No matter how hard Mortis tried to forget what had happened early that morning, he just couldn't. So in his mind he asked the system, "Pretty, what do you think about Helga? If she was really forced and has some kind of Stockholm syndrome, why was she lying with me?"
The system said. "That's easy. Don't try to compare your old world too much with this one. All the creatures here are not only physically superior to your old world, but also mentally. But no wonder, since they have been at the same level for 10,000 years and almost anything can take your life here. You are a very nice person, even if you like to throw insults at people. Maybe she fell in love with your caring, and you're just a real looker."
After dinner, Mortis walked with Helga to the guild, where Tommy was already waiting in front of the bar. "Very well, let's get started," Tommy said.
Helga took a seat at the table and waited while the two young men disappeared into a room in the back.
Tommy and Mortis faced each other in an orange room with many magic circles on the walls. Tommy said, "Then show me your skills with the scythe, even if I can't believe it."
The system said. "So, if I understand it correctly, I can just try my abilities on you without harming you -, Mortis replied. - That's right. Show me what you can do!"
After Tommy saw what Mortis used, he turned deathly pale. He had never seen anyone create a scythe with energy and swing it, or generally strike blows that had some kind of energy in them. This was something that was usually only experienced with shocks at most.
After Tommy relaxed a bit and they went to Helga for some tea, he yelled at Mortis, "I beg you, join my group for the dungeon. It's the quickest way to increase your rank!" Mortis calmly replied, "Don't yell like that. It's already settled, isn't it? If you take us with you in the carriage, I'll go with you to the dungeon."
"Then see you in three days early in the morning in front of the guild. Then you'll meet the others, too," Tommy said and said goodbye. Mortis looked for a suitable task, but there were only animals to kill or herbs to gather. So he took an herb gathering quest where the herbs should be nearby.
Over the next 2 days, he completed the same quest four times for the same alchemist. However, he only gathered once himself, the other times he had a ghost do it while he was training in the forest.
He looked for a spirit that would be useful and knowledgeable about herbs first. That took a while until he finally found one. After that, he continued to practice fighting with the scythe. In the process, he also gained a new ability: mana control. This allowed him to use small sub-level spells, but he had to learn it first, and that cost money. In addition, he now recognized the souls of other people without going to the spirit realm.
In the evening, Mortis and Helga each ate while the other washed. When Mortis lay down, Helga came into the room, took off her clothes except for her underwear, and lay down right next to him. Mortis turned his face away from her and tried to fall asleep without bursting the bag.
The next morning she clung to his neck. Mortis was beginning to be sure that she was going to finish him off in his sleep. But not only that, she had drooled all over his shoulder, which he didn't find funny or cute.
Mortis woke Helga up, and after 30 minutes they were ready for the trip. So they made their way to the guild, where Tommy was already standing with his colleagues. An older man with heavy equipment and a sullen face, a young man in white robe and a middle-aged man in blue robe. The priest had blond hair and looked friendly, but the wizard looked bored.
Tommy greeted both of them as if they had been good friends for years, and introduced them to each other. "Tank - Thomas, priest - Lukas, wizard - Chris, pugilist - Tommy, Scythe.... - Mortis." Tommy explained Mortis' situation to his party, which surprised them, but they trusted him, so they too were eager to see what Mortis would show.
Together they made their way to the carriage they rented to go to Gruenheim. But before they left, Mortis said he had to pee. While doing so, he checked everyone and had the wailer accompany them, but out of the spirit realm so she could watch Helga. He found nothing suspicious about his party; everyone seemed normal, except perhaps that Luke, from whose soul one could conclude that he was truly a saint.
The wizard had the reins in his hand, and so off they went. After 6 hours of driving, they took a break. Helga cooked something with Lukas, while Thomas and Tommy stretched their legs. Mortis meanwhile tried to borrow magic books from Chris. Chris quickly gave in and lent Mortis the beginner's books, as he just wanted to have his peace.
Suddenly, Helga yelled, startling everyone. A yellow slime jumped out of the forest, which made the group laugh. But after Thomas finished off the monster, he suddenly raised his shield, and some arrows bounced against it. Everyone went quiet and watched the forest curiously as a huge crowd of goblins appeared.
Mortis took Helga and ran with her to the carriage. Then he said, "Close your eyes and stay calm. Whatever you see, don't be frightened. Show yourself. You protect her now."
Mortis turned around and suddenly saw 40-50 of those ugly green critters. The party lined up as you would expect, but Mortis did not. He just wanted to jump in, this was his chance to collect more souls, and then the bastards were all in one pile too.
Tommy tried to strike at the enemies from the side of the tank, while the wizard and the priest stood close behind the tank and shot their spells at the goblins. Mortis used "Scythe Whirl" and caught 12 of these things with the first time already, with 7 dying. "Ghost Weapon, Ghost Weapon, Scythe Vortex" - and those little monsters fell like bugs.
"He's gone insane!" the tank roared, charging at the goblins as well. Now that the element of surprise was over and the goblins realized their chance was gone, they wanted to flee. But the more scared the monsters got, the more rabid the humans became.
The few goblins that were still alive ran for their lives, but Mortis gave chase. He threw one spirit scythe after another. After more than 300 meters of chasing the critters, he saw a cave, and that made him stop and tell the others.
There was just a huge commotion at the carriage, as the ghost of Mortis frightened everyone. The party took up a fighting stance when Mortis came up from behind and gleefully told them that he had found the goblin cave.
"Never mind that, come help us!" they shouted, "Against what? Oh, she's with me. Good job, get invisible again," replied Mortis calmly.
"W-what is it, and what do you mean she's with you?" they all asked at once.
"It is as I said it would be. It's my companion, and I put her down to protect Helga."
"So you're some kind of necromancer?" they surmised.
"You could put it that way, yes."
Everyone else took a deep breath, put away their weapons, and slowly calmed down. Lukas and Helga had to start cooking all over again, and the others explained to Mortis how to remove the magic crystal from the dead goblins. The magic crystal is always located in the center of the body, so in goblins and humanoid creatures it is below the solar plexus. While they were extracting the crystals, they tried to quiz Mortis, but he didn't reveal much because he didn't know much about it himself yet and considered it his personal business.
Mortis was eager to get into the cave, as he still needed 150 souls for the most expensive potion available in his store. He tried to convince the others, but they were not sure, as it was too unknown and dangerous. The dungeon had been cleared many times before, and everything about it was known. Inwardly, Mortis cursed, but accepted that the others were hesitant.
In his mind, he asked the system if it could mark the spot on the map. "I can do that, but if you want to come here after the dungeon, you are too strong, and you will get a penalty. If you want to flatten it, flatten it now," the system replied.
Mortis informed that he would clean this cave 100%, and the others should go on with Helga; he would follow. Helga, however, took her things from the carriage and sat down petulantly. She declared that she would not go without him. "Don't be silly, I'll leave the ghost with you, and you wait for me in town," Mortis tried to convince her.
But Helga remained firm. "No, I'm staying! Let them go without us."
Tommy felt uncomfortable, but the tank and especially the wizard could not be dissuaded from going on. Tommy excused himself, as he was packing up his things and saying goodbye, the wizard was already giving the reins to the horse.
Mortis stood looking after the carriage, then at his petulant wife. "Then I'll take you with me. It's just as dangerous out here."
"B-but I'm not an adventurer," she said hesitantly.
"You chose it, now you're going to be one," Mortis replied firmly.
Mortis Level 24 Reaper
Strength 60(+25), Agility 61( 38), Int 33, Vitality 37, Stamina 50, Mana 50, Charisma 45
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