The Undead And It's Curses

Kai opened the map and was shocked to see how yellow it was. He found the circle Mr Walton had marked and found that forest remotely different from the rest.

All throughout the map, there were markings of little spots everywhere. Such as a well, a hut or even a tombstone of great importance. But surrounding the circle Mr Walton had drawn, was a forest shaded in dark navy blue. 

And only one structure was drawn within that forest. It was labelled as the labyrinth of the salix. And within it contained the snake named 'Inetflutrious Flare'.

And that was all that was written and could be read. 

Feeling inside his void ring, he could finally understand why Mr Walton handed him these items. 

He walked towards a forest, following the route in the map. Sometimes his eyes seem to lose focus and trail off somewhere as he heads off in the wrong direction. But he soon regained his composure and followed the map through the dark.

It was a map that seemed to be infused with magic. At the outlines of areas, it glowed. 

After a while, Kai heard rustling sounds. Of course there were going to be monsters around. He summoned a sword from his ring and swung it down violently to work his arms.

He looked at the trees and to his surprise he found an owl sitting there while watching him. It didn't seem aggressive. It just stared at him with it's intelligent orange eyes.

Feeling uneasy, Kai took multiple steps back. He saw the attention of the owl following something behind him. He got the flow and turned behind to find a mob of skeletons.

Moving skeletons. They wore clothes and accessories that were ragged and rusted. Their hands held different weapons of their own. Dusty and cracked.

With one swing, Kai knocked the heads off of the skeletons. But they continued moving with creaks. They move robotically and attack like so. 

Even if they had managed to land a hit on Kai, it did nothing. What was their aim then? To just flaunt their arms around aimlessly?

Undead monsters only reside in places where multiple deaths have occurred. Or there is a necromancer monster around here.

Though unlikely to have spawned on earth, it is not entirely impossible.

Kai stabbed the skeleton down and pinned it to the soil with ice spikes. They were easy to manage but they didn't seem to stop spawning at all.

He tried stabbing into every critical spot he could think of. But they never stayed down. Unless he had pinned them down with magic.

He couldn't keep doing that. He was wasting mana that he'll definitely need for later. 

It was irritating to say the least. He had no time for this.

More skeletons started crawling up from the soil and surrounding him. They swung their frail bodies around like newly grown trees being blown away on a windy day.

Kai was about to give up and just turn his back and continue walking. He didn't have time for this. He then remembered the owl from earlier, he swung his sword violently. 

Making sure to knock down at least half of those skeletons. He was about to shoot the owl with magic before a weird purple plague started coming off the ground where the skeletons stood.

It made his head spin the moment he inhaled it, he could hear screams echoing inside his mind like an endless tunnel. He looked at the skeletons which now had flesh and all. 

They were all asking for help. Crying blood while they flicker back into unmoving corpses and back up again as if possessed.

Strangely, they all were handcuffed as if they were prisoners. Their skin was wrinkly and brown. As if fire was the cause of their demise. 

He then spotted a familiar person. He had seen him too many times to not be able to recognise in an instant. Even here he was following him. 

Maybe it was the effect of seeing him too much but Kai just looked away and was left unfazed till his eye catched onto something else.

His eyes then widened in shock. He looked around and saw a familiar figure. A tall figure with shiny hair that reached her waist. It flowed freely like the wind.

Her eyes were the deepest shade of purple. It was mesmerising to look into. But for Kai it was a nightmare. He gulped and stumbled backwards.

His eyes completely focused on her only. The skeletons around him seemed to stop in motion. But one thing was clear. 

It was all a hallucination. But it felt vivid. 

He put out his hands to reach for that figure. He hated it so but seeing it now, he wanted it to notice him.

Was he better now than he was in the past? He had improved hadn't he? Would she accept him now like this? 

Kai stopped himself. He bit his lips until his teeth scraped into his flesh. He slapped one hand over his nose and mouth. 

Looking at the owl, he glared at it. He created fire at the tip of his fingers while wind swirled around it to amplify the attack.

Just as he was about to shoot, he heard a deep voice talking mixed with another voice that he was familiar with.

"Are you sure?" The owl asked along with the figure in front.

"Hah." Kai was in disbelief. 

He saw Victoria smiling at him. A smile she had never shown to him before.

She put out her arms while her lips mouth phrases of encouragement.

It was disgusting.

Kai released his magic and the owl disappeared into a single piece of feather. It slowly drifted down from the trees.

While the purple mist eradicated itself from his view, Kai couldn't believe he had forgotten what the forest was called. The Haunt.

When the illusion disappeared around him, he found himself at a lower angle than before. At a different position. He was sitting down with his back to something. 

Staring at a set of familiar faces surrounding and looking at him worriedly.