Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Actuass paused without changing his posture as he sat, making him look like a stationary doll.

The question he had been asked was quite an intriguing one that probed at what exactly his goals were.

And one would be prompted to wonder what exactly the Green Neolists wanted.

As Actuass had stated, unlike the Evenfall, a cultist group that worshipped Boron in the Under and were extremely reverent towards his will and unseen visage, he and his Neolists were different.

There was no sense of respect or reverence between them and the one who gifted him this power.

The power of Undeath.

The inherent power of the Liches and Arch-Liches.

It was simply a transactional relationship and by now, it was no secret that what the undead wanted, particularly the Arch-Liches, was to raid worlds.

Yet, this was only Actuass’ primary mandate for fulfilling his end of the bargain. For to gain the power he had now, they had to be given from something that did not exist in this world.

His individual goals as the leader of the band of Necromancers was quite detached from simply allowing the undead to descend on Aigas.

One should not overthink these goals however, as they were not so much maniacal as they were eccentric.

“I’m the only person on this entire continent who understands the soul to a complete degree. Its composition, its taste, its feel. Having a complete appreciation of the soul is a prerequisite to mastering the very core of Undeath. To master breaking down these bundles of information just waiting to explode wildly, spreading their hold within a vessel is an intricate process. Slight derailments and mistakes can trigger undesirable effects after all.”

“What?” Revia said as she wore a look of annoyance. “This isn’t what I asked.”

“Indeed it is not, but it is what you need to hear.”

Revia couldn’t help but shake her head slightly with a disgruntled curve of her lip.

“In all truth, I first learned of how the soul was more complex than I had initially thought back when I was studying the basic Necromancer class that I received after devoting myself to Undeath. Above the soul’s immense information storage capacity, it also possesses the ability to replicate information that is not inherently its own. This extends even to blessings.”

Revia who had barely been paying attention suddenly perked up. She still wore an irritated frown but her willingness to listen further was all but hidden.

“Blessings?”

“Indeed. Blessings do not inhabit the soul but a fundamental part of the body, right, even if they have soul related abilities?”

“…That’s… true. So by replicating such information, especially such which has dwelled in the body for prolonged periods of time…”

“Are you trying to say… my soul can … replicate my blessings?” Revia finished off Actuass’ sentence. In meaning at least.

The masked man didn’t provide a simple reply, his amusement being pointed out by a muffled ‘hmmm.’

“Being my pawn for a short while doesn’t sound too bad now doesn’t it?”

“If this is true, you’re just grooming your own killer,” Revia said with a terrifying glint that flared in her eyes.

Actuass wasn’t fazed in the least however.

“Settle down now. If you do want to become my eventual killer, you better listen to the rest of what I have to say.”

The silver-haired woman was forced to quiet down and listen as the man she had tried to rattle with words wasn’t intimidated one bit.

“In my studies of the soul, learning of the emotions stored as buds within it, the limits they cradle and the potential they house, I stumbled upon the unique Advanced Class of Necromancy, the Profane Necromancer. This in turn led me to the current mastery of the Undeath concept I wield. Reverent Soul.”

…!

Revia immediately took in deep breath as a memory she thought she had digested and accepted, welled up and almost caused her to reel back.

During her fight with Actuass when the strange effect of his powers had more than doubled her strength, making her ridiculously more powerful than before, she had thought she was going to win.

Yet, the man had suddenly used a power than turned the tide of the battle in a heartbeat and on that day, she had heard its name.

Reverent Soul Undeath.

Hearing it now, she was brought to shudder but Actuass put her at ease.

“Relax. I don’t typically use that in normal situations. Under ideal circumstances I’d even use my Territory before my Undeath Concept. Its quite interesting if I do say so myself. Yet, I digress.”

“In my studies of the soul with my concept, I unravelled the many mysteries hidden within this piece of existence. First, as I stated, that souls did not house blessing. Second that a soul could lose its will and such a soul is a very powerful energy source, one so potent that it rivals a single, fully realised normal blessing.”

“As a matter of fact, this is the basis of my agreement with that individual that I mentioned earlier and it partly answers your previous question as to my motive. Hundreds of powerful experts gathered in one place for a death game while bound by Creed Seals. I’m sure you can dissect much of the rest…”

…!

Revia’s mind immediately came to a conclusion.

What?!

Did this man intend to….?!

“Indeed I do, as you have thought, but that’s not relevant now. I’m merely fulfilling the courtesy of answering your question.”

Revia calmed down only after a long stretch of time where she rendered another question, one that she hoped Actuass would answer adequately.

“What do you need me for? I’m not as useful as a …pawn, as you said. There are people more powerful than me out there. Why me specifically?”

“Hmmm… ” Actuass hummed as he then raised his hand and pointed up with his index finger.

From the tip of this limb, a greenish black flame came out in the form of a ring and started to expand in the air, as if burning away space itself.

As this continued, within the encirclement of flame, appeared a strange space vastly different from the contents of the room.

It was as if Actuass had opened a doorway to another space!

“Do you see anything besides the flames?”

…!

Revia looked pale as the look in her eyes seemed to show that she indeed could see the obscure glimpses at what was beyond the ring of green and black fire!

Strange bodies swirled and flashed past while others looked directly at her from the distance through this space that had been opened.

“…Yes… yes I can see… something else…”

“Good. Such a thing should be beyond someone who is at the Master Stage. The Incandescent Stage allows one to perceive spirits and souls very well but not any Stage below it. Yet, there are rare individuals who are able to acquire this power before then. Surprisingly, this ability CAN be hereditary or inherited under special circumstances but the conditions for such elude me.”

Revia looked at Actuass in disbelief.

Spirits and souls?

Souls she knew but spirits?

“For that I’ve designated you as an important piece. I’ve heard there is even a name for people with your abilities. Apparently they are called…”