Bro, I'm not an Undead!

So many eggs!

Light spots could be seen over their off-white shells of the eggs as they lay stuck between the many gems that glowed luminously in clumps of tens.

On top of the many eggs and gems that were sprinkled all over the floor, Skullius and the others also saw four large octopi that stuck themselves to the wall in different directions, their bulbous heads wobbling as they seemed agitated by the entry of the invaders.

Their natural colour was grey with blisters growing over them, but as they laid smothered to the walls with their eight tentacles, their shade suddenly turned to a nasty blue with the mana that was filling up the space shivering and speeding towards the tops of their noggins!

There was no need for words!

All three Null Lifeforms instantly discerned the danger and the first to act… was the Hound.

Since it wasn’t equipping its Spirit Walker’s Hide over its body, the many tendrils of Demon Thread that covered its body easily spun and shot outwards, forming four clawed arms that burst through the thickened waters that subtracted from their speed and gripped the heads of the octopi!

Almost instantly, it pulled on all of them, but two of the octopi managed to shot condensed beams of bright mana mixed in with a special corrosive poison that blasted apart the extended arms of the Hound, melting of the Threads to then set themselves free!

The Hound didn’t mind this though, as it went on to devour one of the octopi it had caught and for the other, its eyes flashed as it activated an ability outside its racial spectrum!

[Spirit Touch!]

The eyes of the octopus that was firmly held in the receding palm of the hand of Hound lost their colour in response to the skill activation, as it seemed to have been affected!

Almost immediately after, the octopus’ head bulged as it drew on the mana within the waters, the Hound releasing it back into the water!

The creature swam with its tentacles and then instead of seeking vengeance towards the Hound… it pointed its head towards one of the octopi on the wall and then…

FWAASH!

A continuous stream of energy gushed out of the creature’s shiny head where mana seemed to be naturally drawn!

The attack hit the target smack dab in the head, the new ally rushing towards the other octopus while the Hound finished off the one that had just been hit.

‘Woow… he’s pretty efficient,’ Skullius thought as he saw the last octopi being quickly dispatched. ‘That must have been [Spirit Touch]. It really gives him the ability to control other creatures’ bodies huh?’

‘Treacherous!’ Sila remarked, referring to the Hound.

He still didn’t understand what powers Skullius had as all that was hidden from his access, him being told only what Skullius required him to know for his own good. As a result, he could only continue speculating that this was an undead carcass brought to life.

Indeed.

From the mutation that the Hound had gotten, it had acquired a soul related ability and one that was geared towards physical body manipulation.

Quite handy.

‘So those things were guarding these eggs…’ Skullius thought as he floated within the Null Life Essence sphere towards the line of gems and eggs.

Even for someone like him, it was easy to identify that these eggs contained the next generation of Terrors but he was less impressed with this.

He turned his sight and reached in to touch one of the gems and upon contact…

…!

Mana!

Compounded mana was stored in these gems!

Just like….in Deadmanland!

Skillius shivered intensely.

What an unexpected discovery that took him back to weeks ago.

He silently cursed at having found such a thing but obviously, he didn’t mean it.

Besides the deja vu, these mana gems could be a very useful resource if he used them wisely.

However, he didn’t even know the proper way to use them.

‘Maybe having lessons from an actual Mage is more useful than I thought. I have many resources but I can’t use many of them,’ he thought.

Skullius then turned to the eggs.

“Let’s burn these with fire,” he said as he raised his hand to obliterate the eggs.

Suddenly, Red Rage flashed before his eyes and protectively extended his hands, clearly defending the eggs!

“What the heck, bro? Why are you getting in my way?”

Red Rage sent his intent to Skullius.

“Of course I know that… Wait what?! You want to do what?!”

Red Rage reiterated and emphasised.

Skullius wore an ugly expression as his mouth gaped for a few seconds from what he had heard.

Seriously?!

***

Present time…

The Discount Human subconsciously took in a breath as he felt the magnificent heat of the bath water sooth his cosmetic body.

After paying the fee for taking a regular bath in the public pool, he had found himself a spot within the colourless waters that had bursts of steam dancing over them.

Groups of men who were also relaxing and conversing were sprinkled within the pool, having a good time in the steamy space that was split off from the women’s bath and the reserved baths that were rumoured to hold… more ‘exciting’ activity.

Skullius didn’t care for this however.

He merely used this relaxing bath to think over everything he wanted to while stroking the mini Hound on his head.

“He wants to raise those creatures as beings of Justice. Can you believe that?! That sockethole’s lost his mind!’ Skullius tactically exclaimed to not draw much attention.

He understood that Red Rage had his code of justice sponsored by his heroic race on top of the flaw that refused him of wanton murder but what was this?

Extended charity?

After who knew how long he planned to train for, Skullius hoped he would produce some pretty good results or else, he would still burn those things alive-ish…

Speaking of Apostles, Skullius had noticed that his Hound was beginning to develop a personality.

A rather overprotective one.

He thought that perhaps it was inspired by how he heavily praised the Hound for being quick to act when it came to defending him, but if he didn’t correct this… that could be problematic.

‘I should probably get him a name. Maybe that will help,’ Skullius thought.

Defects aside, the four legged thing had already reached Level 5!

He didn’t steal its experience after the Terror massacre which allowed it to overtake him in its terms of level.

‘I’ll catch up and start passing over all those Tiers to Tier 4. We’ll see how strong I’ll be then,’ Skullius contemplated with barely veiled interest.

As he entertained himself with creating more templates for his growth, however, his keen ears drew in on a conversation between two men near him in the pool.

The art of casual eavesdropping seemed to have evolved within him since the first days of him arriving in Inhone.

“…exactly! That’s what I said. Damn charitable types think helping every bum that walks by doesn’t have consequences in the long run, but I say they should go back where they came from!”.

“Right. This isn’t a city that can accommodate many people at once. I hope they do something about it before we eventually have to share rooms in our inns!”

“I don’t think it will reach that point. They say that there have been cases of people missing. These newcomers I mean. Someone seems to be taking them away. Mainly the injured and ill.”

“Really? Isn’t that simple cases of kidnap then?”

“No. Maybe people from the city have decided to take matters into their own hands by taking out the ones expected to die first. Can’t say I blame them. I can’t do something like that myself but I wouldn’t mind some more breathing room in this damn town!”

Skullius who only heard this portion of the conversation cocked his head.

‘The injured and ill, huh?’