Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead-Chapter 645: Troublemakers
Another, literal, face stuffing later, and the second guard was effectively made to disappear forever, joining his colleague, who looked more like vile sludge now than a person, and with the erasure of the only two witnesses to their presence within this city, Loimos and Maliah simply needed to act casual and show up somewhere, and then present themselves as new arrivals.
After all, being within the city meant that they had been allowed in, anyways, the soul-rich livings of this realm were rather lacking in cautiousness, it seemed like they were certain that nothing could be dangerous within this city, after all, the nearest danger should be beasts roaming the wildlands and even then, they weren't known for targeting people, they had since long learned that the hairless creatures that stood upright were way more trouble than it was worth.
And since the restless, as they called them, never stepped out of their own sub-realm, the livings basically lived in a danger free world, the most dangerous thing being the training warriors were subjected to and the duels they threw at one another, their culture was so strict and overbearing, that the thought of being sneaky and settling issues through violence, outside of a duel could barely even cross their minds.
Still, even with such an easily exploitable attitude, Loimos didn't aim to kill any more than the two guards, which was why he constantly held onto Maliah, lest she turns the next fool that insulted her into a blue cloud of particles, she really didn't like not understanding a single word directed her way, but got used to it pretty quickly.
But they had not gone immediately after killing the second guard, they had waited for a little bit until the time frame they had been told a test would occur, the less they stayed in contact with the locals, the less chances they would have of being suspected of anything or attracting attention, in that time, Loimos had passed on some of the basics of the language onto the assassin to little effect, the basics weren't enough to understand much at all.
"I find these people exaggeratedly rude, not a single one we have crossed paths with has been able to not throw a snarky comment at me- Seriously, what are they saying?" when the day came that a test would occur, and thus grant them a way to the undead territory, they finally revealed themselves and acted like they had just been granted entry minutes before.
"They are commenting on your lack of soul energy"
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"Huh? Can't they tell that like all the others, my soul energy is ultra refined and condensed within my body? You would know, is their soul energy any better than mine?"
"I believe that they can not tell the quality of the soul energy apart in your case, your body obstruct any clear perception, they can only notice that you a small amount compared to the norm here" he simply explained, though why they were somehow all pricks about it was mystery even he couldn't pierce so easily.
"They are awfully cocky for people with such garbage security- And where are the strong guys anyways? I haven't sensed any that was very impressive, in fact, all of the ones around are just a bit above those two guards, I was expecting some veterans or to at least spot one of their powerhouses from afar…" after showing up to take the test, Loimos and Maliah had just settled into a dark corner and waited until they were called again.
"You just got there? You guys have impeccable timing! We'll be going on a small extermination mission on some group of lesser restless, and Sir Bilistam is going to be accompanying us! If we perform in front of him, we might be rewarded, especially newbies like you!" they had been told by the one that had welcomed them, he had then said that they should wait here alongside some other newbies who had arrived during the week with no tests or expeditions happening.
They were all object or beast binders, and none had actually bound anything yet, only wielding mundane weapon like those Loimos and Maliah had stolen- Straight swords, sabres, spears and polearms of multiple kinds, all were of a style of weaponry that had been without clear attribution any particular group or nation back in the main world.
It truly seemed like they had originated from here, but how and when had the realms been linked in way that allowed those within to come out, nobody could tell for sure, and it seemed like only their weaponry had remained from that time, their ways of power, architecture and the likes were without a trace.
Eventually, someone of interest showed up, a young-looking man, whomst Loimos could tell was actually old enough to have died of old age at least three times, with raven-black hair and a weirdly intricate hairstyle, there was a certain air of pride emanating from him, like he was above everyone within the room.
"Hello recruits, I am Bilistam, you'll be under my care today, try not to die" without any further words, he flicked his fingers around at some sort of pedestal, then putting some sort of of marble into a hole on its surface, causing a swirling, dark portal to manifest upon the wall.
"But I suppose some of you will not be able to help yourselves…" he casually added whilst looking in Maliah's direction.
"Mmh… He said something insulting just now, didn't he?"
"He implied that you certainly die, referring to his previous words to us about making sure not to be killed under his watch"
"Urgh… No need to explain the context, just say that he insulted me…"
As they discussed, the other newbies snickered to themselves, following Bilistam through the portal, slowly losing their smiles as they got closer to it.
"Heh, shouldn't he wait and go in last? We could just-" Maliah was going to say something, but saw that Loimos was already shoving his fingers into the hole where the marble had been dropped.
Fishing it back out with ease, the portal showed signs of wavering but did not immediately close, and so they both ran through, hiding amongst the mass of newbies as their leader for the day looked over the horizon, probably in an attempt to appear cool and mysterious, which was particularly effective on the young girl newbies.
"You lot have never seen a restless… Vile, tormented souls who refuse to embrace the call of the beyond, they end up here, forming themselves a body from the titanic skeletal remains that cover these lands of dust, they do so to protect their unstable souls from falling apart- Why is the portal closing?" Bilistam lost all his panache and grandeur as he saw the portal flicker out of existence.
"..."
"N-No matter! It happens sometimes…" he coughed in his fist "...Follow me newbies! Lesser members of the sacrilegious restless should be nearby, even untrained youths like you should be capable of defeating a few of those"
He looked back to where the portal had been, scanning the crowd in an attempt to identify who could have been the little fool that thought messing with the pedestal, but none stood out or seemed more worried than the rest.
'Someone will notice and reopen this portal soon enough… I'll just keep going as intended'