Soon, night came and darkness plunged the valley. Just then, Adam could hear the soothing sound of burbling water. The river was nearby! He tried crossing before the enemy could set up camp and illuminate the place entirely. However, the lack of light hindered him as well. 'The river doesn't sound loud… That’s bad news,’ Adam figured. The quietness could mean a few things; One, only a few rocks obstructed the natural flow of the river. Second and the most troubling reason, it could also mean the river was deep.
Getting stuck deep underwater while being an immortal came into Adam’s mind. He could swim, but the thought of him eternally drowning was dreadful. Should he? Adam hesitated for a while, his sense of urgency disappeared. Still, time was of the essence, even if those chasing after him were having a dilemma of their own—the surroundings were too dark.
‘I can’t just stay here and do nothing… I have to cross.’ Adam hardened himself.
Even if he could find a way around the river—a new path that would let him escape the valley and lead him north—the total darkness was unforgiving enough that he had no choice but to risk and cross. Waiting it out till morning wasn’t an option either.
Adam was about to cross when an ominous aura shrouded him suddenly. He had no more hair on his skeletal body, but if he still did, they would all be standing stiff on ends. A set of glowing eyes, sharp and purple, floated above the pitch-black sky. Sudden turbulent winds came crashing towards Adam as he struggled to keep still and remain standing.
Above, a sky serpent—majestic yet terrifying—looked down on Adam.
Chapter V
Sky Serpent
Soaring high above the sky was a black serpent. With its monstrous size and wingspan, one might mistake it as a dragon. Minute distinctions, such as the lack of large teeth and limbs, made all the difference. Adam had only heard rumors of the winged monster. If he remembered correctly, the current king of the Cyrus Kingdom had one.
‘The king?’ Wild thoughts started racing through his mind.
The serpent in front of him might be the king's!
Who knew revenge could come so easily? Adam glared at the monster with contempt. Suddenly, the voice inside his head—The Undone System—spoke, “Anger fuels the raging fire. See through your enemies before they can even see you strike! You’ve learned a new skill: Analyze.” The abrupt notice startled Adam, but his expression soon brightened after realizing he gained something new. Something beneficial, even.
The skill itself was plenty self-explanatory.
[Skills] (New)
“Analyze” - Inspect the status of a chosen target.
…
Nightsky Serpent
Class - Serpentine
Level - 38
Health - 890
Mana - 60
…
Adam swallowed hard, the lack of both throat and saliva made the whole “swallowing“ fairly inaudible.
Revenge doesn't come easy, understandably, especially when a presence much more oppressive than the serpent was there. On top of the serpent’s purple crest sat a man wearing luxurious black robes. Adam used his Analyze skill without much thought.
…
Umbra Slyther
Class - Shadow Lord
Title - Conqueror of Lands. King of Cyrus.
Level - ?
Health - ?
Mana - ?
…
“How dare you look through me, undead?” King Umbra’s deep voice resounded.
Just then, the sky serpent’s tail whizzed through the air as it aimed towards Adam.
‘Ah shit...’ Adam tried dodging the attack, but with the tail’s incredible length, it was inevitable. “Aargh!” he let out a pained groan as the potent attack utterly crushed his ribcage. The tail swept Adam across the riverbank until he crashed against a boulder.
The impact shattered his skeletal body, ultimately exhausting his health pool. One move—It took one move for the serpent to end his life. Injured as he was from his previous battles (some of his health regenerated during his escape), what the Nightsky Serpent did was still appalling. The flying beast, even with its enormous size, could move its entire body at an inconceivable speed not even the nimble undead could hope to contest.
King Umbra slid off his familiar and landed in front of Adam, or what remained of his ruined body.
The commotion soon took the camping army’s attention.
Dark as the night might be, one couldn’t miss the enormous serpent floating high above the sky; Not with its glowing purple aura they couldn’t. Mere militiamen couldn’t identify what the beast was or where it came from and so panic stirred among the huddle. The proper soldiers, however, knew what the serpent was and “who” it came with. They all genuflected in a hurry.
Whispers reverberated among the crowd.
The leaders among the army sheepishly clarified the situation to everyone confused.
A chorused gasping resounded. The king came to deal with the undead personally?
It was nothing short of shameful for an army of hundreds to rely on their king to catch one monster. Everyone went silent. They had nothing more to say, and so they waited for their king to finish what they started. The army continued setting up camp while observing the fight from a distance. “Should we help His Majesty?” a soldier asked meekly. Most, if not everyone around him, shook their heads in reply. They would all just get in the way.
...
[Health - 0] Charges - 1. “A Life Charge will now be consumed”...
“Life Charge successfully consumed...”
[Health - 300] Charges - 0
[Mana - 57]
Adam’s body reformed once more after consuming another life charge. He just used up his last one. To regain more, he would have to enter a ‘Recovery State’, as mentioned in the ability’s description. ‘How will I do that? Is it required for me to die again in order for it to happen?’ Adam wondered, genuinely curious about the mechanics governing the system; It was still alien to him. And so he wanted to learn more.
Just then—even before Adam could regain his consciousness back fully—, a pair of arms suddenly strangled him from behind. If he was still human, he would have long suffocated from it. Two more arms tied back his hands, and another pair held both his feet down, disabling him completely. Adam struggled, but his efforts were to no avail.
The arms that were keeping him still belonged to the summons of the king—Shadow Spawns.
Adam glared at the figure standing in front of him. It was King Umbra.
Adam might have only heard rumors about the sky serpent, but he knew of things about the king himself. An infamous pseudo-Necromancer able to command his own army of shadows. A powerful individual who could control an equally strong secret armada.
“Who are you?” Umbra asked, his plum-colored iris that matched both his robes and familiar, glinted under the faint moonlight as he keenly glared at Adam. “No. What are you?” he rephrased, still keeping a cold tone and face.
“I’m the one destined to end your life,” Adam calmly muttered as an odd smile formed on his face. It was impossible for solid bones, especially the intact skull and tight jaw, to even form such a distinct expression in the first place, but Adam somehow did. ‘Ho—How was I able to talk just now?’ Adam was taken aback.
He was merely thinking of a retort when words suddenly came out of his mouth.
He then remembered one of his abilities, ‘The Undead’. ‘But that makes little sense…’
Adam thought hard. ‘Are Shadow Lords related to the undead?’ It was a possibility, as ancient records often classified Shadow Lords a variant of the Necromancer class, a true undead-related class. Adam couldn't fully comprehend what was happening. Just then, Umbra interrupted his train of thoughts.
“End my life? Don’t make me laugh, undead! The one destined to do so hasn’t been born yet!” Umbra snorted.
“So you really can understand me?” Adam queried, his smile slowly turning into a devious grin. Umbr
a didn’t answer, unnerved by the smirk Adam was giving. He raised his arm and beckoned the spawns to tighten their grip.
“Oh, you’re not answering? Very well...” Adam mocked, unfazed by what was happening. The spawns, besides immobilizing him, weren’t a direct threat. He didn’t need to breathe, so what was the point of them strangling him this hard? “What I said earlier was true. I’m your inevitable doom,” Adam threatened once more; This time, he said it with a slight shudder in his voice, knowing Umbra could understand him well.
Umbra kept his silence. He then snapped his fingers which beckoned his familiar to come closer. The sky serpent didn’t hesitate in attacking Adam. Held in place, with no means of escape, Adam could only take the harsh beating. Tail whips, one after another, pummeled him down to the ground. A deep chasm formed along the riverbank.
‘Perhaps it was a mistake provoking him this soon,’ Adam thought.
‘But man, did it feel good...’
Adam knew it was stupid of him to confront Umbra this early on, but did he have a choice in the first place? He had tried escaping from the Cyrus army and did well enough to slip past them until this point. But running away from someone with a serpent familiar that could soar the skies and cover a huge distance in the blink of an eye? Not a chance.
“You’ll regret this. I’ll make you pay for everything you did. I’ll come for you... eventually.” It was all the weak undead could do at the moment: talking empty threats. He was so weak he couldn’t even see how strong the opponent was! Adam was insignificant in the eyes of Umbra.
Just then, before his vision turned to black, Adam heard the system notify—
“Entering—‘Recovery State’. Estimated duration: 12 days.”
“The system is detecting a passive area debuff around the user — Land of the Phantom. All major healing effects, including ‘Recovery State’, are being suppressed. Correcting the initial duration of recovery… Estimated duration: 30 days.”
Chapter VI
City of Parak
Those who could scale their powers to unfathomable heights didn’t exist until fifty years ago. Before then—select newborns, inconsequential of their social class and status, had their gods grant them gifts of various powers and abilities. Each of those gifts, however, had a fixed strength; impossible to improve, or even change, over time no matter what.
Those select few would then grow to become influential people with their abilities that differ from common men. However, none of them ever outgrew humanity. They were strong—Yes, but only strong enough to ensure safety and survival. None threatened humanity's existence from their unique, god-given powers alone.
It was until fifty years ago when humanity’s history shifted from survival… to domination. “The Dawn of New Power” — or so it was called in the history books; occurred during a calm winter solstice when the gods from unknown planes decided it was high time for them to be granting humanity their own “well-thought-out” gifts.
A sample of those select few suddenly gained an odd addition to their status sheets — Levels. They could now improve their once stagnant health and mana pools. Some could strengthen their skills and even change it to a certain degree, while others could add new effects to their already-powerful arsenal of abilities.
And thus, heroes were born. Those that could grow stronger pushed humanity to the peak of power. Monsters that once ruled the world found themselves helpless against the “new humans”. Eventually, survival became less of a priority. Resources, however, could never come easy. And the abundance of power… didn’t help in the path of peace and unity.
Heroes became terrifying conquerors that none dared oppose. Few kept their morals and remained heroic. The Peregrine Continent—once home to twenty kingdoms, hundreds of cities, and thousands of small villages and human settlements—now had a measly eight “super kingdoms”, each governed by those inhuman heroes-turned-conquerors.
Umbra Slyther was one of them.
* * *
Turbulent winds that could topple even the sturdiest man-made structure blew across the mountains of Selar.
The trees and other plant life around were just as sturdy, if not sturdier, as the rocks surrounding the rigid mountainous region. These trees were near invulnerable against the harsh winds. It would take more than bad weather to uproot these abnormal floras.
Everything around Selar was just as unnatural as its day-to-day weather. Located at the extreme north of Peregrine, west side opposing the northeastern Frostlands, Selar boasts total seclusion from the qualms of the outside world. To be fair; a sane person would never dare venture into this deadly place without a reason. With that said...
Umbra, of all people, ascended one of those rigid mountains. Specifically, the central mountain — Parak, home to the locals of the region. Draped in a strange ashen cloak unbefitting his status as a royalty, Umbra made his way to a cave entrance close to the partly plateaued side of the mountain. He did so in a strange, hurried manner. One could not see the calmness that he, as a king, usually had. Cold sweat covered the entirety of his face.
“Oh? What bad wind brought you here suddenly, oh great and mighty king Umbra? Hah! Get it? “Bad wind”? Haha! I’m really getting the hang of these jokes. Clever, eh?” mocked the tiny gremlin standing guard outside the cave entrance. Umbra, who was three times as tall as the red-furred gremlin, didn’t answer and was seemingly afraid to say anything that might offend or anger the diminutive creature. Umbra slowed his walking pace as he got closer to the entrance. “I’m looking for Selidar. Is she here?” he asked.
“Not even a little laugh? Hmph! Fine…” the gremlin shook its oversized head and crossed its stocky arms. It then pointed at a distant mountain. “She’s there,” it said with a sly grin.
Umbra didn’t turn to look at the mountain but simply eyed the mischievous gremlin. He knew something was up. “What are you looking at? I said she’s on that mountain. Geez, you’re not that old to have hearing problems. Why just stand there looking like an idiot?”
“She’s not there, is she?” Umbra queried as he disrobed his rugged gray cloak, revealing the dyed gold and black leather armor he was wearing underneath. The cold and vicious winds couldn’t reach the plateau anymore, and so the need for an extra layer of clothing was unnecessary. “I’m really not here to joke around, red gremlin. Where is she? Inside?”
“You think you’re so smart ey, little Umbra?—
Ah! Who am I kidding? You’re too boring to make fun of. Yeah, Selidar’s here.” The gremlin gave up in the middle of its attempt to salvage its failing prank. “Be warned though, she’s not in her best mood lately. You might want to reconsider your decision to meet her now.”
Umbra let out a thin smile, “I’ll take my chances.”
“All right, go ahead.” the red gremlin shrugged and squatted beside the entrance. It then beckoned for Umbra to enter, “But don’t come asking for help if anything bad happens...”
…
Contrary to its bland and boring exterior, the cave was more picturesque on the inside. It looked nothing like the common “dungeon caves” one would go in hunting for monsters. As opposed to a standard tunnel-like interior, the cavern had a central cavity.
An open space similar to a shallow bowl or a wide crater housed the hidden city of Parak. Around ten thousand residents, mostly gremlins, goblins, and hobgoblins, lived in the city.
Annular vents—riddled across the entire cavern ceiling—circumvent the strong winds from outside to cool the usually suffocating air of the cavern, making it breathable. In all of Selar, perhaps Parak was the only place habitable by ordinary people, outsiders included.
“And why are you here?” asked a shrill voice. Umbra took notice of where it came from and immediately looked up. There, an abominable figure riding a pitch-black cauldron hovered. The figure was a dormant female gremlin encased in a viscous green blob. Locking in and securing the blob were long gelatinous tentacles wrapped tightly around the ebony pot.
>
“I must ask the same.” Umbra let out a smile after seeing who it was. “What’s the great Selidar doing outside her lair?” he teased. Calm as he sounded, Umbra was being cautious in his choice of words. Pointing out the use of de-aging goo in front of her would only get him in trouble. Selidar was in fact not the green blob, but the gremlin inside it.
“None of your business.” The blob wobbled as Selidar replied, “Now answer, or else!”
Umbra’s expression turned solemn and replied, “I am here to seek your guidance.”
“Guidance? You? What are you talking about?” The blob encasing Selidar jiggled harder.
Umbra then explained his encounter with the unusual undead monster. He mentioned details including what it said before it died, or more accurately, before it was killed. It was likely that Umbra took those ramblings seriously. And he had a real reason to. “It was you who prophesied something like this to happen. Selidar, is this it? Is that undead really the one destined to end my reign? But… It’s too soon! This shouldn’t be happening now!”
“Too soon?” the blob shook once more. With a wave of one of its tentacles, the blob sliced itself in half. Selidar got out of the gelatinous cocoon and landed the pot in front of Umbra. “You’re quite a delusional man, little king,” she said in a mocking tone. “You’re not to count the days of your doom. It’ll come. And it’s the truth no one can escape,” Selidar explained.
“Unfortunately for you, it’s happening now. And there’s nothing you can do about it really,” Selidar added, shrugging her stocky shoulders. “If there’s nothing else, then I’ll be taking my leave. I have nothing more to offer, so get out of here and stop disturbing my peace, will you?”
“No, there must be something… Please, Selidar, read my fate once more!” Umbra pleaded.
Undone- Resurrection of Murdock Page 3