Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead-Chapter 646: All Sockets

"Listen kids, the restless are a weird, weird bunch, they are made of pretty much nothing but bones- In fact, if you spot one that even slightly looks like to be anything else but bones, even in small parts, just go the other way and don't even think about engaging them… They might not always be strong, but they are special in bizarre ways, even veterans need to be careful with them" Bilistam explained, the group standing upon a dust dune and looking over the bleak horizon.

This portion of the soul realm, where the 'restless' dwelled was a rather curious place, the ground was made up of nothing but dark grey dust, which texture did not seem set in stone, certain areas felt like gravel, some like sand, and others like actual dust, there was no visual distinction between them all, one could only check the differences by walking on them, or otherwise touching the ground.

"Also, if you see a restless that is even remotely humanoid, do the same thing and go the other way, but you might want to run in that case, they are much more aware of their surroundings and intelligent, some can even hold conversations and will attempt to sway your judgement…"

"...Whatever they say, do not, under any circumstances, agree to seal a deal with them, you can agree verbally if you feel that you need to buy some time, but never agree to shake their hand or any other type of physical contact, if you agree to touch them, that will seal whatever deal they were offering"

"Sir Bilistam?"

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"Yes, random newbie?"

"What are these deals even about?"

"Curiosity is not a good trait… But it isn't that important… A restless will promise you greater power, and that is by offering you soul essence, we don't know where or how they get it, but it is indeed potent stuff, it definitely works in empowering a person- But don't even think about accepted the deal, the price to pay is your bones" he casually explained.

"The restless take our bones and plant them like seeds in the ground, we really have no clue what purpose it serves, but they do it, and more often than not, they'll take either many of them, or some in your legs, they'll just kill you while your down and take the rest by force"

Bilistam shrugged, feeling rather pleased when he saw the newbies shivering as they imagined themselves robbed of their bones, he formed a smile.

"Don't worry though, they won't offer any deals to you guys… They see no need when you're so weak" whether this was supposed to be reassuring or not, it only served to make them even more nervous.

He signalled for them to follow, carefully descending the dune of dust, the slope was oddly tough, like the grains of dust were all held together, forming the impression of something akin to stone.

Bilistam tapped his heels against the rough surface.

"You hear this? That's one of your best friends in this hellscape, many restless hide under the finer variations of dust, either as ambush or simply because they decided to stop moving and got buried eventually… Unlike me, your senses can't detect these critters, so if you pass the test and get to hunt without someone like me around, do your best to keep to areas with this type of ground"

Although all listened attentively, it was hard not to be absorbed by the landscape of this strange land, the endless expanses of dark grey dust aside, the place was littered with skeletal remains, some seemed reminiscent of beasts and creatures they knew, whilst other evoked nothing, the most impressive however, were the corpses of giants.

Even when probably half buried, some were simply gargantuan, but what was scarier was that no one knew why they were here, or what had killed them, the how was pretty clear for some.

A massive, fish-like creature that seemed to be swimming through the dust even in death, had its skull split in half, and it was nothing clean, something that had probably been even larger, had bashed its head in repeatedly, shards and pieces were spread out all around.

It looked like its killer had wielded an axe to accomplish such a feat, but there were no traces of the being that slayed the titanic fish.

In the distance, a very humanoid skull protruded from the soil, empty eye sockets filled with dust, femurs, fibulas and tibias rose into the pale blue skies, there too a blue sun was shining down, only that it was cracked, split apart by something unknown, just like countless creatures down here.

But of course, the titans weren't the only remains populating this graveyard, many, more mundane-looking skeletons and bones were spread around, some arranged into piles, some having seemingly been dragged into pits and lumped together.

"Here they are… Crouch down kids" Bilistam motioned for the newbies to hide, peeking just over the top of a small dust hill, ahead, inside of what might be called a clearing if such a concept could exist in such a barren land, five creatures were foraging for some sand-like dust.

One looked like a snake, ten meters long, but where its ribs should be, there were only arms, each only adorned with two fingers, they wriggled and tapped upon the dust repeatedly, the clattering of dry bones hitting one another was present within its every movement.

Another was naught but a mass of bones dragging itself around using thin, long segmented bones that did not look like any type of limb at a glance.

The other three were identical in appearance, resembling hounds of some kind, only that they had three pairs of legs and fingers coming out of their hollow eyes, apart from the serpent, all were busy digging, unearthing remains and placing them in a pile, except for the skeletal mass, that could sometime pick someone up and pull it into itself, an action that would typically make the snake clack its jaws, in what could be assumed as discontentment.

"Alright, you lot will be taking on the dogs, I'll take out the snake and abomination, remember- Do not panic, if you are afraid, they'll know and exploit it, they might look like beasts and monsters, but not a single restless isn't a sneaky dastard willing to exploit even the most minute of flaws…"

"Hounds and canines are pretty common forms for restless to take, they can only really attack you with their bites, as long as your not stupid, they won't charge you, just stay in a group"

"Understood?" seeing the newbies nod, Bilistam smiled "Good, let's-"

The five had stopped foraging, and had instead turned their heads toward the livings.