The Darkness In Your Mind

As I patiently guard the cave, the darkness envelops the forest. I look ahead to the closest tree where shadows gather and see the man that has been helping me until now through my dreams. The shadow man says "Long time no see friend, not sleeping anymore? That's not good for your body."

I respond to him.

"Stop with your dry jokes, undead don't sleep. So? Here just to say goodnight? Or do you have some other business with me? because I want to be alone for a while" I don't really want to drag these occurrences since only trouble and skills come out with this guy. Plus I don't know anything about his identity or why he is helping me.

But he has been generous enough to grant more strength then I ever could have imagined. He says "How harsh, but you are right. I don't have the leisure to make idle chit chat in the middle of the street. So let's get straight to the point that time is tight. I came here to unlock another of your skills. You will need this one more than anyone else."

My ears perk at the mention of a new skill. He continues "This is not something you can simply learn on your own, but you have aptitude to absorb my understanding so you won't need to practice it or level it up. Its already at its maximum efficiency. You will understand in a second." Just as his words ended a strong, headache hits me.

I writhe and claw at my bones as boundless information penetrates my memory. After many minutes that seemed hours, the pain fades and my new ability clearly shows on my head. Monster language. The ability to understand and communicate with any creature/monster as long it possess some degree of intelligence.

It sounds amazing forthright, but its not really a very useful skill in most cases. Yeah, you can talk with monster, but that doesn't mean that they will listen to you. Most monster follow the law of the law, and do the talk with their claws and teeth so merely talking does jack shit. He says "By your expression you don't truly understand the true worth of this skill."

He pauses for a moment then continues "It's not surprising that you wouldn't, the monster language was lost thousands of years ago. With this skill, you will be able to create mystic Runes that are the foundation and core of magic spells. Monsters don't learn spells, they learn runes to use their inherit skills. This is the reason why most monsters cast faster and stronger spells than humans."

if I had eyes they would be wide as hell right now with surprise. He says "Of course, you will need to be much stronger to create new spells and many magical resources, time, and monsters willing to teach you their skills will be required. Right now, your strength is like a drop in the pond of casting runes. So you need to train harder and travel a lot to gather more knowledge."

he continues "At least, your body is capable of using monster language. So you can freely talk with any species you wish, also another thing to note is that you could become something insanely powerful in the future if you so wished." I stare down at my boney hands and clench them into a fist. I lost many things the day I became like this.

But at the same time, fate gave me a new path to further my strength. I say " Can I teach this to anyone else?" curiosity getting the best of me. My goal was to become stronger, at any cost so that no one would trample over those around me ever again. with the strength I gain there are so many things I could do.

He responds "A demon Lord? Brine…you can become a god. If you learn low to harness the true power of runes, you will be capable of creating spells on your own. Cutting the moon in half, summoning the scorching sun or reviving the dead are not just fantasies! As long as you wish it and pay the price, there is nothing absurd. Well, I will take my leave. Do train hard."

After he left, I return to my post and reflect on what he said. Restless, I went to check the perimeter until morning came. About an hour after sunrise, I went ahead and woke up Lucy. I am not sure if her injuries are completely healed, but I do need to get the mask she promised me. Also, I need to start training her to protect herself.

If what the shadow man said is right, I need to head out and seek the wonders of this world. During that journey, I will face danger and I won't be able to always guard her. What's better, I would have someone to protect my back. Lucy is too young to know if she has any aptitude for magic, since I am pretty strong now now, I think rear support would be the best and safest position for her.

Thus I need to head out and search for a skilled marksmanship master and probably a short sword master. I have some basic dagger skills that Timmy taught be when we were younger, but that won't work against strong adversaries. She needs proper training if I want to take her with me. The woods have been calm for the past days.

So I will have her collect her own materials while I go out to scout a professional teacher. I say to her"Lucy, a little change of plans. I have errands to run right now. Do you think you can search for the ash wood and the other herbs by yourself?" Lucy nodded and started to ready herself to go out. I also say "If you encounter danger, run to the cave as fast as you can"

After that I told her roughly the place I saw ash wood and left for the middle district in town. I walked aimlessly around the military streets and all the big schools I could find. None of the teachers looked convincing for the kind of skills I seek. Dejected I went to the commercial district and bought some groceries for Lucy.

Just when it was my turn to but some dried meat, a leather gloved hand is placed on my shoulder. My bones cricked quietly but I don't get scared very easily anymore so I don't jump or anything. He says"Long time no see, Savior". I turn and see Will with his slanted smile. My skeleton body relaxed. I respond "My names Brine, not Savior, Will. It's embarrassing if you call me that"

He snickers mischievously and claps my back. He says "Don't mind it! You did save my life. So I must address you properly! Or would you rather have me call you 'Master', eh Brine?" He seems like a strange man but friendly at the same time, but that's fine. I respond "Suit yourself, next time I save someone I will ask them if they are annoyingly friendly before helping them."

He laughs heartily and takes my spot in the store. Later he buys a lot of meat and pushes it into my arms. He says to me jokingly "This is a little present for my friend. So, Brine, what brings you here?" I look around, but I can't find a reason to lie about my true intention. Instead I decide to ask him for advice, he could help me find someone.

I say "Well, I'm looking for an Archer and a Swords man to teach my…errr…daugh—My little sister. She is going to stay with me for a while so I want to teach her the b.a.r.e minimum skills to survive and how to help me before we start traveling the continent. Do you perhaps know someone trustworthy?"

He responds "Indeed, I know someone. Actually you are seeing him in the flesh and bone." I gaze around, but I don't see anyone who fits the criteria for 'master marksmanship'. He says "Hey, you hurt my feelings. I'm talking about myself. I am an Advanced adventurer despite my looks, the bandits were capable of taking me on because a bow is a long ranged weapon."

I hold in my laughter as He continues "There was no way I could beat so many with a simple dagger either. So here is your oh so great archery teacher, ready to teach without asking bothersome questions." I nod my head. Having Will teach Lucy would probably be the best option. I say "Compared to a normal adventurer how are your dagger skills?"

He responds "Well, I'd say around the peak of Intermediate level. I don't have many offense booster skills so I can't really say I could beat an Experienced adventurer in a straight fight with only daggers." I nod again. He doesn't seem to be bluffing so he must have real skills to asses his own strengths and weaknesses.

I say "Okay, how much do you want for the full course?" he told me that he will do it for free since he feels he hasn't paid me back enough yet for saving him. We return to the cave while chatting idly.

However, when we were about to reach the cave, I saw many red-eyed wolves surrounding the entrance.

The wolves look wary of entering the cave due to my undead scent that lingers in my home, but that won't last forever. Before, I can react, Will fires two arrows to the wolves closest to the entrance. However, the instincts of the wolves are sharp and the manage to dodge them without much effort.

These beasts are strong! However, now their attention is on us and not on Lucy thankfully.

Will notches another pair of arrows, but I stop him. These monster are far too agile and intelligent for us to beat unless I reveal my trump cards. Nevertheless, it's my perfect chance to try my new skill. I say "Will, I'm going to try something, be ready if the plan fails, but don't interfere unless I say it failed." Will nods and lowers his bow with the arrows still in place.

I yell at the wolves "Hey wolves, I would stop right there if I were you!" The wolf leader howls in contempt and takes a step closer to me. He says "Shut up human. We are about to dine with dainty female human. You look and smell weird. get lost before we eat you first. take it as a token of our benevolence."

This wolf is mocking me. I will show him who the boss here is. If Will wasn't here all these wolves would be dead in a matter of seconds, however I cant expose my strong powers in front of him so I just talk back. I say "Don't you dare act like that before me. Benevolence? Letting you live this long is what I would call mercy."

I pause for a minute then continue "I have killed an entire pack of wolves just like yours, and many of the wolves in it were bigger and stronger than you. Pack leader come closer and take a good sniff, you will feel the regret was over you for bothering me once you smell others soaked in my bones." Do you think you have the strength to mess with me? You should be swearing loyalty to me".

The wolf leader was taken aback. The wolf thought I was merely trying to attract their attention while will fired his arrows, but now he understood that the "creature" before him understood him. The pack leader inched closer to me and smelled not only the other red eyed wolves but also my thick aura of death emitted naturally by my undead nature.

The leader growls and decides that it's in their best interest to leave us alone, but he still wanted to confirm something before leaving. he says"Do you understand us?" I simply nod back. Satisfied, the leader backed up and readied himself. He was scared of me, but still he couldn't simply back down as the responsible one of his pack.

He says "We can't go back empty handed, our mates and cubs await". I Understand so I nod to the wolf and tell him to wait one minute while I grab something. I go and grab the dried meat Will bought for me. I pass it to him and say "Take it as a token of friendship between neighbors. Also, I will take care of not killing red eyed wolves in this forest as long they don't attack us."

There were at best ten pounds of meat in the sack, so it wasn't a great lose for me. He thanks me and says "Your a strange skeleton, feel free to visit us someday." mocks the wolf leader and makes a sign to retreat from the cave immediately. He howls that if I need assistance someday, I should look for him in the eastern part of the forest, walking straight left from the cave.

Wills stares at me surprised after the miraculous encounter with the wolves. IF it was anyone else, but Brine. The so called little sister would be wolf food by now. Will looks at my direction for an explanation. I shrug him off and say "Its just an secret art passed down my family for some hundred of years."

I pause for a minute and then continue "I have been training since I can remember as it isn't something easy to learn. I think I have been practicing for more than 15 years. I can teach you, you know. Give it two decades and a half and you will be speaking monster fluently." Satisfied with that answer, Will shakes his head and tells me we should go check on my sister.

Will and I then go inside the cave and check on Lucy who is coating my mask with some dye as if nothing happened outside. I say to her "hey, Lucy, you seem awfully calm, weren't you scared?" She responds with a smile "Hmm, not really, I know you will protect me so I don't really have anything to fear." she then comes up and gives the mask to me that she worked so hard to make.

The mask appears to be a black mask with what looks like drawings of purple mist around it and around the eyeholes I thank her and introduce her to Will, her new teacher. Lucy stares at me for a bit and then greets Will politely they then sit down and eat some food together, will asked me if I was going to eat but I simply said that I wasn't hungry.

After he finished eating Will comes up to me and says "Why are you guys living in this cave so far away from town?" I smile back at him underneath my cloak "think of it as a training camp for Lucy. It's easier to understand monster language where there are abundant monsters without awful high levels. Well, she takes it more like camping than training, though."

I pause for a minute then continue "I hope she takes your lessons seriously. She has had it rough after our parents died, so I'm doing my best to look out for her" Will nods and says. "Sounds complicated. I will do my best" After that, Will and Lucy went to sleep while I checked around the cave. Tommorow will is going to start training lucy in archery.