Chapter 144 - 143: Traces

Chapter 144: Chapter 143: Traces

In the wilderness west of Rose Town, three figures ran through the sparse woodland.

The afternoon sun filtered through the leaves, casting dappled spots of light on the ground.

Hesia was using the [Communication Skill] to speak with Bruce in the distance.

After some testing, they’d found the magic’s effective range was about two kilometers. It worked well, but their communication style still needed some getting used to.

’How’s it going, Bruce? Do you smell any trace of that skeleton? Or the scent of any Demons nearby?’

A slightly panicked voice exploded in his mind.

"WOOF!"

Hesia rubbed the bridge of his nose and sent another message, exasperated. ’Why are you barking again? We’ve been practicing for almost the whole afternoon.’

"I’m still not used to suddenly hearing your voice," Bruce’s complaint was tinged with grievance. "Report! I haven’t found the bone man’s scent, but I do smell a familiar stink—one of those green-skinned shorties!"

’Great, I’m coming to find...’

Before he could finish, a graceful dark figure had appeared silently not far away.

Zoya was back, carrying a goblin whose eyes were rolled back in its head. Its tongue was lolling out; it was clearly unconscious.

’Come on back, Zoya already caught one,’ Hesia communicated to Bruce, then turned to the Elf maiden. "Good work."

[Affinity with Moon-eyed Elf Zoya Selene has increased. Decryption Points +3]

For the past few days, Zoya had been completing quests from the Adventurer Guild on her own, saying she wanted to save up to buy something.

But when she ran into Hesia as he was heading out at noon, she learned of his "skeleton search plan" and changed her mind about going to the Guild, excitedly tagging along instead.

Hesia’s plan was simple: since the last skeleton had behaved abnormally and disappeared from the west gate, he would create another skeleton in the same area to see if he could replicate the situation.

Of course, there were no ready-made skeletons this time, so he had to make do with local materials, using a goblin as the test subject.

At the same time, to test Fevik’s theory that he might possess a Necromancy Talent, Hesia first used his [Assessment Skill] to check the unfortunate goblin’s level.

’Level 5.’

Bruce spat a stream of fire, quickly burning away the goblin’s flesh and blood.

Hesia raised his Magic Wand and cast [Reanimated Corpse].

An eerie green energy flowed into the charred skeleton. Soon, two points of ghostly fire ignited within its empty eye sockets, and a short Goblin Skeleton shakily got to its feet.

He used [Assessment Skill] again.

’Level 8!’

’Is the three-level difference in Attributes due to the Magic Power I imbued it with?’

’My teacher said that a creature’s Attributes are supposed to decrease when it becomes an Undead Creature.’

’The Caster imparts some additional effects, but they’re usually negligible.’

’So normally, the level should have gone down.’

Hesia had previously considered if it might be the effect of that abnormal status.

But clearly, this skeleton hadn’t entered that state yet.

’Could it be...’

’Do I really have a talent for the Necromancy School?’

After giving it a command to stay put, Hesia stepped aside and began to observe.

Time ticked by, second by second, but the Goblin Skeleton just stood there motionless, showing no signs of anything unusual.

Hesia wasn’t in a hurry.

He had chosen to head out at noon not only so he could sleep in, but also because he was prepared to wait until nightfall to see if anything changed.

With a Caster who knew Flame Magic in the group, starting a fire became much more convenient.

After piling up some dry branches,

Bruce spat out a small ball of fire.

The group gathered around the freshly lit campfire and heated up the meat pies Lady Cassandra had prepared.

After finishing dinner, they saw the skeleton still hadn’t changed.

So, Hesia started practicing the [Magic Missile] he had just learned, aiming at the dead leaves on a nearby tree.

On the other side, Zoya was also practicing her own Combat Skills.

Of course, a certain dog had also found a spot to half-heartedly practice its fire-breathing technique, with flames occasionally shooting out of its rear end.

An unknown amount of time passed.

[Magic Missile Proficiency +1 (4/10)]

The notification had just appeared in his mind when Bruce’s shout came through: ’Hesia! That shorty skeleton is moving!’

Hesia immediately stopped his Spellcasting and stared.

The Goblin Skeleton, which had been standing motionless, was now facing south.

"CREAK—"

Accompanied by the harsh grating of bone on bone, it took off, breaking into a swift run.

At Hesia’s gesture, man and dog followed closely behind the frantically running skeleton.

The Goblin Skeleton’s speed was just as astonishingly fast; it almost seemed to be gliding over the grass.

Hesia had a nagging feeling that something was wrong.

’A level 8 skeleton shouldn’t be able to run this fast.’

He cast [Assessment Skill] again.

"It’s level 14 now??"

’So that means the skeleton the brandy-nosed man became the night before last was not only influenced by my imbued Magic Power, but this abnormal status also gave it a powerful Attribute bonus.’

’No wonder it could run so fast.’

Curiosity spurred Hesia to speed up and keep pace.

Although the skeleton was fast, keeping up with it wasn’t a problem in this open area, thanks to the buff from [Wild Charge].

After a chase of over ten kilometers, the outlines of houses appeared on the horizon.

’Are people still living in a place like this?’

However, as Hesia got closer, he discovered that the roofs of these houses had mostly collapsed, and their walls were covered in vines, looking grim and dilapidated under the moonlight.

It seemed to be an abandoned village.

’Or maybe a town?’

’It looks pretty large.’

...

The surroundings were dead silent.

All he could hear was the "WHOOSH" of the wind and the "CLACK, CLACK" of the skeleton running in the distance.

But the "clacking" sound was growing fainter.

Collapsed beams and overgrown thorns hindered Hesia’s steps, causing the distance between him and the skeleton to grow.

’Bruce, stay on it.’

"WOOF!"

Receiving Hesia’s message, Bruce stuck close to the skeleton ahead.

The skeleton seemed extremely familiar with the environment here, weaving through the collapsed beams and overgrown thorns without pause.

About ten minutes later, Bruce’s voice came through.

’Hesia, it ran into a big house.’

’A big house?’

’It looks a bit like that big house outside Print.’

Hesia immediately realized Bruce was talking about the manor belonging to Cyril’s family.

A manor plus Undead... no matter how he thought about it, something felt wrong.

’Don’t follow it inside yet. Let’s regroup first.’

"WOOF!"

Hesia chased after them in the direction they had disappeared.

...

As the surrounding houses grew sparser, Hesia realized he had crossed the entire abandoned village/town and reached its other edge.

Not far away, the silhouette of a two-story manor was visible in the moonlight.

While not particularly tall, the main building spread out horizontally, making it look low but wide.

The surrounding stone walls had mostly crumbled, with huge cracks like ugly scars running along their long, dilapidated lengths.