Bro, I'm not an Undead!

‘That’s weird. It doesn’t have anything to do with me, does it?’ Skullius thought.

People were disappearing?

He hadn’t seen any sign of distress, or heard anything of this sort until now, which wasn’t too shocking considering he hadn’t even been here for a day.

Also, it wasn’t the locals’ problem it seemed, as it was something only targeting the new entrants to the city coming in with hopes of getting healed and finding shelter.

Well, Skullius was neither sick nor injured and thus determined this didn’t have anything to do with him. Besides, he would be leaving this town soon as he still had a stop to make as per Sila’s direction.

Again.

‘Hmmm…’

After having relaxed in the warm water for an hour, letting the heat tickle his muscle as he enjoyed this sensation, Skullius rose from the warm pool and got out.

He had enough. Frankly, he mainly enjoyed how the water made it easier for him to think.

He put on his clothes and exited the male area, walking through a long corridor that eventually lead to the main junction that separated the entire establishment into male, female and special services.

Along the way, he saw many people with satisfied smiles, some even spotting extra pleased grins as they sauntered with their chests out from the special reserved rooms within curvy women in tow. The opposite was also true.

‘What are those socketholes smiling about?’ Skullius thought as he went on with his business.

He passed the booth where he had paid for the bath and exited The Hot Swan, appearing in the street where the general populace was starting to thin out.

As the night was approaching Skullius thought that perhaps finding some lodging within an inn was a good choice.

But then, he decided against it.

There was something else he needed to do in the name of preparations for the Premium Age Royale and should things go haywire, he preferred to not be among factors that could screw him over, that was, people.

From where he stood, he could see large, white structures that stood over most buildings in the town.

Seeing their likeness in the shapes of humans, he instantly recognised that these were the statues erected around the temples and Harifrast wasn’t an exception to this rule.

For a town of its calibre that accommodated many rich individuals, most of which who weren’t local, having the Purity set up a temple here was a must.

Out of curiosity, Skullius waded through the streets and reached the location of this temple.

Much like in Inhone, a large area was cleared out solely for the temple with there being no building around it in a ten meter radius.

A gesture of respect and reverence.

Around and within the free space akin to a park near the temple, Skullius saw masses of people, most looking like the ones he had tended to in his shed.

Refugees, one could call them.

They seemed to want to appeal to the Purity for healing and charity.

Most of them could be seen with looks of terror from the trauma of the events that had led them to flee to this place.

For some, it merely looked like they were deeply apprehensive. Seeking nothing but security instead.

Surely though, the Priests and Priestesses did not disappoint.

Some could be seen leading the injured and ill one by one into the large building while others performed basic treatment outside with smiles and words of encouragement.

Skullius shivered once again.

One particular Priestess reminded him of the lady he had met when he first went to Inhone, likely a Priestess who thought he was a lost soul coming to commune for his Direction.

She had had a welcoming smile, a representation of danger.

‘There’s a lot of them. Good socketholes! Going near there will definitely trigger UNCoddled,’ Skullius thought as he backed away.

Multiple other structure could be seen all over the town even from behind other tall structures.

So much was in this town and the Discount Human had to admit that his ‘job’ from earlier had hindered his exploration of Harifrast.

By this time, Skullius could also guess it wasn’t just a normal population hub. Perhaps back in the day, it was something relatively important.

Maybe that was why Sila had brought him here.

Skullius removed the invisible duct tape over Sila who agitatedly grumbled as he was able to speak once more.

This repeated treatment brought him no small amount of angst.

“Why exactly are we here?” Skullius asked Sila.

‘I already told you what to look for, tomato flinger! It’s so simple but you’re the one who’s treating this like a vacation!’ Sila boomed.

“I understand that much but what’s the reason?”

‘Hmph! You have secrets, why can’t I have some of my own! We’re only together out of circumstance! We’re not sappy comrades!’

“Fine. In that case, I’ll go do something else and get your thing done tomorrow, you sockethole,” Skullius before shutting off Sila.

Ungrateful bastard!

Skullius walked back to the remote area where he had commandeered the shed, finding to his surprise that many had gathered around it, respectfully waiting for him to return.

‘I should have guessed…’ Skullius thought before emitting a sigh.

If he walked towards the shed, especially with his easily recognisable jacket, he would be swarmed and his objective at this moment, privacy, would be ruined.

He swiftly pulled out the Elimparidis Stone Staff and activated the skill [Jump] from it which allowed him to vanish from his spot and appear in the shed!

This feeling was too good.

It eliminated much of Skullius stress and with this being the second he had used it in the two days prior to this one to manage the charges remaining, he could confidently say he was pleased.

‘Right. I should probably place this somewhere normal people wouldn’t look I guess. If these people haven’t even thought to open the shed door, it should be fine. Even if they find the staff I’ll know.’

Skullius organised three broken planks around the staff which he rested on the wall in a dark corner.

Perfect cover!

He then touched the staff and vanished from the spot, appearing within the world within the Staff.

The heavy concentration of mana hit him and he drew it in with a sense of excitement.

He set his eyes over the vast sea beyond his view and grumbled.

‘I hope you’re being productive in there,’ he thought, his mind turning to the image of a focused-looking Apostle that had carefully tended to the eggs back then.

This wasn’t his destination for now, however as with the Hound which had been above his head leaping up and materialising into its full form beside him, the two headed to the landscape to their left.

The vast mountain ranges.

Skullius had explored every inch of the world days before and now he could confidently waltz over to the great mountains where a chilling cold (lesser than the one in Harifrast), prevailed over the blue, rising titans.

They differed in the shade of the colour blue, but ultimately stood tall with tufts of vegetation hanging on their sides like little hairs.

Others had ploughed edges with others hiding strange shapes and hollows within them, each of these being places that Skullius had scoured and found a great many things.

Of the many mountains however, one stood out.

One where baleful streaks of mana coagulated above like a cumulonimbus cloud that was too close for comfort, beams of spatial disturbances coiling within to create an apocalyptic scape around the mountain!

This was the birth place of the Elimparidis Stone Staff!

A mana marvel.

And Skullius had plans for it. But not today.

As much as the mountain stood out however, it wasn’t the tallest mountain around.

Why was this significant?

Well, the Discount Human had discovered a peculiarity within this world.

Rules and laws that applied here.

For the sea, the mana compounded and congealed further with depth while for the mountains, it applied with height.

As a result, for most of mountains here, their tops had a whitish tip, a result of dense mana eroding the blue individuality.

Skullius rode his Hound and scaled one of vast mountains while keeping an eye on the short mount that birthed the overpowered staff.

The bursts of mana that formed its visage which was partially hidden from him by other mountains rocked him to his core but he wanted to use it in future.

If he couldn’t learn space related skills from the Staff, then perhaps going there would help him, especially when considering the new skill he had as a Nullmancer.

[Epiphany].

Speaking of the Nullmancer, with the night having arrived, encompassing the time it took Skullius to scale this mountains, the Discount Human swiftly became the Penetrator, quickly removing his clothes so that they wouldn’t get torn.

The Hound and his master reached near the top of the mountain, but powerful howling winds obstructed their continued ascent.

Mana aggressively integrated into the winds, creating mini storms that whooped ass.

Going higher was risky.

Skullius sat himself down and started to absorb the thick mana.

“Alright bro. Let’s get this over with…” Skullius said to his Apostle.

He was going to be a sort of battery for what was about to happen next and thus he needed the juice (mana) thickest.

The Hound which knew exactly what its master needed looked intently at Skullius while summoning the brown Spirit Walker’s Hide which was covered in glowing markings, a certain ability being used at this moment.

“Use as much mana as you want from me. Just found out who the heck that little female is….”