NABC Chapter 2 The Dead Don't Rest
Chapter 2 The Dead Don't Rest
"Everyone, gather here."
At the middle of the hill as twilight fell, the sheep that had been leisurely grazing flocked together at Turan's single command.
They moved in perfect unison without any sheepdogs barking to guide them or shepherd's staff prodding their sides.
This was the result of magical power.
Based on what he had learned over the past eight years, magic had three main characteristics.
First, when you strongly desire something, it is accomplished using mana as payment.
Second, directly speaking what you want makes it easier to achieve while consuming less mana.
And third, the more difficult the desired wish, the more power it consumes—or becomes impossible altogether.
The condition of 'difficulty' here wasn't very clear.
Sometimes it was surprisingly generous, granting wishes so easily it seemed unbelievable, and other times it was frustratingly stingy, refusing even simple requests.
It was the same just a few days ago when fighting the leopard masu.
Even a command as simple as "stop"—far simpler than instant death—barely worked on the beast.
Yet he could easily control over a hundred ordinary sheep simultaneously.
In contrast, it was almost laughably simple to imbue his sling with the power and speed to crush the beast's skull, along with the blessing to ensure it would hit.
Calculating the amount of power consumed then, Turan could have made hundreds of such attacks...
Lost in thought as he herded all the sheep into the pen, he caught a faint scent of blood from far away.
Like when he had sensed Labus's death a few days ago.
But according to his keen sense of smell, this wasn't human blood. Not sheep or leopard either...
'Wolf?'
The blood scent seemed just like that of the wolf he had killed and butchered about a year ago.
As expected, not long after, he saw Keorn walking towards him with a dead wolf slung over his shoulder, silhouetted against the setting sun.
"Good evening, Turan. Mind if I stay at your place tonight? I was thinking this wolf could cover the lodging fee."
The wolf was quite a good catch.
The hide could be sold to the villagers, and while the meat wasn't as good as livestock raised for food, it wasn't bad either.
In fact, it was more than enough for one night's lodging fee.
Turan nodded.
"There shouldn't be many wolves around here, how far did you go?"
Thanks to Turan attacking wolf packs whenever he spotted them during his patrols over the past few years, predators had all but vanished from the area.
Besides, Hisaril Hill itself was such a barren place that not many animals lived here to begin with.
"Found it while looking around near the Sky Mountains."
The Sky Mountains referred to the mountain range that stretched up to the sky, even further west than Hisaril Hill, which was already at the western edge of the world.
Some called it the Great Wall, as its shape literally resembled an impassable barrier that no human could cross.
"It must have taken days just to reach the foothills..."
"Half a day was enough with my pace."
Turan wasn't particularly surprised since he too could accomplish such a feat if he wanted to.
He just noted internally that this wizard wasn't merely a braggart, and heightened his vigilance accordingly.
Soon after, the two sat around a bonfire lit in front of the house, enjoying wolf meat stew for dinner.
Keorn whistled while looking up at the sky.
"The stars are truly bright here."
"My mother told me this hill is one of the highest places in the world. Except for the Sky Mountains in the west, that is."
"What place could be high compared to those? Visiting there today made me marvel anew. Even nobles would probably find it difficult to cross them."@@@@
"I heard nobles possess godlike powers, couldn't they easily cross mountain ranges?"
"Not all of them. While the heads of great houses are truly like gods..."
Keorn boasted that he had seen the head of House Arabion crush a small hill with just a gesture.
"Oh..."
Not only would it be a chore to find and retrieve that rotting thing, but it would also clearly show traces of Turan's magic.
Needless to say, if anyone were looking for a wizard in this area, Turan would be the most suspicious person.
With a sigh, he waved his hand, and all the sheep's droppings in the pen flew to the back yard.
Once those dried in the hill's arid climate, they would make good fuel for the fireplace.
After finishing the cleaning, he had some time left.
'Maybe I should look for the elder...'
If he had gone far like yesterday, it would be impossible to find him, but he had said he would patrol more closely around the hill today, so it should be possible to check.
Turan lightly focused his mind, floating up onto the roof, and chanted a spell.
"Human search."
With the spell, Turan's perception rapidly expanded.
His vision, which could only see about a hundred meters at most, instantly grew able to distinguish even grass growing kilometers away, and his sense of smell and hearing amplified even further, detecting the rustling of nearby insect legs and faint formic acid scents.
But these amplified senses blocked out all unnecessary information, focusing solely on finding 'humans'.
'Where... huh?'
After briefly looking around while listening, Turan suddenly turned his head at a voice.
His enhanced vision showed Keorn.
Bleeding from his forehead and shoulder, panting...
Opposite him, the leopard masu that Turan had killed days ago was roaring with its half-rotted body.
==
'Who would do such a thing...'
Keorn gritted his teeth as he looked at the undead masu.
Most living beings instinctively crave life at the moment of death, and mana, the key to omnipotence, forcibly revives the broken body to fulfill its master's will—this is called an undead.
For this reason, after killing wizards and masu, it was standard practice to either absorb or disperse the mana contained in their corpses.
But whoever killed this leopard masu either didn't know these rules or deliberately ignored them.
If it had been a masu, it would have instinctively eaten its kill to absorb the mana, so it must have been a wizard.
Judging by the hole in its head, likely someone skilled in projectile spells.
[RAAAWR--!!]
The roar from its rotting vocal cords echoed countless times in the air like the cry of the dead.
Not entirely wrong, considering what it was.
"Take this!"
With a shout, an arrow of light shot from Keorn's hand.
Though powerful enough to easily pierce steel armor, the arrow harmlessly dispersed upon contact with the shadows covering the leopard's body.
It meant the mana enveloping its body was far superior to Keorn's arrow spell.
After neutralizing one attack this way, the leopard, as if to counter magic with magic, melted into the ground and instantly materialized from Keorn's shadow behind him.
Though he hurriedly raised both arms to defend, hot blood spurted from his forearm caught by sharp claws.
This was already with a body tempered by mana—a normal person would have lost their arm and torso to such an attack.
'This... isn't something a knight can handle. At least a lower noble would be needed-'
While undead become much stronger through resentment during resurrection, if even Keorn, a skilled knight, could hardly face it, it must have been powerful even in life.
Who on earth killed such a beast and abandoned it?
What was their intention?
[Grrrr-]
The undead, seemingly considering its prey already caught, approached Keorn while leisurely growling.
The old knight, sensing death, gritted his teeth and prepared for a final counterattack.
If he could channel all his mana into his hand and stab directly when it pounced, there might be a slim hope...
But rendering such desperate planning pointless, a flash of light flew in from far away.
So fast it broke the sound barrier, making it impossible to detect with hearing—
A round stone shattered the undead's rotting head to pieces.