A Dead Man's Journey
Owen had been walking for hours. Although it is dark, he was somehow able to see which he finds useful.
'Well, i can see without my eyes so it makes sense that i can see in the dark.' Owen thought to himself as he continue walking.
He is heading towards the kingdom of bereth since it is the closest place he knows.
Now that he have the 'Masquerade' skill, he could enter the city without worries.
Although the time is limited, he just need to stay in an inn if the time runs out and wait until the cooldown is over.
Owen was born in the city of bereth, because of that, he was very familiar to the place.
This is also the reason why he chose to go to the city of bereth other than because it's the closest.
Because he is familiar to the place, he wont have any problem on blending with the crowd. It wont be much of a trouble to enter the city either because he was once a resident in that place.
Returning soldiers from old battles are pretty common so Owen wont have problems on making an alibi. It's not like they would care too much for a single soldier anyway.
As Owen continues to walk, he could see the sun rising higher to the sky.
Owen stare at the sky as he walk out of the forest. As he walks, the shadows around him moves.
Owen had been practicing on his control over the shadows and the likes of it as he journey towards the kingdom of bereth.
He is trying to increase the level of his skills as he noticed how important they were. Some skill, mostly passives, didn't help Owen in any way.
It does not improve anything neither did it made him stronger.
Passives mostly preserve the skills he already have.
Take the swordsmanship skill for example. Even if he stop doing any practice with the sword, his skills in swordsmanship would still be the same.
It was a useful thing to have as it allows Owen to just laze around but it didn't really help him improve.
<The skill [Mana Manipulation] Leveled up>
Magic on the other hand, skills are everything.
Even the mana manipulation which is a passive skill is important.
He was only able to use magic and control magic because he 'obtained' the skills to do so. Unlike his skills with the sword which he learned himself.
As Owen thought of this, he heard voices heading towards his direction.
As the voices grew closer, Owen decided to hide himself. He could just fight them as well but it would be unwise to do so.
'Hmm...should i hide in the bushes or cover myself with some mud and hide on the ground?' Owen thought to himself. There are multiple ways to hide himself but he didn't know which one would be most effective.
As Owen thought of a way to hide himself, the voices he could hear from afar grew closer.
'I don't have much time..' With that being said, Owen went to a nearby tree and sat on it like a good skeleton.
With that, he was hidden from whoever is coming and he could also see them.
Although sitting on a tree might seem like a dumb way to hide, Owen believe that it is the best choice.
As Owen sat on the tree, figures of men and women wearing dark armors appeared in a nearby bush.
It was the type of armor that the soldiers and the likes of it from bereth use.
It is made from a metal that could only be found in the areas around the kingdom of bereth.
That rare metal is known as black iron. It is heavier than a normal iron but it is also much durable.
The darker the iron was, the heavier and the more durable it gets. This is also how soldiers from bereth are ranked.
The darker the armor they wore, the higher their rank. The group that Owen saw wore grey colored armors.
They are technically just at the same rank as normal foot soldiers.
"No one's here." a man said. The man looked back and asked. "Any news?"
"No, the scouts are still missing. We dont know what happened so we should be careful." the woman behind him said.
"I know." the man said as he continue walking.
Owen sigh as he saw them walk pass him but then, the woman suddenly looked towards his direction.
She was staring at him which Owen found to be weird. In their eyes, he should just be a skeleton sitting beside a tree.
It shouldn't be that suspicious as corpses are usually everywhere within the forest.
'Should i just kill them?' Owen thought to himself.
He didn't really want to kill them because they are soldiers from bereth just like him. However, the woman might get him busted if he let her live.
"What's wrong?" the man asked as he notice the woman stop in her track.
"I don't remember seeing this skeleton here before...." the woman said. "..and if someone died here, the corpse shouldn't be like this. Which means..."
"It was moved here by someone. Or something else." the man said.
"..yes."
"We'll report that for later. The request they sent to the guild is too find out why the scouts went missing. That weird placed corpse can wait." the man said as he stare at Owen before looking back at the woman. "Let's go."
"Yes!" the woman said as she continued walking.
Owen stayed seated for a while before he stood up from the ground.
He had to wait for the group to leave which he finds to be annoying. With the group gone, Owen continue his walk towards the city of bereth.
"I should've killed them after all." Owen said. He he had been cautious of the voices he heard. That is why he decided to hide and wait back then.
He need to know who and how strong the person he could potentially have a fight with. However, it turns out that the bunch he was wary of are just ordinary ranked soldiers.
He could easily kill them but he didn't want to. Because as a soldier himself, he knew how hard it was to be a soldier at the times of war.
He simply pity them that's why he decided to spare them. But it turns out, they are not soldiers but mercenaries.
Mercenaries are just like the common soldiers but they are paid well and they have their own rights.
In a way, they are like the adventurers in fantasy like stories. The only difference is that, they fight people rather than monsters.
Such things as monsters didn't exist in the world Owen was reincarnated to. Because of that, instead of adventurers, they had mercenaries.
The mercenary guild functions the same as that of an adventurer's guild. They take missions and requests in exchange for money.
Just as mentioned earlier, the difference is that is that they fight with humans rather that 'monsters'.
They sometimes recieve request to subjugate or hunt wild beasts but those types of missions are rare.
Most of their missions are usually related on slaying some bandits or just like the group that Owen saw before, they sometimes work as scouts.
The guild is famous in bereth and in other kingdoms. Because of the guild, the people in every kingdom are safe and kept in check.
Because of the constant war; the cities in every kingdom barely had any troops to send. Because of that, they were forced to send their guards that are suppose to defend them to war.
Without the guards, the city's defense drastically decrease. This cause bandits and thieves to appear in the open and cause chaos everywhere.
Just as the problems were about to go out of control, the guild appeared. The mercenaries fought against the bandits and thieves and restored order and peace.
Most of the people, especially those that are victims of the bandits attack saw the guild as a godsend. While some who used their head noticed how strange the guilds sudden appearance was.
No one even know when the guild was formed it just 'appeared'.
"It's such a waste of free souls. Well it doesn't really matter now thst i'm here." Owen said as he stare at the large city walls.
He quickly used the skill [Masquerade] to turn into a human.
<Not enough mana.>
Seeing this, Owen quickly checked his status.
-------------------------------
Name: Owen
Race: Undead
Type: Skeleton Mage
Rank: Tier-6
Title:Captain late,The first undead
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Hit Points:90/90
Mana Points:18/250
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Strength:12
Speed:16
Endurance:9
Mana:25
-
●●○
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[Evolution(1006/50000)]
[Soul Points:36154]
-
[Skills]:
[Combat Sense(Passive)]<Level 2>
[Swordsmanship(Passive)]<Level 4>
[Archery(Passive)]<Level 2>
[Horseback Riding(Passive)]<Level 1>
[Bloodlust(Active)]<Level 1>
[Masquerade(Active)]<Level 1>
[Touch of Undeath(Active)]<Level 1>
[Soul Reap(Active)]<Level 5>
[Mana Manipulation(Passive)]<Level 4>
[Darkness(Active)]<Level 2>
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"It seems like i'd need to wait for a bit." With that being said, Owen once again sat down on a tree.
All he could do was stare at the tall city walls until he recover enough mana. After a minute, he saw a point of his mana was back. Seeing the slow progress, Owen could only sigh as he stare at the city walls.