Bro, I'm not an Undead!

...!

'I can't move!' Skullius thought as his eyes bulged, almost threatening to spill from his sockets.

He turned to look at the figure before him in shock.

This man's single word had caused him to stop immediately!

Furthermore, he had experienced a 1% in Doom Factor 2!

This guy's speech had caused that much damage?!

Why was his body listening to the man's words?!

And how in the world did he get here so fast?! Did he teleport?!

What did he want?!

Skullius' mind was jumbled with all these questions and he looked at the figure before him with barely veiled hate and apprehension.

Yet, at the back of his mind, he was caught by a strange thought.

This sensation. It was really familiar.

He had felt it before!

"Hmmm. Your soul just cracked quite a bit. It's especially fragile... and torn horribly. I wouldn't have had to be so rough if you didn't take off running," the figure before Skullius said.

It was a middle-aged man.

He looked at Skullius with his chestnut brown eyes that, despite their colour, seemed lifeless and dull with a hint of apathy vivid within them.

The sunken cheeks as well as unkempt and dirty anchor beard at the base of his heart-shaped face did not make his appearance look an livelier as his dark hair that clearly showed his clean sculp hairline through the buzz cut made things all the more worse.

The man wore casual clothes – a long sleeved black shirt and a pair of brown leather pants – the only feature on his body that seemed out of place being the silver pauldron that covered his shoulder, its appearance bearing a slight sheen with a mark crudely carved into it that looked like two crooked strokes meeting at one point.

Skullius couldn't quite comprehend what this man meant.

From his words, it didn't seem like he was trying to be hostile.

But then again, when had things ever been that simple?

Also...

At this point, he was done pointing out every instance that was conjured from his unfavourable luck.

'The hell? What does he mean my soul just cracked? How did he know?' Skullius thought, his apprehension growing with every second.

Atop his head, it seemed that the Demon Hound was not caught up in his paralysis but it did not simply lunge at this opponent as it seemed to have sensed something different about him.

Something beyond just raw power.

And thus, it laid in wait while keeping its presence imperceptible.

In this state, even Skullius couldn't perceive it and thus after seeing the opponent before him remain in one piece, he could only assume that his Hound noticed something he didn't.

Slowly, Skullius felt his ability to move return but the man before him didn't seem to want to make a follow up.

The Discount Human dashed backwards, keeping his vision on the enemy.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"That's a pretty idiotic thing to ask first. If I were you, I'd ask what I want with you before asking such," the man said as he stroked his beard while looking around. "Besides, this isn't a good place to chat."

All around, in Skullius' peripheral vision, he could see the crowds looking at the two curiously.

The sudden idiot who had come rushing into the street only to be stopped by a figure who suddenly appeared before him with speed that bordered on teleportation...

This somewhat drew people's attention.

Before Skullius could offer up a reply to the rude response he had gotten, he felt a tight grip on his jacket and then...

VWOOSH!

With a skittering of feet of that barely lasted for two seconds, Skullius felt his vision become a mash of colour with a harsh breeze blaring against his body then...

PCH!

The Discount Human found himself in a different location.

He dazedly stood over thickets of snow that were layered before a wide frozen lake with strange trees growing from it to rise high up with lanky branches.

'What the...'

Skullius looked around only to find a familiar town a mile's distance away from where he stood with people converging towards it in different directions through various means.

They had... left Harifrast... just like that?

That was....fast.

Beside Skullius, the man with a pauldron over his shoulder stood beside him looking at the six trees that grew from the frozen lake, their branches bearing purple leaves that had blackish ends.

Several people were also standing or sitting around the lake while admiring the purple reflections on the lake's surface and yet they didn't seem to notice the unnatural appearance of Skullius and this man.

Or rather, some just ignored it.

"Sit."

Skullius' body shuddered and he found himself dropping to the ground and sitting down with a heavy thud.

This time however, a notification presenting him with a higher figure in Doom Factor 2 didn't show up.

"You should thank me. I was gentler this time," the man said.

Skullius woke himself from the shock of his body just casually obeying what this man said and shot a response to his sentence.

"And I should thank you for that?"

"You should. I could easily report an unlicensed Healer taking advantage of refugees for own benefit. Would you like that?" the man said, his dead eyes giving Skullius a chill.

'Damn it! He's definitely the one who was watching me before. How is he able to do this? My body is just giving in to his words as soon I hear him speak. This feels like...' Skullius thought, forcing his mind to recall what this sensation felt like.

It didn't take long for him to remember however as he narrowed his eyes.

'Ah... that's right...'

Dezrael.

The winged bastard trapped in the Labyrinth of the Yoke.

The man had been able to just say something and Skullius' body had obliged.

The same had happened with Sause who seemed to have done something similar with Benzard and Reon back then.

Was this the same thing?

What even was it?

"I thought so," the man said with an indifferent look on his face. "For you to be that much of a fool to conduct healing in the town so casually, you must be a complete moron or just confident in your strength. I sincerely hope it's the latter," the man said.

Skullius had much to say to this man but he couldn't help but ask what the man said would be a better question.

"What do you want with me?" Skullius asked.

The man chortled lightly before sitting down beside Skullius, keeping his gaze over the trees.

"Finally, a less foolish question..." the man said.

'You just said it was the better question to ask bro,' Skullius grumbled inside.

'Tomato flinger. If you let your guard down, we'll both die. Don't take him lightly...' Sila suddenly spoke from Skullius' mind.

The Discount Human in this moment realised that he hadn't packed away his baggage and to some degree he wasn't quite happy with himself about it.

'Bro, if this guy wanted to kill us, he would have done so. He obviously wants something from me. If I hadn't run like you said, I probably wouldn't have suffered another 1% in Doom Factor 2!'

'What in the world are you talking about, tomato flinger?! What is Dum Fuckta 2?'

'Nevermind!' Skullius thought as he rolled his eyes internally.

'I am serious, tomato flinger. Be careful. He's not just a simple combatant. I felt it when he spoke. He's one of them...'

'One of who?'

'A Spirit Warden.'