Sharp air prickling his skin, loose soil depressing due to his weight, the familiar environment invigorated his cells as the urge to power up occupied his mind.
But an almost non-existent delicate prick snapped him out of his thoughts as the link reestablished itself. Yes, the link which bound him to his first undead, the goblin.
Due to the time here being put on halt barely a second after he had been well, kicked out of the world, the surroundings were the same and the goblin’s corpse was still out cold on the ground. But now that the link between them had been reconnected, just like the first time, the corpse twitched before it slowly sat up and looked at him in confusion.
It was valid. According to the goblin’s memory, he suddenly vanished and the link broke, and now apparently instantly he was there again. But he didn’t plan to explain anything for now, he just mentally commanded the goblin to tell him what it was going to, while on the other hand he asked the system about how long he could stay here this time.
[Detected host to be at level 1, eligible to stay for a day.]
“Uh yes, for the settlements, there are three in a radius of five kilometers. One of them is where I belong. I was sent out for a scouting mission to see if the fight has ended and to end any leftover soldiers if possible. We just want them to leave this goddamn place alone. And yea, there are three squads of scouts sent this time as rumors have it that they are finally leaving. If we can find and hopefully kill all of them in one go, we’ll get huge benefits and can finally go back to live in peace.”
“Did a world collision take place?”
“Yes. it’s the fourth day of resource week.”
“Are we on a resource planet then?”
“Unfortunately yes, some of our kind made a mistake which the entire race has to pay for. Fortunately the higher ups of our alliance have still stationed the guards who should be here in no time. If we can kill enemies of the other world and present it to them we’ll get hefty rewards.”
“Where are the enemies? And who did they kill?”
“I don’t know where the enemies are, they killed the royal army which was stationed on the planet and fled somewhere.”
Inwardly grumbling, Laurent thought, ‘Royal army? Is it the ruler of this world? Best to leave this place right away, people should soon be coming to investigate this place.’
“Do you know how to leave this planet?”
“Yea, the royal army controls a teleporter and it's the only way common people can enter or leave this planet.”
Accurately grasping the word, he repeated,
“Common? Is there a way for awakeners and higher tiers to leave?”
The goblin looked at his necromancer for a few seconds, where Laurent truly felt as if the undead was judging him, or perhaps even showing contempt, before he opened his mouth,
“Why would the higher tiers need a teleporter? They can just fly in.”
At that moment Laurent was truly speechless, it seemed that their definitions of ‘common people’ were quite different, he had forgotten it wasn’t his world. After the Great Awakening, in his world even awakeners were paid attention to and tier 2 and 3 were given special privileges.
Not willing to stay hung up on the fact, he asked his undead if there was any way for him to use the teleporter.
“Yes, you can form an identity in the nearest settlement. The royal army doesn’t restrict other races from leaving the planet, some people even come to tour the different places here so they don’t bother enhancing the security measures.”
“Will your identity as a scout make things easier?”
“Yes.”
After a moment of thought, he ordered the goblin to lead the way towards the nearest settlement.
Surveying his physique with mana, he attempted to find something while he kept moving while looking around. When he finally felt his mana come in contact with something unfamiliar, he stopped and diverted his attention to carefully probe it.
With memories related to necromancers resurfacing in his mind, he knew this was the ‘spectral vault’, where necromancers kept their summons, as compared to the ‘feral nexus’ of beastmasters.
Closing his eyes to focus on the illusory thread-like link, he could see it connected the undead to this space near his navel. It didn’t interfere with the organs near the area as it seemed to exist in a different space.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Laurent didn’t plan to withdraw his summon though, his thoughts still emerging one by one while he walked at an above average speed to keep up with his undead’s long strides, future plans were formed and discarded continuously as he kept deliberating on his next course of action. In a foreign world which was infinitely more dangerous than his, one wrong step could very well end his second shot at life before he even began his journey.
After about an half an hour or so of walking, Laurent could see a few buildings and other strange looking establishments from atop the tree he climbed to confirm his undead’s route. The red sky was beginning to take a darker shade as his surroundings seemed to get more obscured as time passed by.
As the evening set in, it became evident that nightfall was approaching, as the establishments up ahead shimmered with a captivating array of illuminated areas visible even amongst the dense forest.
But it was a lot farther than he had thought, it took him a full hour just to finally approach the place from where he had spotted it. The dense expanse of trees around him served for a good cover as he looked at the establishment up close. A feeling of unease crawled upon the back of his mind as he saw the structures of buildings. They didn’t look like living quarters at all. They closely resembled the inhumane concentration camps in his memory when he read about them in history classes.
Yes. A concentration camp.
From the side at which he was approaching from, a gate made of intercrossed metal wires stood with two tall watchtowers on its both sides. Connecting on the other side of watchtowers were barbed wire fences, due to the increasing obscurity, he could only see them being further connected to tower shaped buildings but thinner and smaller than the watchtower, probably a checkpoint.
Was that all it took for him to conclude it as a concentration camp? No. As he surveyed the surroundings of the camp, his eyes beheld a distressing scene. Adjacent to the camp's confines, numerous parcels of land stretched out, being toiled upon by a multitude of frail, pale goblins, consisting of even children as young as 10 to 13 years of human age, their gaunt frames indicative of their suffering. Feeble, trembling arms strained to wield worn-out hoes as they brought it down, scarcely able to break the soil's surface. Regrettably, their struggle did not go unnoticed, for a whip cracked through the air, mercilessly lashing at them for their perceived lack of effort on the initial attempt.
Not willing to continue looking at the inside of the camp, for they didn’t even bother to cover it up, Laurent looked at the goblin undead by his side. He no longer felt it was safe to go in, the only reason he even wanted to enter the establishments was to somehow form an identity which would aim him in using the teleporter. Here? It would be already good if they didn’t enslave him as well.
Taking the advantage of the fact that they hadn’t spotted him yet, Laurent turned to ask the his summon,
“Is this where you come from? Wouldn’t it be dangerous for me to go in? Is there any other way I can form an identity to go through the teleporter?”
“Yes, this is where I work. It wouldn’t really be dangerous, they only restrict the goblins, they wouldn’t dare anger the other races. As for other methods, I can only take you to other settlements if you don’t want to do it here.”
“Are the rest of the ‘settlements’ which you speak of the same as this one?”
“Yes.”
Inwardly speechless, Laurent was troubled at encountering a problem before he even began powering up. But if what his undead said was true? Should he take a risk? Staying still for a few seconds, Laurent thought then focused his attention onto his interface. Seeing that his [Expedite] evolution fruit had been complete. He opened his interface and ate it.
[Expedite] reduces the time needed to absorb energies. For example if [Absorption] increased the volume of things absorbed, like from 10/minute to 20/minute, [Expedite] would make it from 10/minute to 10/30sec. People leveled up different things according to their needs.
With a clear objective in mind, he deftly maneuvered the evolution tree, swiftly identifying his target within a mere three seconds. It was [Secondary Combat]. It would give him an array of few skills basic but vital to a necromancer. Given sufficient time, he could have delved into research and acquired skills through his own efforts. This approach would have fostered a deeper sense of familiarity and compatibility. In contrast, the skills bestowed by the system were akin to a bundle of knowledge forcefully drilled into one's memory. The onus of adapting and becoming accustomed to these skills fell squarely on the individual, requiring them to navigate the process independently.
Unfortunately he had no time for such things right now, he at least had to have a measure of self defense if he wanted to take the risk. His heart beating fiercely, welcoming the first challenge, he stepped out of the covers and walked towards the concentration camp in the distance.
***** (I guess I’ll stick to this for both the scene and POV change.)
*Crack*
A muffled groan escaped the mouth of a young woman tilling away at the ground as a whip lashed across the bare skin of her back. For the briefest of moments, her eyes unleashed a glimpse of smoldering fury, a fire burning deep within. However, she swiftly extinguished it, mindful of the potential consequences that could befall her if that anger were allowed to flourish unchecked. Her short, dirty red hair clung to her perspiring forehead, serving as a testament of her hard work. Despite her delicate appearance, her hands revealed a stark contrast. Calluses, unbefitting for a woman her age, adorned her palms, revealing a history of toil and endurance. Gripping the hoe with a seasoned grip, she brought it down with a practiced force, each motion a testament to her survival amidst the unforgiving environment.
Her sole purpose here was to survive, survive so she could take revenge, upon these people, and whoever was behind the scenes. Years of torture had left nothing but uncontrollable wrath brewing away inside her. No sense of peace amidst struggle, no finding of meaning of life, no cherishing of the small moments, just a crippling sense of fury. Anger which she could barely control and threatened to burst out every moment.
She was the only human in this settlement, unsold even as a slave in auction, she could only be bought here to squeeze what little value she had as an ordinary human with unknown origins. Just as she pulled back her arms overhead to bring down the hoe, she spotted a flicker of movement from the corner of her eye.
Turning her head to see what it was, what stood out in her vision amongst the obscurity of night were a pair of turquoise colored eyes shining as the outline of the figure made his way over to the main gates of the camp. She didn’t know what it was that beckoned to her, but there was finally an unknown emotion swirling within her, emotion apart from wrath. It was hope.