Noah stood alongside the skeleton warrior, facing one of the slain insectoid monsters. He wasn't very chatty, but the presence of the fallen warrior brought Noah some comfort. On the other hand, the notion of raising another 'minion' left Noah feeling uneasy, since the first attempt had caused him to pass out.
'I felt awful, back then, though. I feel much better now. Good even, kinda...'
"You'll see, I'll raise an entire army of you guys!"
Noah spoke to his skeletal companion though his words served more to reassure himself.
'What did I say back then? Oh, right...'
Clearing his throat, Noah began to shout, while fixing his gaze at the insectoid monster corpse.
"Rise! I command you to rise and protect me!"
The slain creature was enveloped in a swirling green mist, lifting it slightly off the ground. Yet, the mist dissipated, and the monster returned to rest on the worn marble floor.
"Hmmm..."
Two more attempts to raise the monster proved futile.
Noah looked at his skeletal companion. 'Maybe I can only raise human corpses?'
"Skeleton, make sure you stay close to me."
Noah examined the ancient hall, searching for a corpse that stands out. His gaze settled on a warrior's skeleton, its hand clutching a dagger embedded in the skull of a monster.
'This guy went down swinging...'
"Rise! I command you to rise and protect me!"
The result, however, was the same as with the insectoid monster. Green mist began to envelope the skeleton, lifting it slightly before dispersing. Two more attempts yielded the same result.
'Huh... I guess I'm not strong enough for more than one minion?'
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Noah had no idea, however, how the Touched grew stronger.
"Looks like it's just you and me..."
Noah patted the back of the skeleton warrior, his hand resting on its plate armor. Upon closer inspection, Noah noticed that the armor had once been ornate, but now its details were obscured by the ravages of time.
"I wonder who you were?"
'Who would've thought, huh? Centuries after your final battle, here you are, protecting a guy from another world...'
"Thanks, skeleton."
Noah studied the fallen warrior, who remained unmoving. Only its empty eye sockets glimmered in a sickly green light.
'I guess it would be weird to keep saying "skeleton" all the time.'
"I think you look like a Steve." Noah nodded. "Yep, it's you and me against the world, Steve."
Steve didn't appear to have any objections.
'I have to find a way back to the surface and locate water, I'm so thirsty.'
Noah walked along the massive hall, inspecting every nook and cranny, with Steve marching close behind, like a bodyguard. The hall was dark, and Noah's visibility was limited to the beam of his omni device's flashlight.
'What's this?'
The central wall was adorned with an intricate bas-relief, depicting some sort of scene. At the base, a bustling crowd filled the space, while above them stood eight imposing and shrouded figures with auras around their heads. Dominating the composition, above all, was a woman, her outstretched arms welcoming the viewers into her embrace.
'Were those the leaders of the people of the other world? Or perhaps their deities.'
Noah proceeded along the wall until he caught sight of blue light seeping through cracks in the stone.
"Steve, can you knock down that wall? I think there's a passage behind it."
Approaching the wall, the fallen warrior lifted a greave wearing skeletal leg and delivered a powerful kick, shattering the bricks outward and unveiling a cave passage illuminated by the same luminescent flora Noah had encountered before.
"You're awesome, Steve!" Noah looked at his skeletal companion, thinking for a moment. "...I'm sorry if I made you destroy a part of the place you died protecting... I had no choice."
Steve did not react.
Noah switched off his omni device's flashlight as the pair ventured down the newly revealed passage. They continued advancing slowly for some time. The clanking of Steve's plate armor against his bones was unsettling Noah, though eventually boredom had taken over his anxiety.
'How long is this tunnel...?'
For two hours, they walked, providing Noah with enough time to notice his appearance. His blue buttoned shirt was torn, bloodstained, and dirty, while his brown pants, now darkened with grime, concealed a rather unsavory stain.
'I'll never eat kebab again.'
The sound of muffled digging jolted Noah out of his thoughts, freezing him in his tracks. Suddenly, a section of the cave collapsed, and a hulking creature emerged from the debris.
"Steve!" Noah ran behind his skeletal companion.
The creature resembled a humanoid beetle, towering over Noah and Steve with its thick carapace, four menacing eyes, and razor-sharp claws. Its giant mandibles clicked open and shut as it assessed the intruders.