Rana crawled on the battered ground. Her nails bit into the cracks of unearthed stones and her barefoot scraped across the edges of hardened dirt. Her body ached with dullness and her mind tolled with no respite. Each pull of her arms weighed heavier on her mind and each shamble of her feet gnawed at her consciousness.

The young girl fled and her scream lingered, each echo louder than the last. If only she could cry out and deny the affirmation she desperately wanted to avoid. However, reality stood before her and even if it was just a moment it was forever engraved in her memory.

The young girl she tried to save was more terrified of Rana than the bandit.

Rana pushed herself up and slumped against the stone well. She had to go after the young girl. Bandits still prowled and it was dangerous for someone wounded to wander without help. She needed to get up but her body refused to move. Her undead body was not strained but its weight weighed on her mind.

Rana looked towards the sky. It was red and stained in misery, the shattered scars barely covered by the broken clouds. The only thing redder than the sky above was the blood below. Her only company.

Rana tilted her head to the side and met the distant gaze of the bandit’s body. His eyes had nothing but despair and anguish. It was surreal. Just moments ago it was filled with such lust, rage, and glee before she blasted them into oblivion. She wondered what her own eyes looked like. Would they still have the spark of life or would they reflect her final moments just like the body before her? She didn’t want to know as the answer could only be a dull nothingness.

In a way she envied the corpse. It would eventually rot into the ground but before then it had everything she yearned for. It was warm and it bled and Rana took it away. Rana peered at her own body and a chill filled her chest. She realized she would never be able to regain that feeling and could only take away from others what she had lost. Her skin was stone cold and her veins were empty. How she wished to feel blood coursing through her body once more.

The bandit’s body was too far away.

Rana dragged her fingertips towards the puddle of blood beside her. Its alluring shine called out and its stench reminded her of what she had lost. Still, if she were asked Rana rather bathe in the air afoul than the aching chill. The falsehood of life she would never grasp was better than the cold bitter hands she had.

Flesh. Blood. Life. Rana wanted everything.

The scream echoed and Rana snapped out of her trance. The young girl was long gone and the warmth on her fingertips was beginning to fade. She had to hurry. She closed her eyes and focused on the cloud fogging her mind and the frost binding her joints. She let her conscious wander to every corner that was impeded by the dull ache.

Rana was rested and her mind began to clear, even if it remained heavy. She opened her Status and checked the details to confirm her theory.

Stats — Health: 67/100, Mana 0/200, Focus: 0/100

Attributes — STR: 100, MGI: 200, SKL: 100, VIT: 100, AGI: 150, PER 150

It was a risky decision but it paid off. Were she still a human she would’ve been dead even if she had won the fight. Her attributes would’ve been penalized due to her injuries, which made getting out of this settlement unlikely. However, this wasn’t the case. It seemed that damage had no effect on her attributes and injury sustained were transferred to her mind instead. That was the reason why resting her mind returned her strength. The unfortunate side of this truth was that she had no health regeneration. The dead cannot bring life.

The implications needed to be furthered examined however without an Altar she had no way of accessing the deeper details of her Status. For now, she simply had to focus on saving the girl and getting out of the settlement alive.

With a silent heave, she stood up. With a longing glance towards the dead body, she began to run. The sound of each footstep pounded in her mind and with each beat her worry grew. What if she was too late?

She was.

Blood gushed out from the cut that tore her shoulder blade and rib cage. Her life essence once fiery and defiant now submitted quietly to the call of death. She must’ve run into roaming bandits, cut down, and it was all Rana’s fault. She hurried and knelt beside the girl and the look she gave Rana broke her unbeaten heart.

It was fear.

“No… no…” the girl repeated as tears slid down her battered face. Her plea was directed to no one. The undead would not stop until she was torn apart and eaten alive. The terror gnawed at her mind and her delirium made it worse. She continued the desperate struggle with her voice. It was useless but it was all she could do. Her whispers were soft but each dying breath was like a slap to the face. There was only despair and death would soon silence her. Rana wanted the pleading to end.

No. She refused to let it end. She had to save the girl. Her intentions were not noble. They never were. She simply wanted to prove that even if blood did not run through her veins she still had a human heart. She was capable of saving a life. She was dead but her life had value. She could do more than just take a life away. She didn’t just bring death but she also brought life.

She was not a monster. She will save the girl.

Rana began to channel mana once again. Her body could take it. It was already dead so what damage could’ve been done to it by overusing mana? What else could she lose?

Every mage-class at level one had access to two Spells. Mana Blast and Healing Touch were granted to a mage-class without the need to train and unlock. Healing Touch was costly and the effects not strong for its cost but it was more than enough to save the girl.

Rana closed her eyes and began to weave the mana within her body.

Hurry.

Rana snapped open her eyes. She felt it. She placed her palm on the bleeding wound. The girl shuddered and Rana felt a motionless struggle. The girl was still fighting the zombie that was going to devour her. Rana shook away the hurt with her head and began to form the Spell.

Mana surged and gathered into her palm.

The light was brilliant.

The light was blinding.

Then there was smoke.

Then there was pain.

Rana screamed. The pain drowned out her cries and she toppled to the ground. Like wildfire the pain exploded in her arms and plunged into her dead organs. The strands of mana like a fuse delivered the searing agony throughout her body. She was being burt alive by her own mana.

Her mind was assaulted by darkness and her body reacted. She extended her arm to the side. Her bones cracked and her skin snapped but she gritted her teeth and purged the mana. The expulsion felt like a spear puncturing through her right arm but the pain stabilized. It was still unbearable but it hadn’t gotten worse.

Rana didn’t know how long she laid curled on the ground but the sound of someone breathing their last stirred her to move. She pushed herself up and beside her was the young girl who moved no more. The unstable mana and the filth that was her body must’ve been too much. The girl was dead and Rana killed her.

Rana shed no tear yet she knew her heart was bleeding.

“No…” she whimpered. It was such a soft voice filled with regret and weakness.

“I have told you before but her salvation was not yours to bear. She would have bled to death with or without the healing Spell. The only ill you have given her was the terror she felt in the last moments of her life,” said a distant voice as footsteps drew near. The hooded woman stood above Rana and stared at her with hidden eyes.“How foolish to feel guilt over something so trivial. All death leads to the same destination. Nothingness.”

“I failed to save her. I killed her,” and Rana also condemned the girl to an eternity of torment.

“Pitiful creature,” the woman said after a brief sigh. “If you wish to brood there are better places to do so. For now you can still save yourself. You converted mana into the light element and now it courses through your veins. The time that was locked in your body finally began to turn. You are now beginning to decay and with the curse that is the light element within you the speed would only increase. I can purge the light but I cannot stop the decay. Now. You must feast.”

Rana laid on the ground. She knew zombies were weak to light element but her arrogance refused to acknowledge that. She was desperate and she wanted to believe she was special. The reality finally confronted her and she couldn’t escape anymore.

Rana was a zombie and she consumed flesh to survive. She was the will of sin so it must be satisfied.

Eat it told her. Consume. Devour. Take their life and fill your own.

It was alluring. The smell was repulsive but inviting. Eat. Eat. Eat!

That was why Rana refused.

“If your objection is your pointless humanity then shall I inform you that the unfortunate soul before us is dead? The body is nothing but flesh and bones. If you wish to I can bring you the flesh of the bandits instead. They are a sinful kind and there surely should be no objection to devouring them.”

Rana closed her eyes. Rana deserved her fate. She failed to save the girl and her continued existence was an affront to what she fought for. She was a monster and her punishment was eternal torment. She asked herself what was more painful. Whether it was the shredding of her mind or the lost of her heart, she realized they were both and the same. The tendrils of the encroaching darkness came in many forms and she realized if she lost her heart she was as good as dead.

One choice at least kept her heart, her humanity.

Rana smiled. Pain awaited her but she hoped that the shred of humanity she left behind would be her solace.

“Poor child. You will soon realize that your humanity will not be worth the path you shall take.”

Rana drifted into darkness. There was a gentle smile. It was peaceful.

[System (Notification): Talent found. Twin Soul unlocked.]