The story of the game, Soul Ashes Exile takes place in the continent of Garan, where the human empire has taken control of half of the continent after defeating the demon empire, forcing them to escape across the sea.
The only natural barrier separating Mordred's empire from the human empire is the Laos mountain range, which is located north of the howling forest, where new players have to survive by completing quests given by the npc's in the starting villages.
According to the information provided in the game's official forum, Mordred's empire was in the process of development while players were just starting to explore the howling forest, which did not explain the situation Sven found himself in.
Lordgath was a highly respected death knight among the ranks of Mordred's army, being one of the 3 strongest Ascended who managed to master death magic near the game's peak.
Now Sven was one of his apprentices. At this point in the story, Lordgath had not yet been called by Mordred's emperor to fight the human empire, so it was a good time to gain his trust.
Sven froze when Lordgath looked in his direction.
Currently Sven had all his stats reduced to one point, only Lordgath's gaze generated a great pressure on his body without letting him breathe. That was the difference that made the Soul Ashes Exile game be recognized around the world, the virtual reality technology they developed in its implementation was just one step away from merging with reality, even the smallest breeze could be felt with total clarity.
As the death knight walked in his direction, Sven instinctively tried to disconnect from the game.
Ding, the shutdown function is disabled until the tutorial is completed!
"Is this the tutorial?" wondered Sven as he was grabbed by the neck unable to defend himself from Lordgath's grip.
-5 damage.
Sven saw his life bar halved from just one hit. If he wasn't wearing the scale armor, that attack would have taken his life in an instant.
The death knight opened his mouth.
"Pathetic, is this your son."
Among the army of undead of different races, a dhampire knelt on the ground.
"My lord, he is young, he doesn't know about battle yet."
That was the father the system assigned to Sven, a dhampire with half of his body full of scars and burns, the result of the battles he lived through in the past.
Unlike vampires who were recognized by the emperor of Mordred, dhampires were frowned upon in the cities because they were considered a mistake of nature. Because of this the dhampires were sent to the front of the army to be slaughtered as cannon fodder.
Lordgath returned his gaze to Sven.
"There seems to be a restriction on your body, if I take you at this time to the battlefield you will die, of that there is no doubt."
Lordgath called two warriors to his side.
"Give him a sword and armor, the expedition must go on."
The dhampire on the ground thanked the death knight and returned to his position pulling Sven's body.
"Where were you, I was looking for you this morning when the army was summoned, don't split up like that again or I'll cut your head off myself.
Sven was surprised to recognize Bolmir as his father, a stream of information was entered into his memory indicating the past of the two of them before Sven occupied that body in the game.
That he could confirm after opening his status window, his appearance was that of a young dhampire in his 16 years, different from his body in the real world. This was another bug in the game, each player when using the virtual reality device was scanned down to the smallest detail to create their avatar in the game, all to avoid possible fraud or cheating by players.
"Move forward, don't just stand there."
The undead army began marching through the southern exit of Gali's village, towards Merine's forest.
Although Mordred's army was on the eve of the fight with the human empire, those were not the only enemies they possessed.
Marching through the forest, Sven heard from his father that the army's objective was a dwarven fortress, which was built on a black steel mine.
Black steel was a type of magical ore, used especially to create armor with a magical resistance bonus. Because of this, every time one of these mines was discovered, the dwarves living in Laos Mountain fought against the neighboring armies to gain control of it.
Even if he felt strange calling the dhampire next to him father, Sven decided to ask.
"Father, why doesn't the emperor order to attack the human empire, what is stopping him."
This was one of the biggest doubts raised on the game's official forum. According to the game's database, Mordred's emperor had an ability to reduce any human city to ashes, plus his most dangerous ability, soul devourer, had no way to be avoided after being cast.
Simulating an attack by Mordred's emperor, the users calculated that in just one month, the entire continent of Garan would pass to the control of the undead army if it wanted to.
Bolmir tapped Sven's shoulder.
"Don't ask that if you don't want to die before your time."
Some of the undead who heard Sven's words looked at him angrily.
Sven heeded his father's words and remained silent, if the theories written in the forum were true, the warriors were nervous due to the possible illness of their emperor, the only one capable of protecting them in case of a great battle with the neighboring empire.
The army continued advancing towards the Laos mountain range, crossing the Merine forest.
According to the game's information, Merine was a 600-year-old dryad who was tricked by a group of wraiths, stealing all the treasures she had gathered for centuries to advance to her next transformation.
Because of this, blinded in her madness after the wraiths fled her home, Merine poisoned all the trees in the forest with her roots, killing all the men who traveled through her forest alone.
With Lordgath's presence at the helm, the army did not fear being ambushed by the deluded dryad. Every so often, the undead at the front delivered reports on the path and current status of the target.
Sven continued to try to break free from the game, if there was someone to wake him from the dream he could escape that situation and warn the game creator of the crap he did to him, but Sven lived alone and that hope was gone.
"We will advance through the Namdor tunnel, boy remember not to open your mouth for any reason."
Every warrior at the front covered their heads with a black mask, even Lordgath was no different.
Sven received the mask from his father and placed it on his head.
Five minutes later, the army entered a coppery rock cavity, where all kinds of wailing could be heard on the walls.
Those in the front covered their ears, and those without ears served to guide the way.
The width of the road was the size of two cars, the more than two thousand warriors followed the light at the front not listening to the words of temptation that reached their ears.
Sven wanted to ask Bolmir who Namdor was, and what the spirits were that were trying to tempt the warriors.
"Ahhh!"
A bone mage wreathed in black flames began to run looking for Lordgath to save him.
Slash!
Lordgath halved the mage without hesitation.
The spirits roaming the walls of Namdor's tunnel solidified, revealing their true appearance.
They were spirit dragons, smaller than their mountain-dwelling peers, the spirit dragons fed on the souls of their prey by sending an invitation to them through their voices.
According to the game's official forum, a spirit dragon was at level 130, and they were immune to magical and physical attacks. What kind of strategy should they use to fight with more than a hundred of them gathered in that place.
In just a few seconds, the bone mage was consumed in the flames, while a small sphere of light came out from inside him.
Lordgath shook his head as he saw one of his warriors being devoured by the dragons.
Watching one of his own disappear without being able to do anything about it, the army continued as some black flames rose through the crowd.
"I imagine you want to know who Namdor was."
Bolmir removed his mask and instructed Sven to do the same after leaving the tunnel.
"Because there are dragons in this place," Sven asked.
Among the most dangerous creatures in the game, dragons ranked second and had a continent where they lived as a society external to what happened in Ciel. According to the stories told by sailors who dared to cross the sea, some dragons managed to reach the divine level, being able to destroy the small empires that were still growing.
"Namdor, as he is known among the elders, is an ancient lich who confronted the dragon race in the times when they still flew in the sky of Garan. After a long battle, the spirit dragons were cursed by Namdor, being locked in the tunnel with his name, until a more powerful wizard could remove his curse".
Bolmir pointed to a rock at the base of the tunnel and added.
"They say that beneath the tunnel, Namdor kept all his treasures and his research and even an entire race to protect his treasures, but after a time that would surprise you, no one has managed to destroy the seal of the curse."
The road to the Laos mountain range was long, when the moon was appearing in the distance you still couldn't see the dwarven fortress.
Ding, the battle is about to begin! Activating battle mode! A boss has appeared!
Some of the undead began to shout, under the surface of the trees, a creature, like a large snake wrapped around some of those present and dragged them among the leaves.
"Damn creature, it has decided to appear in front of us."
Bolmir drew a bow and aimed into the distance.
The archers among the undead didn't delay and began firing into the forest.
Ding, spirit link activated! Spiritual link: if the player loses all his life points, the body in the world called earth will die.
Ding, the initial tutorial test has begun!