Whispers of A Dead Empire

Chapter 50

I landed on the ground silently and glanced around. The fog was still far too thick to see anything of importance, and I could barely even see the small structures that filled this area. I tried to listen, but the moans of the undead outside made it all the more challenging. With a quick shift of my attention, I looked back at the door and moved the thick piece of lumber that was blocking it.

I placed the wooden slab down softly, as not to alert anyone or anything and opened it for Gunther. He slid into the small stronghold as quietly as possible. The undead sounds were growing louder, as was the pounding of their hands against the wall. I closed the door behind us and propped the wooden slab against it once more. Usually, it was a bad idea to do this, but I would rather deal with whatever was inside here than the undead that was slowly gathering outside.

My eyes scanned the area checking everything out, trying to make out the shapes that were barely visible through the fog. But it was far thicker than almost anything I've experienced outside of this domain. Not even the swamp of Amora had fog that could become this thick. I stepped forward, moving towards the building closest to me. Hopefully, they were all interconnected, so we could move between them without leaving ourselves at a significant disadvantage.

We traveled over the sodden stone ground as quietly as possible, but we were no rouges, sadly. As we approached the structure, a wooden door became visible through the fog. I walked up to it and took the right side while Gunther took the left. I reached out the handle and pressed the lever down as slow as I could. It sank into position with a soft click, and my heart relaxed. I pushed the door open and activated my barrier skill, and moved into the room. I could feel my companion as he stepped in behind.

We stepped into a small living area, though it wasn't near as furbished as the cabin we stayed in. Everything here was dilapidated, and the stench of death was just as pungent as it was elsewhere. Couches were grey and flaking into pieces, and tables lay shattered. A few broken swords lay strewn across the room. A few arrows were embedded into the wall and various brown stains that looked like long dried blood.

"By the gods," Gunther muttered to himself as we searched the room. A few lanterns hung from the cealing, swinging from a chain that squealed with each rotation. The dying flames would flicker and constantly shift. The shadows reacted much like a dancer and constantly morphed and changed as the lantern continued its ceaseless swing.

"I agree, this place is very creepy," I muttered under my breath as I searched the first room. There really wasn't too much of value, other than a vial of black inky substance that sat on top of a desk. It was cold and heavy to the touch, and the liquid inside barely budged with all the movement. "Analyze." The system heard my command, and the name of the item appeared in my vision.

Lesser quality zombie blood

A vial of blood gathered from a low-level zombie. The blood hasn't been adequately separated and is full of contaminants. Perhaps an Alchemist may find some use out of it.

Ah, the perks of having a high analysis skill. I looked it over and nodded my head. Zombie blood was rare to find nowadays and even rarer to get a hold of some. With a deft movement, I slid the vial into my pocket and kept moving. If I can find a few more items like this, I would have a decent haul. We combed the first room for quite some time, picking apart everything. I kept a spare bag for stuff just like this. We could sell the metal off to a blacksmith for a profit or sell the blades to some poor adventurer.

Once everything was tucked away, we moved on to the next door, repeating our breaching process. I opened it up and stepped into another hallway that wasn't longer than about two-and-a-half meters. However, against the far door was a skeleton clad in some strange garment. It was as grey as the fog outside and had a strange alternating pattern stitched across its surface. The skeleton wore a pair of heavy black boots, and on its shoulder were two solid black lines that met in the middle, pointing upwards. Glimmeringly softly in the candlelight was a short sword with a very soft curve and placed gently against its chest.

It gazed at us with its eye cavities that held an almost impenetrable darkness. Without a second thought, I activated my analysis skill and quickly looked it over.

Asterian Warrant Officer I, Swordsman

Its name was green, which meant that it was a stronger version of the base mob. Gunther and I could deal with it, no problem. However, instead of engaging us, it observed us for a second longer before opening up the door and stepping through it. Shit, I couldn't let it get away! Gunther and I rushed towards the door, only for it to shut in our face. The sound of a heavy wooden slab falling into place followed shortly after.

"Fuck Gunther, help me get this door open! We can't let that skeleton escape." I brought my foot up and slammed it against the door. The hinges squealed as my foot slammed into it, and the wood creaked in response.

"On it." Gunther threw his shoulder into the door. Some dust fell from the ceiling in a small cloud, and the door gave a few more centimeters from the force in his blow. Just a few more hits. We took turns slamming into the door, and after a few more heavy hits, the wood splintered, and the door flung open and exploded into the room.

We rushed in and saw that the skeleton was nowhere to be seen. A staircase sat in the back of the room, which led further up into the structure. Without skipping a beat, we rushed through the room and up the stairs. The wood groaned in protest as it struggled to hold our weight as we dashed up to the next floor.

The next floor was set up more like a watchtower and looked out across the surrounding area. Sadly, however, the fog choked out our vision of the outside. Though it seemed like the fog couldn't breach inside of the building even if it was in more of an open setting. Across from us stood the skeleton, its hand on a large bell that hung from the ceiling. It chittered something out to us and attempted to ring it.

"Shit, we can't let him ring that bell." I coiled the strength in my legs and leaped forward. I didn't know what would happen if that skeleton rang that bell, and I didn't want to find out. I quickly drew my sword and aimed for the magical core that kept the skeleton together.

In a heartbeat, I crossed the room, my blade effortlessly passing through the clothing of the skeleton and plunging into it. However, instead of falling apart, the skeleton regarded me with its emotionless face before it swung its sword around.

I barely stepped away, only catching the tip of the sword across my cheek. A trail of fiery pain followed a split second later as I recoiled. Which gave the skeleton a chance to slam its foot into the bell. A single hollow sound rang out, which was incredibly loud and seemed to be laced with magical power. I took a few steps back as I tried to take in the situation. It was common knowledge that a magical core held together skeletons, and if we broke it, it would fall apart. Why wasn't this one? I readied my blade, and Gunther swung his staff around as we walked towards the skeleton.

The skeleton stepped forward and swung its sword out at me, and I side-stepped the blow, and Gunther jabbed his staff forward, catching the skeleton in its chest with a sickening crack. The skeleton chittered something out, brought his free hand around, pushed away from the staff, and swung its sword towards Gunther.

I stepped forward and slammed my pommel into its cheek, cracking the bone and leaving a small crater. It stepped back and looked between us for a moment before throwing itself out of the window. We both ran forward, trying to catch it, but we failed.

"What do you think, Gunther?" I asked as I tried to stare into the fog and find the skeleton. There was no way it could get that far. I wanted my experience of killing that thing, and most of all, I wanted to figure out why it didn't break when I attacked its core.

It was strange. I've never seen a skeleton act like that. The only thing that I understood was that it held an officer rank. We must be standing at a checkpoint, which also means that.." His words trailed off when an even heavier bell rang out in the distance. It was a deep, powerful sound, one that felt ominous and foreboding. As if it was telling us the world was about to come crashing down.

Whatever that bell meant, we didn't want to stick around and find out. However, just as we were about to leave, the fog slowly receded, revealing a few more buildings close by us. The most concerning part was that a small horde of undead surrounded the building we were in. Various zombies and skeletons, all clad in the same outfit that the officer was wearing but with different rank patches.

"Fuck me," I muttered as I looked at the small horde outside.