Bro, I'm not an Undead!

"Strong...monsters..."

Tulnas' brows creased as he thought to the implications. The man he held was wearing dented and torn armour while his skin was bruised, punctured and cut.

His entire body was quivering as it tried to suppress a tide of both pain and fear.

Tulnas knew that this man wasn't going to be able to say anything more and thus he turned to one of the other mercenaries that looked a bit more lively.

"What happened?" he asked in a voice that perfectly captured his caution and anxiety in an attempt to make the person speak quickly.

The person he asked was a woman who bit her lips to keep herself from going unconscious before she spilled in detail what had happened.

"<Pant, pant>. We were... in Dise... when a strange... powerful monster showed up... It all happened so fast... Somehow, it summoned thousands of monsters that looked just like it... and in a few minutes... the entire town was... wiped out before we could...save anyone..." the woman said as she sucked in deep breaths while the contortion on her face spoke volumes about how much she wished she had been able to do something.

Everyone listening couldn't help but get seriously concerned.

An entire town wiped out in a few minutes?

When there were mercenaries around?

That could only happen if a massively powerful Cluster beast appeared or something strong wandered from a Sacred Forest.

Tulnas quickly took in this information as he came to the conclusion that his guess had probably been right.

He didn't know the specifics, but he was certain that this... had something to do with the powerful Cluster he had hypothesised.

"Where are those monsters now?" Tulnas asked as he shook the woman who seemed to be sinking into unconsciousness.

Her eyes shot wide open as she continued heaving.

"They... I don't know... we just....ran...<sniff>... but they... didn't follow after us..." she mumbled almost inaudibly in a torn voice.

Skullius was listening from behind Tulnas and this seemed to be some serious stuff.

"As we were running away.... we saw... other villages destroyed in the distance... Whatever these things are... they have been wreaking havoc everywhere."

...!

This turned the situation even more serious.

The fact that word hadn't spread yet wasn't as simple or as vague as there being no individuals to spread it, but because no one had lived to tell the tale!

'Hmmm... if everyone is dying in these settlements, then why did these monsters spare them?' Tulnas asked himself as he rationalised everything he heard.

Wait...

The Tamer's eyes narrowed as he instantly came to a disturbing conclusion.

If these beasts were intelligent, like the ones he had faced before in certain Clusters and Forests. Beasts that turned their instincts into intelligent ambitions then....

'Could they be trying to pinpoint the location of the city? Or... if they are intelligent enough, could they be trying to identify where the strong opponents are?'

His thoughts were only half true though, as another agenda was afoot.

***

Guissepo knelt down in his cell which had warped space that threatened to swallow him whole if he struggled.

This cell was identical to the one that Skullius had been held in but difference was in the type and placement of runes that held down the strength of the individual captured within it.

There were a lot of these lined up in a row on this floor which was two stories below where Skullius had been placed, an indication on the danger level that was placed on Guissepo because of his Stage and overall traits.

Thick maroon chains with a brown, rusty texture were wrapped around him many times over, binding him thoroughly.

They were Unique grade items that suppressed all forms of energy, except divine, their effect stackable to the point where Guissepo felt no strength to even speak.

To that point, he could not even use his blessing, Extravagant Jubilee as he couldn't even muster the juice for a light twitch.

"Hmmm..." he hummed.

His thoughts spiralled to his past life before joining the Evenfall as in this moment, he had no hope for escape.

Still though, he thought this end was way better than the one that was destined from his previous story.

A simple life he lived with his mother, father and sister, with just barely enough to eat, just barely enough to drink and a place just barely big enough to live in.

He was thankful for all he had as his parents were kind individuals whose warmth radiated to cover the humble home they lived, their teachings of the grace of Quintess, Listafelle and Suzamete translating very well into their children.

'There's a plan in everything,' they said. 'So be grateful for anything.'

As a result, he and his younger sister grew to be good-natured individuals who grew to be appreciative of the little they had, no matter how hard it became.

They didn't blame their parents or anyone for it but learned to enjoy it all without complaint.

Such a mind-set made life easy but it squashed ambition and wrought conflict within Guissepo.

'At least I ate a piece of bread. Somewhere out there, someone hasn't eaten at all...'

'Lies! I'm so hungry that my stomach is barking like rabid dog!'

'Phew, the roof is leaking, but it's still alright. At least we have somewhere to call home.'

'I hate this life! It's as cold inside as it is outside! What's there to be thankful for?!'

Slowly, the burning desire for more grew in Guissepo as at some point... it all just seemed....

Inadequate.

For some messed up reason, some people could live in peace, with everything they wanted even if they didn't believe in the Deities. They had it good without retribution or punishment.

They lived their best!

In luxury!

In abundance!

In... EXTRAVAGANCE.

Yet for him and his family...

His mother thought it was alright.

His father thought it was alright.

And his sister, who was too young to think of this was forced to also see it as the norm.

How was this fair?!

The reality of this became painfully clear when he grew to want to ascertain his Direction.

It was to fight.

To fight the evils that spawned from Clusters.

Even with the so-called blessing of the Deities that he grew to attain after he took on the call to become a combatant, nothing changed.

The blessings manifested nothing except the opportunity to finally begin on the path to strength.

The Foundation Stage.

He had to work hard for them to become meaningful while for some... those said to have been CHOSEN to stand at the precipice of power for the Deities, they attained power beyond measure in an instant.

Divine blessings.

The Paladin Champions.

The Higher Order Priests.

Extravagance without effort at all.

It was all so... crass.

He could only scoff as his mind-set changed slowly with his growth.

Guissepo's thoughts were torn when he heard the sound of footsteps, his eyes that had been staring at the cold floor turning to see the sparkling silver armour he loathed so much.

In his head, he could only grumble at the distastefulness the sight left in his mind.

'How extravagantly sickening...'