"They- they exist!!!" The man huffed and puffed, barely containing his excitement. "Ah, traveling for two years through those wretched mountains were not wasted!" He even sobbed. "Finally…."
What the hell was going on here?
Was this a play?
Was I in a drama?
Ahem! He cleared his throat. "Forgive my rude demeanor. I am Escalor, a halfbreed," he removed his helmet.
He had skin, barely. Muscles visible, rotting. One eye missing.
A zombie.
He had some hair, moldy blonde.
"Groan!"
For a second there, I was almost scared but then I remembered, yup, I was in a worse situation, so… "You are?" The zombie stared at me.
Now that I carefully observed him, I could see faint traces of rot all over his armor and maybe a bit of other stuff. But oh well. "Groan."
"H-have you lost your voice, Sir?"
I remained quiet.
And although he seemed even more agitated, he pulled something, something straight out of the air.
'What the…'
A ring.
He gave the ring to me.
'Magic…'
Wait- was this dolt proposing to me? What the fuck!?
"Should allow you to telepathically speak with me, since I am wearing it as well," he showed me his crusty fingers.
'I guess not?' Yeah, living in America sure worked it's wonders on me….
Also, he smelled.
Smell.
'I can smell…'
But honestly, I wasn't the least bothered by him at all.
Seriously, what was wrong with my mentality?
Regardless- 'Testing, testing'
"I can hear you!" The zombie almost screamed.
Yeah, he was definitely more excited than me, that was for sure. Actually, what was this guy even doing? Come to think of it, didn't he call me majestic or something?
"Good for you. I am…. I only recently got revived." Obviously only a groan came out, but the guy seemed like he understood me. I wanted to tell him my real name. Sean. But on a second thought, his name was kind of odd and I'd already forgotten about it, so I didn't bother to introduce myself properly… just yet.
I'd read enough fantasy to know this was real.
I was definitely awake and I'd tested by getting kicked in the nuts (not from my own volition) to make sure whether this was real or not. It was definitely real.
I kind of wanted to barrage him with questions about magic and the world and everything but I didn't. I was still new to this. This world and everything. Which meant I had to play my cards right. Otherwise, just like the last time… I'd be taken advantage again and then scammed….
"Sir…" he staggered. "And only recently you say…" Delighted. "So, my hypothesis was right! We're entering another undead age!"
"Undead age?"
"Yes, just like how we were the rulers a thousand years ago, we're about to be again!"
I was confused, was an understatement. But more importantly- "Wait, there are more of us?"
"You just woke up, so your memories might be a bit dodgy. But don't worry, even though numbers have thinned since the great era, we're still aplenty. At least us half breeds are. But with you Sir, our new order will surely!"
"What are you doing?"
A female voice.
Another warrior cladded in armor slowly approached us through the thick grass; she seemed to have an easier time. I hadn't even noticed her. Or rather, I was too engrossed with this guy over here.
She removed her helmet, another zombie; moldy blonde. A bit pretty but a zombie regardless. "A skeleton…" She mumbled, smiling. "Looks like you were right." Slightly curvier but the same armor.
From head to toe, fully cladded dark armor. Both were about a head shorter than me. Anatomically, they appeared to be humanoid. Not human. Why? Because humans didn't have a tail.
But these guys did have one. A long, decaying tail.
"I know, right!" The zombie before me, whatever the hell his name was, almost jumped in excitement.
"But what now?" his partner asked.
"We should travel back and explain everything to the elders and-"
"And who would believe you?" she sighed.
I noticed she had the same ring on. Actually, she had a bunch of other rings too. Same with the man. They had at least six rings. And six fingers on each hand?
"I mean Sir can just-"
"He just got revived you idiot. He doesn't even have clothes on yet. You think he can travel halfway across the world like its nothing? And why would he go so far for us half breeds he barely knows?" Another sigh. She herself pulled something out of the air, a rag. "Instead," She came closer. "Please take this and allow us to lead you to a town nearby. We won't ask you to come with us, but it would be really nice if you could at least testify for us at any guild. You only revived, so we'll take it upon ourselves to explain the current affairs and even help you strengthen up a little. So please…" She knelt-
Her partner knelt as well.
'Is this a joke?'
I'd played enough video games to know… this felt exactly like a damn tutorial….
However- "Sure." I took the rag, used it like a rob. It stretched all the way down to my feet, even drifting a bit.
It's not like I had anything better to do anyway. But I was definitely going to make good use of their hospitality that was for sure. And this time… not get scammed.