On the same night,
While intimidating growls of wild nature residents sometimes resound in the vicinity, two creatures were near a clear lake in which, one contemplated the reflection of the starry sky to keep the clarity of his mind in the grip of madness.
He sometimes picks up a random pebble that he sends skimming across the water's surface, counting the peaceful bounces it made before sinking.
After each sinking, he quietly observed the mesmerizing undulations on the surface until they gradually faded away.
It was his way of entertaining himself to forget the cruel reality in which he had found himself just after his death.
'If hell exists, it'll undoubtedly be my situation; I'm in hell.'
Sitting next to him one meter away, was a young woman reading a relic-stuff-like book whose cover seemed to have been made with the skin of a human face.
'She gives the impression of reading her father's will.'
The other thought, praising the level of concentration shown by the girl.
Sometimes Devon glanced at the girl next to him but said nothing.
However, the guy was just unable to speak; one of the many disadvantages of his current body. He didn't need a mirror to guess what he looked like.
The parts of his body that he could see with his eyes were mere enough for him to understand the situation.
'As crazy as it seems, I got reincarnated into a skeleton.'
Reality may be terrifying, but it is reality. Reality which similar to a nightmare but real as well. Devon's new reality.
I am relieved to see her finally shut up for a while. This enthusiasm she showed despite the countless corpses that surrounded us was somehow frightening.
At least, thanks to these endless and annoying squealing, I was able to learn two or three things.
She is Mystic Forette Shadow, my so-called master, and also responsible for my hell.
I had thought about killing her, but what's the point? If I act imprudently without knowing her strength, I could make my situation worse.
And even if I manage to kill her, it won't change my situation. For now, I have to keep my goal in sight.
Since she is the one who somehow brought me back to life, she must necessarily know how to send me back from where I came from.
For this, I must first communicate with her.
Of course, the fastest way is to communicate with her in writing. But although I can understand what she says, she was unable to understand my texts.
Contrary to what I had supposed, she's not a demon, but a kind of human called dragonoids. Her clan rooms in one of the largest strongholds a little further south, Forette.
It was by going there that her bodyguard and she to holiday they were stormed by robbers. The previous bloody scene was the result.
If she is the only survivor, it is not thanks to her strength, but to the man she buried. It was her bodyguard.
As expected, this world obeys different laws from where I come from.
The book she reads with such hunger is what they call a 'Grimoire' as in the novels.
It was partly thanks to this cursed book that she brought me back here.
Since all of these are new, I obviously can't know how she did it.
While she was talking non-stop, I was able to learn another piece of information about these... grimoires.
Yes, there seem to be more than a thousand, or maybe even more.
Each individual possessing it and having managed to pass a kind of contract with… would see his status ennobled.
Where you find a human community, you will find the hierarchy. Human community and hierarchy are like Adan and Eve, one can't live without the other.
Furthermore, it also seems to have different types of grimoires that are classified by rank. I don't yet know the rank of the other grimoires or what they might look like.
But according to her sayings, this one she currently reads with such excitation is the weakest among them.
Goodness…she's just being trash as well.
Anyway, to hell with her strength; it's her pieces of stuff, not mine.
What upset me the most, is the last information I heard from her.
You see guys, there's a problem, a big one even.
I agree that I reincarnated in another world.
I'd even be ready to accept living in this sh*t till I find a solution to have a real body.
But jokes must have limits.
But why did I have to be with a newbie who, plus being inexperienced, is also a complete pain in the ass?!
No matter where you are, even if it's hell, there are certain types of people I can't stand—those who settle for crumbs.
Those people who stop under an apple tree with their hands outstretched, waiting for a gust of wind to blow so that an apple falls into their hands, are the most annoying.
Instead of going to get their own apples by climbing the apple tree, they naively stay on the ground, waiting for their fate to change.
It's annoying, I find that she resembles those types of people seeing her get so excited with a grimoire and a weaker skeleton.
His skull boiled with rage as he thought about the depth of hell that awaited him.
After a moment, the girl closes her grimoire and looks at her pet with a proud face.
"Now, I've not only managed to make a contract with a grimoire, but I have even obtained my guardian beast! I can't wait to see their faces, to all those who have looked at me like shit until now."
'...' At these words, Devon looks at her with sore eyes.
'Above all, my contractor is a talentless piece of sh*t and seems satisfied with that. What a hell.'
It was lucky for Mystic, her inability to communicate with Devon.
If only she could hear his thoughts...Alas.
Her eyes seemed to contain all the stars in the night sky as she continued to look at Devon with naive pride.
"Now that I have managed to contract a grimoire, even if my soul beast is weak, and the rank of my grimoire is still below average, all that might change soon."
'...That girl...
Devon remained puzzled, still unable to understand the source of her excitement despite the situation.
Meanwhile, Mystic gets up from the ground and starts stretching her body.
"Ah ha... by spending so much time on my grimoire, my butts are all numb. Maybe I should take a bath and get rid of all this blood...?"
As she talked alone, she walked ahead to the lake.
Devon glares at her momentarily as she undresses and enters the lake. Then, he focuses on the grimoire right next to Mystic's dress.
Driven by curiosity, he gets up and approaches the grimoire.
'So here it is, the source of all my woes.' He thought for a second, his eyes mixed up and his heart filled with soreness.
He first glances at Mystic who is lounging in the lake to make sure she isn't keeping an eye on him.
'I don't know if she's confident in her strength or if she's just a zany who doesn't sense the danger.' He couldn't help but shake his head in irony at her recklessness.
He was somehow too lazy to warn her, and deems the issue as not his—He picks up the grimoire and sits down near the lake.
The first matter he noticed when he opened the grimoire was a blank-red page.
Then, he flipped it.
--INFORMATION--
[Contraction Grimoire.]
[Rank: Copper.]
[Owner: Mystic Shadow.]
[Level: 01.]
[EXP: 10%.]
[Contracted beasts: 0]
[Guardian beast: 01]
[Skills: Taming, Storage, pets garden.]
-Taming: helps the owner to tame three basic and average-tier beats.
-Storage: Ten-meters-square independent dimension which can stock inanimate items.
-Pets garden:
..
These were the only words he could read on this page. 'Oh, how pathetic. This grimoire really has a shitty rank.'
Peeved by what he just read, he quickly turned the page again to go to the next page.
There, his interest was piqued when he saw that the third page contained information about Mystic.
-Information-
[Master: Mystic Shadow.]
[Lifespan: 16/249years.]
[Species: Dragonoid.]
[Profession: Tamer.]
[Spiritual energy: 15.]
[Body strength: 49.]
[Combat power: 64.]
-
-Other characteristics.
[Innate talent.]
1- [Shadow Necromancer.]
Skills:
-Arise(Active): Wakes corpses from their slumber. The higher the level of a corpse, the less chance the skill will work on it.
-Shadow blessing (passive): Your overall power will increase significantly by twofold once night falls.
2- [Spiritual body.] (Not yet awakened.)
'...Unfortunately, I have no reference to know if this information is reliable or not.'
After a moment of deliberation, Devon concluded.
'However, these points helped me to confirm something I was almost sure of. It's nice of you to indirectly call me 'weak'.' He wanted to expel a breath, but he didn't have the necessary organs for that.
The grimoire made it clear that Mystic's skill could not work on high-level corpses.
So what did his presence in this world mean, being awakened by a weak necromancer? Hence these words.
'Anyway, why is this book written in my language? Do I have a translator stuck in my head?'
Finally, he switches to the next page.
At this moment, his eyes tremble slightly, finally seeing something useful in the grimoire.
--Information--
[Soul beast: -- (Lvl01).]
[Lifespan: none.]
[Race: Undead skeleton]
[Class: none.]
[Spiritual energy: 50.]
[Body strength: 15.]
[Combat power: 65.]
--
Skills:
Energy blast (Lvl01): your soul beast can gather and reshape huge amounts (50) of the dark beam to create a dark energy blast that can steal others' lifespans to restore yours.
[Innate characteristics]
-Immortality: As long as the master is alive, her soul beast is eternal. After being killed, you can summon it again after twenty-four hours.
--
After such information, Devon didn't know what to think anymore.
From the beginning to now, everything he read seemed insane to him.
The girl he seemed to hate turned out to be more important to him than his own life. Not only would he die if she died, but he could no longer dream of freedom.
'Even my only skill serves as a buff for her. I can't die as long as she's alive, huh? In other words, I have to find common ground with her and help her become strong if I want to survive.'
He wanted to laugh out loud at this ridiculous reality that was becoming more and more unshakable in front of him.
'Is that luck? Or a fucking curse? Pfff, the answer is so obvious that this question seems ridiculous to me.' He thought as he looked up at the sky with an inward sigh.
Suddenly, as his mind began to sink into despair, Mystic's shaky and doubtful voice echoed near him.
"You, how…how did you do that?"
Looking ahead, Devon realized that Mystic had noticed his actions.
His ruby-red eyes were on hers, staring at her unsettled expression with disregard.
'She didn't seem to care about being naked in front of someone. Does she have exhibitionist tastes?'
Realizing that his hypothesis is very unlikely, he smiles inwardly with satire after hitting upon a pretty valid hypothesis.
Furthermore, firstly, Mystic didn't even consider him as a human fellow, let alone his gender.
'Who would care about being naked before a cat? That's probably what she thinks of me; I'm nothing more or less than a pet.
Anyway, look seems that the books they call grimoires are actually some kind of daycare for beasts.' Devon thought for a moment.
Ironically, he became one of those beasts who no longer had the right to demand anything.
How could one remain enthusiastic in such a situation?
Seeing Devon remain coy, she smiled, while her doubtful expression faded away.
"Can you please pass me my gown? I've to rinse it too." She then asked politely.
'...' Devon said nothing but picked up the dirty gown before throwing it towards her.
"?!?!" Mystic's eyes widen, showing her shock through'em.
"You...you really can understand me!?"