The white-haired man dressed in nothing but dirty rags was whistling happily as he was decorating the cave’s entrance. Behind him a girl, barely a teenager, with a pixie-cut purple hair kept on working as well, definitely not sharing his enthusiasm.

“Come on, Codi! One-two, one-two! Put some life into it! Oh-oh-oh! Hang the balloons with confetti a bit higher!” Zariel kept on ordering her around with a happy tone. “... this is humiliating..” girl hissed under her nose “... also, how many times do I have to ask TILL YOU WOULD STOP CALLING ME THAT, FOR FUCK SAKE!?” “Oh, I beg your pardon, my gracious Codex Diabolicus - Grimoire of Seven Dark Arts, but I don’t have an entire day just to call you! Stop bitching, start working, I gave you that body for a reason!” It wasn’t you who gave me that body, but Dr. Frankenstein! Stop taking credit for the work of other people!” “A-ha, who saved him, gave him a laboratory, paid him and gave him access to all materials and research papers he needed? Also, he signed a loyalty paper which makes all his products and research my property… this body including… how do you feel being my property on so many levels?... Also, that allows me for a little mobbing…”

He turned around and delivered a strong smack on the girl's butt cheeks. A sky rumbled, split with thunder as if it was a reply towards this action.

“Fuck off! She is thousands of years old - totally legal! And mind your own fucking business!” The soon-to-be-God-of-Fate yelled toward the sky before resuming his recent labor “... anyway-anywaaay! Let’s hurry! Aster will be here any second! More sparkles! More paper-chains! You can build your first dungeon only once! I want it to be the best dungeon in history of build dungeons - maybe ever!”

Codex, or as called by Zariel “Codi”, only snorted rolling her eyes.

“... You know what would be amusing? If that moron somehow lost his way or got himself killed, making all your.. pardon me, MY hard work all for naught. How much would I give to see your devastated face!” “Shush! Now, is everything done? Good! Hide all decorations under illusions and hide! This is gonna be one wonderful surprise party! Uh! How long has it been!? I had this particular dungeon layout in head for YEARS! It has soo many levels! So many secret areas! It rewards you regardless of approach - do you just carve your way through? Then the next levels will be made of a horde of easy opponents so you could practice your reaction time! Do you prefer a sneaky approach? Unbeatable guardians with one or two blind spots to outsmart awaits for you! Do you like riddles!? Over a dozen puzzle rooms! Everything was made to let you choose and customize your own class on your way down! Everything! While gradually getting stronger as you suck on the Dungeon’s magic water! Perfect place for start, I am telling you!” “SHUT UP! You have been telling me this for the past two days! I know! I knoooow! Lucky Aster! He has such a loving and carrying god preparing a low-level area just for him! Now, can I go take a nap?” “Such a killjoy, suit yourself!” He yelled back nonchalantly without even looking in her direction.

Right after that he jumped right above the cave entrance and using his divine powers made himself impossible to detect.

Hidden like that, Zariel awaited for the sudden arrival of his chosen.

And he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Eventually, he just burst.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

His frustration knew no bounds.

“What is it this time?” Codi asked, not really wanting to know the answer. “He should already be there!” The God complained “... You actually jinxed it!” “Is that so?...” She laughed joyfully “... no, wait, you are serious!” Her joyful laugh turned into maniacal. “That’s not a matter to joke about! He is a good boy, just clumsy! And naive!... And… Fuck.”

He cursed a few more times loudly starting a spell.

“What are you doing?” “I told him to go north. I asked one witch to summon some undeads to delay the Church of the Three and adventurers and to scare every animal and beast in vicinity. So either Aster was a complete moron and didn’t go North, even though I double checked if he knew that it was his best shot, or that witch fucked things up. And even thought Aster is.. not the sharpest tool in the shed, he ain’t a total moron. So, I am going to check up on my little tool.” “Can I come with you? I could use some action!” “Do as you please… you pretty much always do.”

With a loud scream of excitement a purple haired girl jumped into a mass of fog that already started forming under the God’s feet. In the next second, they were no longer there. They traveled around forty kilometers south, to the location of a huge pit in the ground that not so long ago was filled to the brim with corpses.

“Can you smell it?” Zariel asked his grimoire. “Yesss, powerful dark magic, and lots of impure energy, with some strong astral dissonance and… chaos. Let me take one more whiff… That’s the stuuuuf…” She let out a moan of pleasure. “Exactly. Powerful rite. I asked her - I double fucking asked her to keep it down! I wanted distraction and what did she caused? A minor apocalypse! Even better - she obviously lost control over it! Uh! Morigu, I swear to the void… If I find you…”

He didn’t need to look for her for too long. The mass of dirt moved, after closer inspection one could notice that in the mud a grotesque person was lying, almost completely covered under a thick layer of soil.

Witch Morigu raised her hand above, asking for help.

“My little pet! Just look at you! What happened to you… Uh, that wound looks nasty… And with the blood you lost, how did you manage to last this long?” Zariel kept on asking, more for himself than the half-conscious necromancer. “Ah! Necro-stasis spell! It was supposed to be used as a curse, but she used it around her wound, stopping the blood-flow. In the long term that would kill her, but just for a day or two it's great to stop a death from blood-loss! Zariel!...” Codi pointed at the woman “... I like her!” “Morigu, Morigu… Morigu-Morigu. I asked you for one little thing. And you fucked it up. Entire chain of events, carefully planned to get a specific outcome. And you ruined it all! Do you have any idea how mad I'm right now?” Despite his words, his tone was calm, gentle, almost reassuring. “P-please, help me…” the witch managed to let out a quiet cry. “Hm? I can’t. No, seriously. I can’t just interfere. I need to play along the rules. I can’t just wo-lo-lo and lift you up. It's the domain of The Three. I am limited to the butterfly effect. I put a stone on the path, to make someone stumble, fall, and see something from a different angle. I drop a single pebble off the mountain's peak and watch an avalanche form. Also, I can’t just do it randomly, to do so, I need a reason - a pact. A deal.” “I will… make… another pact...” “You see, Morigu, our deal… is not quite over, and therefore I still own you. You failed your task. You didn’t meet your end of bargain, even more! You ruined everything I was about to achieve! What else can you offer me?” “P-please… I don’t… want to die.” “That's understandable. Rarely do I meet someone who wants that.” God put his hand under his coat, picked out an apple and started to loudly eat it, standing above the dying witch. “Zaa-ri! Give her to me!” Codex said, still looking with curiosity at Morigu “... you are afraid of death! I can give you immortality!” “Wait, don’t decide on anything without my consent, would you kindly?” “Give her to me, and I would consider the thing you asked me…”

God’s eyes shined.

“No, not consider. You will do it.” “Fineee! But I will need her as my servant. She will be my first librarian. Deal?” Asked Codex “Deal!...” Answered White Raven “... Deal?” He repeated the question looking at the witch. “D-deal…” She managed to answer, coughing blood. “Ah, I love when everyone finds a satisfactory solution! That’s what I call a happy ending! Morigu, we will contact you shortly! Focus on not-dying, help is on the way! I should have some unaware pawn around, or do I?… You are doing great! Till later!”

And then, they vanished again.

In the meantime, Frank - a C-rank adventurer from the nearest city was exterminating lowest rank undead on the Deadwood’s outskirts. He and many more lower-rank adventurers were hired to wait on Special’s area borders to get rid of every undead who would manage to get past the ranks of the Silver Lion’s House.

He was having a blast. Very, very few undeads would manage to find their way through heavy fortifications of the higher adventurers, therefore, his job was very, very easy.

But then, one thing led to another - here he could have promised he noticed something, then he could have sworn that he heard someone calling for help, and step after step he dived deeper into DeathWood. After a few hours march, he managed to find a certain clearing with a certain pit and a certain witch dying in the mud.

A wound on her back proved that she was a victim - a survivor. For helping those, the guild paid extra.

“Grandma, are you fine? By the Three, what were you doing so deep in these gods forsakes land?! Here, drink! It is a high grade healing potion, you will be as good as new in no time!”

Ah, easy promotion! Frank was truly blessed by the God of Luck!

Oh, if I only had a working, living throat, I would just gulp down my own saliva as I entered the commanding tent. I hesitated right in front of it, but one not strong, but not forceful push of Agnes’s Capitan forced me in without letting me say anything in that matter.

Inside, besides me and the captain, who walked in shortly after me, four more men were already standing, surrounding a wide round table with maps and figures laying atop of it. Agnes also tried entering, but a few sharp words from her commander made her leave while groaning.

“So, that’s our nameless ?”

The tallest man around his mid twenties asked. He was simply beautiful - not just handsome. I could already imagine as every woman in our village was oh-ing and ah-ing as he would walk past them. Neck-long platinum-blond hair, pure blue eyes, perfect cheekbones.

Yet, at the same time he had a strong, almost suffocating aura. It was clear that he was a man of great charisma.

I didn’t know what to say, therefore, I remained silent.

“Won’t you introduce yourself?” The man asked after a short pause.

Calm down, Aster, calm down! Don’t let them know that you are afraid!

“I would love to, but first, I would need to know who I am talking to, to present myself in a proper way.”

Corners of his mouth twitched up a small, almost condescending smirk.

“My father told me that I should work till I no longer would have to say who I am… apparently, I still have a long way to go… Very well, My name is Nicolai from the Silver Lion House. Current head of the House of…”

He kept on delivering title after title.

Nicolai, Leader of Silver Lion. Living legend. Even I, living in the middle of nowhere knew about him. Traveling merchants and bards quite often talked about his achievements.

A noble house which upon disagreeing with the king regarding certain matters left the Army (they previously worked as strategic advisors) and joined the adventurers. It was a form of “small, acceptable rebelion”. Since then, they still served on the king’s court, but with greater freedom, because, as adventures they had some level of independence and could openly disagree with his majesty. I didn’t know most (if any) details regarding their new or old political power, only that they were loved. By everyone.

Top-tier knights who served the poor for a handful of coins. Silver-armored heroes who saved those in need. The noblest of nobles.

I should have recognized them, even if not him personally, than them as an entire group. You know, lots of silver armors. Banners with lions that could be seen pretty much everywhere… even his capes had that huge-ass silver lion on a red background - their symbol.

I should have realized that sooner. Stupid Aster! Stupid.

As soon as he finished giving all his titles, I waited a moment or two before dropping to one knee, bowing my head and putting my right hand on my chest - in a place where my heart was supposed to be. A knight’s greeting.

“Forgive my ignorance, noble lord. Nothing justifies my lack of wisdom. My name is Aster… And I am… I was… Forgive me again, yet, due to certain… circumstances and very recent events, I can’t properly greet you. I myself am quite confused.” “Fret not, no offence was taken. I want to properly thank you for aiding us in this battle… You could start with taking off Godric's helmet.”

I was still covered in this armor which completely hid my identity. I looked at the man that handed me it, letting me survive during undead’s purge asking for a hint.

That was a mistake, I shouldn’t have done that. I have only shown that I have something to hide instead of acting proud and bold. I lost a few possibilities of leading this conversation.

Agnes’s Capitan - a man called Godric, only nodded quickly, letting me know that doing as the Lord said was only proper action.

“I only ask you to not be shocked by what you will see…” I said before raising my hands and taking helmet off.

One of the commanders hissed angrily as his hand traveled to the mace attached to his belt. Another one with a bow hanging over his shoulder only raised his brows surprised, and the man who clearly looked like a mage appeared… interested.

“What is this abomination doing here? We should purge it!” The first man yelled angrily. “Right now, this, as you called it, abomination, is my guest. Also, the commanding tent is a sacred place. No violence is allowed…” He quickly rebuked one of his captains “... you need to forgive Adam’s words. As you can see, he is a priest and thus he doesn’t love your kind. I need to ask you though, what are you doing here and what are your future goals.”

He didn’t say why he needed that information. As a noble of such caliber, he just demands this knowledge.

“As you see, I am but an undead. I was minding my own business, traveling north when… I lost consciousness. The Undead Lord used some kind of powerful spell which deprived me of my free will. It was like a dream, I woke up already on the battlefield, as you cast that spell of your own. It reduced his powers letting me break free…” “Great! So he was one of the undeads murdering our people! If we know that already can we burn it?!” The priest was more than just agitated. “I mourn over your losses…” I decide not to let them just decide my fate right away “... The Silver Lion House is well known and respected. I myself consider you a noble hero. Knowing that I tainted my hands with your blood greatly saddens me, even though I was being controlled. Please, accept my condolences.” “My Lord, how long will you allow this farce to…” “Silence!” Nicolai raised his voice “... I am tired with your open hatred! If you continue on offending me in front of our guest, you will have to leave. Your insolence will not be tolerated any further!”

The man of faith clenched his teeth, he bowed his head slightly and apologized to his commander.

“Aster, you need to understand that you are in quite a difficult situation. You were a part of enemy forces, not just that, as I can tell you were one of the leaders, right? We need to thoroughly understand your motives… before deciding your fate. And… I am not going to lie, as much as I hate Adam’s reasoning… putting you to rest is the only logical option at this very moment.” “... I can’t afford to die here…” I raised my voice, trying to make it sound as threatening as possible “... You see, noble lord, undeads are not raised just because. There was a reason, a good one, for me to refuse the gentle embrace of the Mist Walker. Please, I don’t want to become your enemy…” My hand moved slightly to the hilt of my sword and I made sure to let them see that gesture “... I already died, more than once, for sake of achieving my goal. It is greater than me… greater than you.”

I tried to sound as noble and mysterious as possible. My chances slightly rose if they were to believe that I am some errant knight on a quest.

“... please, noble lord. The words I will say now might appear insolent, but please, let me go. Nothing will bring your men back, and if I were to fail… great crimes would go unpunished. And far more crimes are likely to be committed.”

Technically, I didn’t lie. They could still ask me to swear with an Oath, in such a situation, I could say that I never lied to them. That would be a great change of this conversation’s tide.

“Very well… I will consider your point… but, you need to tell me more.”

And so I told him. Everything. About being fooled. About being betrayed. About being killed and losing what I loved and treasured.

Of course, I didn’t tell them about gods. Or that I was a villager and was killed by the respected Noble Lord. I didn’t lie, just either skipped some part or rephrased it. I said . Or . Not a single lie.

“... There are many things I don’t understand…” Nicolai said once I finished my slightly shifted colored up story “... You said the man that killed you went west… why did you travel north?”

I was prepared for that.

“Because, as I said, he already bested me. Twice. Because he has allies, and I am Undead. No one helps undead. Delivering justice will be impossible in my current state. I needed to get stronger. Technically, I am a monster. I hoped to find a dungeon to feast on its powers.”

My hands trembled when I admitted my weakness.

“May I ask a question to our… guest?” A wizard-looking captain for the first time raised his voice. Silver Lion was quick to nod and give his permission “... You called yourself a lesser undead… but, lesser undeads are just empty husks led by basic needs. Actually, even most middle rank undeads have some programmed behaviors and ability to learn, but are not self-aware. You are clearly a higher rank undead.”

I opened my status and checked my race. Nope. It still said [lesser undeads] [self-aware variant].

“I am not a specialist when it comes to undead, yet, there is this… feeling, knowledge even, of what I am. Look at me. I am… weak. I think I am just some sort of exception. A freak, even among the ranks of undeads.” “Fascinating...“ he said quietly to himself “... Sir, may I suggest something?” “Go on Friedrich.” Silver Lion was quick to answer “Make him one of us. Part of Silver Lion House.” “ARE YOU INSANE?” The priest roared. “This time I will not punish Adam, as I am close to asking the very same question. But, knowing you, you will soon enlighten us.”

From behind his robe the mage picked a small, crystally transparent corb.

“We all know what it is. Crystal of lies. It detects ill intentions and fake information, growing darker the more lies or blood lust it detects in a close area. I already calibrated it to scan him, and only him in this tent. As you can see, it’s absolutely pure. So he at least believes in what he said. If we would push aside all of his private opinions and personal emotions from his story, we could agree that he was killed by someone who he trusted and he now tries to stop that person who he believes to still have evil intentions. He has no ill intention toward anyone else, and as we could see and hear - he perfectly controls his hungers… or maybe, he doesn’t hunger to begin with. And now, let’s focus on positive aspects of him joining our rank - he will be able to train under the eye of the best instructors of every art, in the meantime, we will gain an immortal soldier to the main attack force, we will be able to keep on supervising his actions, and thus we will be able to better understand his nature. At the same time, I will be able to learn and study him - study undead. Learning on a willing individual might provide much more information than just via fighting and dissecting the bodies. We could develop new weapons, new tactics! He is a bottomless well of information we could use! Also, if he would prove himself to be a threat, we can always kill him later on, as he would always be within our reach.”

Nicolai remained silent for quite some time.

“Undead among noble warriors! We would risk a lot! We would need to keep his identity secret, even from most of our own people…” “Full armor with a helmet would solve that, we can also say that he made vows to the gods or even an Oath to not take the helmet off until his quest would be over, whatever. Choices are limitless!” “That’s insane…” said Nicolai “...I like it. Let’s do this!”

I didn’t have anything to say in this matter. But, I am not going to lie and say that I am dissatisfied with the outcome. Traveling with them will let me get into the towns, and if I would be lucky enough, in one of those cities, there would be Mike. Waiting to be slaughtered like a pig…

The wizard was already putting the crystal back behind his cape, just a second before it was covered I managed to see how it became slightly darker.