Are we in danger?
I reluctantly look around, then I see something I never would have believed.
I see…. nothing at all.
Seems to be plain. Besides it being a bit dark nothing to write home about.
There is no life to be seen, no animal, insect, or plant.
Nothing.
No danger whatsoever.
Wait? Was my companion cracking a joke?
He scared the shit out of me.
[Wow, stop it with the jokes! We are safe haha. You almost made me doubt that hahaha.]
No reply? I turn around. They are all looking at me like I am crazy or something.
[Hum you guys?]
"C-can you really not sense it?"
[Sense what?]
"Death itself."
Death itself that sounds so metal! Is this some kind of coordinated prank? Welp if we are doing this I might participate. I could either follow their leads and start panicking or I could reply in kind.
[Hehe, nice joke.]
I look at the one that said that dead in the eyes.
[If this place is death itself then I am immortal!]
I guess that surprised them, their mouths are all gaping open showing their astoundment.
"No, seriously you don't feel like you are about to die?"
"I feel it too, it seems like I am insignificant and will wither away."
"How are you so calm?!"
"There is a freaking blood moon above our heads!"
Hum? Oh yeah, there is wow.
[So pretty!]
Their leader comes next to me.
"Thank you. I nearly lost myself right there. You are right we shouldn't despair just yet."
What do you mean we shouldn't despair? More like why would we despair? A red moon is just that no? There probably is a perfectly fine scientific explanation for it.
Of course, I wouldn't know anything about it. Yeah, I might be a sham of an isekai protagonist. Usually, they are all once-in-a-lifetime chemistry and physics geniuses.
I go next to him. Oh god, the smell is bad. Then I whisper:
[Psst what is this all about seriously? Just the red moon? Or is there something else?]
Why is it all quiet again? And why is everyone still staring at me?
"T-that, this place is filled to the brim with death energy. Can't you feel how insane it is?"
[Nope, then again, I did learn magic for a while under a rank 3 necromancer, so maybe that's why I don't feel anything special here?]
"You did?! So you can use magic!"
[Ah…nope. Grey tried all he could, but I never did manage to sense mana sadly.]
"Wait …did you just say, Grey?! THE GREY?!"
[Eh…I don't know. Middle-aged, orange hair, super kind dude really. Lives in the Moon Keep.]
I really shouldn't be talking about that, but these guys are no strangers. We faced death together already!
What's up with this silence? Again?!
If their opened mouth could have fit an egg before now it can probably fit an apple.
"Grey the necromancer. THE Grey the necromancer. A kind guy. Grey the freaking necromancer. Kind. WTF!"
Did I somehow break him? What's up with him? He sounds like a broken record. *confused*
[Do you guys know him perhaps?]
"That…we do not know him personally. We have all heard of him I am sure, however."
[Wow, is he perhaps famous? Never knew. So what exactly is this place?]
"This is what we call a domain. Someplace where the rules of heaven and earth don't apply. This place seems to be a death domain, one where death reigns supreme. The very mana that fills the air is all of that element. Can you really not feel it at all?" *perplexed*
[Nope.]
"Wait why did you train under Grey if you can't sense mana? More like why would he even agree to train you?!"
[Oh that? Typical champion training don't mind it. There was training with Grey but also some training with the Bald Eagle.]
….
What's up with them now? If before an apple would have fit inside their mouths now their shock seems even bigger. A watermelon fitting in might not be that big of a stretch now.
Did I say something weird?
"Champion."
"Moon Keep."
"B…Eagle. Calling that man in such a way."
"Grey the kind necromancer."
"Unable to sense mana."
"Isn't mana required to live?! It is worse than being blind."
[What is up with you guys? All of you….]
"T-that, just most of what you said is flabbergasting, to say the least."
[Is it?]
"That…I don't even know how…*sigh* so you are the Moon Keep's champion?"
[Oh that? Nope. I just faked it for a little while. Don't worry about it.]
The man I know to be cool-headed and collected takes a deep breath.
"HOW THE FUCK DOES ONE EVEN FAKE BEING A CHAMPION?! HOW THE HELL CAN I NOT WORRY?! WHAT IS UP WITH ALL OF THIS! WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH…."
[Hum I guess you are not scared of this place anymore at least. So why is a domain that bad?]
"*Deep breath* *sigh* You are right I'm too incensed to feel even remotely scared. Fine, you win. Arg, so a domain is either natural or man-made. A natural one will attract extremely strong beings and will most likely birth-one after a long time passes. As for a man-made one, it results from someone mastering some law of the world on a level that he can impact the realm itself."
[So if we are lucky this is a natural death domain and possibly no strong creature exists here. Likewise, it could be a man-made one and the owner is a friendly guy that will not cause us any kind of trouble. Did I get that right?]
"…Well yeah. But the chances of it happening are extremely low."
[Chance? I just met a fucking unicorn! My luck is at its peak right about now!]
"That...I can't deny that."
The previously serious mood is now gone. We set out heading in a random direction.
After all, this place is big and empty. Might as well just go with the flow.
From time to time my fellow mercenaries ask me random questions.
"Wait, if you can't even sense or use mana, how do you fight?"
[Don't worry haha. I have my ways.]
"How can you call Grey kind?"
[He legit spends most of his time sitting on a sunny bench meditating. I feel like kind fits.]
"You know the Eagle of Massacre?"
[Hum? No. The guy I know is called Young Eagle.]
"How did you even fake being a champion?!"
[Right place and wrong time. The rest somehow just happened.]
"Was all you said previously true?"
[About what? If you meant when I said pies are the best a few days ago, then yeah.]
"How is your wolf able to remain so calm in such a place?!"
[Wolfie is chill. That is all.]
Casually strolling through unknown land with friends is definitely ….
"Halt! Do you guys hear this?!"
I focus. There seems to be a sound coming from the distance. There is a tremor in the ground?
Some kind of rattling. Where is it coming from? This place seemed completely devoid of any living thing before.
I activate my scouting ability.
What do we have here?
Oh god. This is really bad. So fucking bad.
[Hum…guys. I think we should start running. Right about fucking now!]
Had I known I would have taken on the 50 assassins. There are way more than 50 creatures that are swarming over right at this moment.
WAY MORE!