The Undead

Going through the thick crowd of main road, Aren entered an alley at the side of a bakery shop. After many twists and turns, he stopped in front of a small edifice. There was a signboard outside in which several crude words were written which read 'Webber's Weapon shop'. This place looked like a totally abandoned shop if not for the sounds of hammer hitting metal coming from inside. If Tina didn't specially mention this shop as one of the best weapon shops in this city, he wouldn't even be here.

He entered the shop after looking around for a while. While the exterior of the shop appeared like a run-down shack, the interior gave gim quite a shock. At the walls sideways, there were a variety of weapons and armors put on display. There were even some superior products which were protected inside glass covers. Going further inside the shop he arrived before a stairway which led to an Underground basement. The sounds of hammering were coming from there.

"Hello. Blacksmith Webber, Are you there?" shouted Aren. But the hammering didn't stop. It looked like he was quite busy so he didn't disturb him any further.

Half an hour later, Webber emgered from the basement. He was holding a newly made sword in his hands. When he saw Aren waiting patiently at one corner he asked.

"What do you want to buy?"

"A dagger." Aren quickly answered. He had already thought of which weapon to use. Although fighters didn't need weapons, that was for rank one and above. He did have strength and everything but didn't have a Sharp edge of a weapon which could finish off his opponents and cut the thick hide of monsters.

"Have you chosen one yet?"

"Yes, that one." saying that he pointed at a green dagger which was showcased at the upper right corner of the wall.

"80 silvers." two words came out of blacksmith Webber's mouth which sounded quite unpleasant to him this time.

Though he had as much as 3 gold coins, 80 silvers was still quite a sum of money. He knew, however, that Webber didn't like to haggle on prices. So he quickly paid the money and got the dagger he wanted.

The dagger's blade was green in color, made up of some unknown metal. Its hilt was black with some exquisite patterns craved on it. When placed under the sun, the sharp edge of this straight dagger would reflect white rays of light as though cutting light itself.

Satisfied with his choice, he sheathed the dagger and went out of the shop.

'Sigh, only 2 gold coins are left out of the whole money I saved up till now. An hour has passed already. I should return to the guild.'

Half an hour later, Aren again entered the guild hall. He came before the receptionist to ask if the members were filled and found out that all others had gathered, only he and another guy remained. Following that, he was brought to a corner of lobby by a staff member where eight people were gathered engaging in a conversation.

"You must be Ren, right?" A teenager girl asked him just as he got there. It looked like she was the leader here.

"Yes, I'm Ren."

"Alright, so only Rave is left." another burly guy disclosed the name of the last member. They didn't have to wait long though. About 10 minutes later the man called Rave also arrived.

Clap!

The teenager girl clapped once to get everyone's attention. Looking at everyone, she said.

"Looks like everyone is here now. So lets do a simple introduction. My name is Daisy. I'm an apprentice mage and also an E-ranked Adventurer. I'll be leading our team for this quest."

"I'm Brown. F-ranked Adventurer and a swordsman." the burly man from eariler said.

"My name is Carl. I'm a rank 1 priest of light and an E-ranked Adventurer." A golden haired boy said who only wore white clothes from head to toe.

"You can call me Isaac. I'm a...."

One by one all ten members gave a simple introduction of themselves. After every one introduced themselves, including Aren; Daisy told everyone when the merchants will set off and from where they will go.

"The merchants will finish packing things an hour later. To reach Yunisse City we will go through Blackthorn forest. After getting past it we stop at a small town called Unos. Resting there for a while, we will begin moving towards Ernew River which we will cross over by the newly built bridge. At the the other side of the river is our destination, Yunisse City. This journey is a day long and we might have to look out for monsters and bandits near the forest area."

"After reaching the city and submitting the quest, everyone can go on their own ways. Any objections?" Daisy asked. Seeing nobody object, she smiled and said.

"Alright then, lets meet again an hour from now."

An hour later, Aren met with Redwood merchants whom he was supposed to escort in this mission, outside the city gates. He also talked with some talkative adventurers like Dwarf shield warrior, Jake and Ranger Celia. When merchants finished putting all their goods on horse carts, Aren with other Adventurers marched towards Yunisse City.

Walking on the gravel filled road, Aren and Celia were chatting in low voices.

"So, Ren, is this your first quest?" Celia asked, looking curious.

"Yeah. I just registered today."

"Why did you took E-ranked quest as your first one?"

"Because other quests are too boring."

"Hahaha..." this straight forward answer made Celia laugh involuntarily.

"Shh...Quiet! we are about go through the forest." At this moment, Daisy turned around and said, putting a finger on her lips.

"Rave, go check out if the road is clear ahead." Rave was the scout of their group and it was his duty to check the situation ahead.

Rave went ahead on his horse and returned after 5 minutes.

"Nothing. The road is clear."

Halfway through the forest, while everyone was moving quietly, suddenly a sound was heard from the nearby bushes.

"Stop!" Daisy beckoned at the cart drivers.

The carts abruptly stopped. At this moment, every adventurer became vigilant. Aren was no exception. Everyone's attention was on the bushes. A few experienced adventurers like Brown and Jake were looking for other suspicious things too.

"Ughh!..."

A rotten smell assaulted their noses. Then, they saw a skeleton walking slowly towards them from the bushes. There were a few pieces of rotten flesh on its bones.

"An Undead?" Daisy said. This name, however, made Aren remember something.

'An Undead? I seem to have heard of this term. If I remember correctly, Tina spoke of it when I first went to Telnos city with her. Yeah, this is Blackthorn forest. It was in this forest that the Undead were sighted. But Tina had told me that they were all exterminated three months later. How could they appear again?'

Aren was confused, however, he didn't have time to delve deeper into the matter.

"There are more than ten of them!" Celia's agitated voice was heard who had just fired an arrow. She was a rank 1 archer so her arrows were somewhat effective.

"Let me handle them." At this moment, Carl, the priest of light, went forward. Spreading his hands out, he put on a devout expression on his face. Then, as if it was a ritual, he started praising the God of light.

"Dear God, You are the inextinguishable Light. You're magnanimous, there is no end to your might. Oh! Noble God of Light! Please lend me the strength to purify these these pitiful souls who had been turned into filthy Undead."

"Purifying Ray!"

Following the priest's incantation or rather a prayer, a white ''Holy light'' descended upon the pack of Undead in which they melted like wax. Astonishingly, that single attack of the priest finished off half of the Undead.

'This method is quite effective! Though the chant is a little... Also, look at that priest. Why does he look as if drained out of energy even though the only thing he did was just pray!?'

Aren was also interested in this spell which could finish undead in a flash. But that was only ''interest''. He wouldn't stoop so low as to pray to a God in a ridiculous manner and ask for help to exterminate his opponents.

After the priest's help, finishing the remaining Undead became much easier. The reason why Undead were annoying opponents was because one; they didn't fear death and another one; they always came in packs. If there wasn't a priest or healer in a party, the swarm of Undeads would drown them.

Soon, the remaining Undead were also finished and the carts started moving again. Other than damaging some parts of the cart which they quickly substituted, the Undead didn't do any damages.

Then journey thereafter was smooth except for the bandits that appeared when they were about to exit the forest area. With 6 E-ranked adventurers, however, they were quickly dealt with. Aren also got to see daisy's magic spells which fascinated him.

After riding for another hour, Daisy reminded.

"Everyone, we're about reach Unos town. We'll rest there for a while."

"Ah, finally! I can drink beer again." dwarf Jake sounded like he couldn't wait to reach the town.

"Old Jake has to drown in beer to quench his thirst.." An adventurer teased him.

"Of course! What did you expect of me?" Jake said shamelessly.

Bickering and laughing, they arrived at the gates of Unos Town. After coming to the town, Jake went towards a Tavern.

The merchants also alighted from the carriages. They left the carts for the guards to guard and went to a restaurant. Aren also went with remaining adventurers to an Inn to rest and get some food.

2 hours later, everyone finished with their own matters and got ready to set off.