs of life. Confirming the man's death, the undead "re sheathed" the sword and was confronted by a shouting little girl.
"Why did you kill him!?" [Sara]
"Was that not the request?"
"Not the bandit, Damien, why did you kill him as well!" [Sara]
Damien? Is she referring to the guy he used as a shield?
"...because it was more efficient."
"Liar! You could've easily beaten him without hurting Damien!" [Sara]
"The deal was to neutralize the bandits, I have completed the task."
"But you killed-" [Sara]
"That was the deal, I held my part, now it's your turn."
"Ugh... I... I won't help you!" [Sara]
"...What?"
The air grew cold as flames appeared in the skeleton's sockets, glaring at the child. The girl shivered, holding her book tighter with her still functioning arm, thinking that perhaps she had said too much.
"Are you going back your word, child?"
Only silence and more shivering met its question.
"Do not forget who saved your life and your village."
"...a-and I'm thankful for that, b-but..." [Sara]
"But what?"
"Ahem." [Gherman]
The skeleton's anger was interrupted by a fake cough from the old man.
"If possible, I don't know what kind of deal you did with her, but, I would like to pay off her end." [Gherman]
"B-but uncle!" [Sara]
"No buts, you made a deal and refused to hold your part. Also he did not kill Damien, look closely." [Gherman]
Their gazes shifted to the corpse of the man on impaled on top of the leader: black mist just finished evaporating from him, revealing an entirely different person than before. Unlike the weak looking villager the skeleton killed, the new body was of a muscled man in leather armor. It was one of the bandits that changed his appearance through magic.
Oh, I thought he was just a villager with magic powers, it seems that Valian's people are greater mages than expected.
"...was that why you killed him?" [Sara]
"......Yes."
The little girl lowered her gaze to the ground in an apologetic way.
"I'm sorry." [Sara]
Ruffling the girl's hair, Gherman resumed the conversation.
"Now, as I said before, allow me to hold her deal of the bargain. I won't stop you, but if possible I would like ask of you to leave the bodies alone, even after all they did, they're still Valian's people and they deserve a proper burial." [Gherman]
"Do you take me for an animal that would go after corpses?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I did not mean to offend you. It's just that stories about undeads, especially liches, usually involve them desacrating a large number of corpses for their goals. So I just assumed." [Gherman]
"I do not know what your stories tell, nor what these liches are, but bodies are not what I'm after."
"Then what do you wish for? We don't have much, but as Laria's chief, it is my duty to reward our saviour in any way possible, even if he isn't human or living." [Gherman]
"Laria? So this really wasn't the city of Valian... Well, no matter. Unlike what other undeads want, according to you, I am after absolute knowledge, and I heard from that child that there's a place called book shop in this village. I'd like to gain access to that place."
Gherman's eyes widened in surprise at the skeleton's request.
"...That's all?" [Gherman]
"That is all."
A moment of silence preceded the old man's hearty laugh.
"Oh, forgive me for that, I just didn't expect you to be such a kind individual." [Gherman]
"Pardon?"
"I mean, you just saved our entire village and you're only asking for access to some books, many others would demand for much more." [Gherman]
"Hmph, I do not like your attitude toward books but obviously that's not all I want. I expect you to share any knowledge you possess that is not contained inside the books."
"Hahaha! But of course, for our hero this is but a cheap price." [Gherman]
Satisfied by the results of the discussion, the skeleton was led to the book store. Its jaw almost fell down from the amount of books present inside of it. Quickly moving through the place, it marveled at the never before seen titles and categories of literatures on the shelves. A peculiar title caught its interest, reminding it of the way the old man called it before: "Valian's heroes."
"A hero... is it?"
The skeleton opened the book, it was now time to learn.