Ethan met with the farm owners of each of the nearby farms soon after dealing with the incident at the last farm. The farmhands and owners were quite agreeable if not a bit nervous at first when he introduced himself. The farms grew much of the same items as the previous farms with small deviations in their specialties and farming techniques. At one of the farms, he was gifted a horse as well because it was older and would be unable to make the journey up the mountains.

As he crossed off farms on his list, Ethan did find one of the farms already abandoned with nothing of value left. He did cast [Life Aura] to confirm their absence before moving on. He did find a few wandering chickens still on the farm that had been let out of their cage. In the end, he decided to kill them quickly and store them in his spatial bag where they would stay fresh. He also used this opportunity to sleep in one of the beds in the empty house for the first time in a few days.

The next day on another farm.

“I am Ethan of the King’s Research Group,” said Ethan monotonously. He had repeated his statements several times and was starting to get boring now. “If you can travel North towards Cliffton others will be there to help you and you can try to survive there.”

“How should we know to trust you?” said the farmer with his wife standing further back behind him. “I have heard no news of this. Sure, you have the nice clothes and a noble accent, but why can’t we just stay here.”

“My job is just to inform you of this option for you and your family. You are free to stay if you wish, but your days will be numbered. If you want to know if this is true or not you can go to Cliffton and see the abandoned shops and houses yourself.” Ethan put a hand on the man’s shoulder. “I know that right now it is hard in these times to trust others, especially when the necromancers walked among us for so long before attacking. Now it is getting late so I must request of you some food and a bed. Sadly, I don’t carry much foreign coin on me, and the Empire’s coin is not a very good store of value right now.”

The farmer thought for a moment while Ethan removed his hand. “We will grant you your request sir as payment for telling us of a way to escape. It is a shame that our farm may disappear so I will request something of you as well.”

“I will accept your request if it is within reason.”

“Of course. Of course. Because you are in the King’s Research Group you must be talented in some magic. I would request of you to use some to protect this farm or at least the main building and animal shed in hopes that the undead doesn’t bother with it very much. I know that they are likely to attack it anyways or eventually break-in, but it will ease my conscious.”

“You are a smart man. In the people, I have visited over the past fortnight you are the only one bold enough to ask me for a favor. Do not worry. I will grant it to you because we are all in hard times now. I will set up some barriers around the house and animal pens after I get some food in me.”

“Yes. Thank you. Follow me inside and we can get you some hot food here soon.”

Ethan entered their house ate dinner as the sun started to set.

‘Only a few more farmhouses to visit before I can return to the Elders. I hope they came up with a solution. The people here live in a constant uncomfortable terror. The situation closer to the coast probably isn’t much better. I should use the Elder’s scrying tools to check on them. I hope the others under the King’s council are doing better. I know a few escaped like me, but some have since died protecting whatever cities that they were stationed in. I could’ve been there for them if I was willing to risk my life, but the others probably hate me now. I have to focus on seeing the war golem project all the way through before surviving members of the council try and report me to the other race's leaders. It would be a mess to try and explain my allegiances and despite my affinity for darkness magic that I hate necromancy. I’m glad the Elders have watched and understood what happened. I hope I can undo some of what happened. Then there is also the full-out war that will start soon. The golem must be ready as close to the start as possible. The researchers should be teaching it well by now. We’ve already lost enough lives and I can’t let the gnomes and elf warriors and mages die to my foolishness.’

Once Ethan finished his food he walked around outside the perimeter of the farm. He started with the house and shielded it with [Hide Life Aura]. He then kept it active using some of the mana stones he had been using for the ship. Next, was the animal pen area. He ultimately decided on using both the [Hide Life Aura] spell and [Silence] to mask the sounds of the animals. The smells still blew through the air, but the undead would not be able to sense it.

When that was done he returned to the house and went to bed in the guest room of the farmer’s house.

THUMP THUMP

Ethan woke in his bed from the sound.

THUMP THUMP

He hurried to the window as the sound repeated in continuous beat.

THUMP THUMP

“[Far Sight], [Dark Vision]”

Ethan looked out the window and first saw the animal. They were closer to the sounds and were restless in kicking up dirt and making noise. Further, in the distance, he saw lights in the distance. As he zoomed in on the point of interest he saw the flicker of torchlight illuminate the marching undead.

THUMP THUMP

They marched onward adjacent to the house and would move through the fields of the farm in the least. Grabbing his stuff Ethan left his room and was met with the farmer.

“Undead,” he said.”

“I know.”

“What do we do?”

“Stay inside for now. The wards were set to last for three days. I didn’t set any traps up because I thought I would have more time. The current protections will keep you safe, but if they notice the animals and investigate they will realize there are magical protections in place. I will lead them away from the main road. When I give the signal you should leave the house and take your stuff on horseback. They won’t be stalled long by me and will want to investigate where I came from. [Hide Life Aura], [Silence]. These spells will last 30 minutes. Now I must get going.”

THUMP THUMP

Ethan left the house and headed to the stables where he had tied his horse up. He was able to get a better view of them once he left the house. He counted several hundred moving together. Some were the giant zombies he had faced before while others wore armor in various states of disrepair. They all held weapons of some kind even if it was just simple sharpened sticks. A few of the zombies also stood out and were riding skeletal horses.

Ethan approached from the side, and they caught sight of him quickly. He hadn’t used any spells to hide so he stuck out like a fire in the darkness. With their magically enhanced eyes, they glared hungrily at his life aura and his horses. He had to cast spells on the horse as he approached because it became skittish.

The first zombies to approach were skeletal and carcass dogs. They barked and growled as they chased him. The undead army split up with most making their way towards him with the rest continuing on their original path.

“[Dark bolt], [Dark bolt]”

Ethan shot the two spells one after another. The first was aimed at the skeletal dogs and the other was sent at the undead moving away from him. The dogs stumbled and the ones at the forefront broke apart when the attack hit. The other attack did not go so well because the army was too far away, and they had noticed the first attack. Because they noticed the attack it was only able to kick up the dirt while spreading out the army a bit.

The undead army cast their own spells. Ethan responded with [Mana Shield] to protect him and the horse from the snapping dogs at their heels. Ethan turned the horse around as they were chased until he could get a good shot at the army.

“[Cloud of Daggers]”

The spell formed above his head and the cloud dropped itself in the center of the undead army. In his moment of levity, he lost track of the undead dogs and was thrown off his horse.