The cave was like the open jaw of some dead beast. It couldn’t qualify as a ‘cave’ perhaps, but it was enough for Suna to summon his Emberwind and provide warmth to everyone, including both Undead. Yes, the Undeads.

  Now, without his Spirit Rabbit Cloak, he felt vulnerable. The cold had begun invading his body, creeping in and sending a sting of winter through him. That cloak did a lot for him. After wearing it for only an hour, he had already taken it for granted.

  At the moment, the Undead [Truth Maiden] and [Berserker] were sharing it. The [Berserker] had kept resisting the whole way, and it was a struggle to carry him here. If not for the three available bodies, it would have been impossible, and they had to tie the Spirit Rabbit Cloak around him to keep him from bleeding out.

  Jack offered the Mage Cloak Suna had given to him, insisting that he wear it.

  “No,” Suna said, and wow, he could see his breath turn into a cold vapor. “The Emberwind kept me warmer than you guys.”

  The amber shimmer of the spell arrow lit the small space they had, bathing all four in orange light. A stark color compared to the blizzard outside.

  There was something off about the Rabbit Cloak.

  The [Truth Maiden] and [Berserker] did not heal along well, at least not compared to the Spirit Rabbit Cloak's usual healing rate. Suna could sense if a healing had taken place through it. Perhaps it was a bond of some sort.

  “Excuse me,” he said as he reached up to touch the hem of the cloak just by the [Truth Maiden]’s shoulder.

  And there it was, a pang of wrongness.

  “The healing lessened because both of you share it. It will be more effective if one of you wears it alone first.”

  “Oh! Okay!” the [Truth Maiden] said, tensing up. She still appeared afraid of Suna and Jack, and he did feel bad about threatening her, but it is what it is. She was an Undead under the [Necromancer], after all. “Nathan, you should wear it first.”

  They have a name?

  Right. Of course they did.

  The [Berserker] shook his head. He had finally given in to some form of resistance against the [Necromancer]. The first step to their resistance was the Undead Sisters’ fading power, which somehow made the [Necromancer] weaker.

  It could be that it was not exactly the [Necromancer] who had been made weaker, but the system that held this tutorial, maybe.

  And the second step to their resistance was realizing that they could resist now. It was resonance, acting all over again. But still, they might still be an Integrator, though that would mean they had already failed the first stage and should have lost the Blessing of Resonance. Yet, they were still able to resist the [Necromancer]’s influence.

  Maybe the hold the [Necromancer] had over his Undead was much weaker than Suna thought. And now, with the Undead Sisters gone, the option to fight him was starting to shine like gold at the bottom of the ocean. But he was aware it was not necessary, still.

  “No, Wendy. The moss was already healing my wound. I will be fine—just need a bit of sleep, yeah?” the Undead [Berserker] said.

  “But…”

  “Come on, lass,” he said to Wendy, and she hung her head down, accepting the cloak as he put it around her.

  It was like watching a father chiding his daughter.

  The [Berserker] must’ve been an older man. Suna could spot a wrinkle on his face that was not from skin creeping but from normal aging.

  “Fine, but if it was still hurting, then do tell me,” Wendy said, letting out a defeated sigh. This did not seem to be the first time they had a moment like this.

  “That moss,” Suna said, pointing at the green blob of paste they called moss. Wendy had spread it on the [Berserker]’s wound, and he had gotten better quite fast. The man was so damn tough, taking Emberwind and Jack’s shadow spear through his body and still surviving.

  And perhaps what was most concerning was that the moss had just connected his puckering body together.

  “What is it? Can I use it?”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea, my friend,” Jack commented, his eyes disgusted at the [Berserker]’s skin as it moved to tie his wound together like glue.

  “It's made for Undead,” Wendy said. “But it's only effective for those who have become Undead for a long time.”

  “Speaking of that,” Suna said, looking at Wendy. “Why is your skin not puckering like his is?”

  “I haven’t been one for long,”

  “Well? How long have you been one? Both of you.”

  “I—I don’t know,” Wendy said, shaking her head slowly. “I really don’t. Before meeting you all, it was a struggle to hold consciousness; my body felt like it was on autopilot while my mind just clung to it. The only thing keeping me from fading was the quest the system gave.”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  A quest?

  “To break free of the [Necromancer]’s hold and go through the gateway. If I do that, I can still complete the tutorial.”

  This meant they still had the Blessing of Resonance. It explained how they broke through the Undead control. Was the [Necromancer] aware of this? Maybe this was why he refused to send them up. Delia had said the System gave him a strong will to remain below. What if his power was anchored to the depths, unable to reach the Tiefling’s nest?

  “Not that the damn system gave any help to break through, My Lor— the [Necromancer]’s control,” Nathan said.

  “Do I know you?” Jack asked, mumbling the question mostly to himself. “Tell me—do you know which Thiefmasters were alive during your time?”

  He hesitated. “I believe his name was u—”

  “Wait, actually… we can go through that later,” Jack said, cutting him off. “The Thiefmasters, the humans, the Tieflings—what’s happening to them?” The [Spearbearer] lurched forward, his yellow eye inches from the [Berserker].

  Nathan seemed taken aback. He would have skittered back if he could, but the cramped space didn’t allow it.

  “Please understand,” Suna added. “One of the Thiefmaster is his wife.”

  “Wife?” Nathan repeated. The word hung on the Unde—no, on the man’s lips. “They’re still alive,” he said eagerly. “They’re fighting, raiding villages, splitting into small units.”

  Wendy continued, “And the humans especially, they’re a pain in the Undead [King]’s ass.” She straightened, an eager glint in her eyes. “We’ll join them, right? Past the castle and into the gateway!”

  “Hold on…”

  “What?” Wendy’s face fell, fear tightening her expression. “We will, right?” she whispered. “Look, I think I’m getting better. This cloak is undoing the transformation the [Necromancer] did! Our prompt marks us as Undead, but the number… mine was 350%, and now it’s 320%. That’s never happened before. Since I wore the cloak alone, it drops every second. I’ll be fine—and Nathan will too!”

  “Yes, I will, I swear. My percentage was 935%, it's down to 925%. After Wendy completely recovers, I will—”

  “We will meet up with them, of course,” Suna said, a bit too loudly perhaps. But he wanted them to know that he would help and chase away any thought of him leaving them.

  And it worked. Both Wendy and Nathan released a deep breath. The tension in their body was fading.

  “Can you calmly tell me about this place, the Undead power, the hierarchy, and what the Humans and Tieflings did when they arrived?”

  Wendy and Nathan shared a look. Nathan nodded at her, appointing Wendy as the main storyteller.

  “So, since you had a class upgrade, I assume you know the key is acting and resonance?”

  Suna nodded.

  “The [Necromancer], taking it to the next level here. He built a kingdom.”

  “Kingdom?”

  “Yes—a full kingdom, with King and Queen, Prince, even holding a tournament to make a champion, and he also had the king to anoint knights, and men-at-arms.”

  Interesting.

  Indeed, doing so would make for strong acting—but at that point it became more reality than acting. Still, Suna knew the creatures created by the System had the Blessing of the Limitless Rune. The Thiefmasters proved that; they grew powerful by consuming runes. But what about the Blessing of Resonance? Did they have that too? Jack and Floundea managed class upgrades, but the two of them were special cases among Tieflings, maybe one in a thousand.

  If. If they do not have Blessing of Resonance, then the best way to create these classes would be…

  “For special classes such as [Undead King], [Undead Queen], or [Undead Champion], those classes are held by Integrators who have actually died.”

  That would complicate things indeed. Who knows how strong these Undead are by now? Maybe even more than the Drow [Seeker].

  “They truly died, unlike me and Nathan. We’ve been kept alive because our classes are special, and the [Necromancer] wanted us under him. But he didn’t want to waste a huge amount of Mana on us. It’s more economical for him to kill a weak Integrator and increase their power through the acting area created for them. Not to mention the Experience he can funnel into them by creating weak undead.”

  Things were starting to make a bit of sense. This must have been one of the reasons the [Necromancer] sometimes let a powerful Integrator go. Delia had been truthful when she said there was no point in keeping them, especially if they were a major threat.

  Maybe Nathan and Wendy weren’t strong enough to be considered a real threat, but they were still unique enough that the [Necromancer] chose to turn them into these pseudo-Undead.

  “So, do you think they could retain their consciousness somehow? Like both of you?”

  “I don’t think so, lad.” Nathan shook his head. “They, especially the king, are… truly dead. Maybe that doesn’t make sense, but the way he walked. And of course this extends to the others too.”

  “It must be hard,” Jack said, his voice echoing through their small shelter. It wasn’t a question—it was a statement. “For both of you, brave warriors.”

  Tears welled in Nathan’s eyes, and he began to cry, covering his face with one hand. Wendy sniffled as well, pulling the Rabbit Spirit Cloak close and wiping her nose on it.

  Suna opened his mouth, wanting to tell her to stop.

  That cloak was a Legendary cloak! Now it felt a lot less legendary after being used as a tissue…

  He forced himself to stay quiet. Being an introvert and anime addict for most of his life was no excuse to be insensitive. He took a breath instead; this wasn’t a real problem. He could be understanding.

  “Yes, but thanks to you two…” Nathan stuttered. “Thank you…’

  Jack tapped Wendy and Nathan on the shoulders, then pulled them into a small hug.

  “So, can I assume the whole reason the [Necromancer] simulates a kingdom is for the purpose of birthing special classes?” Suna asked.

  “Yes,” Wendy said through her tears, still sniffling and wiping her nose on the Legendary cloak.

  Suna’s mouth twitched, but he held his tongue. He had always been a clean freak, but this was a special occasion.

  He hoped the Rabbit Spirit Cloak has some automatic cleaning ability.

  “Why doesn’t he do more? Like a ritual for godhood, maybe?”

  “Oh, he did, there was an altar, and some undead forced to worship there.”

  “Did it work?” Suna gulped.

  “At first no”

  At first?

  “I don’t know why, but I can guess. The Undead don’t really have consciousness, so worship wouldn’t matter. The king, queen, and champions function because those roles are formally assigned. But to become a god, you need followers, right? So some of us—pseudo-Undead—were made to worship instead. Our minds were hazy, but I could barely feel my awareness. The [Necromancer] did it on purpose so he could manipulate us into believing there was a real god. I think that’s also why this happened—why we can control our minds now that this place’s hold has weakened since the Undead Sisters’ power vanished.”

  “How many?” Suna asked, now considering negotiation might be the better path. There was also the fact that a wandering Undead in these depths had already reached the second stage of Drowfication. “How many… gods are there?”

  “He wasn’t a literal god. Technically, the experiment failed, but a powerful Undead was still created. Thankfully, there’s only one. He used to be human—now he’s called the [Undead Godknight], Level 70.”

  70? That's the same level as…

  “The [GodKnight]’s level couldn’t rise any further, since no Undead are allowed to surpass the [Necromancer]’s level.”