Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Such a magnificence laid itself before Skullius, its white hue and unnatural shape giving the Discount Human a vague sense of excitement.

No, it was not vague.

It was wild.

He couldn’t help but look forward to unravelling more about this peculiar thing that gave him a grand sense of adventure.

What else screamed adventure than such a turbulent crack in space that was currently breaking apart again and again with the sound akin to thick glasses shattering on the hard ground!

It was about to give out.

The description given by the system made Skullius pull his thoughts to decipher what it truly meant. With the narration he had heard from Elita, the matter of the Deities wasn’t all that hard to understand. They gave their bodies to create Aigas which was a fantastical thing to think about.

But… there seemed to be consequences to such an action or rather unwanted by-products that these Deities either couldn’t handle or simply left for the races they created to deal with.

Something would come out of this phenomenon known as a Cluster which was supposed to be dealt with by this world’s fighters.

This something seemed to be rather fearful and though Skullius saw the words ‘Low level’ on the title of the description, he didn’t dare underestimate whatever was inside.

He wasn’t aware of how exactly these Clusters were dealt with, but he wanted to know.

‘Looks like I won’t just be checking it out,’ Skullius thought with a smirk. His recent awakening of new skills and sorting his thoughts and powers had given him quite some confidence which he latched onto desperately.

Behind him, Red Rage and the man who had been pulling his belongings from Santhi appeared from the corner, the man coming to a halt 20 meters away from the Cluster while his face went pale._.

It wasn’t his first time seeing a Cluster but he felt a shiver whenever he saw it.

Common folk were common folk after all. Their minds and lives were not used to the pressure that came with mercenary work; fighting scary creatures, living without many conveniences and all.

The white energy that oozed out of the Cluster bewildered him to a horrendous degree and his first option when seeing Red Rage and Skullius casually walk up to the white crack despite the raging energies it emitted was to extend his hand and try to stop them.

“Wait…” he called softly but the two heard him, Skullius turning and walking to him as he had a lot he wanted to inquire from this native.

Once again, the man was forced to remember that he had been hopeful after he saw Skullius and Red Rage but now, he was already trying to dissuade them.

But wait!

Did these guys really want to deal with the Cluster or was he just being presumptuous?

“Hey, bro. Can you tell me about this Cluster thing?” Skullius asked as he gazed intently at the man with a barely veiled zeal.

Nope, he was right.

The man didn’t know whether to answer or not. He peeked at the surroundings and realised that he had really grown fond of this town. He didn’t want it to be destroyed if or when the Cluster ruptured.

His gaze fell back on the Discount Human and then to the Knight who was decked in a rather beautiful and sturdy looking armour.

“Do you really not know what a Cluster is Sir Knight? Also, who is this weird man you’re walking with? You should send him to safety,” the man said to Red Rage.

A vein popped on Skullius’ temple as he felt utterly insulted by what the skinny man before him said so boldly.

Yet, he let it slide.

As long as he got his answers. Besides, it was only after he asked his question that he realised that he was practically baiting the man into helping him and leading him to his death under UNCoddled.

He couldn’t afford to ask another question as that would be tempting his curse. After a few moments, Skullius was glad that this man didn’t give him any face.

Red Rage nodded to the man while waving his hand as if to dismiss Skullius’ presence.

The skinny understood the second gesture perfectly while he quite missed the first.

“Well, I’m sure you sir know about Clusters in general, but if you’re asking specifically about the situation with this one then I can tell you that it opened up two days ago. We waited for the Ideal Ark to appear after we made a request to Honing City but we’ve not gotten a response since.”

‘That’s information to work with I guess,’ Skullius thought. He wanted to know more about Clusters and their structures in general but instead of inquiring further, he chose to keep his silence and only respond to the man cautiously.

The man looked concernedly at the duo, seeing that Red Rage, the Knight, was without a party to help him.

Was he a Stray Knight?

Did he seriously want to clear this Cluster alone?

“Sir Knight, are you planning on entering alone? Even if it’s a low ranked Cluster, I’ve heard there are usually many monsters inside plus a very strong one.”

Skullius heard this detail as he then took it as an important piece.

‘So you enter this thing and fight monsters? That’s it? Interesting.’

CRACK!

An audible crack resounded, attracting the trio to another crack that extended from the Cluster as it reached into the world.

The skinny man shuddered.

There was no time.

He had to run!

He glanced at Skullius who merely turned with immense interest while no trace of fear was visible in his eyes and ran away. He had been about to offer another piece of advice to this ‘normal’ human who showed no urgency in a situation where he couldn’t defend himself.

‘He must have a death wish. Who am I to interfere?’ the man thought as he raced towards his belongings outside of the town.

Skullius looked to Red Rage after scrutinising the crack that had emerged.

“Well, bro. Shall we go in?” he asked.

Red Rage gave his master a thumbs up in affirmation.

It was time for action.

The two stepped forward and closed the distance.

Skullius felt a very irritating sensation to his core as he approached the Cluster, the bright white that assailed the crack having some effect on his flesh that disappeared as fast as it had appeared.

Unbeknownst to Skullius, the tattoo on his chest was constantly glowing in a golden hue to ward away what should have incinerated him upon contact.

He squinted his eyes as he and his Apostle stood inches away from the large crack that rose into the air.

“You go first,” Skullius said. He wouldn’t risk it when he was so weak at the moment.

Red Rage nodded determinedly and stepped forward.

The moment he touched the crack, his body vanished after a brief blinding flash.

Skullius immediately tried to reach out to his Apostle through their mental link only to receive scrambled feedback that told of the fact that the Pelvis Boar-Man was okay.

The Discount Human took a deep breath subconsciously and stepped into the crack, a flash of light devouring his existence as he was then taken into a different space!

As his eyes adjusted while his core took in the different conditions in this place, Skullius expected to see the figure of Red Rage waiting for him but…

“What the hell bro?!” Skullius was utterly shocked by the view as he even fell down upon seeing it, Red Rage who was beside him giving him a thumbs up that only brought seething rage to the Discount Human’s face!

“Don’t thumbs up to me, you socket hole! Don’t you see those?!” Skullius barked, pointing at the multitude of strange creatures that glared at the two angrily!

…….

(Author’s [email protected] Thank You Note)

Special Thanks to:

@Ty_Oliver

@Aecore

@Toba_0

@Serph 21

@Banana 1233

@TheGodofPups

Thanks for the support!