Isekai Journey Of The Magic Archer

[ "Y-you! Great respectful lady! W-w-why are you here?!" ]

He was a lich.

He was a lich...

A lich...

'I can tell just from his shivering bones that he was previously a human.'

Creatures who were thought to have broken through the chains called 'truths' of the world. Beings who had given up their being for the sake of their goal. Creatures who were masters of magic as well as high magic.

Monsters are thought to be able to use a minimum of (tier-6) spells to be what they were.

Beings with an inherent ability to use some form of necromancy.

A conditional immortal being that can naturally live for as long as it wanted.

Creatures who could even resurrect their body even after their deaths thanks to their immortal souls.

Strong, intelligent, fearless... masters.

Those were some of the descriptions used to introduce the creatures called a lich.

Then what was this...?

Great respectful lady? Not even my Eon had ever called me this respectfully.

Trembling bones... and people called these creatures fearless, powerful beings…

Or was this one special?

"Why the hell are you afraid? Shouldn't you attack or restrict the intruder?"

[ "I-intruder?" ]

'This one isn't normal...'

"I'm an intruder, you bastard. And what's with this polite greeting? Is this an act to make me let my guard down? If yes, then it is working pretty well."

[ "N-no! How can I do that? I wouldn't dare do something like that before..." ]

He stopped and his trembling eye-like lights inside his skull glowed yellow before going back to normal blue and just after that... his trembling increased.

[ "Aick...!" ]

I didn't need a skill to tell that he tried an appraisal skill on me and failed miserably.

It was natural, though. Aside from people like the headmaster and my darling, no one had ever been able to use a skill like that one on me.

This trembling pile of bones would naturally fail to activate an appraisal skill even if it was a (Blue) rank…

He would definitely classify as a creature, but he was close to a human in terms of skills and stats.

Failing to use appraisal was one thing, but was he that weak that this little old me looked scary in his eyes?

'Certainly not if he is guarding this last point of the path... right?'

'Eyes of truth.'

===Status===

~Name: Morris Orpheus

~Race: Undead (Lich)

Strength: 141

Dexterity: 117

Stamina: 144

Magic Power: 142

Intelligence: 130

Luck: 51

Charm: 9

Domination: 87

[~> Skills: Loyal to darkness, Green necromancy, Performing rituals, Cerebral barrier, Undead summoning, Magic comprehension, Magic boost, Soul tampering, Greater Mana speech, Eyes of Bubakm, Hexagon item box. ]

[★Authority holder~!]

◐[[( Soul origin: Book of souls )]] ◑

~~~> This one is a special person, master! He is undead, but he has still retained his unique skill from when he was alive!

~~~> [Loyal to darkness] isn't just some boost skill that increases his ability to use his one and only elemental attribute but also something that allows him to use deeper abilities of the element.

~~~> It is a unique skill that boosts his ability with the attribute, but even after having that skill, his affinity with the darkness attribute isn't even close to yours~!

~~~> But it is still very amazing that it is that great! He is a smart one, uses rare green necromancy, and has a deep knowledge of magic, life, and death.

~~~> Your decision is the best! I think he will actually follow you because of his innate skill too!

============

'He isn't weak, at the very least. But more than his special-looking skills, it is more fascinating to see that you can see through the origin and tell what the lich's soul origin is. You actually are awesome~!.'

My eyes can show the true origin of a lich's soul. Something that was the core of their being.

Lichs'... for a human to become a lich, they must seal their soul into an object.

They can recreate their physical body even after it is completely destroyed. Something amazing and, at the same time, dangerous.

Finding these objects, commonly known as 'soul origins', meant getting the lives of these creatures.

And my dear eyes, they just told me what this special soul vessel was.

It was my first time actually meeting a lich even after knowing about quite a few, but this certainly was something special.

And the reason for his great respect and his current attitude... this was all due to his special innate skill.

I hadn't noticed it at first, but this creature certainly possessed some of the greatest darkness affinities I had ever seen.

It means that the lich was a darkness attribute mage and actually someone who followed the path of darkness ' attribute'.

This one definitely wasn't evil, but instead, was so sane and 'good' that he was a green necromancer.

A plant-based necromancer who could turn the plants into undead if he wished.

It didn't mean he couldn't use normal necromancy. No... he just liked the plants more... something the people of both our houses might like.

'My luck actually is quite amazing...'

I had twenty-one in my luck stat and it was mostly fixed at that point for most of my life.

It definitely increased or decreased periodically, but in the end, it returned to this particular number.

I did tell him about this strange phenomenon and he told me to not think much about it with a smile that genuinely found the thing interesting.

Well, he said not to think about it so I stopped thinking about this thing but now that I was seeing this coincidence; it was just fascinating...

'Anyway...'

The lich, Morris, was trembling even now.

This was an area I had already cleared with my grandma last time, but now, the whole area was filled with new things.

It was as if this trembling one had reassembled all the things and made the place into his personal place.

There were plants, bookshelves, some magic lab equipment, and even many flowers behind him.

It was a strange sight, considering the fact that this was an area dominated by a high-grade undead.

It was fascinating... so much that I smiled while looking at the lich who was somewhat afraid of me and spoke in my deep voice.

"Morris Orpheus."

[ "Y-yes? ]

His eyes were wide open with surprise as I called his name. But, he wasn't shocked that I knew his name despite him being a lich and having a strong mental barrier skill.

From his behavior, it seemed like he knew I would know his name. As if it was just a natural thing.

Maybe he knew I had special eyes? Well... whatever it may be, he actually respected me. And maybe this sudden respect was deeper than a knight serving their masters.

It was actually as if he was looking at a holy figure like the agent of the god he served for his whole life.

'Loyal to darkness... it's clear he is too much influenced by my darkness affinity. And if I think about this as my darling meeting some magical creature who perceives his special six attribute affinity as some holy creature's, shouldn't this lich be the same?'

I thought about this for a bit and spoke in a serious tone.

"What is the reason for your current behavior? Why are you afraid? Shouldn't you come before me and bow down?"

[ "Y-yes...!" ]

And this fool actually floated towards me and kneeled down respectfully.

'Hehe. I'm right~.'

I was excited and things were also right, so there was definitely a chance that I could do something similar to my dear darling!

I wanted to laugh and dance excitedly with my dear old crow-

'Oh, right...'

[[ Branwen. Come out. ]]

[[ So... I can speak now? ]]

[[ You can. But not more than necessary. I need you right now, so come out. ]]

-Swwwwwwwwwwwish.

[[ Yes master. What do you want to do with this lich? ]]

He came out from his mark and set down on my shoulder. He was quite lite despite his bigger size than normal.

He was a good crow. He even listened to the small request to stay quiet this whole time and didn't say anything despite seeing this special lich.

This one was 'normal', which wasn't normal in any way.

This whole neat and clean place aside, this normal skeleton mage with the height of a normal adult human and green-brown bones, only had a strong blue light-like fire in his eye sockets.

He also only wore his long black cloak, and some cool-looking jewelry, and was floating one meter above the ground just like most of the lich do.

[Floating] and (Flying) being one of their basic characteristics, unlike usual lichs' who show aggressive behavior from the moment they sense the intruder of the places they guard, this one was most definitely watering his plants.

But surprisingly, as soon as Branwen came out and set on my shoulder, he flinched and pointed his finger at him.

[ "A-a night crow! Indeed! You are a great divine creature!" ]

His voice was loud, but what he called me definitely didn't go well with me.

"Oyy. I'm not some creature. I'm a good witch. Watch your words. And... you know about night crows?"

[ "How can I not?! They are wise creatures who know many truths of the world, can assimilate with darkness, and 'use' darkness. They only bond with the great creatures of the night, shadow, and darkness! They are the nobles of darkness!" ]

"Noble...?"

This was even my first time seeing someone call him a noble. But... noble? My old Branwen? Him...? A noble?

'Well... no.'

"He's indeed amazing, but noble? Nah. He's my Branwen. Don't call him noble or anything. Anyway... Branwen. What are your thoughts on this lich? And you. Morris. Be ready. You will tell me everything about yourself in as few words as possible."

I looked at him with a sharp gaze and saw his still unchanging admiration.

If this was acting, this was on the level of my dear darling.

He was a creature at the end of the day. A lich who had most definitely made a pact with the evil spirit in return for something.

It was foolish to take any further risk.

"Chains of fallen night."

I restricted him with the dark chains, which surprised him even further, and focused on Branwen.

[[ So, master... as you know, lichs' are creatures who have obtained partial immortality. We know his soul's origin. Please check his reaction to the fact that we know about his lifeline. ]]

[[ "Hmmm... ok." ]]

"Oyy. Morris. We know about the book of souls. Don't try anything funny if you want to live more."

[ "Y-you know about that too...? Indeed! You certainly are someone who possesses mythical eyes which can see through the truths of the world! What can I even do before a great being like you...? These chains, this pure symbol of true darkness... just witnessing such great power... ahh... I won't have any regrets even if you kill me~." ]

'Another weird one...'

"Hmmm."

[[ Ok, so. He knows that we know and still maintains the same behavior. It is also true behavior from his calm soul energy. The first conclusion is... he is truly a lunatic. The second I can say is that he isn't here by his own will. He is strong enough to damage even a (Purple) rank creature so that the evil spirit can't have enough domination to control him.

He might have made a deal with him, but that can only be known after knowing his story.

Well, just ask him if he wants to come with you. His reaction would be good enough to know if he is a good candidate to take away or not. ]]

[[ "Ask him if he wants to come with me? Why...?" ]]

[[ Master... use your eyes at that time and just know if he really is willing to go away or is determined to guard this place.

Who knows, maybe he is acting like this because he respects you and will let you pass without any fight, but won't leave this place himself because of certain things.

And if you also say that you are going to kill that evil spirit, then you can also know if he is with that evil spirit or just a slave to it.

It is easy if you think about it, but if he were the subordinate of evil, he wouldn't actually fear when knowing someone knows about his soul's origin. If it was someone with an evil, they would have just acted calm to the end and it would have been their mistake.

This one is clever, wise, and strong, and from what I can tell, he is good. He would only be with the evil for some positive gain or if he was tricked by the evil into something he didn't want. ]]

'He really talks a lot. Thankfully, he said all those things in simple words instead of his usual chunni way.'

"Haaa..."

I sighed while looking into his eyes, which resembled mine, and patted his soft head. He was at least a cute one.

"Morris."

I looked at him, looked down at him would be better, with a genuine sharp eye and asked the important question that his life would depend on...

"Do you want to get out of here?"

His eyes had a confused expression for a moment but when he grasped what I was asking, the blue flames in his eye sockets, his eyes, first widened, then they returned to normal... he looked down, thought for a moment, and gave me an answer that... I genuinely wasn't hoping.

[ "No." ]