Whispers of a Dead Empire

Chapter 55

We were closely shadowing a small formation of undead soldiers. The fog had mostly cleared and instead was more like a faint haze. The sun had risen in the sky and sat near the middle. Clouds were far and few. As we pushed further into the forest, the trees seemed to be a little livelier than before. The smell of death also didn't seem to be as pungent here. Which was strange.

The soldiers marched ahead of us with their weapons drawn. They have seemed a little more agitated than usual, so we had to take extra precautions to stay hidden. The two leading the group were both zombies. One held a metal spear, while the other used two metal gloves that looked a lot like a set of brawlers gloves. It was mostly composed of zombies and skeletons. However, some undead entities looked like ghosts.

Ghosts were a fairly common type of undead, and they rarely needed a necromancer to revive them. Instead, they were only born when the dead were improperly buried. The best way to describe them would be that they were just the shadows of their former selves. A lost memory that would slowly fade away. Most wisps that existed were ancient ghosts that had regressed into a ball of energy.

This place continued to shock me with each passing moment. The undead here seems to defy all logic. Even the fact that they had classes was terrifying. It left me with quite the moral dilemma. If this domain ever attacked the surrounding area, it might wreak a lot of havoc before it could be subdued. Granted, many of the mobs here wouldn't be able to stand up against the highest ranks of adventurers or even a few of the mercenary companies that a few of the surrounding countries employed. But the damage would be significant nonetheless.

On the other hand, these mobs' classes would be an excellent boon for whatever country claims this domain. The experience that it would grant would be great. Both in combat experience and advancement. It would provide soldiers and adventurers a chance to practice in actual combat without worrying about going to war with another country. Both options seemed great, but it was just a matter of figuring out this domain. There were too many variables and not enough answers.

We pushed along the road, and we passed a small lake. Its waters were as blue as a sapphire, and the trees surrounding it were full of life. In fact, many of the undead seem to have a slight aversion to place. At least it looked like it from how they shifted their formation as they marched down the road. I glanced at my three companions and then down the road as the formation slowly moved away from us.

"Let's stop here for a moment. If another patrol passes, we can follow them. If not, then we stick to the road and see where it leads." Everyone murmured in agreement, and we pushed through the foliage. We decided to leave a large portion of our nonvital supplies at the safe house to cut our carrying weight a bit. I brought along the most vital things, like food, water, and anything else that could be tampered with. Alinore carried all of our magical supplies, and Carter carried a few things for our weapon repairs, while Gunther was to carry overnight supplies. The plan was to get back to the safe house before the sunset, but just in case, we brought stuff to camp with.

The only thing that bothered me was that I had no clue what kind of horrors existed at night here, and it wasn't something that I was too keen on finding out. At least this lake seemed to be a little safer than the surrounding area.

We broke through the last bit of foliage and entered a small beach-like area. Here, the scent of death wasn't as pungent as before and instead smelled like fresh water and moss. In fact, it smelled a lot like that scent in the safe room. We fanned out across the area. Which was pretty much empty. The only thing I saw was a large rock on my right that overlooked the lake.

I climbed up its jagged surface and clambered over the ledge and onto its top. The massive rock looked as if someone had smoothed its surface. I squatted down and ran my hand across it, marveling at how well polished it was. I sat down near the edge and overlooked the lake, and decided to enjoy the view. The smell of death was long gone, and if I really focused, it was almost like the undead were just a horrible memory.

But it was only temporary. I took a few extra moments to look over the lake before climbing back down, which was a little more challenging than the way up. Each time I gripped a stone, it would shift, and my heart would jump in my chest. I wasn't all that concerned about dying from the fall since this boulder wasn't that large. What really worried me was breaking bones or destroying our supplies.

Eventually, I managed to reach the bottom and land back on the sand. I glanced around, taking in the surrounding environment, and walked over to the lake. I reached the shore and glanced at the water. It was as clear as day, and not a single drop of debris clouded its surface. Not even a single living or nonliving thing seemed to be in here, well, as far as the eye could see anyways. It seemed to be rather deep since a large void spanned deep underneath that swallowed all the light. I touched the surface and felt a rush of energy, and a lot of the fatigue that I felt was washed away. I felt like I had just woken up after a long night of rest.

I pulled my hand away and glanced to my right and saw Alinore close by, staring at the water. Her eyes radiated silvery energy as she looked over the lake. It was odd not seeing Carter by her side. Even more so after the conversation, we had earlier today. It made me wonder if he told her I knew about their curse. Maybe it would be best if I kept my mouth shut for now about the topic.

"What do you see, Alinore?" I asked as I got closer to her. She tilted her head slightly as the magic faded from her eyes.

"Oh, hello, Rederick. Um, it's hard to describe, really. It has a heavy concentration of life and water mana. However, it's coming from the bottom of the lake. Which, gauging from how long the strings of mana are, is quite a ways down. I don't think we could reach it." She ran her fingers through her hair and stepped back a bit.

"That would explain a lot. What do you think it is?" I crossed my arms, and tore my attention from her face, and shifted it back to the lake.

"It may be a nexus. At least, I can assume that it is, based on how much mana is being radiated outwards. However, what is bothering me is that the mana here is acting strangely." I shifted my attention back to her. I wasn't much of an arcane scholar. To me, it was like listening to a dwarf tell me about how to properly build. I could only pick out essential parts and maybe understand through context. But any sort of information is vital.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my notebook. "How so? Tell me about it."

"Well, for starters, even though this place is filled with the undead, there isn't death mana in the air. In fact, it's a blend between death and life magic. It's strange how they are interacting with each other. The nexus here seems to pull death magic out of the air, turn it into life magic, and send it back out. As soon as the mana leaves the radius of this place, it blends back into the environment and mixes with ambient mana. It's acting like some sort of magical construct and empowering each other." Her eyes shifted back into the same silvery gray energy as she looked around some more.

I quickly jotted down the information, even though it didn't mean too much to me. It would mean a lot to the guild. As I wrote what Alinore said word for word, she looked around again. "Do you think you can find the source for this strange magic? Something has to be creating this absurd mana." I'm not gonna lie. My knowledge of magic is pretty basic, so hopefully, she understands the question.

"From what I can tell, it's coming from the air and the undead that live here. It's so strange, the way the two blend together, you could almost mistake it for life mana." Her face scrunched up as she started to fervently look around again. "The mana seems to be interconnected with everything here and forms a bit of a maze. Though I'm sure that if we follow the maze, we may find the core at the end."

The mention of the core piqued my interest quite a bit, though I had to quell the rising thoughts in my stomach. "What do you think of the mana? Is it something valuable we can use? Can you pinpoint the core as well?"She pursed her lips as the magic in her eyes faded again. A thin sheen of sweat appeared on her brow, and she closed her eyes. "I'm not sure. It's unique. As for its application, I would have to see if I can manipulate the potential; however, I'm not sure. It's not like anything I have ever seen before. The core, well, once I recharge my mana, I can see if I can locate it, though I can't promise anything. The magic here is jumbled and twisted by all the mobs. But I can do my best."

"It's all right, Alinore. Take a rest; I'm sure we can find it." I gestured to the ground, as I fought with my mind, as the possibilities only seemed to grow. It wasn't looking as grim as it had before.

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