Red’s mind stewed in the infinite darkness of unconsciousness for who knows how long. When he started coming to, the first thing he felt was a strong fluctuation right by his side.

‘Crap!’

On instinct alone, Red rolled away from this presence. His other senses returned to him, and a flood of light assaulted his vision. It was sunlight.

How long was he unconscious? What happened to the others?

Red couldn’t even stop to contemplate as he felt this strong fluctuation stir. The boy struggled to get up and run as fast as he could, not even sparing a glance back.

“Already leaving? No thanks?”

A guttural and deep voice spoke from behind him.

Red’s steps faltered as he heard this, and he looked back with some hesitation even as he distanced himself. A large tree-bark bear was sitting on the ground, staring at the boy with a surprisingly human expression. What caught his attention, though, was the fact that parts of this beast’s bark-like skin seemed to have rotted away, revealing the flesh and bone beneath it.

By all means, no creatures should be able to live in this state. Yet the enormous bear stood there, gazing back at Red. As his mind recovered from its state of confusion, he recognized this was an undead creature, and the fact it could speak only meant one thing.

It was the necromancer.

Red looked at the monster in wonder. “… How?”

The beast made a loud noise that the boy assumed was a laugh. “How what? How I save you?”

The boy frowned. “How are you here?”

He assumed that after the trial was over, the hawk spirit wouldn’t allow the necromancer to roam free any longer. Yet, here they were, still possessing another creature.

The bear scratched at its rotting skin. “Bird let me come help you…”

Red shook his head without hesitation. “You’re lying.”

Not even mentioning the meager possibility that the hawk would trust the necromancer enough for this task, the spirit made it clear in the past that Red needed to walk this journey on his own. Why would it send the necromancer to help him now?

The beast grunted. “Left mind sliver behind on surface. Bird couldn’t stop me even if it tried… Still cut off from main body, though.”

Red struggled to understand what the necromancer was saying. “What do you mean ‘cut off’? Aren’t you the same individual? How could you be cut off from yourself?”

“Silly brat.” The bear shook its head. “Split little pieces of mind to make clone. Clone is connected to main mind - can feel and communicate with it. Still, stupid bird cut off way back… Can no longer feel main mind! Now all lost and wandering…”

The boy couldn’t say that the situation was made any clearer by this explanation, but he got the gist of it, at least.

‘A clone, separated from the main body…’

Red wasn’t knowledgeable enough about the subject to understand the implications of this. Still, judging from the strange lack of enthusiasm in the necromancer’s speech the boy had gotten used to, it couldn’t mean anything good for them.

Red had other matters to concern himself about, though.

“What happened?” He asked.

“Saved you.” The bear shrugged.

Red sighed. “I know you did, but tell me what happened to my companions and the floating head.”

The beast scratched its decomposing chin in thought. “Was stalking you from afar to stay hidden when suddenly heard battle noises. Undead energy, too. Very strong. Rushed over and saw your human friends fighting ghost head. Picked you up and ran away… Stupid woman tried to chase, but too slow for me.”

Red tried to digest this sudden deluge of information. For one, he didn’t really trust the necromancer at face value, but he did hear the sound of battle before he fell unconscious, and the boy couldn’t think of any other way he could get separated from his group.

“What happened to them?” Red asked. “My companions, that is.”

The bear shrugged with disinterest. “Not sure. Didn’t stick around.”

The boy frowned and looked at his surroundings. They were in the middle of a clearing in the forest, but Red had no idea exactly where.

“Take me back to them.” He said.

The undead beast shook its head. “No way. Too dangerous. Ghost will still be around. Besides, companions probably not dead yet…”

“And how can you be certain?”

“Head not looking to kill. Head looking for hosts.”

Once again, Red was at a loss.

He stared at the necromancer. “Explain to me.”

“Head is prison. Necromantic treasure gone rogue.” The bear said. “Meant to imprison ghosts, but with no master, they rebel. Probably hundreds inside. Only way they can escape is possession.”

Red had heard the term before, but like with many other forbidden subjects, information about possession and ghosts in common books was limited. He knew what it meant for his companions, though.

“So the ghosts inside this head were trying to possess us?” Red asked.

“Yes.” The bear nodded. “Tempts fools with voices and illusions. If you touch head, then you are gone. Probably succeeded already. Your friends probably all different people by now.”

The boy contemplated this information. “… This head was in the possession of a demonic cultivator inside of town. I stared at it directly, but I was still able to escape the illusion. So why did it only attack us now? Why did it choose to target us, of all people?”

“Your stench too strong.” The bear waved its paw in front of its snout. “Can feel moonstone smell from miles away. Irresistible to undead - might have awakened the ghosts. Head probably wanted to take you then, but too scared to do it in town.”

Red frowned. “Why was it scared?”

“Same reason as me. Formation covering town. Strange powers in ruins. If it reveals itself, it will get killed.”

‘There’s more to this...’

From what he heard from Rimold and Hector, the elder had promptly dispatched the head to the river. It could have attacked Hector at that point, but it chose not to, which meant that it probably also feared the old man to some extent. This, added to the fact Red stabbed it with little resistance, meant that this head might be more fragile than what it first seemed.

The boy would have liked to know more about this strange treasure, but he knew he didn’t have the time. He looked up at the sun and saw it was in the middle of the sky. It was already midday, which meant the horde could strike the river at any time, and yet his sect members were nowhere to be found.

The first thing he did was to take out a talisman from his pouch. It was one of his communication talismans, given to him in case of emergencies where his group was split up. It would put him in direct contact with the others.

Red was about to activate it before the necromancer interrupted him.

“Shouldn’t do that.” The bear said. “If companion possessed, it can track you down by talisman.”

The boy’s eyes widened in surprise. “That’s possible?”

The beast nodded. “High-level skill, but totally possible. Some of the ghosts inside head really powerful, could know trick.”

Red hesitated, but still put his talisman away. “In that case, help me find them.”

“No way.” The bear shook its head. “Head still out there. Could find you any time.”

“I’m going with or without your help.” Red said. “Since you don’t want to see me possessed, you should probably help me.”

He was reluctant to ask the necromancer for help, but he had little choice. It was the only being that knew about this head’s capabilities, and if his companions were really possessed, he would need the necromancer’s help.

The bear hesitated. “… Was given order. Keep you safe. Could just hold you here until head left.”

“You know that’s not possible.” Red shook his head. “If that head tracked me even after being thrown to the river, what’s stopping it from doing it again?”

This was mostly just a bluff from Red’s part. He didn’t actually know if the necromancer had a way to keep him hidden, but according to their earlier words, the boy’s ‘stench’ was too strong, and the bear didn’t seem too confident in itself as it spoke.

Indeed, the beast let out a guttural grunt of frustration. “Dangerous, stupid idea. If head catches you, can’t guarantee safety.”

“That’s fine.” Red nodded. “It’s afraid of the town, so as long as we can get there back in time, it won’t be able to do anything to us.”

At this point, the boy was already ignoring their earlier plans to help the town with the horde. This was exactly the kind of crisis Hector told them to be wary about, and with such an insidious enemy out there, how could they guarantee their own safety?

The bear growled in agreement. “Hm, can help with companions, but there is problem… If they possessed, can’t do anything about it.”

Red frowned. One of the main reasons for asking the necromancer for help was because of that, and the fact they couldn’t help threw a wrench into his plans.

“Is there nothing that can be done?” The boy asked.

“Ghost possession too strong, too dangerous.” the bear said. “Longer ghost is in body, harder to take out. Stronger ghost is, harder to take out too. Might be possible if I had powers, but… Too weak, too faint. Not sure how long form will last away from main body.”

“So you mean you could do something if you had a connection to your main body?”

The bear nodded. “… Can you do it?”

“Not possible.” Red shook his head.

It was obvious the necromancer was probing him. The hawk didn’t really give him a means of communicating back, and even if it did, the boy would never use it on the necromancer’s stead. After all, Red still needed to consider that this might be all a ruse from the necromancer’s part.

Even if his companions were in trouble, the boy couldn’t just throw caution to the wind.

The bear pondered in silence. “… Hm, in that case, there might still be way.”

“How?” Red asked in suspicion.

“Learn necromancy and you can help them.”

The boy swore he saw a smile on the undead bear’s face at that moment.