Bro, I’m not an Undead!

Yuyui yelped and hid behind Skullius subconsciously.

The Hybrid Luman was not fazed by the rage leaking from the guardian at all. Instead of backing away, he walked forward without any shift in his expression.

Yuyui grabbed onto his clothing and followed, keeping to her position of using her master as a shield.

As Bassbion appeared, her hatred and anger towards Skullius unveiled, Yagrina could also be seen, her broken stone body’s head turning to the two.

Unlike Bassbion, she didn’t show any ferocious expression but carefulness. Last time, when Skullius had taken away Yuyui she would have rushed up to attack him if she could but now things were different.

Because she hadn’t known what Skullius’ intentions with Yuyui were, and still didn’t know right now, the fact that he came back with her made her curious.

She needed to employ reasonability and patience to find out what exactly was going on since the full picture was largely unknown.

Unfortunately, Bassbion wasn’t about that.

“Give her back!” the guardian barked as she stomped her greaved foot, the chains on her armour clanking!

Skullius didn’t render a reply to her. Instead, he turned to Yagrina whom he knew to be less abrasive from their previous encounter.

Perhaps he could have a more relaxed discussion with her.

“You said that Yuyui was supposed to take some kind of test and she failed, right? Can you tell me what these eyes she was supposed to unlock do exactly?” Skullius asked.

After attaining his ability to speak and understand other individuals, he had asked Yuyui everything about what was said between her and the Spirits in the Temple of Unlusted Tears, thus his knowledge of this.

Yagrina and Bassbion were taken aback as they heard Skullius speak in a language they could understand, different from before. The communication barrier was cut down and they could hold a conversation.

This, to Yagrina was a relief and a bigger sign that she should be calm about this as now, she could understand the full picture and possibly help the host more. This was her intent.

It was also Bassbion’s intention but well…

“It’s good that we can communicate now. But before I answer that, would you mind telling us why and how you took away the host of our masters’ legacy?” Yagrina asked carefully.

Bassbion laid off a little of the heat and waited for Skullius’ response. She also wanted to know.

The Hybrid Luman produced a soft smile on his face as he sat down, forcing Yuyui to do so as well.

“I can answer that, but you won’t like my reply,” Skullius responded, much to the two guardian’s apprehension.

“In exchange for her freedom, Yuyui is bound to me. She is my servant for… the foreseeable future. Ah, nice words for formality,” Skullius chuckled at his own wording before continuing, “As for how… You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

…!

“Servant?!” Bassbion hissed as her power flared once again.

“Sister Bassbion, wait,” Yagrina said.

She too was quite shaken by this revelation but in all honesty, it wasn’t outlandish. Given how she had analysed the host’s nature to be, it wasn’t a surprise that she would sell herself for freedom.

She wasn’t the strong and determined type.

Yagrina even wagered that she didn’t come here back then for the legacy. She was merely, additional company.

“I see,” Yagrina said as she turned from Skullius to Yuyui. “Host, will you truly follow this man and serve him even if you are bound in some way? Are you able to live the rest of your life like this?”

Yuyui puckered her lips, her face turning sullen for moment.

Following someone…

That was the core theme of her life, wasn’t it?

Even coming here was because she had been asked to follow someone else.

Now, her life was devoted to someone else’s and she wasn’t surprised.

Yuyui faced Yagrina.

“I’m used to it. I’m not very good with finding my own path. So… I think I can do this. Besides.. Master does feed me,” Yuyui said with a subdued smile.

Though she said this however, she had one HUGE gripe about serving Skullius asides from the recent lack of food and it was unfortunately that she had been warned never to speak of it!

Ever!

“Yagrina, you are simply going to accept that the host of our masters’ legacy is under someone else?! A man to boot?! This goes against everything our masters believed!” Bassbion growled with ferocity painted on her face.

Yagrina didn’t say a word in reply.

She understood this too but…

“What would you have us do, Bassbion? Even in the event that we were able to kill this man and somehow break the binding he has on the host, then what? The host we have is not the one we… expected,” Yagrina said with solemnity.

“If she were detained here with us, it would benefit her nothing. We cannot teach her how to awaken the Diverse Eyes and we cannot leave this place until she attained at least three. She was unable to attain more than one eye after a century and frankly, I don’t think on her own, she is capable of doing that or keeping her own life.”

“…”

Bassbion was lost for words.

She hadn’t thought about it like this.

Of course she had exploded in rage at Yuyui before because of this but adding Yagrina’s thoughts on top made her cool off.

This was the reality of the matter.

Yuyui and Skullius heard this, the latter nodding as he understood the reasoning while the former shrunk.

It was painful to hear these words.

They were… true.

Yagrina looked into Yuyui’s eyes for a time before emitting a soft sigh from her stone lips.

“If the host is accepting of you and her circumstances then I…we have no say,” she said as she turned back to Skullius, “As for your question. The host is supposed to acquire twelve eyes that all grant different unique abilities. Each one was designed by our twelve masters purposefully to embody what they thought an ideal woman should be.”

“I see,” Skullius said with the nod of his head. “So this eye that Yuyui has now, the Inhumane Eye. Does it guarantee that she will never die?”

This was something that the Hybrid Luman had been thinking of for a while.

Immortality, was a strange concept.

According to what he had learned, Fulgardt who reached the level of Divinity, actually…died.

So how could Yuyui be immortal? What were the principles behind this power?

“She can die,” Yagrina said with a serious tone. “The Inhumane Eye preserves her life and everything she owns, but if the eye itself is harmed with energy from a high level source, she will die…permanently.”

Yuyui gulped.

So… she could ‘die die’ after all.

“I thought so,” Skullius said. This made a lot more sense. Hidden Classes weren’t divine or invincible after all, and he should know. “And the rest? You wouldn’t happen to know what they do or how to unlock them, would you?”

“Unfortunately no. I do not know what the rest do. That is for the host to know. All I do know is that each eye strengthens the host physically above the unique effects it gives. How to specifically acquire the eyes is also not for me to know.”

Skullius nodded.

It seemed there wouldn’t be many surprises with Yuyui.

Except perhaps her dying and reviving in the middle of the street, which was… undesirable.

Skullius was trying to make sure that he didn’t screw himself over in a large city.

“Good then. What else is in this Temple? I find it hard to believe that all that is here is dead bodies and a few unimportant rooms,” Skullius said.

There had to be more important stuff here.

Before Yagrina could answer this time, Bassbion was the one to rain on Skullius’ parade.

“You would love that, wouldn’t you? Sadly, only the host can reach the inner parts of the Temple that hold our masters’ treasures. And to do that, she has to awaken three of the Diverse Eyes. The test was THAT significant,” Bassbion said with a scoff.

It all went back to the fact that Yuyui hadn’t completed the test.

The lime haired girl shrunk once more, feeling disappointed in herself.

It seemed everyone held expectations of her that she didn’t have for herself.

It was pressuring.

“That’s alright. She will awaken them soon,” Skullius said as he grasped Yuyui’s head.

Yuyui was surprised.

She turned to look at Skullius with a look of incredulity.

Did he really mean that?

Yagrina and Bassbion were surprised by Skullius’ words, particularly Bassbion.

“Is that right? What makes you so sure?” the spirit asked with a frown.

Skullius smirked.

“You see, I’m a cursed man, burdened with misfortune. However, a certain flame told me that a part of me counters all that misery to redeem me sometimes. It’s rare for something I want to fall in my lap, but when it does…’ Skullius said with a grin, ‘…I make the most of it. Besides, I can’t have someone weaker than my Apostles who are working their pelvises off burdening me. Fashioning this thing into something worth keeping is inevitable.”

The thing in question was indeed Yuyui.

The lime haired woman’s eyes opened wide.

She felt a strange feeling.

A sharp throb sprang from her heart.

It was something she hadn’t heard or felt in a long time – a slice of faith without judgement… coming from the same person who had made her his slave.

In the past day and a half, Yuyui had yet to fully understand Skullius and the same was true for the Hybrid Luman as well.

But in this moment, putting aside Skullius’ responses to her whining for food, Yuyui felt that perhaps Skullius intended for Yuyui to be more than just a slave.

He had said it before but how could she have fully taken in all he said when she was just yearning for freedom.

Bassbion felt a semblance of guilty from what Skullius said. Now she looked like the bad guy instead of this vile man!

Skullius stood up with a sigh. He had attained the part of the answers he wanted from here.

So much for those material gains he was expecting though.

“If that’s all there is, then I’ll be leaving,” Skullius said.

“Wait,” Yagrina hurriedly stopped Skullius.

“What is it?” Skullius asked.

“I first sensed some time ago, but I feel that we are in a different space since you left. Where are we?”

“Oh. About that….” Skullius said casually, “…we’re in a small world of mine. Hmm. I guess I should finally give it a name.”

Yagrina and Bassbion were puzzled by what Skullius said but he didn’t shed more light, instead focusing on the name to give which came to him rather quickly, considering…

“Ah, symbolism is more important, I guess. Fortune works well,” Skullius said.

This world which he had won from a tough battle back then was certainly turning out to be a bright way forward, against the atrocious luck and misery.

It was fitting.