Fatigue wasn't a feature in Yggdrasil, and so many players simply could continue on adventuring and whatnot without taking any breaks whatsoever. Although one could say that playing hours nonstop in a virtual world was unhealthy, time flowed differently in-game than in real life, making that claim somewhat reputable. In Yggdrasil, an entire day in-game could mean an entire hour or so outside in real life. Surprisingly enough it was a feature totally discovered by accident by the game devs, and as a result it enabled lots of play time for their playerbase to commit to their franchise. Yet another reason Yggdrasil became so popular and successful.
However, this New World wasn't Yggdrasil. Shion was walking along a route she chose among the sea of trees and the lingering smell of rotten flesh. The kitsune queen just noticed this now, but her senses were a lot keener than what she had in her old life. Scents of pines and water drifted into her sense of smell, along with the sounds of multiple animals chirping about from miles away. She figured it might be due to the physical capabilities of her newfound race. It was terribly inconvienent for her though, to her dismay. Her sharp senses tended to distract her from her objective, mostly interrupting her inner thoughts from time to time. This caused her to try to block out all those senses all together, but the smell.. The smell of decaying corpses smelled horrid, terrible even due to the sensitivity of her keen nose. Shion absolutely hated it, and was motivated to do something about it.
Although, the smell wasn't quite as bad as the burning corpses from that cave-in earlier. Speaking of which, I really regret not putting a [Teleportation Rune] there at the entrance. I had marked one back at the chapel earlier, but if I knew I was going back here in this spot, I would have probably done it to save a lot of time doing so.
As of now, Shion was busy traversing the wilderness around her and pondering about such things as regret and lack of insight. She held up her ring to project the very same map the [Seer's All-Seeing Eye] had. From the looks of it she was very close, and the map kept expanding outwards as Ni kept completing reconnisence for her, a very fortunate outcome. Still, she continued mentally complaining about her choice not to install a [Teleportation Rune] beforehand.
Unlike other players, Shion preferred instantaneous methods of transportation. [Teleportation Runes] was a spell in Yggdrasil that the queen had used often, almost exclusively even. For starters, the spell had to be placed in an area beforehand before one could teleport to it and the rune itself would cost an amount of mana cast. One major flaw with the spell was that it only had limited uses before it expired, causing it to be vastly undermined by the "superior" [Gate] spell with only the requirement of having been to the said place before before teleporting. Another flaw was that the rune could he easily removed by other players if they happened to find one, leaving the spell was so heavily looked down upon and with good reason. Shion could remember back when she first acquired that spell. Her accomplaces would always mock her for it whenever they had a chance.
However Shion believed that the pros of such spell out weighted the cons. The one advantage the spell had was that the rune casted didn't require any mana or cast time on each use after, and it would ignore all of anti-spacial effects such as [Dimensional Lock]. The meer fact of this helped Shion more times than she could count back in Yggdrasil. One benefit was that she was able to bypass her own Anti-Spacial Barriers without disabling it, saving her a significant amount of MP.
Another benefit she could recall was when the days where she was being ganked by PKers. As she was being chased by groups of players, she would run to these runes to escape instaneously, all the while luring said Players into an instant death trap if they so decide to follow her through it. This method allowed her to escape even at deplenished MP and amass loot from the bodies of her pursuers, as they would not expect or know how to counter such a 'useless' spell.
Yet, there was another reason for choosing such an underrated spell...
Shion continued on organizing her inner thoughts as she leisurely walked amongst the grassy terrain, and before she knew it she had arrived at her destination. Pausing in her tracks, she took a moment to re-examine her surroundings. It was the same clearing of pine trees that hosted the undead mine, which was now and still is, a pile of rubble and lava. The undead wasn't spawning anymore, which was a good thing according to Shion's delicate nose. However this wasn't the location she was ultimately looking for, but it was a good start she eventually accepted.
Casting another [Teleportation Rune], she glanced back at her map to navigate to the city that Ni mentioned. Yet despite it all, Shion still couldn't wrap her head as to why in the hell a small human population like this existed in the middle of literal nowhere. She could probably find the answer by asking Lucia, but Shion only could hesitate at such a resolution. The kitsune queen could almost hear the endless array of questions now.
That mage.. just what is her group doing all the way out here? It's all just undead and useless minerals from what I could tell. Wait.. just what was her relationship with those two men? Would she be mad if she knew I killed them? Probably. Well I just have to make sure she never finds out in the first place then.... Although just what was she doing lying on the ground half-drowned? I'm going to need a long talk with that woman later... but I really don't want to..
Shion could only recall another flashback to Yon's panicked voice earlier. Shaking her head, she erased that from her mind to spare herself from the feeling of guilt. As the fox queen did so, she felt a little prick touch upon her skin from behind.
Eueh?
Eeeeeeh!?!
The kistune turned in mild surprise as dozens of undead soldiers surrounded her from all directions, eyes burning with hatred and the decay of flesh clearly visible for her to see. They all seemed to have gathered around Shion when she didn't notice and kept on swinging at her, but they hardly did any damage at all, and as a result she didn't acknowledge it. Sure she felt it, even the smallest of things could deal a single point of damage to her. However the amount of health she recovered per second vastly outweighed their damage output, making their efforts seem only in vain. But the undead couldn't possibly know that and simply continued poking her with their rusty blood-crusted iron blades.
"Erg.. knock it off!" Shion grunted as she swung her fist in a swaying motion. The sheer blunt damage received turned the brittle undead into little less than bonemeal. Waves of flying corpses flew about, impacting the trees and ferns as she swatted them away like how one would smack a mosquito in the air. At most it annoyed Shion. She could feel their attacks, and it was comparable to the tingling feeling you of an ant climbing on your arm for the past 5 seconds, and as ants should, they were to be squashed on sight.
Soon enough the grass was littered in piles of bones and decaying rot, giving off an even more unpleasant smell. Shion held her nose to avoid most of the puke-enducing effects and pushed on forwards, knowing she was close to where she should be.
Urg.. I really need to pay attentions to my surroundings more. Who knew that having heightened senses leads you to be even less aware of what's going on around you. Ironic.
And as such, Shion had to deal with her predicament by adjusting to such senses. A few moments later, she arrived at the abandoned town after killing a good sum of undead. The place completely deserted, with only isolate lifeless ground and rotting buildings to decorate the area. Such an area as this would typically spawn low-tier undead, along with some status alignments related to illness, weakening, and life drain. It also buffed undead by a small margin of strength. This status on the land was typically called Blight, a deathly curse upon the land, usually caused by a mass of dead bodies left behind to rot, along with dark energies to feed on.
Fortunately due to being a Kitsune Queen, she had the racial perk of everlasting youth, rendering most environmental negative effects useless. Such perks and resistances were gladly welcomed by Shion as she walked around the silent town. All around her was no short of gloomy and desolate. Only the red glints of eyes wandered about inside of the following buildings as Shion wandered the plaza.
"[Undead Burial]!"
Just then a number of dead limbs bursted out of the desolate earth, wrapping themselves around Shion's legs, pulling her into the surging earth beneath her. What came after was a mildly amused Kitsune Queen, as her entire body was buried up to neck-level.
"Who dares enter the domain of Vhiczaur!? What fool would actually dares to attempt to step into the land of death?!" A hoarse voice cried out. What entered next was another kind of undead by the looks of it. A pale shriveled body was floating about, wearing a number of ragged cloaks and black tapestries around it. Floating red ribbons entailed the outer rims of it's hood as crimson flames of hatred burned it's irises. It was a lich, a ruler of undead.
The creature had amassed a couple followers behind him, all wearing the same dark garments, but without said red ribbons the first one had. However the only thought that came to mind to Shion was that this group had just foiled a perfectly good outfit. She didn't snap at them though, as for the sake of gathering information she decided to humor them. Undead were immune to mind-based spells after all, and she couldn't exactly extract information from them through mind control at any rate.
"Ah.. oh noe.. I'm stuck in the ground. Woes me." Shion replied in mock horror as the group all gathered around her. One of the leaders stepped forth to impose on the fox queen.
"So!.. It was you who's been slaying my thralls has it? You will pay dearly for what you have costed me.. and I'm willing bet it was you who also blew up the mines as well!" He cursed.
"Hoh? And how did you figure that out? Surely you wouldn't be able to follow me around without me knowing this entire time." Shion haughtily taunted.
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"...Your smell."
"What?"
"The stench of death surrounds us both. My dead can easily follow your tracks through the scent that emits from you. Your stench is of fresh mortal blood. It is a simple matter for beings like us."
"Undead can smell?!"
"Fool... Of course we can smell. The scent of blood and agony you mortals seem to relish in attracts us dead to interviene into your pitiful mortal coils. I've been sending out my remaining thralls to deal with you, but instead led you here right into my grasp." Vhiczaur gestured his shriveled hands towards the Fox Queen as he smiles in anticipation.
"And now, I've seen what you are truly capable of. In exchange for your intolerable existence, you'll repay me by being a wonderful addition to my army of undead. After I slay you here, you'll become reborn as a champion of undeath!" The apostle of death grinned widely, even though his rotten flesh were far from malleable. However, he wasn't the only one to grin at this unprecedented outcome.
A chilling laughter echoed out across the unholy grounds as the cultist members behind Vhiczaur instinctively retreated two steps back. Due to being immune to fear, the lich had no idea that something far more sinister was at play here. "Phauahahaha! You've- you've seen what I'm capable of? What a joke!" The kitsune queen's hysteria emitted across the desolate town as the sides of her grin fizzured from side to side into eerie smile. "Just what exactly did you see that made you conclude that?"
"...Fool, you cannot feign ignorance here! I saw how you wiped out my dead flawlessly. Your impervious defense. Those blurry movements.. and the sheer blunt force of it all. Combined with the natural strength of a beastman.. those attacks were monk skills were they not?"
"...Monk Skills. Pfft, Monk Skills!? Phahahaha!" Shion continued her hysteric laughter as everything unfolded. "Oh man, you must be delusional if you think you can even stand against me, even after seeing me pulverizing your undead into bonemeal with nothing but my fists."
"..Insolence, do you still not realize the position you're in? You're immobile, vulnerable, and completely at my mercy. If I wanted to, I could bury you alive until you draw your last bated breath."
"Hah.. even when faced with the truth you still stay so ignorant.. I suppose all that undead are good for is fertilizer after all.."
"Silence! Enough of your lies! I shall use you to unearth that mine to re-accumulate my army you destroyed. Consider it as compensation for the troubles you caused! And once I do, I shall sow unending death among the living! The world will finally know to fear the name of Zurrernor-"
"Urgh.. I had enough of this."
The fox queen unearthed herself out of the ground effortlessly with an annoyed look on her face, leaving the cult and Vhiczaur bewildered. "W-what! HOW! My spell should have restrained you under the earth indefinitely. Did you use another skill? No, a martial art!"
Earth and pieces of rubble slid off of Shion's outfit as she proceeded to dust the dirt off in increasing annoyance. "This is really starting to get old, really fast. I knew undead didn't have brains, but I didn't think they'd be this dumb. How dissapointing..."
"You dare look down on me?.. Very well, let's see you try to utter that once more once your flesh is melted from your bones, [Acid Javelin]!" The apostle of death extended his rotten hand as he chanted. A green mist to emitted from the tip of the necromancer's boney finger before accumulating in the air until eventually a liquidy collection of caustic acid is formed. The volatile liquid darted forwards in the shape of a green liquidy bolt before came into contact with the Kitsune Queen.
"[Mirror Wall]" A blueish, transparent wall suddenly phased into reality as it formed into a panel-like structure in front of the queen. The Acid Javelin impacted the magical surface and reflected back in the other direction at the same initial velocity. A startled "What!?" was winded as the lich proceeded to incase himself in a [Sheild Wall], taking full impact of the blow as it splattered onto the decaying ground, sizzling the earth. "Master!" The other members of the cult followed pursuit, as they unleashed their own volley of spells.
"[Fireball]! [Ice Lance]! [Lightning]! [Magic Arrow]! [Thunderlance]! [Firelance]!" All of which were launched in a rapid succession, directly at their target. The magical bolts emerged to destination as they all discharged and impacted Shion. A large explosion of smoke and rubble expanded violently as it dispersed, leaving the remains of burnt flesh and scattered clothes in a crater upon deathly grounds.
Or at least that's what's supposed to happen.
"[Widen Magic: Mirror Wall]!"
An even larger panel expanded into existence as it reflected all the hazardous projectiles back at the cult behind the lich. Screams of pain and shock resonated across the battlefield, with many of the hooded followers dropping in searing pain and agony. Many of them have already fallen, and others continued on launching even more magical projectiles. Vhiczaur recovered from his disdain as more of his followers continued dying. "Halt you fools! Cease your impudence! That insufferable beast is a magic caster!"
"You just realized that now?" Shion proceeded to mock the undead group. However her legs started to feel weak and wobbly, most of her mana reserves were suddenly deplenished. "What! No, wait. Don't tell me..."
In the past, [Mirror Wall] used to be a controversial spell in the early days of Yggdrasil. When it first came out for arcane-based casters, everyone had it. It was a 7th tier spell that was able to reflect any physical or magical projectile. Players used this spell almost exclusively in combat, as it could even reflect projectile spells up to the 10th tier. It was a spell that would fully negate another player's spell and also count as an attack. In short, it was a severely broken spell that would almost always turn any small confrontation or as massive as a guild war into a massive deadly game of ping pong, flinging and reflecting spells back and forth.
By the time the devs finally came along, they nerfed it by restricting it to 7th tier spells and below only, but that only encouraged players to PK weaker players. Then the spell was nerfed again in a later patch to deduct players a mana reduction penalty whenever it successfully reflected a projectile, meaning that weak projectiles of the 3rd tier was able to fully exhaust a maxed player's mp bar. It was unfortunate for the kitsune, especially right now.
"The spell is still nerfed!?" This revelation was overall dissapointing and ridiculous to Shion, as her second favorite spell was still completely unusable in any scenario. "...Shitty devs, they still plague me even when I'm in another world." She cursed.
By the end of the exchange, almost all of Vhiczaur's numbers were extinguished due to the said spell. The lich could only curse as well under his breath as he quickly retrieved a mysterious dark orb under his robes. "Tsk, I've been accumulating my magic for the past year, but you have forced my hand. [Create Undead]!" A ray of negative dark energy shown through the orb as it impacted his deceased members. Using the corpses of his dead followers, they would soon become undead.
Reanimating and unyielding, all their flesh and bones accumulated into a being of undeath. A gigantic undead surged into life, with the appearance of a burly shaped muscled body and pustules all over. "Insolent beast.. for you to have pushed me this far, for you to have hidden your powers, foiled my plans, and for slaying my followers, you shall suffer in ways you cannot imagine! Regret your foolishness as you suffer in endless agony and inevitable death.. Go forth, Corpse Walker!"
This is bad, I carelessly used all my mana.. and I can't use any weapons.. this sucks..
Shion could only sigh in discontempt as her spell backfired tremendously. "Guess it's back to my fists." She hesitantly told herself as she casually neared the recent summoned undead. The reason for that was that she didn't wat to get hands on with a rotten, vile-smelling bag of meat, but Shion didn't have any other choice in the matter. Just as Vhiczaur commanded the Corpse Walker to strangle her, the fox queen stepped with an incomparable speed to before, reaching her target as she unleashed a fearsome battlecry. "Hitomu Punch!"
The queen instantly delivered a sharp impact to the giant corpse's gut as it exploded in cold guts and splattered fresh mortal blood. The tangable magic that held it together unraveled as the summon fell apart into a heap of rotten decaying flesh. What remained was a dark bloody beastman with a very annoyed expression on her face.
"GAH! But how!? My legendary creation!"
"Legendary? That's not even laughable at this point. This is pathetic, not even enjoyable in the slightest, beating someone so weak. A huge waste of my time." The kitsune plainly relied in a monotone-like expression.
"F-For you to still- Argh! [Bone Lanc-]" But his spell was cut short.
"It's so simple. Want to stop magic casters from chanting annoying spells? Just rip their throats out for good."
Vhiczaur staggered before falling upon the ground at the mercy of Shion. The undead lich eyed her in unwavering hatred as he held his throat, or rather, a lack of a throat, Only managing to barely mutter "C-cur-se.. Y-Yo-u..", leaving him utterly helpless to resist.
A thought occured within Shion. A sinister thought, that soon manifested into an idea. A smile crept upon her face to replace her dull expression, retrieving an item from her person. A red vial appeared in her hand, a [Minor Healing Potion].
"T-Tha-t's...! Go-d-s B-loo-d..! W-wha-t ar-e y-ou.. N-o..." Vhiczaur recoiled upon recognizing the potion. According to the ancient legends, the original healing potion was made from the blood of the gods. The potion is able to immediately heal wounds in a matter of seconds by whoever drinks it. It was considered by many to be the perfect potion.
But for one to be pulled out infront of an undead, that is greatly vulnerable to such healing effects, Vhiczaur felt an emotion that he has never felt before in his entire unlife. For once, he had felt a need for self preservation. A need to survive, but only denied by the monster standing above him. He felt cold, but in a different sense. The lich wanted this cold to go away, and the source came from the very person that denied his freedom.
For the first time, he felt fear.
"You mentioned before that undead can smell, but now I'm curious if they can feel pain as well. Now what was it that you previously said before? Oh, right. 'Regret your foolishness as you suffer in endless agony and inevitable death.'" Shion ruthless smile imprinted upon Vhiczaur mind, as his experience would be his last. Only the inhuman screams resounded among the expansive forest around them, but none would be heard by any.
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The entire village was churning within unending flames as Shion was stood a few meters from it, watching it for a while before getting a notification through message.
[Hitomu-sama...]
[Ah. Ni-san? What is it?]
[I've been completing reconnisence as you instructed me, but we've ran into something you should know about..]
[Eh? What is it then. Did you encounter anything powerful? Another player?]
[No... we've captured some humans. They were all riding a number of Wyverns. Their leader is a level 30. I interrogated a couple of them and they refused to cooperate. Should I torture them to make them speak? Kill one off to make an example of them?...]
[Huh? Wait, hold on. I'll be right there. Don't do anything yet, but keep them restrained until I get there. And make sure you don't attract the attention of any others.]
[Acknowledged...]
A rune was placed upon the ground before the Kistune Queen faded from existence. The blightened earth was being purged by the fires of her merciless wrath.
Time has passed.
The buildings were all but charcoal and broken down to something unrecognizable to past visitors. Bodies were incinerated as the remains of an undead lich was scattered with grey ash with only a black shriveled skull remaining. Yet one item was forgotten. A plain black pearl remained as it pulses with an eerie purple-reddish light before fading in hue, absorbing the energies of the deceased dead before being picked up by an unknown individual.
"Vhiczaur... you were born as an undead and ended up underestimate the living. Your were ignorant, and so were your followers, blindly seeking power when among them was a great weakness. Eventually that weakness was your undoing. You bring shame among the members of Zurrernorn." And Vhiczaur's skull was crushed without resistance from the boot of the individual, before leaving indefinitely into the Forgotten Forest.