The journey to the centre of the forest was simply put, boring. I needed this time to fix my soul but the only thing I had to do was meditate and try to feel my original soul. Now that it was distorted, this was like trying to separate water from a mixture of milk, oil and fruit juice. Even though the moon had changed around five times I only had a complete grasp on the right index finger of my original soul. Still, progress was progress.
The peace and quiet was nice, but it also meant that my familiars hadn't gotten the chance to fight yet, so I couldn't tell how strong they were. And considering the difference in stats I didn't want to test them myself either.
'It would probably be a pain holding back.'
I originally thought that I could just make them fight whatever was in the way, but my new title was more effective than I thought it would be. Forest's Blessing only stopped most of them from attacking, but Child of the Sacred Beast made them cower in fear the moment they sensed me. And even I wasn't evil enough to kill creatures that didn't want to fight back. After all, at heart I was a pacifist. I only attacked when I felt threatened.
Therefore, we continued marching without rest. Well, my familiars marched without rest, I took the occasional nap. If I was still an undead then I could easily sacrifice sleep, but now that I had life there were annoying things that came with it. I only needed to urinate every moon or so, but sleep was necessary every once in a while to keep my mind sharp. I wouldn't die or anything without sleep, but my mind would dull. I liked sleeping anyway though, so that wasn't the real problem.
Grrr~
I grimaced as my stomach rumbled and reached for the apple-like fruit that Ein passed to me. As my vanguard, he could be excused from palanquin duty, but he knew that he had to attend to my food needs without me having to say it.
Ein even followed up by asking with a courteous smile, "Should I search for some meat as well, master?"
"No, let's just say I'm on a diet."
In a sense I wasn't lying, but this diet was forced. I didn't know where the food came from, but when I purposely went to find residents of the forest, they would also offer various fruits and meats to me. Since I now had to deal with my hunger I was grateful for this service, but while the fruits were as tasty as the ones I remembered, the meat was all chewy like rubber.
According to Jeanne, it tasted like rations so I probably wasn't being too picky either. However, I didn't want to complain to these three since none of them needed to eat. They would eat if I told them to, but otherwise they would only occasionally eat a fruit.
'Tch, lucky.'
I believed I was someone who could eat anything with the right seasoning, but it wasn't as if I had any ketchup or mayonnaise.
'At least eggs. If I at least had eggs I would be satisfied.'
Though I hoped my food situation would improve and planned on actually doing something about it, that would have to be after I got myself out of this mess. So for now I was strictly vegetarian. Fortunately, this forced diet had no negative effects on my body.
While I finished off the fruit and threw away the seed (no, this was not littering, I was giving back to nature), I noticed a group of presences before I returned to my meditation session.
"One."
"Yes, master. I shall face them."
I called Ein 'One' because his true name was too important to reveal carelessly. I was partially worried that that dragon was spying on us when I named them, but I didn't think there was much point in trying to hide from it when I was in the palm of its hand anyway.
While Jeanne and Brad gently lowered my palanquin and stood by my side. Ein stepped forward. From beyond the dense gathering of gray trees, three zombies clad in torn pieces of armour and holding swords and a spear appeared.
"They seem to be undead warriors," said Jeanne.
"Mhmm, One, you think you can take them?" I asked while hoping for a decent show.
"Of course, is what I would like to say, but some help would be appreciated."
In response to One, I nodded my head and signalled Jeanne to support him. Brad looked like he wanted to join in but then this battle would be too bo-, easy.
I wondered how undead were capable of reaching this close into the forest but that could wait for after the battle.
'Finally, I get to see what they can do.'
Of the three undead warriors, the two with swords attacked One while the one with the spear stayed in the back to support. They attacked without caring about being outnumbered or outclassed but for undead without intelligence, this was the norm. Due to an inherent distaste for life they attacked any living creature on sight, regardless of their strength.
'I almost feel ashamed to have been one of them.'
In terms of strength it would be hard for Ein to beat them, but seeing how he would overcome that was the entire point.
Ein attacked the one on the right with a heavy swing that went down for its head. The undead warrior used quick movements to block the sword, but it was stuck in a disadvantageous position. If this was a normal zombie then this would have been over already, but undead warriors had the skills to bring out the true power of their limit-removed bodies.
While Ein was pressuring one undead warrior, the one on his left swung at his side. Ein parried this swing without panic, but it gave the undead warrior he was pressuring the chance to take aim at his chest. I wouldn't have minded seeing if the armour was enough for this, but Ein thought differently.
He took a quick back step and then kicked the leg of the undead warrior that thrusted forward. Like this, he managed to escape both of them, but another blade approached his back. In his position there was no way he could move fast enough to take care of it, but Ein's expression showed no worry. Maybe he was confident in his healing ability or planned on using Spirit Form, or maybe he predicted what would happen next.
With a whoosh~, a bright fireball slammed into the spear-wielding undead warrior. The spear then fell from its hands, but not because it felt the pain or heat. Its arms were literally burnt to ash so of course the spear would drop. Rather, the fact that it didn't melt was more surprising.
"Idiot, don't disgrace yourself before the master," said Jeanne in a strict tone.
While I was confident that my aloof expression was unbroken, I hadn't noticed that she prepared that white blaze until she released it.
'If she already had her imagination ready and was just waiting for the right time then it would be impressive, but nothing too amazing. But if she did it in an instant...'
As I took a moment to get out of my hidden shock, Ein replied without getting upset.
"I know, I know. I'll take care of the rest by myself."
Instead of taking his word, Jeanne glanced at me and I nodded in response to give my approval.
"Fine then, I'll wait for you to lose before cleaning up your mess."
"Come on, have some faith."
I chuckled due to the amusing conversation between these two, but while I was satisfied by Jeanne's skill, I still needed to confirm his.
Once the undead warrior realized that it no longer had arms to use, without hesitation it lunged forward with its mouth wide open. The two undead warriors also used this chance to swing their swords at his vitals. Once more, Ein seemed to be a bad spot, but his expression didn't show it even though there would be no help this time.
'No way!'
Before the swords reached him, Ein made a sudden chain of fluid footsteps that seemed simple by themselves and yet also complex when linked together. With these mysterious movements, Ein turned to the side, cut off the head of the lunging undead, and then went back to his initial stance to receive the blows from the two undead warriors.
'He's... improved.'
I didn't know much about martial arts or swordsmanship, but I knew that his skills were on a different level compared to when he was alive. And it wasn't just my opinion either.
Swordsmanship (level 4) (Rare)
Only a few moons had passed and yet he had already improved himself. I knew that they would find time to train when I was asleep, but for him to get so strong in such a short time was,
'Amazing.'
For a moment I felt jealous of his talent, but then I remembered, that he was my familiar. And that his strength would bring me safety.
'This must be what it feels like to be protected by the police. Not that I ever knew what that felt like.'
My interest skyrocketed as I waited for his next move. Ein should have lost in a direct confrontation against both of them, but somehow he maintained a deadlock. When I focused my sight on him, I noticed that he seemed to be gathering all of his energy at his core. As if his entire body was concentrated at that one point, he became the sturdiest wall that wouldn't budge.
'How did he learn this?!'
Since I had his memories I truly had no idea how he came up with this technique, but all I could do was watch with bated breath at the edge of my seat.
Neither side showed any frustration despite the stalemate, but when Ein flashed a playful smile and exhaled sharply, the undead warriors were instantly blown back.
"You're mine!"
All of the power that was concentrated at his core gathered to the edge of his sword and he took a step forward.
"Ha!"
With one horizontal slash, both were bisected. Now that the fight was over and I did a quick analysis of it in my head, I finally recalled something.
'It was really interesting and all. But couldn't I have killed them in one hit?'