Serin Hendall awoke to the sight of a rabbit just beyond her feet that had been ravaged by some sort of animal. In the corner of her vision a notification awaited her notice. Instinctually she willed it open.

Evolution Conditions Met

No Available Evolutions

Racial Restrictions Lifted

She almost wished she hadn't opened up the notification as it simply confused her even more. She instead focused on her surroundings.

Serin found herself in a wooded forest. It was the kind she knew were only in the northern lands. Full of towering coniferous trees, fields of ferns, and dense mossy undergrowth. Too harsh for permanent human settlements it was home to primarily monsters and numerous undiscovered dungeons.

There was a slight flurry of snowflakes that were melting as they hit the ground, but hinted at either winter just beginning or soon ending. She looked up and watched as flakes of snow drifted down to her face. Serin tried to blink as one neared her eyes but her vison remained uninterrupted. She brought her hand to rub her eyes, but what came into view was skeletal digits.

She gasped in surprise. However, she was shocked further at the hoarse, wheezing sound she made instead. With this Serin suddenly became aware that she was not breathing and felt no need to. In such a moment an increased heart rate should have been felt, but she could feel that her heart remained completely still.

More calmly than Serin would have thought possible she came to the realization that she was an undead. She felt no fear over this fact, which she attributed to the nature of undead. Though Serin could not remember how or when, she had died. Serin tried to remember what she was last doing, but her memories were a mess. She supposed dying would do that.

She examined the condition of her body and found it to be in good condition considering the circumstances. It was easy work with her black robe in tattered and torn state. Minor scratches and cuts covered her body, but no obvious wounds explained how she had passed. Leaving her death an ongoing mystery.

Serin noticed she was skinnier and more gaunt than when she was alive. Little more than bones really. Flesh while now a sickly grey still covered her body aside from her right hand. The exposed bones of her right hand seemed charred so she assumed she suffered an attack from a fire spell.

She explored her eyes and found them to be missing. Only empty sockets remained yet she could still see while. A supernatural effect of undeath no doubt.

This lead her to a curiosity of the type of undead she had become. She forced her lungs to take in air and in her new graveled voice, she called out, "Status"

Name: Serin Hendall

Age: 76

Race: Zombie

Class: Night Hag

Level: 1

Skills: Fog of Slumber, Poison, Nightmare, Fear, Paralysis, Curse, Shadow Mockery

Attributes:

Vitality - 19

Strength - 20

Agility -13

Wisdom - 34

Intellect - 54

Serin could only feel mirth that the class she awakened suited her more as a Zombie than it did as a human.

Serin was older than she remembered. By at least five years older. It was then she realized what the notification had meant by restrictions lifted. She had never dealt with he undead, but could now see that this must be the reason it was important to cull Zombies quickly. Given time they will regain their sentience upon evolving.

It was a sobering thought that for nearly five years she had been wandering mindlessly. Attacking anything that she could grab. Relying solely on her physical stats which were poor as a mage type. Serin looked down at the rabbit recognizing the primal destruction as her own work and not some other beast.

Serin looked away form the rabbit and went back to her status. She was surprised to see that her level had been reset while she retained her advanced skills from class upgrades. Another threat the undead brought when left for too long. Her attributes would be monstrous if she leveled back to her previous height.

Which upon examination Serin noticed her stat balance remained mostly the same. However, she had much more strength than she should have. As a matter of fact she could clearly remember that she had never raised that attribute above ten. So she had ten unexplained points in strength, which put her equal terms with some subpar mid rank warriors. As a mage that was an incredible advantage. Perhaps she had not been as defenseless as she imagined wandering around.

With her curiosity sated, Serin wondered what she should do. [Shadow Mockery] only worked out of sunlight, but with it she could easily disguise herself as human. She could return back home. Not that a home awaited her. Her son had estranged himself from Serin. A adventuring life had created an unrepairable division that Serin could never mend

Although, even if she wanted to approach her son Serin didn't know exactly how she died or if it was known that she died. For all she knew she could have been murdered. Suddenly popping up back in place when she should be dead would either have the culprits come finish the job or the church showing up to investigate the suspicions of an undead.

She was thankful for the emotional dimming right now. Without it Serin knew she would surely have been panicking. But instead the effect was allowing her an objective look on her situation.

Which looking at her situation Serin could see her future paths were both incredibly restrictive due to her state, but freeing at the same time. Thankfully her class afforded her options at disguising herself even if it is primarily available at night. So even if she didn't return her old life she could still maintain a form of human life. Or if she wanted she could go adventurers and level again. Starting back at level one excited her.

While some may be obsessed with finding out how they died. Serin was uninterested. She considered that this may be because her memory was still disjointed. However, ultimately this left Serin with many options in front of her with a nearly immortal life. In her seventies she had felt like life was winding down for her. Serin didn't think she would have ever willing chosen to become an undead. However, now that she was she didn't find it displeasing.

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Perhaps that was also an effect of the emotional dimming though, she thought.

Unable to come to a decision Serin simply decided to move. She could figure everything out along the way. The first thing she needed to do was find out where exactly in the north she was.

The second objective would be to find some new clothes. While her robes covered her dignity. She was much too old to be wandering around so immodestly dressed. Her pride wouldn't allow it. At nightfall she would be casting an illusion, but she wanted a permanent solution.

"Also some shoes would be nice." She said aloud to herself still not used to her new hoarse voice as she wiggled her bare toes amongst the cushiony moss. The shoes she was originally wearing surely had worn down to the point the simply fell off with her shambling around for years who knows where.

With that Serin began her journey.

It was only a few hours of walking when the sky began to darken. She was excited as the sun dropped below the tree line and it neared the horizon. Nightfall was finally approaching. Though she could still see an darkening violet sky above the forest was nearly pitch black already.

In the dark Serin first noticed that her vision at night was unimpeded. She could still see clearly. Although, colors had become muted and she viewed with a monotone vison. Another benefit of her new race.

With the last of the light she gleefully cast [Shadow Mockery]. A thick, shadowy fog spread obscuring her form and from head to toe she began returning to her prime. Long healthy locks of dark brown hair draped down her back, bright amber eyes set in her face like gems, skin hale, supple, and free of wrinkles replaced the grim flesh of undeath, and her figure began to curve in all the right places as weight settled on her frame.

With her body restored Serin began directing the fog to manifest a stylish but practical black robe. For her feet she crafted boots to handle the arduous hiking. As a finishing touch she decorated herself with gleaming earrings and rings.

While she was not unnerved by her undead appearance. It still made Serin feel off. It was a similar feeling to as if she was dirty. Using her illusion spell on herself was equivalent to a hot, cleansing bath.

Feeling better as she was away from her tattered state she began conjuring a mount. A greater expense of mana than the trivial illusion changing her appearance, but a worthy expense. A mount would greatly accelerate her travel rate.

Wanting something fearsome enough to ward off potential predators. She drew from imagination and from the fog a nightmarish entity slowly revealed itself. Two scaled antenna reached out flickering in the air before its head reached up out of the fog. Draconic in characteristic but misshapen and elongated unnaturally. At the end of its mouth a pair of menacing mandibles clacked together.

The skills fog cleared and from it the creature was fully exposed. A long thin dragon like body held up by hundreds of thin pointed insectoid legs. Even coiled around itself as it was one could tell it was as long as many of the trees nearby were tall.

Serin had created a Centipede mixed with a dragon. For an illusion it was indistinguishable from a real living creature. Only those with the rare ability of mana sight could determine that it was conjured. Although, maintaining it required nearly 75% of her entire mana pool. Compared to the measly 5% the appearance illusion occupied it was a significant difference.

With a mental command the creature jolted and was uncoiled in the blink of an eye. It had silently scuttled before her and lowered itself to be boarded. There on the center of its scaled back was a groove fit for a person to ride.

Serin climbed up and got comfortable. When she was settled she found herself completely supported in the spot just as she had imagined it to be.

All in all this preparation had taken just a few short minutes. She sent another mental command to her mount and it shot forward. It easily traversed the uneven forest floor with its many legs. Leaving a smooth riding experience for Serin as she watched the scenery blur by.

Serin had been traveling for nearly twenty minutes when the first hurdle of her journey made itself known. It had been less than an hour since the sun had dropped below the tree canopy. It was then that she started to notice that sky never fully darkened past the purple twilight of evening.

Stars should be shining by now, she thought. Serin didn't know what to make of it. However, chalking it off as a curiosity she put it out of mind. Instead she was focused on her next move. She was still undecided on what to do with this new lease on life as she saw it.

Distracted by her thoughts the slowly brightening sky went unnoticed. Its color went from violet to a fiery orange.

Then suddenly from the tree canopy a single ray of sunlight breached through and landed upon her mount. In blast of shadowy fog it instantly disintegrated. This left Serin shocked as she flew forward midair with the leftover momentum.

Serin was surprised but remained completely calm. She carefully watched her trajectory and quickly conjured something to catch herself. Without much time to put in detail a primitive fleshy tendril exploded out from the darkness of the forest floor and wrapped around her. With herself secured she was safely lowered to the ground.

She looked up and watched as more and more rays of sunlight shined through the trees. It wasn't long before light landed on her. In a puff of fog her illusion was broke and she returned to her true undead appearance. With annoyance she saw the sky transition from orange to blue. A few more minutes and the sun was now back up into the sky.

Serin had heard of this phenomenon before long ago. She was told that there are places in the north where day reigns for a season by an adventurer she had partied with. At the time she thought it was an exaggerated story. Yet here she was witnessing the sun rising back up and she was now certain it would do same the again. Night would not come. Not for a long time.

It was simultaneously a wonderous thing to witness and incredibly troubling. Beyond just her pride being affected during this time. She was categorically stronger during the night in darkness. Creating illusions was an integral part of Serin's arsenal. She could fight without [Shadow Mockery], but it would be far more difficult to entirely impossible if the monster had high resistance to status effects.

As such Serin was put into survival mode. She had been relaxed to this point as an undead she had many advantage in travelling. Undead possessed endless stamina. Even after all these hours of hiking through dense jungle she was not tired. They didn't need to drink, breathe, or sleep either. While she needed to eat it was far less frequently than as needed to it as a human. To what extent she would eventually find out.

She was telling herself that she had survived these lands as a mindless zombie for years. However, it did nothing to reassure her. She began searching for something to use as a weapon. If it came down to a fight she could not win or flee. Serin would have to hope that her new found strength boost would be enough to handle what came.

Serin could only find a sturdy branch with a point. She peeled some bark off it to make the point somewhat sharper. It was the best she could do without anything to properly shape it.

With 20 strength she was sure she could at least do some damage with it. Which is all she would need to be able to do as she started casting [Poison] on the make shift spear. Her mana began to infuse the weapon and Serin focused on adding a crippling effect to hinder the muscles of her enemies. Once that was effectively applied she attempted to add one more.

When applying any magic to a weapon its quality mattered and she was working with the bare minimum to even qualify as a weapon. The next effect she wanted to add was a minor mind clouding poison that would leave those afflicted more vulnerable to her other skills. The wood of the branch swelled as it was pushed to its limits. However, it thankfully settled and the skill was applied successfully.

It wasn't much, but with her branch now dyed a sickly green at its point in hand she resumed her trek. Readied for whatever may come.