Ethereal Life, Chapter 59: Bador, Argar, And Another Man.

At the shoulder of the dark-grey mountain. A legion of skin-less humans stood dazedly before the three special ones amongst them.

"Bador, what is this place?" A hair-raising, mouth-curdling voice came out from one of them, who sat down on a throne made from piles of gray rocks.

The only strange thing was that this skin-less human monster was only sitting with its upper body. The lower part was standing not far away, walking in circles.

Bador, who sat on the ground, shook his head. "I don't know. We came out of the same puddle, so we're all in the same starting line."

Although he was skinless, he didn't seem to feel any pain at all. Well, after some time, he found the reason. They were already dead.

"But one thing is for sure. We've already died. This might be our life after death; we might find our ancestors here too, but that would be almost impossible now."

"Our flesh and blood will continue to deteriorate as time passes in this place. You should have already felt that." He said this as he looked at the dazed legion of skinless humans beside them.

Some of their flesh started rotting and emitting foul smells. He can just omit this part, as it was just too grotesque and eerie to describe. "I know, just from this. We can infer that it won't be long before we will be nothing but bones."

The one who replied to him was the third and last conscious skinless human besides Argar. "What should we do then? Bador, this is your thing. I'll just follow you on this path."

Argar seems to have changed after regaining consciousness in this place. He was very calm and seldom talked anymore. But who knows if it was just for a moment?

Even knowing of his death and horrifying appearance, he didn't seem to mind. "We are liberated from living; now we continue this journey in this place."

"Afterlife? That was the first time I heard of it. What comes after death?" The unknown, skinless human monster said.

Bador calmly turned around, both the legion of skinless, rotting human monsters behind him and the whole eerie mountain pervaded by dark grey mist the whole night around.

"We have a legion under us. We can command those who have already lost their senses. There can be many more of us out there." Bador calmly said, his eyes on the dark reaches far beyond the horizon.

Argar gave him a glance as he spoke with a calm and carefree tone. "We're going to march?"

"Conquer?" The other one said

Bador shook his head as he replied, "To find a new place to continue our existence."

"I thought this was it?" The other man pointed below his feet.

"He's right, plus the puddle of black, vicious liquid is here. We can't leave it unattended." Argar chimes in.

Bador was calm, his back facing them. "Alright, those who want to stay, just stay. I'll take some of the legion with me to find a resting place."

After saying that, he walked away. A few skinless, dazed humans walked away from the group and followed him. Argar looked at Baron like a statue. His thoughts are unknown.

"Wanna stay?" The other man asked "If you do, then I'll follow the majority."

Argar was silent, still looking at Bador's back down the mountain. The other man was silent. Instead of waiting for his answer, he let some skinless humans play around him.

Although this looked disrespectful, the curiosity that powered the mind to do reckless things made them move forward without looking back.

"Bador wants to find a resting place for everyone. That should be what he means when he says, "Find a new place to live." Argar muttered. 

"Does it have any meaning? Come on, we're dead. We can live forever, though the place looked eerie and desolate. It's better than dying forever." The man said it, shrugging.

"Bador has more for that. It wasn't a normal search for a new home to rest." Argar suddenly laughed as he realized something.

"Hahahaha, Bador! My friend Bador, you really want to do this kind of thing?!

"Such ambition! I'll help you along the way! At the same time, it will help me further."

Argar waved his hand, and four skinless humans with rotting flesh stepped up to lift his chair from the pile of stone.

"How did you even do that?" The man was speechless.

"You mean how those piles didn't crumble after being lifted up, or how they can lift this up?" Argar asked casually, as though he were just having some morning jokes with his friend.

The man said, "Both."

Argar nodded, and he explained, "I don't know much. All I know is that we might have become someone like....Garut."

Speaking of Garut, their eyes flash with some light. The strength and the mysterious ability that can see the future Who wouldn't want that power? Who wouldn't envy that?

The man's eyes gleamed too as he stood up and tried to find some dead trees to lift up. He found one and stepped in front of it.

"Alright, let me see how this works, ha!" The trees moved before being lifted up with his two skinless hands. In the next moment, it was thrown to the side.

With a thud, dust rose up. "Kekekeke, you are right; we have indeed become strong! Hahahahaha. I didn't know death would set us this free! If I had known this all along, I would have long since killed myself and escaped that rotten place."

Looking at the hysterical laughing man holding his hands near his stomach. Argar was calm, he said as he motioned for his legion to follow Bador.

"This isn't a direct proof of that. This might be the result of being killed by those kinds instead." Then he paused before continuing.

"Garut and that Nai young man called themselves [accepters] after passing the so-called acceptance phenomenon and getting the proof in the form of a necklace."

Argar asked the man. "What should we call ourselves then?"

The man stopped laughing as he rode on a big, skinless human's shoulder, where it quickly caught up to Argar's ride. He thought for a bit before answering.

"Accepter huh. How should I say it? We become one in a different way." The man said

Argar stared and asked, "Are you stupid? That's why I'm asking you." 

The man continued. "Don't mind me then; I'll just follow what you can come up with."

"Alright, let's go and ask Bador instead." The skinless human below him picked up some speed. A few seconds later, they arrive near the walking Bador.

Looking at the side below him, Argar smirked and said, "How's my ride? Jealous?".

Bador took a glance at him for a few seconds before answering calmly, "I know you would follow me."

Argar was dissatisfied. "Hey! I'm asking you something! Don't go around the topic. Anyway, it's my turn to follow you with this life instead." 

"I did follow you back then." Bador nodded as a matter of course.

Argar is speechless. "Buddy? Alright, I won't argue with you. Since dying and coming to this place. You've become more... so straightforward that you don't even care about your answers at all."

"It hurts, bud."

"I'm sorry, then."

"Actually, don't mind it."

"..." 

"A man talked to me."

"I thought you'd changed, but in a comical way."

"Bador, my friend, I've been like this the whole time!"

"I've just noticed."

Argar was exasperated; he had just come to know that this is how a half-restrained Bador is without half of his cautiousness.

"Alright, I'm really going to talk about things here. Seriously, this is about our special circumstances."

"Alright, go on; I'm listening." Bador walked nearer to him to listen. He is indeed a man of few words. Argar finally calmed some unspeakable emotions in his heart that he couldn't explain.

"I'm gritting my teeth and turning my palm into a fist, all because of how you're answering me, buddy."

Bador sighs, "The same old buddy. Now go back to the thing you want to talk to.".

Argar somewhat calmed down after this; Bador is, after all, the same old Bador. Just his way of answering things casually can cause those who were in the conversation to have some nosebleeds.

"It's about this..." Then Argar immediately explained what he had talked about with the other man, who was now following them silently at the side like some kind of idiotic stalker.

The man said, "I'll just go with what the two of you came up with."

Bador understands the situation: "So you want me to name a different name for an accepter? Buddy, we aren't accepters; where's our acceptance phenomenon proof?"

Argar was dumbfounded. "Yes, I forgot about that. Does that mean we're not acceptors?"

The man suddenly said, "Maybe we are, but ours are in a different form? After all, we're different."

"Yes, we've died already." Bador and Argar nodded, realizing this point.

"So?" 

"Where's the acceptance proof?"