Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1097: How I Met Your Master



The question took Actuass by surprise.

While he was fading rapidly, heading towards his inevitable end, the six-armed creature he had designated as his executioner was more interested in languidly asking him such a question?

"I see. Of course you'd want to know," he scoffed and smirked.

"You apparently travelled here from another world and were reborn as a denizen of Aigas. How exactly did you come into contact with Somanda then? It should have happened after you had matured in your new body, right?" Vohnvolt asked.

Actuass dazedly stared into the sky.

"Yes," he said. "That's right."

Vohnvolt's socket flames narrowed.

"And?"

Actuass sighed.

He might as well indulge the creature. He lost nothing in doing so anyway.

"I've always been taught to be thorough. That's why I did my research on this world from a young age. I tried to learn things that most people seemed to be disinterested in. The thing I found particularly unusual was the fact that everyone seemed to think eighty millennia had passed since the Grand Wars, but that didn't make sense to me since such a lengthy period of time should have caused a lot of progress in technology and all in Aigas."

"Mundane research didn't work. Back then, I had a Mage Class. I was talented enough in Magecraft to gain access to higher institutes and their secrets. The stronger I got, the more I got to learn secrets that most people didn't know. You see, Mages are a very secretive bunch. They do a lot of fact finding, and if anything they discover has even the tiniest lick of significance, they keep it for themselves. When I earned enough repute, I was introduced to the large stores, collections of unusual treasures and remains from olden times. There were even maps detailing where to find some of the larger pieces of interest that couldn't be rooted away from where they were perked."

Actuass remembered those days.

Like him, some Mages also seemed to be suspicious about the timeline that everyone else knew.

Carbon-dating played a role.

Some of the things found around Feinheath, Opungale and the old seas weren't nearly as old as they should be.

Worse yet, some of them - treasures primarily - were even still active, meaning the resources used to make them hadn't reached their limit. Surely, their limits didn't cap at eighty freaking millennia.

A great of example of this was the tower in Harifrast, which Skullius and Sila had encountered, with the latter claiming that it was the last place he ever defended before Fulgardt's forces captured him and his men.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.366).

"I was more interested in maps pointing towards spots that weren't fully explored yet, either because they were too dangerous, or because they didn't hold anything worth the Mages' time. I spent my years exploring these spots, some at the very depths of the sea and some in areas I couldn't approach lightly because of fierce Cluster beasts... That was until I found the treasure SoSei. I'm sure you are well acquainted with it," Actuass said.

"Yeah," Vohnvolt said coldly.

He was acquainted with that treasure alright.

It was the green skeleton Actuass used against Revia back then, and it was also the same treasure that Somanda's consciousness spilled through and used to attack Skullius the very first time he encountered Somanda in the 'flesh' on Aigas.

"When I grew capable of conducting better research, I came to know that SoSei was left behind after Quintess' and Listafelle's departure, when the Rules of the world weakened. There were many undead invading those days, and many factions of them left behind bits of their tools, not just Somanda's brigade. I just happened to find SoSei first and the moment I handled it, Somanda spoke to me."

As it were, the necromancer groups that came before Actuass also received their powers this way.

Many Undeath related treasures, some with violent effects and some acting as bridges between living things on Aigas and undead abominations elsewhere, were scattered around Aigas and they fueled the greedy Undeath parties that ravaged many settlements for years.

"Let me guess. You didn't have any issues accepting Undeath powers as long as they helped you find your mother?" Vohnvolt said coarsely.

"Exactly," Actuass said without the slightest hint of hesitation. "In typical undead fashion, Somanda tried to coerce me, but I was willing to attain more power. My enthusiasm helped me get a few lessons on the soul from him. Liches are true masters of the soul, after all. Haha. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Somanda couldn't abuse the ability to project his consciousness through SoSei. This meant he wouldn't meddle in my affairs too much. If he did, well, SoSei was a treasure only slightly above Legendary grade. The more he used it, the more it lost its powers. It had a limit. I presume those powers were exhausted when he fought you that time."

Actuass now knew that the unusual young man he met in that cave, the man who had caused Somanda to hijack control of SoSei so suddenly, was the same creature he was faced with now.

It was truly mind-boggling how Direction and chance worked.

Vohnvolt scoffed.

'So that's how it is,' he thought.

The funny thing in all of this was, Actuass didn't know that the treasure SoSei was in Vohnvolt's possession!

It was one of the items Skullius handed over to him when they split so long ago.

Skullius had kept it after he bested Somanda's consciousness which had been hanging onto

the treasure.

"What is it that Somanda wanted you to do anyway?" Vohnvolt asked.

He saw Actuass' eyes droop. He was probably reaching his limit.

"Right. You don't know about Rich Worlds. Well, I doubt it really matters if I tell you. Those two that kin of yours and the other bearer - probably realized the answer lies in Edagon. That's why they headed in that direction as soon as we were all free. If you want to know so badly, you might want to chase after them," Actuass said with a dull chuckle.

Vohnvolt remembered Actuass saying something about this when they were still entangled with the Herald Jerthrax.

Rich Worlds.

Was that really why Aurolio and the Null Devil King had suddenly launched themselves

further North?

"I see..." Vohnvolt said and a porous ball of purple-gold appeared around his hand, a handle visible within it around which his fingers grabbed onto.

He raised the hand holding this odd shape.

"Any last words?" he said indignantly.

Actuass smiled.

"We'll probably meet again. Soon," he said with an unerving certainty.

Vohnvolt scoffed hatefully, and was about to sent a bolt of [Maximum Acumen] - the offensive form of [Neutral Maximum] - straight through Actuass' head when...

"Wait."

Serenity's voice came, and she manifested as an odd blue, human-shaped flame beside

Vohnvolt.

"What is it?" the amalgam asked.

"There is a better way," Serenity said. "You can utilize him for something better. Something

you will need after all this."

Vohnvolt was puzzled by this. What could she possibly mean?