I concentrated hard in my mind. Nothing but silence and darkness blanketed my consciousness as I channeled my inner self. I took a breathe and let the silence overwhelm me. However, something slowly whispered within. I concentrated on that whisper, finding where it was. I focused all my senses towards that one whisper and pinpointed where it was.

H..l….w...lrd…

There it was! The whisper! My consciousness ran towards where the source of the noise was. The foreign invader within my mind. I concentrated harder, grabbing onto what I could follow until I caught it. I grabbed it hard and pulled it towards myself.

Hello world!

I opened my eyes with a start. Well, more like letting my sight come back. Lucia, my petite dwarven vampire maid, was sitting in front of me on top of Alph. I was sitting with my legs crossed, like I was meditating. Lucia gave me a clap as congratulations as I managed to hear her voice inside my head.

“Well done, your lordship! You actually managed to learn vampiric telepathy. That is rather remarkable, this one didn’t think it would work and is truly impressed by your skill.” She nodded proudly as if she was the one doing all the hard work. In reality, all she did was repeatedly shout into my mind and I did all the work of trying to figure out how I could hear it.

“This one is also impressed that you, as an Archlich, are still illiterate in Western Commons trying to learn it for weeks even though it only took you a few days to learn vampiric telepathy.” She had this sincere-but-not-sincere smile. Stop trying to pity me!

“If only there was some kind of magical amulet that could translate languages. That would’ve been really magical.” I sighed. Back in the stronghold, we had this one delusional novelist that would write about these kind of things. Well, his stories sucked but at least it was something we could read when we were absolutely bored.

“Well, anyways. It only works between you and me. I’d like to see if I could have the others use it, too.” I sighed. To be honest, I tried to find ways to make communications easier with my companions but after centuries of study and procrastination, I gave up. I was sure there was a way to communicate without sending messengers with paper back and forth. Perhaps if we could turn messages into another material form….maybe electricity? Bah. Nonsense.

“This one is willing to assist your lordship since you have given this one such a wonderful gift.” She smiled as she placed her hands on an amulet. The amulet had a gem buried inside a small gold bar. The amulet would feed on the essence of death in the air passively and it would store it. Any undead could then use the amulet to sustain themselves. Its efficiency was also good and it was easy to conceal.

I gave one to Ellysa, that damned dwarven vampire queen, to stop her from driving the korgis into extinction, but she was overjoyed thinking that I was trying to court her. I had to surround the palace with an earthen wall to keep her from latching onto me to keep me from running away.

“RULE WITH ME FOREVER, YOUR LORDSHIP!” She cried as she grabbed my leg.

I had to use near-divine spells to teleport myself beyond time and space to escape her. Lucia guided us to a train that lead to the fortress closest to Angolia. After that, we hit the road towards Angolia. According to Lucia, the closest city would be a few days away at our pace but we wanted to go to Follis since Sarjay wanted to.

I also gave one to Lucia since it was my fault that she became a masterless thrall. Wait, what does that even mean? A thrall, in definition, was someone that’s under someone’s control. I stared at Lucia for a moment.

“Your lordship?”

“Lucia. You were a vampire thrall but what are you now?” I asked. Lucia was speechless at this revelation. She scratched her head a bit then placed a hand on her chin.

“This one had been thinking for sometime now. This one would say this one is a vampire now?” She tilted her head. That would make sense. She had the trait of a vampire and without a master, she’s essentially a vampire now. So, in effect, I had a dwarven vampire in my group.

“Is there a problem, your lordship? You had been humming for sometime now,” She asked me.

“I’m just wondering what the other vampires would think. Especially the so-called Vampires of the Western Continent.” I shrugged as I got up, I looked to my side and saw the Follises talking to each other.

“...and then I rode down and ran my blade through the griffin knights! I shouted to them, ‘I am Sarjay of Phollicia, hear my roar, and tremble as I served the Timeslayer, Empe…’” I snapped my finger in front of Sarjay’s face, interrupting their lovely family bonding time.

“Hey, Sarjay. Sorry to bother you but Follis is really far. Are you sure you want to head straight to there?” I asked as I sat next to Sarjay. Asha gave me wide-eyes look as she looked to my direction. What had this guy been telling her?

“Well, are you in a hurry to visit any particular place in Angolia?” He asked back.

“Well. Not really. It’s just that there’s a nearby city that’s only a few days away while Follis is about...three weeks or more away? Would be nice to stop for a rest,” I suggested. Sarjay thought for a bit before we heard someone jump onto Alph. Daggerless landed on the edge of the flat surface and nearly fell off but he collected his cool, acting like it was all according to his plan.

“Boss, our scout says there’s an inn a few clicks away. From the looks, it’s probably visited frequently since this road is used by people travelling between Angolia and the United Fortresses,” He reported. An inn? Well, we had been travelling from quite some time already so I wouldn’t mind a rest. When our group reached the inn, our scouts were already waiting inside.

When I entered the inn, there were a few people sitting and eating inside; Two armored men on the side, a group of hunters talking about their latest hunt and a few teenagers talking on another side. The innkeeper noticed our entrance and called out to us.

“Hey there, travellers. You new around here? Is that your demon tortoise outside? Just park him nearby. I know the merchants who owns demon tortoises going between Angolia and the United Fortresses but this is the first time I’ve seen you,” The old man said. Though old, he seemed to have to be a cheerful one.

“Yes. We’re very new to Angolia. How much for lodging and food?” I inquired when I got to the counter.

“I accept Angolian coins and dwarven coins. What do you have?” He asked. I took out some coins that I stole from the dwarven treasury. I paid the innkeeper for the rooms and meals then my group settled down.

The inn’s architecture wasn’t much different from a thousand years. The technique for construction must not have changed for a long time. When our group sat around the tables, I was observing the people in the inn. The two armored men were apparently Angolian guards, with their lion with white-and-red background on their tabards over their plain chainmail. Their weapons weren’t much different from the ones carried by people in Aon, either.

I gathered some information from the hunters, as well. Down at south, there was a lot of movements from the forests. Apparently animals were seen migrating in huge numbers away from south and towards north. The hunters were worried that it might ruin their hunting routine but their moods got better when they realized that they’ll have greater number of hunts.

Next were the teenagers. They appeared to be a group of adventurers. One of them was a lizardman or something. With the exception of him, the rest were kids of nobles looking for an adventure. Well, that’s nice. Better than staying at home and sucking on your thumb just because you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth.

The day passed quietly. My group ate, exchanged pictures and discussed our plans before heading to bed. Then came morning, my group were enjoying their breakfast when Daggerless slammed the inn entrance open.

“BOSS! THERE’S TROUBLE OUTSIDE!” He screamed. The people inside the inn looked outside of the windows and saw there was a lot of armed men outside, surrounding the tavern. Outside, a large bulky man dropped down from his horse and shouted, “Whoever stole from the Bloodied Rags will pay! This is our demon tortoise! Come out whoever had the guts to steal our tortoise!”

“Hey, Boss. I warned you about this.” Sarjay nudged me. I sighed as our group made our way out. These Bloodied Rags people are very informed. For some reason, the teenagers got up as well and ran outside, too. The two Angolian guards cursed their lives then followed the teenagers. I guessed the two guards were supposed to be the noble children's guards.

As I walked out of the tavern, I could see the leader of the kids drawing his weapon out. He had blonde wavy hair and blue eyes. He kind of reminded me of someone I knew. Man, over the past few months, I’ve been reminded of a lot of things but I could never put my finger on what their reminded me of.

“Bloodied Rags! Do you know who I am?! I am the son of Duke Lancel, Aeron! Unfortunately for you ruffians, you won’t escape justice! For this is the duty of the Angolian nobles!” He pointed his sword at the bandit leader. The bandits all laughed at the foolhardy kid’s threats. I had heard from Lucia that Angolian nobles had a strong sense of pride and justice. I didn’t think it was so strong that it would get them killed. The other kids also drew their weapons, obviously confident in their skills.

“Don’t worry, kiddo! We’re simply taking back what belonged to ours. Isn’t that justice?” The bulky laughed.

“Don’t say such nonsense! You are the biggest crime group in the continent! What you say is ‘stealing’ from the Bloodied Rags is simply taking back what was stolen!” The duke’s son shouted.

“Fine. But it’s obvious you Angolian bastards wouldn’t steal the tortoise. It must be one of those damned robed fools in the back, so step aside.” The bandit leader took out his weapons. A pair of mace, one on each hand. Was dual-wielding maces even viable?

“If you wish to hurt these innocent people, you’ll have to get through me, scum!” He moved to protect us. Woo..we’re cheering for you, blondie!

“Fine.” With that one word, the bandit leader charged at the blondie. Aeron didn’t even have time to react and the bandit leader was already at his side. His mace landed on the side of his ribs and caused Aeron to wince. The duke’s son tried to swing his sword towards the ruffian in retaliation but his arm was knocked by the other mace. Soon, the noble kid was on his knees, gasping in pain.

That didn’t last long. I take my cheers back! That was simply pathetic!

Just as the bandit leader was about to smack some sense into the kid, I called out to the bandit.

“Hey. We stole your demon tortoise. It looked pretty expensive so we stole it.” I waved as I got his attention. He kicked Aeron onto the side and the guards grabbed him away. The bandit took a few steps forward towards us.

“So it really was you robed bastards. Heh. I’m Rans. Do you know that name? Better remember it. I’m the strongest bandit leader in this side of the country with the largest Bloodied Rags group. Since I’m obviously the strongest around here, I get to pick who I get to kill first.” He arrogantly flexed his muscles towards us. Our group mostly just yawned and dozed off.

“You bastards! I’ll teach you the true meaning of Bloodied Rags! Let me see….” He started looking over our group, ignoring the teenagers who were still standing their grounds. The two guards insisted they go inside the tavern but they refused.

“I pick you! The slim, flat-chested one!” He pointed over our direction. Wait, was he pointing at my chef, Maven?

“Wait...ME?!”

“Yes, you flattie! Come here and I’ll destroy you!” The bandit mocked Maven. I could feel the air around her getting colder. I was standing next to her and I grabbed her shoulder.

“Hey, Maven. Look. You’re a skeleton so it’s understandable that you’re flatchested and-..” Maven turned her head to me and I saw the white lights of her eyes through her mask. I stopped breathing for a moment. I went absolutely silent and my vision dimmed.

All around me was bright white light. Where was I? I held my arms up. Baby arms? Wait...there was two figures coming up to my line of sight.

Mom?! Also...dad?! Is that you?!

I called out to them, but they faded into the light. Soon, I was a young lad running through the fields with a girl. Wait...that was…

My love?! I thought you were dead! Wait...no! Don’t go there!

Another flash came up and I was soon standing on top a high tower, looking down were millions of men holding up my banner. My mouth was moving by itself as I shouted a speech.

We have slain everything that stood on our way, no matter who, we shall…

Memories came up, all passing by within a flash of a second. When my senses came back to me, I was still holding Maven’s shoulder, still staring into her eyes. I slowly let go and quietly apologized before I shuffled to Sarjay’s side. I sat down behind him rocking back and forth.

“Er…”

“My life...it...it...just flashed...before my eyes….it was so cold...so cruel…..ooh…” I whispered and Lucia petted my head to comfort me.

Maven shoved my companions who were in front of her to the sides. She took one angered step and the earth shook. The bandit leader yelped as sweat started to drip fast.

“Wait...er..I didn’t mean it,” He chattered as he took a step back. The bandits surrounding the inn froze in fear. Maven took another step, the skies started to become darker.

“Wait...haha..No, you must’ve misheard! I said the beautiful lady! Not flatchested! Ha...he….heh?” The bandit leader started shaking and he couldn’t move his legs anymore back. His every sense told him to run as far as possible. Then Maven took another step.

Maven marched, with the heavenium kitchen knife on her hand. The gates of Hell was opening, time was slowing down and she was only surrounded by fear.

The bandits around the inn had already fainted when the bandit leader was lying down on the floor, curled up, trying to crawl away. Maven placed on foot in front of where the bandit was at.

“You,” Maven said.

“HIIIIIIIIEEEEE?! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it! I didn’t mean it! It doesn’t matter about the chest size, you know! It’s just that….HIEE?!” The bandit leader screamed as Maven grabbed him by the neck. She bent her body slightly to the side and stretched her arm. With one smooth throw, Angolia’s proto-space program launched the first man into space. A historic event.

My companions took care of the rest of the bandits and checked up on Alph. When I was sure the Alph was safe, I went inside the tavern. The teenagers had placed the duke’s son, Aeron, onto the table and started tending to him. One of the teenagers was a girl with white robes and a wand. She cast some spells, causing the wand to produce light, over Aeron’s body while he was knocked out.

“What are you doing?” I asked her. She got startled when I asked but answered me anyway.

“Healing magic. What does it look like I’m doing?” She snapped at me before tending to his wound. Healing magic? What the hell was that supposed to mean? That seemed so confusing. It’s like asking a blacksmith what he was smithing and he would answer, ‘Metal thing. Duh.’

“Er...specifically?” I asked again.

“What do you mean, specifically? I’m just using healing magic. It heals. That what it does.” She was getting annoyed by my answers. It was like I’m a toddler asking his mother about everything. I sighed.

“Move aside. You’ll just kill him at this rate.” She was skeptical but moved either way. I ran my hand through Aeron’s body then focused on moving the mana inside his body. The mace cracked his ribs which punctured his lungs. That’s fine, nothing too serious. I forced the rib back into its place and used bone cells to reconnect itself. Then I closed the hole in his lungs, whipping his cells to full overwork. I tended to the rest of his body at a molecular level. When I was done, Aeron regained his consciousness.

“What..what did you do?” She asked.

“Healing magic. What did it looked like I was doing?” I shrugged back. Well, it was pretty weird that an undead would know healing magic anyway. At least, the non-science one. I chuckled. As far as I could remember, healing magic consisted of different types of miracles that I couldn’t be arsed to remember. Too much information.

Since the undead couldn’t use the miracles used by priests, I decided to learn medical science. It’s more efficient and understandable anyway. But it seemed that medical science doesn’t exist anymore since this girl didn’t know healing magic consisted of miracles and medical magic. But it was just her, the sample was too small to make a conclusion..

“That type of healing could only be done by another person in this kingdom!” The girl exclaimed. Hmm? Someone else knew better than to use miracles as a standard for medicine?

“Yes, that’s right. It’s the priestess Leyna with the heroes' party.” The lizardman nodded.

“Heroes' party? What the hell is a heroes' party? Is it a celebration for someone that has done something heroic?” I asked.

“You don’t know what a hero is? A long time ago…” I interrupted the girl before I get attacked by an information dump.

“Yeah, yeah. Hey, kid. How are you?” I asked the duke’s kid, Aeron.

“I feel….better than before. Actually, I feel really lively. I don’t know what you did, but you saved my life! You deserve a reward!” He grabbed my hand and shook it.

“A reward? Eh...I don’t..”

“No! I insist! You should come to the castle town of Mierra. It’s the city closest to here. As my savior, I want you to meet my father, Duke Lancel. As an Angolian, I cannot let you off without a reward!” He grabbed my hand harder. It seemed that he’s insisting real hard.

“Let me discuss with my companions.” I pointed at my group standing around. Some were still on alert, some were sleeping on the chairs. Aeron agreed and jogged towards my group after I gathered them.

“We have a ticket to the nearby town. I’m also meeting the duke of that place or something. What do you guys think?” I asked the group.

“But I’d like to head to Follis…” Sarjay muttered.

“Alright, how about this? Take Asha with you on one of the horses the bandits left to Follis. Clean the place up and make it fancy before we arrive there. I’m pretty sure once our tour of Mierra is finished, we could visit your place, right? That’s plenty of time to fix up a beautiful castle so we could stay somewhere comfortable” I suggested.

“That actually sounds good. Very well, I’ll do that.” Sarjay nodded. Asha didn’t have a problem with that plan either and my group were happy enough to see a castle town. My group packed up and left with Aeron’s band as soon as we could since we already caused so much trouble for the innkeeper.

“Ha ha. No, I don’t think this is a lot of problem since you probably wiped out the bandits in the area of the inn. Should keep the place clean until then.” The innkeeper waved. He even gave us a cart to haul all the bandits to Mierra.

“I’ll come visit sometimes,” I replied back.

“Well, don’t bring bandits with you next time!” The innkeeper shouted as he disappeared in the distance as we got further away from the inn and onto the quiet road. That incident was pretty tiring. But still, looking at Aeron, he really reminded me of someone that I shouldn’t meet.

“Hmm..? Something wrong?” He asked.

“Nothing,” I answered as I rode onto the horse stolen from the bandits. For some reason, I felt a bit uncomfortable around my hips, where Fatebinder, my sword, was at.