Bro, I'm not an Undead!



Tallo was nodding vehemently, eager to learn everything there was about the Beckoned Sky Watchers and their kin, however close to extinction they were.

Shockingly, Baddan had taken to Tallo quite well, and was actually happily explaining away everything there was to know about the customs, traditions and norms of his clansmen, the names of the other Sky Watchers from other clans which had existed, among many other details.

Naturally, the only reason Baddan was freely doing this, was because the Mage showed a great level of interest in all the details to the most mundane one, only stopping when close to asking how they relieved themselves.

According to Baddan, his kind lived... anywhere. They preferred not to erect roofs above their heads or to create walls around themselves. They were so used to the environment, however cold it could get, and the only facilities – makeshift ones at that – which they had, were for making clothing, weapons and the like.

Most of the Sky Watcher's race was gone now, and the simple setups they made were close to useless without the many hands needed to keep their facilities functioning.

Tallo had gone on to ask about the unique variety of weapons Baddan's kin carried, and the Sky Watcher had admitted that his clan had stolen them from where the other clans had perished. There were few of his clansmen left that actually made weapons, and for the most part, they were left to try and find natural treasures born through their land, like Baddan's Hefty spears – which he had found a long time ago.

The Sky Watcher was a very vulnerable soul, it appeared. When that was slowly revealed, it had occurred to Skullius that Tallo was very good at casual deception that didn't involve magic as well, as with his skill at wearing down the wariness of an enemy he had been trying to kill just a handful of hours ago into this...

Oh, it was terrifying.

Skullius leaned in close to Maxim who was now wearing a long, blue stylish shirt and pants made of a thick fabric, her long, pink hair tied into a tight bun, and said:

"I know we decided not to kill each other, but could you sleep well on any night with this bastard in your room?"

"I wouldn't sleep at all if I had any man in my room," Maxim replied, her hands forever crossed over her chest... for some reason.

"Ah, of course. This thing about women and men. I constantly forget about it. If not for... for uhmm.... Hmm that's weird. I could have sworn... In any case, I understand," Skullius said with a hint of sympathy that made Maxim nervous.

"What do you understand?" she frowned as she asked him, her eyes turning suspicious.

"Uh... why you wouldn't want men close to you?" the Hybrid Luman said with a dash of uncertainty noticeable in his tone.

He somehow felt like he was mere moments away from stepping on a landmine, whatever a landmine was. In any case, something was about to explode if he persisted.

Skullius cleared his throat.

"I clearly don't know what I'm talking about. I'm sorry."

In one of the many thousands of caches of memories he had stolen, he found one that quickly urged him to feign and admit to ignorance. Probably taken from a veteran womaniser.

Surely, Maxim seemed to relax a bit as she saw his keenness on being understanding of her situation fade from his face.

She quickly switched the subject.

"It's a miracle that we haven't split paths. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that asshole was trying to get into good books with Baddan so that whenever he kills us and takes our Units, he'd still have a ticket to the GOAL."

Skullius froze, as did Maxim after realising that this very well could be what Tallo was doing while pretending to be a typical, curious Mage – even though she had been joking.

Since his reveal of what he could do with his Deception Patch earlier, Skullius and Maxim found that placing too much trust into Tallo went against their instinct.

For now, they decided to listen closely to his conversation with Baddan. Just in case he was plotting something.

"...is why we hunt these ambers. You see those there? Yes. We use them for meditation. Gathering them to form a large enough amber... is severely taxing them. The Retrievers.... have to scour each year for large amounts of it, mainly within the ponds and lakes of Kii fish, which have the unique ability to turn special, rotten waters into molten rock. Still... even after the hot rock settles, the amber is hard to find in large volumes within one spot. Poor things," Baddan said with pity while patting the large, striped beast he rode.

"Oh, that large rock... it gets used up?" Tallo asked with shining eyes. The only thing missing from him was a notebook in which he would have loved to scribble everything he was hearing.

"Oh yes. A vibrant energy lies within it when it clusters, and a number of my kin drawing from it at the same time rapidly depletes that energy. With enough amber however.... anyone can get a full session of meditation, which draws the lesser of my kin closer to becoming Sky Watchers like me. Their heavy furs recede.... and they turn lighter like my own. The ultimate goal is to become as pure, and righteous as the illustrious Beckoned Height Keeper.... who is the only one of our kind who can remain close to the All-Guiding Appairitoni for long periods."

"Fascinating. This is easily the most profound world I've been to. I can tell your people admire the amber. I saw offerings around it. Those were offerings weren't they?"

"Naturally, distant kin," confirmed Baddan sombrely, probably recalling that the large harvest of amber had been...

"We offer anything to the amber. It is something we are given... so we can grow closer to Appairitoni. It is only naturally that we be thankful for finding it."

Skullius and Maxim listened for a while longer before giving up. In as much as they wanted to catch any hints of Tallo betraying them, they found that neither of them was smart enough to see through the Mage's bubbly persona, if it even was one.

There had been many sides to Tallo so far, while Maxim and Skullius were more honest and earnest with their words and actions. Perhaps that was why they had clicked a bit well.

"So..." Skullius awkwardly said to Maxim after a brief silence. He had no one else to talk to, and getting lost in thought right now didn't seem like the best idea. "...why did you decide to participate in the Royale?"

Maxim's face hardened a little.

"I was forced to. Something about networking, and expanding my view outside of my own biases."

Skullius tilted his head.

"Your goal isn't to join the EverSword House?"

Maxim cursed.

"I could care less about that. It sounded like a pretty good idea at first, but no one in my Family was up for it. But... they did decide that for a 'woman of the sweetest age', I am bit too abrasive, and sheltered in my own anxieties. Which I am, and for good reason."

Skullius was about to say he understood that feeling, but he held his tongue.

Maxim continued.

"The only thing joining this event has done..." she said while pointing at the vibrant figure above her head, '7,500', "...is earn me a few more corpses under my foot. Nothing else has changed."

Over the course of the roughly five hours since their departure from the hallowed grounds, the sizable group had been steered by Maxim, Skullius and Tallo towards anywhere there was the slightest show of violence, and they had killed off the contenders there before continuing towards the GOAL again.

As a result the trio had earned quite a haul in Glass Units.

"Well, your Family seems strangely independent. I would have thought they'd express some interest in joining a House. Why aren't they too keen on it?"

"Because my Family, like most of the higher ranked Families believes that even if they aren't nearly as strong as Houses, they have a reputation from the Grand Wars that should be recognised just as much as that of the Houses. Joining said Houses would be like stamping out their pride. My ancestors made sacrifices for their generations... for all of us, sacrifices that would be invalidated if I participated with the intent to get myself, and my Family swallowed up. In that, I agree. But I'd rather express that in more... subtle way."

"Hmmm," Skullius hummed, a tinge of jealousy pinching at him. "I wish I had that kind of independence."

His words made Maxim feel a bit happier about explaining her circumstances, however vaguely.

"You joined the Royale for what reasons?" she asked him.

The answer was at the tip of Skullius' tongue, but he felt a huge chunk of it missing, mainly most of its source, and was left stunted.

"For freedom perhaps? Maybe back when I made the choice, I was just a parasite that couldn't survive on its own..." Skullius said, his voice trailing off a bit as he remembered his argument with Stylla.

Maybe she had been right.

Maybe he was acting all confident while having forgotten to whom he owed much of the credit.

"I don't get it at all. Freedom has never been my problem," Maxim said.

Suddenly, a surge of violent mana, like a mighty gust of wind flooded the view, and attempted to sweep everyone away.

"Again?!" Skullius cried as he stamped himself to the ground, while Maxim turned herself flat.

The riders and Tallo used their own means to stop themselves from getting blown away, and by the end of the unexpected hoarse winds, Baddan looked to be troubled.

"Ever since that young one imprisoned the Height Keeper, the elder hasn't spread out his presence like this, except for today. It has happened twice now," Baddan expressed while gazing ahead at the mountain, which was much nearer than before. "Someone must have gotten close to him."

Tallo turned to the Sky Watcher and narrowed his eyes.

'The Cluster General? Is he at the foot of the mountain too?' he wondered.

Skullius and Maxim seemed to be following along the same line of thought.

Judging by what Baddan had said, someone, or some people had reached the foot of the mountain right now.

Thus...

Tallo looked to his two partners, and spoke words that didn't tally with how a normal person's mind would have interpreted the line of events.

"Do you reckon we can land a few hits on the Inhibiting Angel to get enough Units and rush to the GOAL?"

The way Tallo nonchalantly proposed this rubbed both Skullius and Maxim in the worst way possible.

As if it was the easiest thing to do with all that they had learned.

That was not what they were thinking at all!

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