Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires

Zaroth couldn't quite say he understood them, but from time to time, there was a faint sense… a feeling. Not one he could explain if asked, but instinctively, he felt he knew how certain lines were going to move.

The way they acted still lacked logic in his eyes: runes that defied order, lawless… yet somehow, they now carried a hint of familiarity.

'Looks like the naked elf really did stir something in me with her power,' he mused. 'I wonder how long it would take to reach a high enough level to grasp what this thing in the sky is?'

He lay still, his eyes locked on the sky.

Then, his gaze snapped to a strange cloud overhead.

"What does this rune do?" he asked. The idea of learning it no longer felt far-fetched. Sure, it might come with a cost, side effects, wasted time, but first, he had to know if it was even worth learning.

Black and white colors swirled in the entity's body yet it remained silent which was unusual. Zaroth had grown accustomed to asking questions and receiving broken, distorted answers.

'Could this thing be thinking?' he wondered.

The seconds stirred into minutes, the Beast Master had long gone back to staring at the sky, assumed that the cloud wasn't going to answer him, until—

"Anchor."

His ears flared up as his gaze moved to the cloud, half surprised it had answered, and half relieved it wasn't some kind of corrupt message—just a single word.

"Anchor… to what?"

Sadly it seemed that he wouldn't be getting any more answers as the next moment he was rudely awakened,

Opening his eyes, blinking, he saw Ari staring down at him, her clothes disheveled, her left shoulder bare. Her eyes were still dreamy, and her lips curled into a smug smirk.

Realizing what was happening, he snapped, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Payback for yesterday!" she retorted.

'What, so just because I woke her up rudely she's holding a grudge?' he thought, glaring at Eldros.

"Man, why did you let her do this?"

The Unholy Judger moved its body as if gazing at him, then he shrugged his shoulders, "Don't bother me with your harem stuff. There is a limit to how much I am willing to do your bidding."

"You…" Zaroth's face went red both from frustration and embarrassment.

Managing to let regain his composure he spat back, "She is not one of them!"

Getting up from his cross-legged position Eldros shrugged his shoulders once more, "I mean you have already seen her fully naked at this point, go all the way. It's not like you have slept with an elf so missing the chance would be foolish, and she looks eager enough to want it too," the Unholy Judger reasoned, patting his friend on the shoulder before entering his shadow.

Ari stared at the Beast Master, since he was the only one connected to the undead being he was the only one that had been able to understand it. From the outside he just seemed insane enough to speak with a headless being.

Shaking his head, he woke Vera and began getting ready to approach the naked elf who had been teaching them. 'The idea of having different rooms did cross my mind… but I don't trust the elves here. Keeping the girls closer to me would make it easier to protect them,' he analyzed.

He was staying in the same room with them simply because he cared about their protection, there wasn't any ulterior motive!

His green eyes flicked briefly toward Ari—her shoulder still fully exposed. Her body arched, both hands behind her back as she stretched, clearly pleased with herself after managing to startle Zaroth the same way he had startled her yesterday. She was obviously proud of her little revenge.

The motion caused the fabric around her body to shift, making her already well-defined features stand out even more.

'No ulterior motives at all…' He took a deep breath, suppressed the heat rising in his body, and managed to avert his gaze.

*****

"I reckon this must be the place?" Adam said, eyes sweeping over the ruined village.

"Has to be," Eve nodded, "It's just like they described it."

After they had transported Vera and Ari to the Elders, the two went to the ruined village that Ari had mentioned.

"It… has to be more than a hundred right?" Eve asked, eyes scanning the countless corpses all around.

"Could be less. Judged by the way they have fought one demon could be split in dozens of pieces making it appear as if it had been many," Adam analyzed.

A few seconds passed in silence until Eve broke them,

"Who… do you think killed them?"

"Ari and the Fragment Barrier were the ones that reported the issue, but… didn't you see the frail human? She can be a Fragment Barrier but she didn't seem like the fighter type, while the elf with her while stronger that the average, there is no way she could do this by herself," she reasoned.

For now, Zaroth's existence was known only to the Elders of the Inner Circle. Even though some of them despised the human with demon blood, they had agreed to remain silent about him—at least for the time being.

"It's possible there is something very powerful in this continent," Adam nodded, agreeing with her somberly.

Sadly there wasn't much they could do—the village had been lost as well as the lives of its occupants. The only thing they could do was to move the rune and burn the place down in memory of the fallen.

Thankfully, the path to the rune was easy to find, as each village followed the same system—with designated houses that stored them and underground tunnels required to access them.

However, what they saw at the end of that tunnel made them frown.

"It's… broken?" Eve muttered, palm pressed onto the cold stone.

Eyes focused, body tensed as she focused her whole being on understanding the rune. "... The work of a professional," she concluded.

Adam raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"Look," she said, finger tracing over certain path.

"This wasn't just simply destroyed—it was severed. It's connection to the world cut. Only elves proficient in rune magic would be able to do it."

Adam grimaced, "So in other words, there is someone out there that managed to dispatch the army of demons on the outside, then enter, locate the rune, and sever it?"

"It's possible that it was made by more than one group," Eve nodded, "but I have a hunch that this wasn't the case."

The dead demons, the knowledge on how to use the rune to that extent… it all pointed to one thing alone.

"The other branch," Adam cursed, "these fucking traitors that dare attempt to kill our leader."

Eve nodded, eyes becoming dimmer and darker, "Not only have they betrayed our lord but have even begun to tear our territory. They have broken the peace truly."

"We can't let them get away with this," Adam's fist clenching so tightly his knuckles began to turn white. His whole vision gained several hues of red.

"Do we report this to the Elders…" Eve muttered, "or do we deal with that ourselves?"

Adam spat, "They have told us enough times that we should be more independent. We don't need to bother getting their opinion," he reasoned.

Eve nodded, a smile appearing on her face,

"War, then. War it is."

*****

Zaroth took ragged breaths, his body sweat even more than before.

"Great progress!" the naked elf praised. "At this rate you would actually be able to learn our powers during your lifetime."

The Beast Master's eyes narrowed when he heard the words "during your lifetime." From the elves' point of view, he was still just a child. 'Now that I think about it, how old is Ari?' he wondered.

While the man was deep in thought, the naked elf gazed at Vera, "But you… really have a talent—it's like you are able to resonate with the energy after only two days. You must be really special."

"Talent…" the word left Vera's mouth. It was as if just using the mere word disgusted her. Yet she managed to hide it pretty well.

"I guess you can say so," she nodded, going to help Zaroth stand on his two feet.

"For how long would we be able to train like this before you send us to free your leader?" Ari, watching the whole thing from the side with the intent to learn, asked.

"The prideful one has judged that a month should be more than enough. You will get the basics and by then you will be able to train yourself to become stronger," she replied.

After the extensive training session they had a quick bath and went to sleep, Zaroth having the same dream again.

Slowly but surely, the lines in the skies… were beginning to speak to him.