Chapter 4: Towards a New Town – 13
It would take two days on foot to reach Euron, so we planned to spend the night in the same village we had come from before leaving the town of Maneji.
As the sun began to set and we approached a point where the village should be visible, Freinir suddenly started looking around, her eyes darting about.
“What’s wrong?”
“I feel a strange presence… over there.”
In the direction Freinir pointed, I could see a vague black mist swirling in the distance. It was quite far off the main road, but since it was a plain, it seemed easy enough to approach.
“Indeed, there is something odd about that place. Shall we take a look?”
“Yes, I think that would be best.”
There was a sense of certainty in Freinir’s words. She must have sensed something that piqued her intuition.
As we walked closer, we came upon an area about the size of a baseball field, surrounded by a decaying fence. There were various stone and wooden markers scattered haphazardly around—tombstones, it seemed.
It felt like a forgotten graveyard.
However, if there was a strange presence in a graveyard, it likely meant undead monsters would appear in this world. Normally, I would want to leave immediately, but as an adventurer, I couldn’t just ignore it.
“Let’s check it out. Monsters might appear. Be ready to use ‘Holy Light.'”
“Understood. So it could be undead monsters?”
“I hope that’s not the case.”
In games, undead creatures were always a hassle.
Regardless, I activated my Presence Detection skill and cautiously approached the graveyard.
As we entered the grounds, there was no immediate movement. From what I could see on the weathered tombstones, it appeared to be a burial site for fallen soldiers from long ago.
“Hmm?”
As I focused with Presence Detection, I noticed the ground in the distance bulging and heaving as something emerged.
Before long, three skeletons—worn and armed with tattered swords and shields—rose from the earth.
“Freinir, prepare your magic.”
“Yes, Soushi-sama.”
I could charge in, but after yesterday’s incident, I hesitated to get too close to Freinir. As I stood ready, the skeletons rattled their bones and advanced toward us.
“I can cast magic!”
“Do it!”
Freinir stepped beside me and unleashed ‘Holy Light.’ The beam of light swept across the three skeletons, cleaving them in two and causing them to evaporate in an instant. I couldn’t gauge the strength of the skeletons, but it was clear that ‘Holy Light’ had a strong effect on undead.
Though the skeletons themselves vanished, magic stones and weapons remained on the ground. As I bent down to collect the magic stones, the ground began to bulge again, and eight more skeletons emerged.
“We’re surrounded. Stay close to me.”
“Yes!”
I charged toward the nearest two skeletons, smashing them with my mace, shattering their shields in the process.
As I broke through the encirclement, I turned to shield Freinir from behind.
The remaining six skeletons rattled closer, but none could withstand the force of my mace.
While the skeletons’ swords grazed me, my armor and the Steel Body skill prevented any serious damage.
“Is that it…?”
I scanned the area, but there seemed to be no further changes in the ground. However, the black mist still lingered ominously. I had a bad feeling; it seemed like something else might appear.
“Freinir, prepare ‘Holy Light’ again.”
“Y-yes!”
As I issued the command, the black mist began to coalesce in one spot above us, gradually taking on a more defined shape.
What emerged was a skeleton clad in a black hooded cloak, wielding a long staff in both hands. It exuded an unmistakable aura of a magic-using monster. Given its levitating form, it was likely a high-ranking undead.
Freinir was still concentrating on her magic. Since it was floating, my attacks wouldn’t reach it.
As I braced myself, the skeleton raised its staff high into the air. Three stone spears materialized around the tip of the staff.
One by one, the spears were launched at us. With Freinir behind me, I had no option to dodge. The only response I could muster was to counter.
I swung my mace to intercept the stone spears. Utilizing my Dynamic Vision, Reflexes, Explosive Power, along with Composure and Thought Acceleration, I managed to swat the incoming spears away.
Even though they were magical, once they became physical stone spears, I could negate them with overwhelming physical force.
“Magic incoming!”
Freinir shouted, and a brilliant light enveloped the area around us.
The divine attribute magic ‘Divine Halo.’ This spell weakens monsters within its range. I had suspected it would have a special effect on undead, and indeed, the skeleton before us collapsed to the ground, its strength seemingly drained.
“Now!”
I gathered my resolve and dashed forward, bringing my mace down in a powerful overhead strike on the skeleton’s skull.
With a sickening crunch, the skull shattered, and the spine and other bones crumbled into dust. The weakening effect had prevented it from dispersing and absorbing the impact.
As the high-ranking skeleton disintegrated, the surrounding black mist dissipated. It seemed the appearance of undead monsters had come to an end.
On the ground lay shattered bones, a palm-sized magic stone of irregular shape, and the staff that the high-ranking skeleton had wielded.
I collected the magic stone and staff before heading back to Freinir.
“If it weren’t for your magic, we would have been in trouble. Well done.”
“Haah… I’m glad I could be of help to you, Soushi-sama.”
Freinir replied, slightly out of breath. It seemed that casting divine attribute magic took quite a toll on her, but the effects were significant.
“Still, it’s surprising how suddenly undead can appear. Do you have a heightened sensitivity to such things, Freinir?”
“I don’t think so… But just now, I distinctly felt something was off.”
“If that’s the case, you might have developed a special sensitivity to undead.”
“Is that really possible? I hope so…”
Perhaps she had a unique constitution that made her particularly attuned to sensing undead, much like how I was straightforwardly muscle-headed.
“By the way, this staff seems quite valuable. Would you like to try using it, Freinir?”
“Um, the one that belonged to the undead?”
Freinir furrowed her well-shaped brows. That was understandable; most people would hesitate to even touch something like that.
“Ah, my apologies. I just thought of it. Upon reflection, it might be cursed or something. It’s probably best to sell it to the guild.”
“That makes sense… But if it truly is a good item, I would like to try it.”
“I see. In any case, let’s find out what it is at the guild first.”
“Yes.”
We should also report the sudden appearance of the undead. This didn’t seem like something that would happen regularly.
Still, encountering such a rare occurrence again was unexpected. It seemed the existence of the Bad Luck skill was almost confirmed.
If this was indeed an exceptionally rare skill… could it be related to my arrival in this world? Perhaps I was overthinking it.