Bro, I'm not an Undead!

A few minutes before...

Skullius and Red Rage reached the village which had been a vast distance away a couple of hours ago.

Skullius was in his cosmetic flesh while donning his tattered robes while Red Rage was in his Capital Knight armour that had been damaged after receiving a storm of magical attacks from the Cursed Knight.

It had been saved by the defence rendered by his skill, [Pelvis Boar-Man Majestic Attire] otherwise, he would be a naked walking skeleton.

Following the event where Skullius had returned to his Fulgurant Bone Penetrator form, Skullius had passed the time by trying to take the skills from magical items as he had intended to before.

His class as the [Vehement Bone Nullmancer] allowed him to use Null Life Essence as a connection to mana based constructs like he had done with goblin staves back then.

He tried to do the same with [Demion's Dance], extracting the skills from the sword.

Unfortunately, as his Null Life Essence gushed into the sword, Skullius found to his disappointment that...

[Your mastery of mana is too low. Unable to extract]

Essentially, he couldn't extract something with a complex internal mana structure that exceeded his current mastery of mana, that is, his mana manipulation.

This discovery had both enraged and enlightened Skullius as he now knew that he was right. Enhancing his understanding and manipulation of mana was the right way.

However, it turned out that his efforts alone wouldn't cut it. He needed external help which he no doubt would find in bigger human settlements.

As the two were roughly twenty meters from the village which was surrounded by long grasses and sparsely distributed trees, in the distance blots of other similar settlements, Skullius stopped and turned to Red Rage.

"Look bro," Skullius said, "It's too risky to enter with you in that village. If someone were to take away your helmet, they would see your form and cause panic. I don't intend to stay for long. Just wait here. I'll just find something to wear, something to eat and be right back. Alright?"

Red Rage nodded as he stood in a heroic pose.

Skullius' rolled his eyes subconsciously.

"Here."

Skullius gave Red Rage Denille's spatial storage ring.

He had discovered after some strenuous thinking that he could simply rescind his ownership of the ring and give it to someone else instead of resorting to killing.

Having the guidance field made it so much easier as the process was further simplified.

After giving Red Rage some instructions, he watched as the Pelvis Boar-Man made the ring his own and wore it with a subtle, heroic glee.

"If anything happens, I'm sure you're smart enough to handle it," Skullius said before he walked towards the village.

His steps were slow and dragged out as his body continuously punished him for the sins of the harsh weather which didn't seem to bother anyone else but him.

He really needed something to help alleviate his pain.

Upon entering the city, Skullius saw many people of all ages moving on the dusty ground while engaging in different activities.

Washing clothes, chatting, selling some basic goods or committing to embroidery.

The atmosphere sure looked peaceful.

For Skullius though, it was a bit... frightening.

Every adult that he saw had a bright white core that oozed of mana!

The energy that these cores exuded was stronger than his after he became a standard Null Lifeform back then!

Even the children he saw had small bright cores like little stars, slowly growing with their age.

This was crazy!

He imagined that the stats were relative to his old form as well, which terrified the flesh off of him!

VOW bro hadn't been joking about humans being scarier than beasts.

He would have sensed this when he entered Eofel a day ago but he had been preoccupied with wondering if he would keep his Discount life.

'Bro, do you have any idea how long it takes for an undead to get a core naturally?!' Skullius bellowed in his own thoughts.

He soon got over this fact as his body demanded that he find something to drink. As he walked unsteadily on the ground, many eyes were drawn to him.

Shock and confusion were mainly what was depicted on the faces of the people that looked at him as they all collectively wondered.

'What the heck is with that face?'

It was unnatural.

No dimples.

No wrinkles.

No pimples.

No realism!

Skullius ignored the glares as they at least guaranteed that no one found him exceedingly suspicious for any reasons other than his face... and perhaps his robes.

As he wryly moved, an old man who was holding an axe over his shoulder while walking with his grandson who held a bundle of wood, walked up to Skullius with a kind smile.

His faded blue eyes and white hair had the scent of age and wisdom as unlike most of the people that looked at this clearly suffering soul and did nothing but stare, he chose to help instead.

His grandson followed behind him.

"Hello there, friend. I can see you are new to this region as the heat is clearly wearing you down, haha. Come with me, I'm sure you could use some cool water," the old man said, his grandson behind him smiling brightly as he nodded at Skullius, encouraging him to follow.

"Uhm... sure, bro," Skullius said as he nodded desperately.

This was easier than he thought it would be.

'But wait, doesn't this..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHH!"

The old man suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs as blood gushed out of his eyes and mouth like a fountain, thick veins popped on his skin as they flooded with the red substance!

In the next moment, the old man's flesh began to melt off of his bones and pool at his feet!

The old man's grandson stood with his eyes wide open in shock as he witnessed this horrifying scene!

All around, the spectators screamed and leapt away while others merely gasped in horror while they stood in place.

Such a thing...

What on earth...

"What evil is this?!"

"What happened?!"

"It was him! He did something! What did you do?!"

Someone pointed a shivering finger at Skullius who face palmed.

"Yes! It must be him! Look at his clothes! He's clearly an evildoer! His face has no dimples!"

Another person screamed while grabbing a stick and quivering as he slowly advanced forward!

A small crowd of brave-ish men and women crowded around Skullius while the old man's grandson remained standing still, gazing at his grandfather's remains.

"Murderer!"

"Killer!"

"Kill him!"

Skullius couldn't believe what was happening.

'I didn't even ask him for help, damn it!' he screamed within.

This dawned curse had struck again, attacking a kind hearted soul that sought to help him!

Crowds chanted as they drew closer to him, hesitantly flailing their weapons around.

'Should I just kill them all?' Skullius wondered. This commotion could lead him into another problematic scenario after all.

There didn't seem to be a choice. He could just run away after the deed.

Since it had come to this, Skullius raised his hand as he prepared a skill that would no doubt leave get rid of the problem.

"Leave that man alone!" a boisterous voice resounded across the entire village, causing everyone to turn in the direction of its origin.

"I shall deliver justice on your behalf!"