I Became A Zompirewolf

"That name... how do you know it!?" Ursa hissed.

Ursa... that was a name she hadn't used or heard in a long time. No one should have known about her since so many years had passed. Yet the strange man in front of her knew it? How could it be possible?

Ursa was sure her former queen must have erased her existence as she had said she would before exiling her. After all, the 'gods' wouldn't want their reputation to be tarnished by a 'whore'. Either way, even if she did say something, no one would have believed her words against the queen's.

That aside, how could Ursa be alive thousands of years? The answer was simpler than someone would have expected. When the queen banished her, she wanted Ursa to live a gruelling life such that the pain would force her to forget about Zorbak.

In order to do so, the queen added an additional effect to Ursa's generic shape-shifting skill. Thus making it a unique skill. Whenever she changed her form into a new being, she would gain the average lifespan of the creature she would transform into.

Then, the queen made sure to fill Ursa's domain with thousands of unique creatures. While unleashing predators on her at the same time. In other words, Ursa was forced to change her forms frequently to ensure her survival. Had it not been for that, she would have perished a long time ago.

"Would you prefer to be called by your maiden name instead?" Ashton's words pulled Ursa out of her trance, "Never mind that I don't give a crap what you want to call yourself. I'm the one asking questions here, not you."

"You're a Xyran, aren't you?"

The resentment Ashton saw in her eyes as she mentioned the Xyrans, was even more than his hate. However, it wasn't a surprise considering she had been tormented for years by them. Her life was destroyed and when she tried to take revenge, she was pushed into an even deeper hell hole.

"I am not. But I am someone who hates them with a passion. More on a platonic level though... unlike you." Ashton answered out of sympathy, "That's the reason I am here. I want to get stronger so that I can give them a dose of helplessness, just like they had so graciously offered to the lower civilizations. So please, answer me, where is the apple tree of misfortunes?"

Ursa did not answer him but kept staring into Ashton's eyes. It almost felt as if she wanted to make sure that she could trust the man before telling him anything. Ashton didn't say a word. He was already aware of what Ursa wanted to do. After being betrayed so many times, anyone would have a tough time trusting someone else again.

"It's... inside the lake. At the bottom, there is a cave. The apple tree is inside it." Ursa pointed back at the lake, "But you won't be able to destroy it. I have tried countless times and failed."

"You failed huh? Would you mind telling me the reason?"

Ursa took a deep breath before responding, "You must have encountered the undead while you were on your way here, correct?"

Ashton nodded and she continued, "The apples on the tree are the source of all corruption. The undead are also its creation. The fruits of the tree are shrouded by a strange aura. Anyone who gets close to it is consumed by a seemingly endless hunger. No matter what you eat, only those apples would be able to satiate their hunger."

"However, the apples are cursed. Once consumed, they would show their true colours by turning the ones who ate them, into a bunch of undead. The weaker ones were thrown out of the cave, the ones you encountered were the weaker ones. While those deemed strong were allowed to stay inside the cave and eat more, getting even stronger in the process."

Ashton kept nodding as Ursa narrated the tale. An apple tree that made the undead even stronger. What was something like that doing on Euphoria? The tree should have been in his garden back in the Eastern Palace.

[Oi, you're really not going to do that, are you?]

'Hm... I'm still thinking about it. If I could somehow manage to 'tame' the tree then it would be beneficial for the summons.'

[And if you failed, you might as well be raising an unstoppable army of undead that would consume earth in its entirety.]

'Since when did you begin giving a fuck about the earth?'

[Do whatever you want, I was simply warning you about the possibilities.]

'I know. Either way, I have to destroy the tree to clear the trial. Replanting it ain't gonna work... probably.'

While the two of them were having a discussion, Ashton could see Ursa fidgeting. She clearly wanted to ask something else, and since she had helped him so much, Ashton decided to entertain her request. That is if it wasn't completely absurd.

"Go ahead, say what you want to before I head inside the lake."

"You didn't tell me... how did you know who I was?"

Ashton shook his head. He was expecting her to say something along the lines of, 'I would like to help' or 'Take revenge' or some shit. But to think she was still stuck on how Ashton figured out her identity was quite... childish.

"I know your story. In a way, the lust of a man, caused you to lose everything. It only made sense if you used the same to make the others lose everything as well, that is, their lives." Ashton stated matter-of-factly, "When I realised a siren was attacking me, I thought it had to you and your reaction gave your identity away."

[Yeah, that's exactly what happened. I totally did not use something called a Detection skill to simply know who you were.]

'Yeah, good luck explaining all that to her after I said I wasn't related to the Xyrans.'

[Just saying...]

"You are a smart person... Unlike me." Ursa replied after listening to Ashton's monologue.

[Smart person? Eh? How dumb do you have to be to call someone like him smart?]

'Being a Xyran should suffice. Either way, I have a question to ask...' Ashton thought before turning towards Ursa, "If the apples are so dangerous, then how come you survived after attempting to destroy the tree? The apples should have converted you into an undead as well, right?"

Ursa sincerely replied. The apple did consume her, but since she had an innumerable amount of forms she could have changed into, the apples could only kill one of her forms at a time. The shock of death helped her regain her senses and she managed to narrowly escape every time.

"But it came at a price... I lost a lot of my precious forms. Since they 'died' inside the cave, I couldn't use them again." She looked at Ashton with pleading eyes, "That's why I'm saying... you would not be able to destroy the tree."

"Watch me."