Victor had lay restless all night. Shifting from slumber to being awoken again. It was easier to sleep as a sludge of pure goo. he might honestly miss that feeling, but now here he was being bogged down by excessive limbs.

He had watched the stars all night, thinking about home and how he would fix his life, if he went. That’s if he was able to go back. This world seemed to be largely untamed, but nothing so far has given inner joy other than consuming things.

Faelion was going to drag him into a war, which he honestly could ignore. But he did agree to it, and the necromancer who had spied on him like some sick pervert did annoy the fuck out of him. Aelit, the girl whose life had attempted to save in the cave would not breathe a word to him, which was fair all things considered, as she returned the Favor.

He needed a place to settle down for a while. This ‘trekking’ is not going to cut it. He’d want a home of his own at least, the cabin was now out of the question.

As he rustled from side to side, he could hear footsteps slowly approaching his tent vicinity of the tent. It wasn’t Faelion’s as he would have called out to him by now, and his footsteps moved at a different pace. The wizard had no etiquette sometimes. It wasn’t Aelit’s either she had a smaller frame, he would know the difference. This was a rugged man. And he was carrying something.

He summoned all two arm additional limbs he could muster, four arms sprouted underneath his normal two and waited inside the tent.

Ping Ping! Limb Manipulation has leveled up (lvl6)

There was a sharp and tingling sensation going to his jelly-like body. He could now summon another and so he did. A giant fleshy tentacle came out of his back. He was ready to strike whoever it was, just in case this person had some kind of ill intent.

A rugged face stuck itself into the tent flap, his eyes bulging out in fright and his mouth wide open. Came face to face with hulking Victor, four arms ready to throw hands, and an appendage that was ready to slap and do devious things.

“Victor what the hell…”

It was Magnar, being nosy again it seemed. Victor shook his head, the man had no regard for other’s privacy it seemed.

“Uhh, Faelion is looking for you,” he said with hesitation. “It seems you’ve changed again, you’ve become something else.”

He knew they were to go early but damn was it early. Victor looked up in the sky, the Sun had barely stuck out its light and they would be away not shortly after.

“Yep, indeed one step closer, to being a man again,” He did his best attempt to smile, which may have come close to being creepy. “Speaking of something else, did you sell those boar skins yet.”

“No…the harvester is full of crock, said he’d only work on it if it served a purpose, said the skin was magical or something. But no worries I’ll get some coin from him.”

“No pressure, Magnar. Though if he able to make something useful with the skin?”

“Uhh…, you don’t want the coin anymore.”

“No, if the skin is magical the properties would probably be beneficial in battle.”

“Well I suppose I should get going.” he collapsed the tent in a fell swoop. And made to repackage it again. “Are you generally up this early?”

“Depends on the shift, you know Victor after you took down that beast, my men have been driven to be inspired by you. I’ll take a page from your book and start training to become stronger. Thank you for listening to my request, the day before yesterday.”

“No worries. Just don’t skip leg day ” he commented. While looking at the burly man’s skinny legs.

Magnar laughed it off.

Good for him, Victor supposed and it seemed his demeanor had changed as well. He was less snarky than usual, or perhaps that was because it was early morning.

The man walked off, and he made sure to pack up the tent. He took it to the barracks and returned it there, making his way to the center of the town. Which was quiet for once. At least no one will give him unusual stares this early in the morning. The streets were barely lit up, there were lights and oil lamps in use.

He wondered how long it would remain this way, with all the interloper’s meddling.

There he saw means of transportation. A stagecoach that seemed to be as ancient as the elderly man standing next to it. Its wheels seemed to be barely attached to the wooden hull of the vehicle, two horses stood in the front, each as black as the night and unusual red eyes.

The wizard stood there, and an elderly hunched-over man was speaking to him. Though he couldn’t see him properly from here here

Our driver. He assumed

He approached them. Both of them turned their attention towards him. Their coach driver’s face was deformed and looked like it was on the verge of splitting into two. The skin attached is discolored from its normal pigment, greenish and resembling a cube cut. He seemed very much like Doctor Frankenstein’s monster had turned old and and a new leaf.

Freaky face

“Finally…if we don't have pressing emergencies, we should take off immediately. The sooner this threat is dealt with, the better. If you need to take a leak or something.”

He didn’t pee. He didn’t need to. What he wanted was a good meal, but that could wait for later.

“Here.” The wizard held out a piece of clothing. “It has a magical edge to it, you should wear it. After the miracle you performed yesterday, I fugure we should jump-start your journey.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Victor took it from his hands. A cloak or a cape. He inspected it.

Analysis skill:

Apprentices cloak

Slightly boosts mana and intelligence

+10 mana and 5 INT

Interesting he could slightly boost his intelligence stat with this. Instead being able to dump stats. He supposed it made up for the miner’s cap he can’t seem to find.

As he touched it, very tiny electrical sparks seemed to dance from it.

He equipped it.

“Also here,” he handed over his sword. Gladius Ignis. “You are a cursed man, Victor, are you aware that you are being haunted.”

“I wouldn’t call it a haunting.”

“My, my aren’t you a strange fellow.” The old man told Victor. He took a good look at the man. He had a crooked twisty nose, and one eye seemed to be larger than the other. He wondered what physical trauma he went through. That left him that scarred.

“Likewise, Mr…?”

“Grimthorn….. And you must be Victor.” he did a polite bow.

And Victor did his best to imitate the gesture.

“Shall we then, we’re racing against time here, every minute we wait, is a minute that undead fool raises another body.” The wizard proclaimed.

The old man got on the front seat, The horses stared at Victor very uncomfortably. Very silent, likely marking him as a predator of sorts. If it was him from a few days ago, they’d had a valid reason. Now that didn’t feel like a bottomless stomach. These horses had nothing to fear from him.

He followed Faelion to the back of the stagecoach, climbing inside of it. It was awfully cramped.

There in the dark, sat a petite red-haired girl, with a robe that was probably too big to fit for her. Arms crossed, and a fowl scowl still on her face. She hardly looked in his direction. A dim oil lamp lit the compartment.

He did his best to make himself comfortable, squeezed in and all. She had made an effort to sit as far away as possible from him. Moving to the other end opposite of him. He closed the side door they had entered from.

“Yah!” The driver shouted. The stagecoach set into motion and the horses started neighing, slowly galloping on to their destination. He could hear the wheels creaking underneath.

There was an awkward silence in the air. He could sit alone with Faelion for hours without a word, The female factor made it horribly awkward.

“So… You sure this brittle wood bucket can handle the road.” he directed his question at Faelion.

“I assure you, I have traveled with Grimthorn for…” he was cut off from a shout to the front.

“If you don’t want to drive in a wood bucket Mr. Victor you always walk your way there. Of course one of us will get sooner there than the other.”

He was quiet at that remark. But with the burning fire that was awkwardness instilled in him, he decided to make more conversation.

“So boss…where are going exactly, how long will this trip take, and what's our gameplan.”

“Boss, that’s a new one,” The wizard exclaimed. “ It’s simple, We break into his tomb, we break his phylactery.”

Aelit snorted. “I doubt it will be that simple. You want us to break into a dead archmage's tomb, that is bound with death magic and probably booby-trapped to the hells.”

“I said it was simple not that it was easy, every action has a reaction and every force has one that counters it, Cenere is an old fool, who couldn’t accept his own death and retirement. A visit to his phylactery and he will panic and that will be it.”

Doubtful, they would need to get through an army of flesh and bones.

“And what makes you think, his phylactery will be so easy to find. Don’t liches hide in some obscure spot.”

“Fair point,” The druid girl said.

“Aha, but I know where he hides it his arrogance here will be his downfall.”

“Where exactly does he keep it?

“On that skull knight he likes to prance around,” Faelion yawned, and lay back on the seat of the stagecoach, leaning with his side on the window. “If you’ don’t mind I’ll be taking a very long nap, we should be there in a few hours.”

Victor was annoyed, he let them wake up early, just so he could take a nap. It seemed a bit rude to leave him alone with the girl, in a cramped compartment

“Father!” he heard outside a window on a passing street.

It was his daughter and Faro, jumping up and down and waving them off. The dog barked as if he was communicating something. Victor stuck out his elongated hands, stuck it out, and waved for them.

He looked to Faelion to see if he would say bye to his kin. But the wizard was already fast asleep.

So fast.

The dog ran after the stagecoach, he stuck out his arm, and it bit him.

-2Hp

“What the hell, Faro!”

The dog retreated, he wondered what the hell that was about. Did he not recognize him in this form, or was that some kind of ‘fuck you’ for chasing away the night before yesterday?

whatever

The stagecoach started speeding up, he could no longer see the two behind him. They were taking off, nearly passing the village gates.

“What did you do to the poor dog,” Aelit asked him curiously.

“I didn’t do a thing, he’s angry for some poor reason.”

‘Hmmm…”

Then there was thick silence again, only the sounds of the moving vehicle, and the horses galloping. He didn’t know if he should go to sleep as well. She had a book with her that she was reading. All in all, he was very uncomfortable socially it seemed.

The wizard started snoring in his obnoxious snoring in his sleep.”

“What a sound for healthy ears.” she mocked and plopped her book closed.

“You don’t snore in your sleep,” he asked.

“Do you slime man?”

“I’ve told you before it’s Victor, and no… I wonder.. Perhaps I should go to sleep right and you can tell me when I wake up.”

“Please don’t,” She gave him an iciest glare. “I know what you are Victor, you and that man sleeping there.”

This conversation sounded like it was headed in the wrong direction, the tone in her words.

“Oh.”

“Yes, I will be honest…I do not like you, I realize I may slightly be in your debt, you were the thing that kept the other slimy things off me weren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“But it’s because of people like you and him, that my tribal land was razed to the ground, ‘interlopers.’ you do not belong here and yet you have been popping up everywhere for the last hundred years.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. Hoping that an apology from him would be a start to make amends.

“No, you don’t need to be. It wasn’t you after all that did it. All I’m saying is, I see right through you two, I know what reincarnated monsters like you need to survive. I know what happened in that cave. I don’t trust you.”

Now he was genuinely silent, he didn’t know what to say. She had lost a lot it seemed, it made sense why she would hate interlopers.

“Is there any way I can broker peace between us?”

“Just keep your distance… Once this little dungeon raid is over, I’ll be going my merry way. I don’t want to be dragged into your holier-than-thou wars and hunts and quests and stuff”

She sighed.

They had passed into the forest for a while now. Victor was thinking about what he would do after this lich attack, would he stay or leave like she did? Maybe stay awhile to learn a bit of magic, then seek out those damned men of the wastes.

She was locked onto one of the books she was reading. It was titled. History of the planet Earth Centuries 15 to 20th. Where the hell did Faelion find those?

He could understand why she would be locked in. the history of another world in the palm of your hand. He’d read the fuck out of it too.

The thick silence was broken by a nasty screech, he looked out the window. There up in the air, a Massive beast was circling the stagecoach. An Eagles, head and wings, and lion's mane.

She stuck out her head next to him.

“Is that the fucker who chased you, a few days ago.”

“Yes… How do you know about that!”

She started tearing her hands into her hair.

“We’re fucked.”

He shook Faelion aggressively, attempting to wake him.

“What is it? Victor can’t man have his sleep.”

“Angry griffon outside.”

The man rambled on.

“Why can’t you deal with it.”

The stagecoach came to a stop.