Chapter 91

When the battle was over, Mellis stood up from the floor, breaking the connection with the curse, silently wiping away a few tears that had accumulated. With a heavy sigh, Mellis tried to shake off the fatigue from using the [Legendary] skill and calm her mind.

As much as she wanted revenge, she couldn't accept what had happened. The emotions she had gleaned from the people she had killed were seriously affecting her. More and more, she began to think that all of this was unnecessary cruelty, for which she hated the Beastman Republic.

She scolded herself for it, knowing that she would have to carry the burden of killing thousands of innocents for the rest of her life, but what was even worse was remembering their emotions at that very moment. Clenching her fists and teeth tightly, Mellis steeled herself, she wanted revenge, and that was it. She got what she wanted and it was worth all the deaths.

The Republic would not take lightly the fact that a city with over a million people was completely destroyed and the owner of the [Epic] class was killed. This deserved harsh measures on their part, and most importantly, an investigation that would reveal where she was able to get so much negative energy and how it all started.

So Mellis hastened to call the curse upon her, sending it a thought, a weak burst of cursed energy.

She had long ago collected everything she could need from home and went outside. Behind her house, 50 meters away, there was a solid black wall of fog, Mellis reached out and squeezed her hand. The poisonous fog easily obeyed her will, but it was deadly for her. Therefore, she was determined not to let it touch her.

Waiting for the curse, she learned to manipulate it so that it would flow smoothly around her body. After 10 minutes, she decided that she could handle it, and just then a huge wolf emerged from the fog. It was 20 meters high and 40 meters long, with many rotten wounds. Its multiple eyes looked at her with some kind of desire, but she could not understand it.

After examining the wolf once more, Mellis ordered it to shrink to 2 meters in height. It sank to the ground and its body began to twitch convulsively, deforming. The eyes on its head began to spread, turning into slime. After a while, the wolf's body completely froze.

After a few minutes, with a disgusting squelching sound, the rotten mouth opened and a 2 meter wolf came out. It looked just like its larger version, but the human eyes had shrunk and turned into something that no longer resembled them. They were large spheres with many multi-colored dots forming a sharp pupil.

Silently approaching the wolf, Mellis threw a rope around its neck and tied it without touching the monster. Taking the end of the rope in her hand, Mellis entered the poisonous fog, not letting it get close to her.

She was in a hurry to leave the city before more Republic warriors arrived to tear her apart. Mellis was sure she wouldn't stand a chance this time.

***

A few hours later, Mellis emerged from the fog and found herself in a dense green forest. It was deathly silent, the birds did not sing, the insects did not move, and even the wind was not felt. Not paying attention to this, Mellis continued walking as fast as she could. Going deeper into the forest, she did not know what to look for, did not know what her life would be like now and how long she would be able to live. But she knew that she needed to leave the city as quickly as possible.

After a few more hours, Mellis couldn't walk anymore. Her stamina was dangerously close to zero. Even the maximum 200 Lvl in her race couldn't save her body. She had received +180 stats in all physical stats, but severe exhaustion made it insignificant. Her body was too fragile due to malnutrition for the past half year, and her emotional state was also making itself felt.

Tears streamed down Mellis's cheeks and she fell to her knees. The wolf growled anxiously, but did not approach her, but only lightly tugged at the leash in her hands.

Mellis thought that right now she would meet her mother and father. She wanted to see them again and tell them how much she loved them. She could imagine it, how good everything would be...

But she still didn't want to die, at least not like this. Having made up her mind, Mellis poured the cursed energy into her body and began to manipulate it. She rose from her knees, her movements became lighter and faster, but she felt that this could not continue for long. She could not explain it, but she felt that with each passing second the consequences would only get worse for her. So she clutched the rope in her hands tighter and ran with all her might.

An hour later, Mellis stopped, feeling something in the forest. The forest seemed to come alive, birds could be heard, albeit at a great distance. The wind began to sway the dense foliage, pleasantly blowing on her body. Not understanding what was happening, Mellis turned around, looking at the curse.

The wolf raised his head, his nose twitching, and his pair of sharp pupils split into several, intently examining the forest. He, too, felt that something was wrong.

Mellis slowed her pace, walking slowly through the forest. She still couldn't figure out what exactly had changed recently. Deciding to try something new, Mellis listened to her skills. The new skill [Sharp Instinct] didn't give any warnings, [Black World Aura] couldn't find anything either. Expanding her aura as much as possible, Mellis found something interesting, a person. He was calmly walking towards her, unaware that she was there.

Mellis tilted her head, trying to feel his emotions, he was wary, but not afraid of the forest. His thoughts were busy, the structure of some music on the flute. He mentally sorted through the sounds and notes, composing the music and simultaneously examining the forest for dangers.

Mellis found it interesting, she didn't feel any negative feelings from him, he was a very ordinary person.

"Don't kill him, I want to talk to him." She turned to the wolf, to which he growled quietly, expressing his displeasure.

Ignoring him, Mellis walked towards the man. She was genuinely curious about what he looked like. Although she could sense creatures and read the thoughts of ordinary people, she could not see what they looked like.

Five minutes later, Mellis stopped in a small clearing, waiting for the man to come out to her. Meanwhile, the wolf was restlessly walking around her, growling quietly.

The man came out from behind the bushes and saw them. At first Mellis read confusion in his mind when he saw her, and then he saw the wolf and froze in place from extreme fear. His thoughts were spinning, going over the options for escape and after a few excruciatingly long seconds, he realized that there was no point in running, the wolf would catch up with him. So he stayed where he was, not moving.

Mellis allowed herself a small smile, despite everything. It was the first time she had seen a real person. He was dressed in dark green leather armor, visible through a cloak of the same color. He had a backpack on his back, a sword on his belt, and a leather case over one shoulder, which she assumed was for a flute. He looked to be in his early 30s, his face was quite handsome, with a lot of charisma, his brown eyes and black hair matched his style well.

Having assessed it, Mellis was left confused.

Name: Richard Durrell, 125 years old

Race: Human [Uncommon] Lvl 161

Class: Wandering Bard [Uncommon] Lvl 200

Class: Traveler [Uncommon] Lvl 179

Mellis couldn't believe that someone so weak would travel through the wild forest alone. After checking his thoughts again and delving deeper into his spirit, she found nothing else. Mellis had actually seen this man skillfully hide from beasts and run away from them. Occasionally using a sword, but most often the poisoned crossbow in his cloak. By concentrating her aura on him, she even found several bottles of poison, and several spell crystals from level 1 to 3.

"That's interesting. Come here Richard!" Mellis said loudly. The bard didn't want to go to her at all, but after the wolf growled, he slowly walked towards her, stopping 15 meters away.

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Looking at him, Mellis continued to read thoughts and look into memories. Bard, without a doubt, was the most ordinary person, having finally decided what to do with him, Mellis spoke.

***

A young man walked through the forest wearing ordinary dark green leather armor, which was visible through the same color cloak on his shoulders. He had a slender build, just under six feet, with a pleasant calm appearance, black hair and brown eyes. On his back he carried a small backpack with provisions, along with an old flute case, which easily gave him away as a wandering Bard. Contrary to his peaceful and sensitive nature, he carried a sword on his belt, of course he did not know how to wield a sword, but he believed that it could be useful to him.

Richard Durrell loved to travel slowly, each time he did it differently, sometimes he climbed into a caravan like a mouse, sometimes he traveled in a noisy company as a bard, and sometimes as now he traveled alone through a dangerous forest full of animals, monsters and possibly robbers. He loved to feel something new, have new thoughts and be surprised by coincidences. This is what added charm and soul to his music.

Of course, he had an important mission to meet with high-ranking people in the republic, along with several Masters, but he was still in no hurry. He valued life, peace, tranquility, he looked for something in it that he wanted to sing about to people, sharing joy and hope. If he were constantly in a hurry, he would never have time, which he constantly reminded himself of.

While passing through several cities on the border of the Beastman Republic and the Holy Kingdom, Richard noticed that there was unrest and that there was not much food. In this part of the world, all the cities suffered from the same problem, slavery and famine. Although he could not affect the slavery, he could affect the famine problem by telling a few members of the senate, or other influential people in a meeting. This would greatly show how good of a people they were and how seriously they took him as a Bard.

Walking through the forest, Richard couldn't help but enjoy the melody of life around him, it sounded so nice and calming. Tall trees with green leaves, a canopy of thick grass and wild flowers, it was so colorful. It would seem that he could wish for nothing more now, but the further he walked, the more he felt that the melody around him was distorted. It was not noticeable to anyone else, in the middle of a quiet forest, but he heard it. There was a feeling that something was influencing this rhythm and over time he realized that there was a cursed one in the forest.

Richard quickened his pace and grabbed the regular sword on his belt with his right hand, it was immediately picked up by a strong wind and flew at incredible speed. Only his mastery of magic hid the noise and wind from breaking the sound barrier multiple times. Maneuvering between the trees and hills, Richard made sure to remain as invisible as possible, so that the damned would not see or hear him approaching. After a few hundred kilometers, Richard assessed the strength of the damned, to his ears it was twofold. But what he could say with certainty was that it was at least [Special] level.

Unknown, or maybe a new [Special] level curse with a [Legendary] twist, I should try to quickly destroy it before it gains strength.

Richard thought as he got closer and closer, after 10 minutes he was able to pinpoint its location and hear the sound of two creatures, which surprised him greatly. Few could just stand in the presence of such a curse. Slowing down, Richard focused more on stealth and completely disappeared from perception in any way. Thanks to one of his spiritual abilities, he could change how other people saw him and erase his traces from the environment, how well he could do this was largely absurd due to the high statistics of charisma and willpower.

Flying up to one of the tallest trees, Richard was able to see who and what he was feeling. And to be honest, he couldn't believe his eyes. A little beast girl in rags was walking through the forest, holding a long rope in her hands that was dragging along the ground and was tied to the neck of a 2 meter Wolf. The body of the curse resembled an ugly, monster-like wolf, with missing fur and a bunch of rotten, unhealed wounds. Its eyes were too big for its body and had a very strange appearance. Looking further, he realized that they were hundreds, if not thousands of beastman eyes changed into two nightmarish eyes of the curse.

It feels like thousands of creatures are watching at once, hmm... He has an unstable composite soul, made up of the souls of the dead. And his body, in addition to the colossal amount of cursed energy, also accumulates the energy of the undead. If things continue like this, he will become even stronger, with his own body...

But he's not even the main one, this girl, Mellis Eridar, she's a cursed [Legendary] level... The amount of cursed spirit that she exudes is simply colossal and her soul, I've only seen something like this a few times, I have no right to make a mistake.

Richard thought and stepped out of the tree, a few seconds of falling and he landed silently, without inertia, on the ground, not leaving even a trace. Having decided what he was going to do, he went to meet the girl and the curse. It took him a few minutes to get out of the thicket to her. Having thoroughly changed their perception, Richard pretended to be an ordinary person.

When Mellis and the curse noticed him, Richard was convinced that they had been deceived. He played the victim, standing in utter fear. Mellis had been reading his thoughts and history the entire time, but it was all just his imagination.

"That's interesting. Come here Richard!" Mellis said, to which Richard pretended to be scared and only after growling a curse, came up to her.

He stood 15 meters away from her, looking into her soul and assessing her skills while she contemplated whether to kill him or not.

Assessing her, Richard saw her curse. Because of it, her personality became unstable, the many negative emotions that she absorbed made her cruel and almost indifferent to the grief of others. At the same time, her soul, on the contrary, was strong.

Looking at her further, Richard saw that Mellis had lived a terrible life. She lost her parents and destroyed the city in revenge. She was even able to kill an Executor, using [Legendary] skill, a weak one, but still an Executor.

Mellis opened her mouth to speak. At that moment, Richard realized what was wrong with her soul. He could see her fourth [Legendary] title - [Otherworldly Reincarnator]. His eyes widened in shock, in an instant he realized that this was fate, such a coincidence was simply unbelievable.

"Our meeting was dictated by fate itself!" Richard said loudly, not believing his luck and took a step forward.

Mellis took a step back at his strange behavior, and the curse prepared to attack and tear him apart. With a polite smile on his face, Richard raised his hands, stopping them.

"Sorry, I didn't expect you to be a Reincarnator, but that explains a lot."

His words made the hair on Mellis' head stand on end and she let out a sharp hiss, quickly hiding behind the loudly growling wolf. Mellis raised her hand, about to give the command to tear him apart, but at the last moment she changed her mind.

"Wait, how do you know I'm a Reincarnator?" She said loudly, trying to sort out her feelings.

Richard nodded with pleasure at her words and hastened to explain.

"I saw it in your soul. You are one of the Reincarnators who ended up in this world."

"You mean that people from my planet were reincarnated here too?" Mellis asked, with many different emotions in her voice. She wanted to see, to communicate with someone else from her world, she wanted to make real friends, she wanted someone to pity her. At that moment, she preferred not to think about how much blood was on her hands.

"That's right, they exist and I've met 5, but there are more, maybe 15 people. What's strange is your age, they are all 3-6 years older than you."

Mellis was stunned by his words, still lost in her thoughts, while Richard continued.

"Reincarnators are very important for the World, they were called by the gods of our pantheon to save it from demons."

The last words made Mellis's thoughts spin faster. She thought that reincarnation was an accident, that telling about it was never a way out. But now she heard something different, she had a real chance to change everything. If she had decided to trust her parents with her secrets, everything could have turned out differently. Mellis covered her face with her hands, fell to her knees and began to cry loudly and desperately. It was incredibly painful for her, she could have saved them, she had a chance, but she did not do it...

Richard watched as Mellis fell to her knees and began to cry bitterly. He shook his head in disappointment, all the damned experienced something in their lives one way or another. Richard took a step forward and the curse growled at him, it came closer and covered the girl with its body, but did not come close to her. Raising his hands in front of him, Richard showed a peace sign and began to sing an old song using his magic.

The song was about grief and regret, about unbearable feelings that eat you up from the inside and don't let you live on. The next verse was about forgiveness, that everyone she blamed herself for wouldn't want that. The song made her ask herself if she was really to blame for everything and said that the dead didn't think so. They wanted her to live on, since she got a chance, to forgave herself for everything. The last verse was about what she could have changed, did she really think she wanted what had caused her so much pain to continue, she had a chance to start a new life and change everything, was she really going to miss him?

Richard's magic was strong, especially in this vein. He managed to convey all the emotions and thoughts, push her to the right thoughts and most importantly ease her suffering. It even made him feel better. Watching her soul burn brought him a surprising amount of pain.

After 15 minutes, Richard finished singing and using magic. Mellis sat on the ground for a while, but later stood up, collecting her thoughts. Now her look was no longer so lost and desperate, she felt better, but the pain did not go away.

She wiped her tears with her torn clothes and expanded her aura, enveloping the bard in it. Deciding that she could sort herself out later, she focused her attention on Richard. His thoughts were still easy to see, she found memories of him using similar magic. There were no discrepancies.

During his song, Mellis felt better, it was a great skill that she compared to at least [Rare] level class. That's why she began to suspect that Richard was hiding his level, his magic was too strong.

"Thanks for that, you live up to the bard class, but you're not [Uncommon] level, right?" Mellis said as she prepared for battle.

"That's right, I..." Richard said with a soft smile and stopped mid-sentence. He felt something.