“I don’t understand. It’s just dirt! Look! Just plain dirt! Why is it being like this?

Deep breaths Ji. Don’t lose your focus. That’s what the dirt wants.”

“I can’t be expected to narrate this fools actions. Good grace of Meaija is he doing?

Dirt is not sentient. It would take it hundreds of years to develop a movable body. Thousands to gain sentience of any worth.”

“Huh? Shush! I’m trying to focus. Stop blabbering.”

“As soon as I can, I am leaving. Fate is as cruel as it is unpredictable.”

‘Uaaaarra!’

“Come on girl. How can you even eat this much?”

‘Uuuuuuu.’

“That’s not fair.

Alright, but we´re going out hunting, no more buns for you.”

‘Urrrraaah!’

“Okay, calm down, let’s go.”

“This is as confusing to me as it is to you. I have no idea how this came about. It would appear the beast gained intelligence.

Not only that, its fur, now a healthy black-brown. The previously grey dead eyes now filled with vigor, despite the erie dark-red tinge.”

“Wait a second Arra. I’m going to climb to the roof, see if I can spot something. You really cleaned out the neighborhood.”

“Only three hours until our hero has the opportunity to claim completion of this quest.

And yet. He goes out hunting with his new friend.

Our hero should consider himself lucky that nothing in this world has the ability to directly take control of the lesser undying and organize them.

Lucky still that he hasn’t made acquaintances with a creature with a little bit more strength behind their bite.”

“I can’t really make much of anything in this, what is it? Smog? Fog?”

“They call it, Withering. Something similar to a Blue visage, a type of mana pollution. Nothing too dangerous. As long as you are no exposed to it for too long.”

“Pollution? Wait. How long is too long?”

‘Uaaaah.’

”Easy girl. We’ll find something.

Hello? The pollution thing, feels important.

No? Nothing? Toi ne comprendiano? Kan do forstat?

Ah, never been good with foreign languages.”

“With impressive athleticism, Arra, the now friendly undying beast, runs down the streets with our hero on its back.

The streets seem a little smaller with that ball of mass running down it.”

”See anything girl?

Arra? You see something?”

“Struggling to hold his balance, our hero has a flimsy grip on the mutated undying creature.”

‘Uuuuuuu.’

”Well, let’s go get them!”

“Mere minutes have passed since this outing began, and unsurprisingly our hero has found trouble.”

”Atta girl. Woah.”

“With an awkward leap our hero manages to land on the ground safely, despite his woeful lack of grace.”

”What? That was far better than before. I’m actually proud of that jump! I stuck the landing and everything.

What do you think, girl?”

‘Uu.’

”What! You’re on his team!? Unbelievable. I need to find better friends.”

“A quest of untold difficulty.”

‘Uuuah.’

”Screw you two.”

“With frenzy our protagonist surges forward, aiming to maim, mangle and mutilate.”

‘Rrrroaaa.’

“A slaughter has begun. Violent explosions of magic and kinetic force ravage the area.

The amount of power used to take out a near defenseless creature is astounding.

And in fact creating such a disturbance that many beasts of the undying variety have taken notice. Mostly weak but some, some may what it takes to challenge our duo.”

”I don’t get this. Why is my mana pool so small? All I do is train with magic. It can’t all be dependent on levels.”

“Confused by his poor mana pool. Laughable really, seeing as it has grown immensely fast.

What has grown as well however, is the expenditure of mana. There is no surprise that he does not come to this conclusion on his own.

What many lack when it comes to magic in general, is control. Don’t let intricate applications of the laws fool you, most likely, there is no finesse, no deftness.”

”Okay then, explain how to train my finesse or whatever deft means.

‘Urrraaah.’

“Incredibly enough, the beast is right. For the most part.”

”Come on Arra. I thought we were friends.”

‘Uuuurrhhh.’

“And the journey continues. A lonely road. A road only our hero can walk.”

”I wonder how many zombies live in this town. We’ve only been a few kilometers in.

This place really could use some color.”

“It would appear our hero’s denial function has activated. Subject matter has been changed.”

”Okay Arra. You should be full by now right?”

‘Uuuuuuu.’

”My world, you can eat. Alright, lead the way then.”

“With surprising agility, our hero leaps on the now fully grown umbaraous which then proceeds to run towards a new playground, so to speak.”

”Only a few hours and I’ll have my new class specialization! I wonder, do I only get to choose one? Hmm.

Where is that old man when you need him?”

“A repeated scene of hunting the undying unfolds. The strong bullying the weak.”

The strength of the undying have grown, due to our new friend, Arra. It would appear she’ll only be satiated by a voluminous body filled with greater quantities of undying mana.

This has most likely gone unnoticed by our hero.”

”Just a quick question. You know I can hear you right?”

“It would appear that something worth fighting has finally arrived. And shockingly our hero can even feel it.

Turning his head, Ji tries searching for whatever is giving him that dreadful sensation.”

”Who is it!? Come out!”

“Oh. No. This cannot be good.

Our hero’s eyes have turned glazed. A sign of a mental attack.

Unsurprisingly, psychological attacks can be considered one of the more dangerous to a newbie like our protagonist.”

‘Uuuuah?’

“Due to the newfound undying strength the umbaraous has gained recently, it managed to easily stave of the attack. Holding a firm grip on its mental faculties.

Yet without any intelligence or general experience in these matters, it doesn’t seem to be able to realize it was just attacked, nor that our hero is now fighting for his life.”

‘Uuuuurrrrraaaarrrr!’

“This isn’t good. Where is that old man? He better do is job.”

”Huh? Where am I?”

“Trapped in an illusion our hero has begun to talk with himself. Which is already a miracle. It is up to him to fight his way out now.

It is in fact extremely surprising he was able to come to his senses in such a short time.

Most would be dully dragged towards a locations of the aggressors choosing.”

‘Uuuuuuuuuuuu.’

“Ah. As it turns out, the connection the young master has with Arra, has given him a bridge of sorts.”

”Anyone hear me? Arra you there girl?

Stupid narrator?

Old man? Hello? Anyone?

Woaaah. Hey now. Easy there fella.”

“One can only imagine what terror our hero is experiencing, all we can do is hope for his safe return.”

”Hehe. That’s right boy. Who’s a good boy?

Awwwh. For me?

Owh. Ah. What was that? You see something boy?

That way? I can’t see anything.

Alright, let’s see.”

“Finally our hero starts moving. The shredded remains of the undying lay about. Arra, steadily follows our hero with a look that says she has no idea what is going on.

Every step leads our hero closer to death. It would appear we have to rely on an undying simpleton or an injured old man. Where did that old freak go?”

”Okay, stay with me boy. I’m going to look inside.”

“The mind can be a weapon worth a thousand spears.”

”Hmm. A lot bigger on the inside. Can’t discount anything in a magical world I guess. I wonder if this is a part of a hidden quest.”

‘Uuuuuuarrh.’

“With a questioning gaze the rejuvenated umbaraous trots along alongside our hero.

Quickly our hero takes notice of different intriguing things and ups his pace. To be so unprepared, he’ll most likely be defenseless once he is ambushed.”

”I can’t believe it! Look! Porn mags! How can these be here!? Amazing.

Ohhh. Exotic, I wonder what kind of being that is. Maybe something like humanoid octopus?

Hehehe. I can’t believe there was such treasure here.

Alright boy. I’m coming, what else did you find?”

“Simple fools, require only simple tools.”

”Hohoho. This is quite the place. Is that a hoverboard? Oh my dear sweet and sexy back to the future dream. It’s a hoverboard!

Wow. Bit hard to control though. Ah, it just died on me. Does it need mana? Electricity?”

“It would appear our hero is enjoying his time before experiencing an impromptu execution.”

”Hmm. Is this the end? You see a way passed boy? I would expect a backdoor on a building so large.

Hoh. What a large statue. About as large as Arra. Just skinnier.”

“The towering beast slowly opens its eyes. A body three times the size of hero, towering at around fiver some meters.

Vapid eyes conveying a lack of sense. A state of undying hibernation. Much like every other creature we’ve come across in this destitute town.

So thin and decayed that the shape of its bones are clear to see. A mere fragments of its former self.”

‘Kuuuuu.’

‘Ku. Kuuu. Kuuuu.’

“The small figure on top of the behemoth lets out low shrieks and points at our hero. With him none the wiser.”

”How strange. Did it just move? I felt like it moved.

My spidey senses are tingling. This can’t be good.”

“Miraculously our hero appears to have stumbled onto some primal instincts. That must have been buried deep. Deep down.

But tragically, this alone will not save him. The limitations to the illusions might be many but simple tricks can lead to devastating results.”

”Eh. What in the world. How in th-. did a wall get there?

“Only the tag along beast known as Arra, has all her sense with her, yet she sits there confused.

This is most likely due to her connection with our hero, sharing a part of his bewilderment, albeit only a small part. But enough to befuddle this simple creature.”

‘Uuurhh?’

‘Ku! Kuuuuu!’

“As the two undying creatures share a look they realize their differences and hostility immediately arises.”

‘Rrrrrrrruuurrrh!’

‘Kiiii!’

“The violent cries of the two beasts marks the beginning of a fight.

Using the immense mass it obtained, the enormous umbaraous charges head on, clearly intending to deal with the tiny being in front it.

The small creature’s protector tries to defend against this wild charge but has yet to fully come out of its withering sleep.”

‘Gaaaaa!’

‘Kiii!’

‘Rrrrrrrurrrrh!’

“The ground shakes when the weight of these beasts slam into each other.

The tiny creature manages to hold onto its place on top of its protector.

Arra, slightly rebounds backwards but quickly continues her attack with mad frenzy.”

”What the hell is going on!? Why is everything shaking!?

Ehh? Arra? Where did you come from?”

“It would appear the manipulative creature has lost some control over our hero, allowing him to peer into both worlds.”

”That you Narry? You won’t believe what I found!

Woooah! Why are you attacking the statute Arra?”

“With true confusion our hero slowly, so very slowly, gets a vague grasp on the current situation.”

”I don’t know why. But that large statute feels very angry, sad and helpless.”

“Despite being under the firm control of the okeila undying insectoid, the ferocious beast still has a sense of self and lives with the agony of being trapped in its mind.”

”Damn! That’s horrible. That’s far worse than death. That thing is evil!

Kill it Arra! The small thing!”

“Given direction and the bond with Ji. Arra quickly finds the insect’s location”

‘Rrrrurrraah!’

”That’s it girl! Kill it! That bastard.

Hey, where is my hoverboard!? My magazines!?”

“This has to be the most out of touch human being I have ever witnessed, and I´ve watched over them for over a thousand years.”