Bro, I'm not an Undead!

[Demion's Dance]

-Unique-

A beautifully crafted sword given to Demion on his birthday by his lover, Irisa, to commemorate his legendary battle with Escus.

-Damage-

21,000-23,000

-Durability-

4340/80,500

-Special Effects-

•35% increase in speed

[Skill: Epic Memory]

Regardless of the user's level of power, they are able to partially replicate the raw movements and a portion of the attack power that Demion demonstrated in his battle with Escus.

---

[Skill: Irisa You Whore]

The remnants of the unfaithful Irisa shower the user with healing light meant for her side lovers each time they sustain an injury, bringing them to full health. This effect only occurs once a day.

~~~

"Hmmm.." Skullius sucked in a deep breath.

A Unique item.

The only one he could use offensively.

He finally had the sword in his hands, ready for use.

One would ask where the Baleful Gale Reaper was.

Unfortunately, that sword which had served him well had been left behind in the first Cluster that Skullius had been in.

Where he had fought Jackpot.

In that tense situation, he had only been thinking of retrieving Red Rage who had been torn to pieces and thus couldn't save the sword.

The weapon in Skullius' hands now seemed to be calling to him with what seemed like a distant voice but Skullius ignored as he read through the stats and skills it gave with rapt attention.

While he didn't remember everything completely, the Discount Human was sure that the special effects of the sword had been much higher than what it showed now.

This was exactly as HammerDown had warned.

The damage it could do was cut down by more than half.

The addition to strength that it gave was no longer there and the two skills that Skullius had wanted to keep were downgraded considerably.

[Epic Memory] now claimed to only be able to allow him to partially replicate the moves of the owner of this sword while [Irisa You Whore] could only restore him to full health not thrice but once.

Sigh.

This wasn't bad actually when he thought another it.

It was much much better than the Baleful Gale Reaper.

It was certainly better than what Skullius had been thinking it would be too.

With all these damage numbers added on top of his skills, he would truly be worth his marbles!

The vague calling that seemed to seep from the green blade of the sword kept whispering close to Skullius' ear and this time, he readily focused on it.

A wild gush of energy streamed through him the moment he opened up to the call which was akin to soft breaths that eased his mind.

As this occurred, a notification popped up in front of Skullius.

[You have partially learned the 'Swindling Death Dance' sword technique]

[To use the technique, the use of 'Demion's Dance' is required]

Skullius breathed out as he read these two messages.

'I see. I've learned the sword technique but I can't use it without this sword. I guess this is related to [Epic Memory].'

"Well? How is it?" Tulnas' voice suddenly shattered Skullius' thoughtscape where he had hidden himself.

The Discount tore himself from this space and sheathed the sword, attaching the weapon and its cover to his waist.

He turned to HammerDown and nodded.

"It's good. I'm satisfied with this," he said with a slight smile.

To Gruff, this felt perfunctory more that anything else, but coming from this guy, he didn't mind it that much.

He simply nodded back and stomped on the black, rock-like object he had thrown to the ground which immediately crumbled.

At the same time, the distortive barrier that cut off visuals and audio for those outside broke down as well.

"I'm glad it's too your liking," Gruff said.

In his heart, as a product of his own flawed philosophy, he believed that he had no right to judge those he worked for as long as they made a difference.

Seeing that Skullius was with Tulnas, he believed that at least this man would use this sword to bring some form of benefit to this city and its people whom he had decided not to abandon in the end.

'Hopefully...' he thought.

"Seems like we're all done here," Tulnas said as he nodded to Gruff. "I'll be coming with a blueprint for some new armour soon. I hope you prepare adequately for it."

Gruff scoffed with a chuckle before nodding his head.

"Anytime."

Tulnas and Skullius walked off under the gazes of the many customers, the Guild leader taking Skullius towards his residence in the city.

On the way, he turned to the Discount Human, the light in his eyes showing a hint of sympathy.

"It just occurred to me that you've been burdening yourself with a curse that keeps you lonely all this time even to the point of pushing good people away. It must've be hard, Festos," Tulnas said, the lingering smile he always had disappearing from his face.

The Discount Human turned to look back at Tulnas with a slight frown.

The man's words reminded him of the short conversation he had had with Betsy, back at the Inn he had been staying.

Loneliness.

It really had been an experience he had to deal with for so long and only now did he have people to interact with this long.

"Good people are the worst. They get themselves killed by trying to help anyone they can find. That's were socketholes come in. Since I associate with people like you now, I'm not truly alone. Sockethole or not, you're standing next to me, after all," Skullius responded.

Tulnas actually felt a dent in his soul from his words.

"I assume, I'm also a... sockethole and not a good person?" Tulnas asked with a sheepish smile.

"If you were a good person. I don't think you'd be alive right now."

"I...see," the young Guild leader dragged out his words.

This little man had his way with words.

Frankly, he hadn't intended to treat him like garbage, curse or not.

Since he hadn't seen the full extent of the curse that Skullius had, he didn't take it too seriously but...

'Maybe I've been acting for so long I've slowly started to change,' Tulnas thought.

Soon, he shook his head and sighed.

"Shut up, you dumbass," he said with a click of his tongue.

"Huh?" Skullius confusedly tilted his head.

"I'm not talking to you, man," Tulnas grumbled.

With short bouts of conversation, the two reached a large piece of land occupied by a massive building in a few minutes.

Skullius gawked at its majesty as well as the brilliance of its build.

"Welcome to the Harem's Guild Residence."