When the Demon Gods first fell, the creator Orren led his children against them in the War of the Gods. In the end, a stalemate occurred and the gods either went to sleep or disappeared.
Throughout the war, atop a lonely hill, The Nameless Goddess watched on.
Time passed until finally, the first visitor made their way to her cursed home. Stumbling and injured, they threw themselves at the foot of her roots.
"Be it a demon or an angel, I beg of you! Please grant me the power to slay my enemies!" They reached out with a bloodied hand in desperation.
There was no way that they could've imagined someone was listening.
The Nameless Goddess saw the small creature calling out to her, it was the first time she had interacted with anyone. But no matter what she said, the dying man had no signs they heard her.
So, she decided to grant his wish.
A pool of black sap suddenly started to emerge from the ground and the tree. It engulfed the man and started to transform him.
"Aaaargghh!!"
The man screamed in agony as he felt his body melt. He felt the bones in his rib cage bend until they were shaped like skewers.
In pain and impending death, he smiled, he knew that somehow, somewhere someone was listening.
"Thank you."
CRRRSSHHHH
The Bone Spears erupted from the man's back and rained down upon the man's pursuers at the bottom of the hill. His body was torn to bits and the remains were claimed by the sap.
Once more, the Nameless Goddess stood there in silence. She was alone again, waiting for the next visitor…
"Without the familiars, I created for you, you are more vulnerable. Also, you refuse to use my
"I'm tougher than you think I am."
Daiyu went quiet and turned her back on Alden for a moment. She was contemplating something, but Alden pressed on.
"I made a covenant with you, so you have to trust me. Things will get a lot harder to overcome than just some mindless undead. You'll have to prepare yourself for the worst yet to come."
Daiyu sighed and turned back to Alden, if gods could shed a tear, then she had done so.
"I feel like I should be saying those things to you. Please, I implore you… don't die. It was a miracle finding you who is compatible with my power. And…I'll have to be alone again."
If Alden could take her hand and squeeze in comfort, he would have at this moment. Instead, he gave her a small nod of affirmation.
As Yalgri had started to walk back Alden, Daiyu finally relented and phased through the wall. She would try to find as much evidence of the necromancer as possible.
"They all had the same reactions, just like the rest."
"There's his family we could speak to or would you rather examine the body?"
Yalgri paused for a moment and weighed both the choices in his mind.
"We don't have time to do both, Kane and Aster will need you during the evening. Take the time to rest, you will need it for the battle tonight."
"You won't be joining us?"
"Someone still has to audit them." Yalgri laughed as he motioned for Alden to follow him back to the mansion.
When they arrived, several guards were there ready to escort them back to Alden's room. Yalgri stayed with Alden until he had seen him enter the room. It wasn't that he didn't trust Alden, he just wanted to know that he went in safely. The mayor's men were hardly trustworthy in Yalgri's eyes.
"Back here again." Alden sighed as he plays in bed looking at the ceiling. It was the first time in a while that he was alone, this meant he had to savor it while it lasted.
After stifling a yawn, Alden pulled the blankets up and went to sleep. He was sure that they would wake him when they needed him. Just in case, he placed Skofnung right next to himself in bed. Alden didn't usually move much in his sleep, so this wouldn't bother him at all.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Before he knew it, Alden was being awoken by the sounds of taps on the door. Still a little groggy, he trudged towards the door and opened it.
"Are you ready?" It was Kane and behind him was the brash Aster. They were both fully armored, including helmets, to fight off the undead again.
"You don't turn into undead if they bite you, do you?" Alden frowned when he saw how covered they were. With that armor, they were surely weighed down.
"What!? What kind of stupid question is that!? Of course, you don't turn into undead like that! You die and then are brought back by dark magic! Ugh, villagers from the sticks." Aster was dumbfounded at Alden's sheer ignorance on the subject.
'You little shit!' Alden thought as he did his best to hold back his fist from striking Aster's face. He only had limited world knowledge from his time as a villager, the reason he wasn't staring at everything in amazement was that he was from the city in modern times.
"That's enough, Aster!" Kane chided Aster and motioned for Alden to start following them.
Alden nodded and went to grab Skofnung from his bed, all he needed was a weapon, armor wasn't his style.
"That's!?" Aster was taken aback as he saw Skofnung on Alden's back.
"Lead the way."
Alden ignored him and decided to deal only with Kane from this point on. Aster wasn't worth his time currently, maybe he had yet to face the harshness of reality yet.
'This sword made him put an interesting face on.' The weapon was more famous than Alden had realized, perhaps he had finally found a permanent weapon.
As they walked towards the gate, Alden felt a little giddy inside. This was going to be the true test of his current power, with no support from Huginn or Daiyu. Only with his sword, his skills, and his wits, Alden was ready to prove to himself he had the power to survive alone.