Bro, I’m not an Undead!

Terese found no reaction from the two whom she had knowingly provoked, much to her disappointment.

She wore a funny frown as her lower lip made an upwards arc that caused the skin beneath it to get wrinkled up, her arms folding in annoyance.

Skullius chuckled inwardly.

‘This city will probably be dishing out socketholes for free. If it turns out that way, I won’t have to worry about people dying left and right,’ he thought.

The figure of Terese kept its childishly upset visage while glaring at Yuyui and Skullius begrudgingly. It was obvious from the girl’s appearance that she was related to Stylla – the uncanny resemblance they shared in their facial features barring the hair.

Unlike Stylla’s firey hair, Terese’s was ash blonde and tied into pigtails that accentuated her young age pretty well.

She donned a long blue dress that reached her knees, revealing her healthy limbs that spotted neither blemish nor bumps.

One could tell from a single glance that she was a spoiled brat.

Wishing to dispel the advent of an even worse atmosphere than the one he was coming from sinking in, Daggs hurriedly chipped in, whipping up some quick introductions.

“I present Lady Stylla’s younger sister, Lady Terese,” Daggs addressed with a bow to which Terese puffed up her flat chest.

Skullius nodded half respectfully while Yuyui awkwardly gave a clumsy curtsy, much to Terese’s displeasure.

Uncultured fools!

“I’m sure you have already guessed but this is Master Festos and his…uhmm.. associate. He will be representing the Family as per his agreement with Lady Stylla,” Daggs continued, pretending as if he wasn’t once again drowning in a stale atmosphere.

“Hmph!” Terese harrumphed with a sharp look in her light blue eyes, her high nose, which was raised naturally depicting how she already didn’t like Skullius.

A grown man’s first impression in front of a child was to entertain each sentence of what they said dammit!

“Festos, huh? That’s a weird name. And you? What’s your name?” Terese asked Yuyui after jabbing at the unresponsive Skullius.

“My name is Yuyui Yuyui Yuyui,” came the reply.

“What?”

“First name Yuyui, second name Yuyui, surname Yuyui,” Yuyui said proudly.

“…Right…” Terese gave a weirded out one worder.

Before any more words could be spoken…

“Lady Terese, is everyone here?” Daggs respectfully inquired.

​ “Hmm? No. Sister Stylla went out and Mister Silrat and that midget went to the Guilds Association,” Terese replied.

“I see,” Daggs said. “Allow me to take our guests inside.”

“Fine,” Terese said. “Carry on.”

The girl finally gave up on this interaction as she returned to her bench.

Daggs sighed and motioned for Skullius and Yuyui to follow him to the mansion.

A fresh atmosphere could be smelt and felt, with a cooling effect that promoted a sense of ease.

This line of compounds and mansions were the residences of Families that lorded over lands within this region built by the Capital Service as a gesture to promote the continuation of a good relationship.

The Governor oversaw the entire region as a whole but it was owned and controlled by the Families within it after all. The rights and rules he had over the land were divided between him and the Families to a reasonable degree, more of the micromanaging of intrinsic affairs largely being stripped from his grasp while the macro side was his own.

These mansions and lavishly big compounds that bordered on estates, were to distinguish the Families from everyone else while they were in the city in cases of events such as the Premium Age Royale where extended lodging was required.

Upon reaching the entrance to the mansion which was a four story building with a cross like design from an aerial view, the four guards at the entrance nodded in acknowledgement to Daggs, Skullius and Yuyui before one of them opened the double doors hiding the interior.

The three’s steps echoed in the quiet space that was spic and span, polished and shined floors, vases and chandeliers being what one would first see.

Large windows that invited the natural light in completed the beautiful aesthetic, making Yuyui marvel once more, the carpets and fancy furniture complementing everything in a classical manner.

“I will arrange for food and drink while you wait. Please take a seat,” Daggs said with a smile while his heart pounded.

Having to ensure that he picked his words well each time was such a challenging affair. Not as challenging as the prospect of dying for being nice though.

Skullius and Yuyui took their seats on lavishly comfortable couches, with the latter smiling intensely at the idea of food and drink from this expensive looking household.

What would it taste like?!

While Yuyui was occupied with these thoughts, the Hybrid Luman had begun dissecting what Terese had said, as it opened his mind to the idea that he wasn’t fed the full detail about his participation.

‘That girl said there’s someone else signed into this Family other than me, right? So multiple participants really can come from the same Family, huh?’ Skullius thought.

It seemed there was going to be endless comparisons between him and this other person if something wasn’t done about it.

Soon, two women dressed in maid outfits came with trays of food.

One was laid before Skullius on the table before him while another was placed before Yuyui.

The maids promptly left after bowing respectfully.

‘It feels weird to be treated like this,’ Skullius thought.

A bow?

If he told the version of himself that had just been imprisoned after an interrogation with Damilla that he was being bowed to and served food like this, that Skullius would probably call him a lying sockethole.

On both his and Yuyui’s plates were large succulent pieces of roasted meat smothered in a piping hot cream coloured stew. On the side was a small bowl with mashed potatoes that gave off a lovely aroma, much to Yuyui’s grin and Skullius’ indifference as he didn’t quite have the sense of smell yet.

He didn’t know why he couldn’t have everything all at once. He wasn’t a Discount Human anymore damn it!

Yuyui started drooling intensely, her body seemingly about to dive into the plate when Skullius grasped her shoulder.

“Behave. The food isn’t going anywhere…” he said while releasing a presence that caused Yuyui to shudder.

“Yes master,” she said as she grabbed a fork on the side and started eating.

Skullius didn’t have much experience with cutlery and as weird as it was, he was forced to copy how Yuyui used the fork to eat.

Eating while imprisoned and on the run was rather… inconvenient and didn’t support lessons on etiquette.

Skullius stabbed the meat on the plate and placed in his mouth, his teeth sinking into it.

…

“Hmm….”

The Hybrid Luman sank into his seat while emitting a hum of pleasure.

His eyes closed as he let the hot juices wash over his tongue, the favour contaminating the stale taste that was in his mouth before.

This was fleshing delicious!

Skullius almost felt the desire to apologise about looking down on flesh!

Who knew it was this divine in the mouth?!

Certainly not anyone from Deadmanland!

Yuyui at his side was already close to finishing the meat as well as the potatoes on the side. She enjoyed the taste but was more enthusiastic about filling her stomach.

“Master! Hmmm… hmgnh… this isf sfo goodm…hmmm…” Yuyui said as she stuffed her face, her words barely understandable.

She grabbed the large glass of cider at the side of her plate and chugged it down, Skullius following suit.

The Hybrid Luman savoured the taste.

Since he didn’t have any point of reference it was hard to compare but, his body reacted positively to this.

This was the life.

The two continued to eat, with Skullius almost calling the phrase “Penetrator who?!” in his mind, yet he soon tore himself out of the bliss.

He wasn’t a glutton and he didn’t even finish the food in his plate. Eating was just an activity to drive away the side effects his cosmetic body would punish him with in the name of acting… natural, after all.

‘Right… Since I’ve reached Genhuis City, I should probably get my objectives straight. Besides going for that Aptitude whatever with Silrat, I’ll need to register at the local Guild’s Association. Wait, is it needed since I have an identification already? I’ll have to ask,’ Skullius thought while the sounds of a fork hit a plate bore on his ear from the side.

He would have loved to get it done today but the sun was looking to jump over the horizon in an hour or two. It was probably not a good idea to wander without anyone who knew the city.

‘This time, I think it’s more efficient if I raid Clusters as the Penetrator. My Luman body has experienced enough growth for now and I’ve only ever needed it to hide from humans. Now I have a little more freedom. Level 4 shouldn’t be too far if I hunt several blue Clusters and above…’

His goal of levelling hard was about to come to fruition and he was looking forward to it. There were many things he was aiming for with his Penetrator mostly.

For one, besides the levelling, he wanted to get a blue core for this form and while he was at it, see if he could get an affinity with Spatial Lightning.

His Penetrator form was already proficient with Lightning… kind of, so maybe…

‘There’s nine days till [Bringer of All] comes off cooldown. The Premium Age Royale will have begun by then sadly…’ he thought. ‘On top of this, I have to meet a Mage who can teach me more about the core and possibly how to combine skills. ‘Radiance’ should be something I have access to without having to activate all those skills individually.’

Fortunately, Stylla had promised Skullius an opportunity to have some form of tutelage with a Mage and that was his solution, provided nothing went wrong.

The last agenda on Skullius’ list was the evolution of two particular skills of his that were nearly ready to experience the change.

[Elevated Mana Manipulation] and [Revenant Flames of Ecstasy].

The former was the one he was most interested in.

He could feel it.

Unlike with its basic and advanced form, this skill was about to experience a truly qualitative change!

He could only imagine what he would be able to do with it then.

As Skullius was in the middle of stacking his thoughts, the double doors to the mansion were opened and two familiar figures… two familiar mana signatures, registered in his Koten.

A man with crushed garnet coloured hair that reached his shoulders, satin grey eyes placed over an oval shaped face and an athletic build stepped in, followed by a short lady with blonde hair tied into a fish tail, her dark eyes that mismatched against her hair turning to the figures of Skullius and Yuyui ahead on the couches.

“Ah. Look who it is. Late, as expec—” Silrat who had worn a look of relief upon seeing Skullius, began when…

…!

Both he and Oliviana suddenly dashed back, their bodies burning with their respective Full Body Auras!

What… what was this monstrosity?!