79 VILLAGE & MOUNT

Her first impression upon entering the village? Not good.

Actually, it started before they even got to the village.

Before making it out of the forest they had found a track frequented by the villagers for whatever reason, probably hunting. At the moment it seemed like a good idea to walk this track. With their appearances, the whole notion of being inconspicuous could be thrown out the window; no villager would forget figures like them unless she and Isaac were part of an eccentric troupe, like a circus. Still, she decided to enter the village via the trail to minimise excess hostility they were bound to get from the villagers.

A small community- like this village, which did not have more than ten buildings- was often home to the most suspicious and xenophobic people. The trick to handling such people was to appear as non-threatening as possible; which, obviously, was a no sell, considering her masked façade and the former Guard Captain's hulking armoured form. Even so, they could at least try to allay whatever fears these people would have towards them by entering through a regular path.

That train of thought turned out to be on a wishful track.

The first person they met on the path froze at the sight of them, eyebrows instinctively raised in alarm. The man wore simple clothes with a wooden bow and quiver tied on his back. Before she could open her mouth to address him, he did a one-eight and rushed back the way he came.

Seeing him run back to his village, Sage released a sigh before urging her newly acquired grumpy minion to follow; something he did with heavy footsteps. And Nyx, the damned familiar had returned to his original size and was perched on her shoulder. From time to time, he would give Isaac sideway glances, which made her believe he wanted to annoy the pale knight somehow; and would probably have done so if not for the fact that the cat seemed terrified of him.

At the end of the trail- or the beginning, depending on the outlook- they found the village silent. Although there were clear signs of recent activity, some of which she had heard before meeting the hunter, the street was deserted. Every door was shut, though movement behind the curtains was conspicuous. The people had gone into hiding.

She looked around and sighed. What a pain.

Although she was in possession of a Lethian map, it only displayed large features and large settlements. Settlements of these size probably numbered in the thousands and would be a massive pain to list down, not to mention most cartographers would probably think of them as insignificant; if they even knew of their existence.

Map-reading was not one of Sage's premier skills, so she had no clue of their exact location; which was why she had planned to ask around for directions.

When she had decided to cross the mountains, she had done so with a destination in mind; the capital city Io. The main reason she had come to this land was to learn more about physique improvement. Not that methods tailored to the living would be of any help to her, but they would give her directions on how to improve her own physique. Her aim was to make it to Lethia's largest city as soon as possible, acquire whatever knowledge she could and get the fuck out of North-Western Rekke. She was tired of being in the corner of a world that was so much bigger.

Sage would not describe herself as the adventurous sort but, with a whole new world at her fingertips, how could she not think about exploring? The region she was in only had one two Transcendents, a mage and a warrior. In other words, it was a backward corner of Rekke.

She wanted to visit the deserts of the south, a place teeming with various races of beastkin; she wanted tour the coastal cities of Amina which hosted mermaids in the spring; she hoped to enter the kingdom of Methos, where magic was held in the highest regard; she even wanted to rest her eyes- from a great distance- on the volcanic shitpile that was the Drakenburg Range, the nesting ground of Vestrava's lot.

However, she wanted to visit those places when she was a little stronger, when her physique had improved and she could rely on it to fend off opponents. That was why she wanted to get to the Io as soon as she could. If [Teleport] could take her to places she had never visited, she would have done it already. Alas, it was not so; she had to get there the traditional way.

These people, locking themselves up and refusing to talk to her, were delaying her.

She walked up to the door of the closest house and tapped three times, calling out as she did so.

"Hello? I'm lost and in need of directions. Might I ask you where the next town is?"

There was no response, even though she could hear shuffling behind the door. She tapped the door three times again, louder this time.

"Excuse me! I only want directions to the next town. Once I get them, I'll be on my way."

Again, no answer. Behind the thin curtains she saw a small silhouette shift about.

"Hello!" she called out again, knocking even harder.

This time there was a response.

"Go away!"

It was a masculine voice that called from behind the door. As much as Sage wanted to tear the door from its hinges and stare the jerk in his cowering face, which she could (this settlement's doors looked really fragile, who did they think they could keep out?), she chose to respect his choice and moved on. Taking slight from someone not wanting to talk to her would be stupid, especially when there were half a dozen other options in sight.

She walked away from the first house to the second and repeated her previous actions. She did it twice before the person behind this door chased her away.

For the third house it was the same… and the fourth… the fifth as well. Some of them did not even wait for her knuckles to touch their door before shouting her away. After the sixth house she realised she was wearing an ever-deepening frown.

What unpleasant bastards, she groaned internally.

Places like these that were so far and out of civilisation's influence were the kind of places she hated most. People in such places were so suspicious that one would have to perform a literal miracle to obtain a semblance of trust. She probably would have put in effort to do so if she planned on staying here for a while. However, considering the hospitality she had just received, the two or three hours she had originally planned on spending here were drastically minimised. She wanted out of this place as soon as possible.

When she got to the last door, she did not even offer a greeting after knocking.

"Is there a road here that leads to another town?" she asked. Although these people's actions caused the corners of her mouth to twitch, she kept her tone calm.

"Leave us alone!" came an aging female from behind the door. "We don't want no strangers here!"

Hearing this, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, released it and opened her eyes. "If you tell me the way to the next town I will gladly leave you alone."

For a full minute there was no response, likely the old woman was pondering something. After the minute of silence she replied, though with a reluctant tone.

"There is a road west of the village leading to Tima," the aged voice said. "It's a well-known farming settlement."

"Thank you," Sage replied with as much politeness as could be feigned.

However, her feline companion seemed to be as dissatisfied as her.

"Unmannered swine," he muttered, a little too loud. She did not admonish him.

Stepping away from the door, she looked at her undead minion. The man's glare was as intense as any he had offered her, compounded by a frown probably deeper than the one she was wearing. His hollow white cheeks made him look like a he had missed meals for months. The unnatural paleness of his skin, coupled with the fact that his eyes were completely black, might be a big factor why none of the villagers dared to open their doors with the two of them present.

She would be doing herself a favour in the long run if she could obtain a helm to cover his features.

"Let's go," she gestured to him, walking in the direction opposite to the sun.

The information given by the old woman was not so crucial that she would not have found the road without it, but it saved her minutes. Since the villagers wanted her gone, she had no reason to stay here. It was never her intention!

However, just before exiting the village's perimeter, movement on the side caught her attention. Turning in its direction, she found herself facing down a beast. It was brown with grey spots, with its head hovering above her and its back as high as her shoulders. The creature had a thinning mane the same colour as its spots and walked on skewed hooves. The full appearance of the beast of one that was old and sickly; it was probably not long for this world.

Horses were among the creatures on Aran Sage found the weirdest. Unlike other animals that could be found in her original world, these beasts were almost no different from their Earth counterparts. Although they possessed Grade 4 physiques, the creatures were largely harmless, which was why they were probably used the same way here. On the other hand, dogs were rare in Rekke because few people tried to tame a wolf; for a normal person, the end result would be as bad as trying to tame a lion on Earth, if not worse.

Seeing the horse diligently grazing on withered grass, she looked at Isaac before looking at it again. Then she raised her hand, pointed a finger at it and cast [Thunderbolt]. The beast went down without a struggle.

"Why did you do that?" her undead minion shouted. They were the first words he had uttered since falling into his depressive state. Now he looked lived, especially with those black eyes.

"I'm tired of walking," she answered. "So, I'm getting us a mount. Do your thing."

She had seen {Corrupt Armaments} and {Chill} in action; {Slain Minion} she was not hoping to see anytime soon, unless she was forced into battle; which left {Raise Steed}. With a horse in front of them, why not try? She was curious to see its effect.

The possessor of the ability did not share the sentiment.

"You fiend!" he shouted. "You killed these innocent people's horse for that?"

"Yes," she replied plainly.

The horse was there; why delay testing the ability? If these people were nicer, she would feel a little guilty while doing so. But, after the reception she had gotten; if she could tire, she would have a restless sleep afterwards.

"No!" the man shook his head strongly. "I will not do such a monstrous thing! I will not make an abomination of-"

"You can do it willingly," she interrupted him, "or I can make you do it."

There would be no other options.

The pale man glared deeply at her, probably thinking of all the ways he could dismantle her. She matched his glare with a fixed stare until he looked away, probably realising he would not win the argument. Then, with drooped shoulders, he sauntered to the fallen horse and knelt before it, gently stroking its mane before activating his ability.

The change that came over the beast was instant.

Like {Corrupt Armaments}, blackness spread from the pale undead's gauntleted hands to the horse, giving the beast a new, plain coat. Within seconds the formerly dead beast began flail its legs. To allow it enough space to stand, the former Guard Captain distanced himself from it. When the creature managed to support itself up, it became clear more than its colour had changed. No longer seeming ailing and old, it now appeared young and strong; its height even seemed to have increased a little. The horse now possessed glowing white eyes while exhaling a frosty breath.

Race: ??? (Undead Horse)

Physique: Grade 3

Mana: D (White)

Turning into an undead had improved the horse's physique and given it a much greater aptitude than it previously had. Looking at the creature, which now eyed her with a look similar to its new master, she tried to think up a name for its kind. This cold-breath spewing, white-eyed beast was clearly different from the red-eyed Nightmares ridden by sentient death knights; it deserved a different name. After thinking of the lore of her former world she decided to call it a Helherst, like the horse in Nordic mythology.

"Get on, help me up and let's go," she ordered her minion afterwards.

Since the villagers wanted them gone so badly, they might as well leave as fast as they could.