‘Allen’ didn’t look the least bit convinced by his words. “Help?! How would you help?! Why would I ever trust a cultivator to help?”

Red frowned. “I’m not even a cultivator yet. I haven’t opened my Spiritual Sea.”

The ghost shook his head. “It doesn’t matter! I saw what you did in the past, too! Ruthless! Cold! Calculating! You’re just like them!”

Red wanted to rebuke this ghost for being unreasonable, but he held off. It wouldn’t help his situation.

The truth was that the boy was never good at convincing other people, at least not by being charismatic. When he wanted others to listen to him, he appealed to their reason or how they might benefit from the situation, too. However, what use would logic and reason be for a ghost?

Red needed another approach.

“You said you saw what I did in the past, right?” he asked.

‘Allen’ nodded. “I just said that!”

“If you know me and what I did in the past, you know I always keep my word.” Red said. “No matter what, if I promise you something, I will always see it through.”

The boy wasn’t lying about that. Even if little else mattered to him when it came to convention and morality, the weight of his own words was one of the things that Red always kept in mind as he moved forward. It was his anchor and his guide, something he gave great importance to since the day Viran said his final words to him.

The boy often asked himself why that was the case. Wouldn’t it be easier for him if he gave no importance to his promises? Yet, he always arrived at the same conclusion - Red did it because he thought it was right. Because it gave him comfort and assurance in himself.

It was that simple.

Although ‘Allen’ still looked unwilling, Red saw a change in his expression that told him the ghost was finally listening to him. Now it was time to strike with some of his infallible logic.

“I know that you are unwilling but consider your own situation.” Red said. “You got beaten by me, someone who has only opened four veins. Not to mention all the issues that come with possessing someone else’s body, the way you are right now, you’ll never be able to get your revenge.”

Red wasn’t aware of exactly what problems came with possessing a body, but since the bear spoke about them, he was sure they were serious. His words seemed to affect the ghost.

He gritted his teeth and glared at Red. “What do you want?”

The boy sighed. “I already told you what I want. Tell me what happened.”

‘Allen’ snorted. “What is there to tell? It’s the same old tale. Cultivators appear and start fighting out of nowhere for some stupid piece of rock or treasure that we dug up. We, the villagers who have nothing to do with it, get swept up in their fight and lose our lives… I lost count of how many times I heard it happen. Just never imagined it would be our turn.”

There was a deep melancholy and despair in the ghost’s voice, and all the anger seemed to slip away from him.

“Do you know who destroyed your village?” Red asked.

“I don’t know their names.” ‘Allen’ shook his head.

“What about the organization they came from? Were they from a sect?”

The ghost hesitated. “… I’m pretty sure they were from a sect.”

Red frowned. “Where exactly are you from?”

“Altam Village.”

The boy looked over at the undead bear with a questioning gaze.

The beast shook its head. “How would know? Villages too common, too small.”

Red looked back at Allen. “Can you be more specific?”

“Uh… I was from the Black Rock Province. From the Kingdom of the Seven Sanctuaries… I think.”

Red never heard of it, so he stared at the bear again for guidance.

The beast seemed to be in deep thought. “Kingdom of Seven… Up north, near barbarian land. Destroyed now, though. Only ruin and petty kingdoms remain.”

‘Wait.’

The boy was suddenly reminded of a possibility. “How long ago was it destroyed?”

“Before bird locked me, so… Five hundred years, at least.” the bear said.

Red frowned. “So this is a five hundred-year-old ghost?”

“What?!” ‘Allen’ seemed shocked. “No, that can’t be!”

The bear nodded. “Head keeps ghost fresh. Can be even older.”

This posed yet another problem for Red. How was he supposed to help the ghost when the people that destroyed his village were probably already dead?

“There’s no way…” the ghost shook its head. “It all felt so quick.”

“The people who killed your village are probably already long dead.” Red said. “Getting your revenge is impossible.”

“No!” ‘Allen’ gritted his teeth. “Even if they’re dead… They will pay! Someone will pay!”

The ghost’s unreasonable attitude once more left Red at a loss for words.

The undead bear grunted. “Told you. Ghost unreasonable, impossible to convince. Better to use necromancy.”

The necromancer might be telling the truth, but Red wanted to exhaust all his options first.

“What sects or organizations act in that region?” he asked the bear.

“Only know one.” the bear said. “Hallowed Valley Sect.”

Red’s heart skipped a beat. The Hallowed Valley Sect, one of the birthplaces of human cultivation, the holy land of swordmanship, and most important of all, one of the few remaining sects in the world after the Empire’s rise.

Could the cultivators responsible for destroying this ghost’s village be from that sect? Maybe they were still alive. Red hoped this wasn’t the case, since he could never compare against a cultivator that could live beyond five hundred years of age.

“The Hallowed Valley Sect! That’s it! It’s them!” The ghost showed an expression of recognition. “I need to go there! I have to make them pay!”

Red frowned. He was contemplating how to proceed now that he knew such a behemoth was involved with this matter.

“You!” ‘Allen’ called out to him. “You told me you wanted to help, right?! Let’s make a deal!”

The boy had a bad feeling once he heard that, even though he was the one that came up with the idea. “What kind of deal?”

“Help me destroy the Hallowed Valley Sect!” the ghost said. “If you do that, I promise to leave your friend’s body alone!”

Red hesitated. He was about to say that he didn’t have the power to do that right now, but even if he did have the power, was this something he wanted to do? He remembered how the hawk spirit told him about how his master could have destroyed many sects, but chose to spare them for humanity’s sake.

Was Red willing to make such a promise for Allen’s freedom?

‘No, this is too reckless.’

“I can’t do that.” Red shook his head.

“I knew it! You’re just like them!” ‘Allen’ glared at him with a hateful gaze. “If you won’t help me, then I’ll do it myself!”

Red ignored the ghost’s rambling and looked over at the bear with a sigh of resignation. He had no other choice.

“What do I have to do?” he asked.

The undead beast seemed to smile. “Easy. Take out moonstone core.”

Red wasn’t surprised the necromancer could feel the crystal, even if he hadn’t revealed its existence. He took out the green, gleaming core from his backpack and held it with both hands.

As soon as it came into view, ‘Alen's’ eyes widened in fear. “W-What is that?!”

The bear’s clouded eyes also seemed to shine once it looked at the core in Red’s hands. The boy was almost expecting the beast to charge at him, but that didn’t come to pass as the zombie seemed to recover its composure.

It looked back at Red. “Now, focus on core and chant words-”

“Wait!” the boy cut him off. “Aren’t you going to explain what we are going to do?”

“What need?” the bear shook its head. “Use core to draw out ghost. Easy, done. What questions?”

Red frowned, but didn’t say anything. There was obviously more to this than the necromancer was letting on, but what was the point of complaining right now? The boy knew there were going to be consequences for this as soon as he agreed to it, but it was the only way he knew to help his companions.

Whatever came next was probably more manageable than promising to destroy an entire sect.

“Ready? Here it is.” The bear started to recite some strange words to Red in its guttural voice.

They sounded completely foreign to the boy, yet he couldn’t help but compare them to the mantra Eiwin taught him. There were some similarities in how these words were pronounced, yet at the same time, Red felt they invoked an almost opposite sensation compared to his meditation technique.

The more he repeated these strange words in his mind, the stronger this feeling of disquiet and wrongness became.

The boy knew then that he was dabbling with something quite dangerous. And he wasn’t the only one that felt it.

“Wait!” ‘Allen’ called out to him. “W-What are you doing?! Don’t you care about your companion?!”

“Are you willing to let him go?” Red asked.

The ghost didn’t respond. The answer was obvious - whatever choice he made meant his oblivion, and he wasn’t willing to compromise with Red either. There was never any room for negotiation.

‘Allen’ glared of hatred reappeared. “You will pay for this! All of you will pay for this!”

Red ignored him and focused on the bear again.

The beast repeated the mantra a few times before looking back at Red. “Got it?”

The boy nodded. “Is that it? No hand seals?”

“No need. Not monk technique.” the bear shook its head.

“And how is this supposed to draw the ghost out?”

“Concentrate on core and all will work. Process is natural.” the bear said.

He wasn’t getting any more out of it.

Red took a deep breath before reciting the words as he focused his gaze on the insectoid crystal. At first, nothing happened, but the boy was used to this from his practice with his meditation technique.

He continued to recite these words while focusing on the core until almost a minute passed by. The bear never once corrected him, and just as Red was wondering if he was doing something wrong, the crystal suddenly began to shine.

The ghost, who was struggling under the undead bear’s and hurling threats at Red all this while, suddenly fell still. Its gaze changed as it looked at the core, and an ephemeral energy started to come out of Allen’s forehead.

This grayish energy traveled to the insectoid crystal, before disappearing into its glowing surface. Red observed the process in wonder, but he still didn’t stop reciting the incantation.

Ten seconds passed by as this energy continued to leave Allen’s body and enter into the crystal. Eventually, though, this process slowed down, until no more gray strands came out of the young master’s forehead and the core stopped glowing.

Red also fell silent. He looked over at Allen, noticing he had fallen face down, unmoving. The boy could see, though, the slowly rising and falling movement of his chest, indicating the young master was still alive.

“There, all done.” the bear said. “Now Red a real necromancer!”