'Sigh... Every time I read this it just creates more questions and makes me doubt the answers.'
Marcus had already read the Bairus diary several times and even though many of its pages were stained with strange fluids or worn out, he was still able to glean enough information about what happened at the facility. But even so, the journal didn't explain too much about the church of the living corpses or how it was that the whole place ended up underground.
Marcus was also curious about the results of the project or this Baal guy. But most striking of all was the powerful book of necromancy and who was this Adam that Bairus mentioned.
The only thing for sure was that, in a way, the project ended up destroying the Guerrmanic empire and, although Bairus had managed to survive the catastrophe, he couldn't help but go insane from the necrotic energy and ended up becoming undead along with all the other survivors.
'Tch... It looks like I can't stay here any longer.'
After the Battle with the semi-lich, Marcus decided to stay at the facility a bit longer practicing both his darkness magic and necromancy, and finally, after a few weeks of practice, both skills reached level 2. But since he only had two rehi circles, it was unlikely that his skills would continue to increase so he no longer had any reason to stay.
'Well... I think I'm ready now.'
Marcus got out of bed, equipped himself with plate armor, and left the room. He walked for several minutes until he finally reached the stairs he had entered and made his way to the basement he had been in almost two months ago.
*Whoosh*
'Oh, you've got to be f**king kidding me!'
After Marcus exited the facility, he was immediately greeted by a faint howl of wind coming from the tunnel made by the necrophagous worms.
When Marcus was just an ordinary skeleton, he had rejected the idea of going out through that tunnel because there was a possibility that more worms were living there. But at that time he only had [Primary Sense] so he never realized that there was a draft and that the tunnel probably led to the surface.
'All this time looking for a way out...and I had it right in front of me...Sigh, well at least it wasn't all a waste of time.'
Certainly, Marcus could have chosen to go through the tunnel and not enter the facility but had he done so he would not have been able to reach rank 3 and would still be the same useless skeleton as when he arrived in this world a few months ago.
So, after using [Energy Sense] and confirming that there were no monsters nearby, Marcus ventured down the long narrow tunnel.
****
After walking for about two hours, the tunnel reached its limit and ended in a clearing in the middle of a dead forest shrouded by a thick black fog.
* Whoosh... Whoosh*
The forest was completely silent, only interrupted by the sound of the wind. There were no animals or insects, the trees were so dead they turned black and the ground was so gray it seemed to be covered by a layer of volcanic ash.
'There's nothing... I can't even detect other undead.'
The only explanation Marcus could come up with to explain the state of the landscape was that the necrotic energy enveloping the forest had eradicated all life forms including the fungi and bacteria that decompose corpses and the remains of dead matter. So the whole place had become a desolate wasteland.
But just because Marcus couldn't detect anything didn't mean he should let his guard down, after all, beings like skeleton stalkers could still hide and attack before they were detected.
Marcus walked through the clearing and slowly made his way into the forest of dead trees. Even though it was night and the forest was covered by a blanket of black mist, he was able to see as clearly as if it were daytime.
After several minutes of walking, Marcus reached a huge crevasse, but it wasn't until he finally approached the edge that he realized it was not just a cliff.
Tens of kilometers beyond where he stood, hundreds of islands of varying sizes floated solely illuminated by the light of the three moons and the stars in the night sky.
'A f**king floating island!! Are you serious?!!'
Marcus frantically ran in circles through the forest trying to find a way to escape, but it was all futile. No matter how much he ran he always reached the edge of the island.
Finally, after running and running for hours, Marcus ended up running all the way around the island.
'Sh*t!... I don't get it, Bairus never mentioned anything about a floating island in his diary! So it just got off the ground and started floating?... Aaaah... I don't understand anything anymore!!!'
Marcus was desperate. Ever since he arrived in this world he had been searching for a way out to the surface and when he finally found it it was only to learn that he was trapped on an island in the sky, with no way to escape.
*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*
'F**K, F**K, F**K, F**K!! This sh*tty world and this f**king floating island. F**king Reincarnation Agency... F*****k!!'
*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!!*
In an attempt to blow off some steam, Marcus began firing magical projectiles, destroying and knocking down the dead trees in the forest, many of which fell down the cliff. When he finally calmed down, he sat down on a rock and tried to see what other possibilities he had left.
'Tch... Throwing myself into the void is not an option... Come on think, what options do I have?'
Marcus started walking in circles over and over again trying to find a way to escape without dying trying. Until...
'Huh?!... What the hell?'
In an attempt to calculate how far he was from the ground, Marcus approached the edge of the island. But when he did, he noticed that the trees he had knocked down a few minutes earlier were still falling.
After about thirty minutes had passed, the trees got farther and farther away from the island, and when they were far enough away, their falling speed began to increase until they disappeared.
'The gravity around the island is less than normal?!.... Then...'
****
"...!"
'Yeah, I know it's crazy, but I'm out of options!... Besides who knows, maybe the trees below will help cushion my fall.'
After wracking his non-existent brain for quite some time, Marcus came up with a way to get off the island. The plan was to take advantage of the low gravity zone around the island and somehow try to slow his fall speed while using [Self-Reinforcement] to resist the impact.
With this idea in mind, Marcus went back to the facility, took all the blankets and clothes he could find, and began to tie them together to try to use them as a parachute.
But this plan was so risky that even Marcus wasn't sure if it would work. So to calm himself down a bit, he decided to pull out the human skull ( AKA Wilson) he had in his inventory and have a conversation.
'Okay, I think that's it! Now comes the hard part'
Once the 'parachute' was finished, Marcus took off his armor to reduce its weight, tied the webbing on his four limbs, and approached the edge of the chasm.
'Okay, Marcus... Remember what your father used to say "Ideas are only bad if they don't work"... I hope this is one of the good ones.'
After what seemed like an eternity, Marcus jumped off the island and started to fall. Minutes passed and slowly the island got farther and farther away. But suddenly, the sky began to light up and change color, and the night gave way to the dawn of a new day.
At that moment, as the sun's rays bathed the trees, mountains, and rivers of the continent with their golden light, Marcus remembered the moment when he arrived in this world.
Only a few months ago, he appeared in the darkness totally naked, alone in a hostile world, and against all odds, he managed to survive. This was the first sunrise Marcus had seen in this world and, for the first time since his transmigration, he was grateful to be reborn in this new world.
'Maybe... Things won't be so bad from now on.'
...
{The user has been exposed to solar energy}
…
{Strength, Defense, Agility, and Intelligence stats have been reduced by 90%.}
…
{The efficiency of all necrotic energy-related skills decay by 60%}
…
{The user will receive sun damage for every minute he is exposed to sunlight.}
...
Or maybe not.
****
Somewhere unknown, in the middle of a huge white room, there was a large rectangular table which was made of black material with light gold tints on the edges. On the table there were a total of thirteen seats, seven on the left side and five on the right side, each had a different being sitting in them.
The seven beings occupying the seats on the left side were surrounded by an aura of light that was almost blinding and endowed with a divine presence. In contrast, the five beings occupying the right side of the table were covered by a cloak of darkness like a bottomless abyss capable of swallowing all the light of creation.
'Where the hell is he! These guys have been waiting for a long time already and at any moment they could start fighting! If you're going to kill each other, at least wait until I get out of here!!'
In one corner of the room, there was a woman with Asian features, dressed in a black suit who could not stop trembling in the presence of these beings.
At first, the woman was a little calmer, after all, even though these powerful entities hated each other, they had managed to come to a ceasefire. But still, these beings could not stand the presence of the others and it seemed that a conflict could break out at any moment.
'Why was I assigned this job?!... Weren't superiors supposed to be in charge of doing these things?!! Uhh... This is so much worse than fieldwork.'
But just when it looked like the woman was about to have a mental breakdown, a dark crack formed in the wall and an elegant English-looking man suddenly appeared in the room.
"Hello, Naoko!... Why are you shaking, did I miss something?"
"Edward-san! Where were you?"
Naoko was on the verge of tears and almost looked like she would faint at any moment. But when Edward arrived she managed to regain her composure and keep her cool.
"Hahaha... I'm sorry I'm late, I just had a lot of paperwork backlog, but why are you here? I thought you were in the soul selection and collection department."
"Orders from the higher-ups. There was a level 5 catastrophe and we're short-staffed. But to tell you the truth I'd rather be running over people than solving this problem."
"Hm, I see... How have you been doing lately?"
"Fine, I guess. But it's getting harder to find candidates in some universes and the people on Earth FTZ-34 already have autonomous vehicles so we're looking for other collection methods than traffic accidents."
Edward and Naoko began to have a pleasant chat as they walked towards the center of the room where the light and dark beings were located. When they arrived, they both stopped chatting and their faces became serious.
"I would like to thank you all for gathering here and offer my sincerest apologies for being late." Edward said as he bowed.
The thirteen entities didn't seem to mind this and soon, the hostile atmosphere in the room disappeared as if it had never existed.
"I thank you for your understanding. Before we begin, allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Edward and I am a member of the reincarnate administration and assignment department."
"I am Naoko, from the soul selection and collection department ."
"Now that we have finished the formalities, let's move on to the main topic."
Edward snapped his fingers making a chair appear at the end of the table, sat down, and began to speak.
"While I'm sure you all already know the rules, let me make it clear that as "witnesses", both Miss Naoko and I possess the authority to intervene if the rules of the agreement previously established by both parties are violated. Is that clear?"
Although the thirteen entities did not seem to agree with this condition, they knew they had no right to complain about this, so they merely nodded in response.
"Good... And now, without further ado By the power vested in me by the A.T.I.R. as "witness", I hereby declare the event open! Good luck to all and may the best win!"