Chapter 19: Fog from the South
—The Undead Whisper and the Burning Line
The morning air was wrong.
It wasn't cold or hot—it was still. Like the world was holding its breath.
The southern horizon, once open and sunny, now had a creeping fog slithering in. It rolled like liquid smoke across the hills, coiling through the woods and crawling toward the edges of the village like a living tide.
Elric stood at the edge of the fields, squinting into the mist. Behind him, Voidy sat on his shoulder like a shadow with eyes, Snowtuft bleated nervously beside him, and Crust growled deep in his throat.
Even the birds had stopped chirping.
---
A Village On Edge
"They say fog this thick means ghosts," muttered one old farmer, clutching a rusted pitchfork.
"It's undead," another hissed. "The mist is the breath of death. My uncle told me once—if it touches your skin, you won't feel warm for days."
Grandpa, surprisingly quiet, stood with arms crossed and a stolen military-grade knife strapped to his side. "It's not natural. Not here. Not this early."
Elric glanced over. "You've seen this before?"
"In the South," Grandpa muttered. "During one of the older wars. That kind of fog comes with necromancers. They send scouts first. Bones that walk. Flesh that drips."
Elric shivered. "Then what do we do?"
Grandpa's grin was wolfish. "We hunt the first scout and send the head back in a box."
---
The Fog Scout
By midday, the mist reached the outer fields. It wrapped around the scarecrows and the fenceposts like hungry fingers.
Elric led the first watch. Not because anyone asked him to. Because he felt it—through the System, through Voidy's senses, through that strange bond he had with the earth itself. Something was crossing over.
The sheep panicked first.
Then came the sound: bones knocking. Not like walking. More like clicking. Like a spider's legs over stone.
> [Warning: Lesser Undead Detected]
[Threat Level: Low – Scout Class]
[Kill Bonus: Chance to Loot Bone Cores or Fragmented Skills]
"Elric," Grandpa said, voice hard. "Left side. See the orchard?"
Elric squinted. Between the rows of apple trees stood a thin creature—taller than a man, with a head shaped like a cracked deer skull. Its limbs were bone spears, and in its ribcage burned a faint purple light.
The scout had come.
---
Battle at the Orchard
Voidy launched first, shrieking a pulse of void energy that slammed into the creature's chest. The undead staggered but didn't fall. It let out a high-pitched screech that echoed through the woods like a metal scream.
Crust followed, flanking left. Snowtuft ran right, her little horns sparking faintly with system-granted energy.
"Elric!" Grandpa barked. "Don't freeze!"
He didn't.
With a snarl, Elric dashed forward, System-enhanced boots digging into the ground. As the scout swung a bony claw at him, he ducked under it, rolled, and slammed his short blade into its spine.
> [Strike Successful – Bone Core Cracked]
The creature spasmed—then suddenly exploded into a burst of black mist.
Everyone froze.
Then Elric's system chimed:
> [Enemy Eliminated]
[Item Gained: Bone Core Fragment (Undead)]
[Skill Fragment Acquired: Bone Manipulation – 3%]
---
Not Alone Anymore
Back at home, Grandpa handed Elric a flask.
"You did good, kid."
Elric sipped and coughed. "That's not water!"
"It's courage. Grows hair on your soul."
Elric chuckled. Then looked serious. "That fog's not going to stop, is it?"
"No. It was a test. And you passed."
"Then what now?"
Grandpa leaned forward, eyes shadowed.
"Now we prepare. You'll train harder. The village will form squads. We'll dig trenches, enchant fences, set alarm runes. This is your land now, Shepherd. And they're coming for it."
Elric nodded slowly. "Then let them come."
Voidy purred on his shoulder.
---
[System Notification]
> [Quest Chain Unlocked: Rise of the Shepherd]
→ Stage I: Defend the Village from the First Wave
→ Optional Objective: Collect 10 Bone Core Fragments
→ Reward: Beast Evolution Stone
Chapter 20: The Whispering Bone Tree
—Roots of Death, Flames of Defiance
---
The tree wasn't there yesterday.
Elric stood on the ridge just past the southern orchard, where the rolling hills turned into whispering woods. Behind him were Crust and Snowtuft, both alert and twitching with tension. Voidy clung silently to his shoulder, swirling with pulsing black mist.
The fog had receded after the battle with the scout, but it hadn't left. It hung at the edge of the woods like a patient predator—watching.
And now, right where the mist was thickest, a tree had sprouted. A massive one.
But this wasn't like any tree from his world.
It was dead, but not rotting—its bark was bleached bone, cracked and ancient, with veins of blackened ichor running like roots down its sides. From its branches hung what looked like skull-shaped fruit, and the wind… the wind whispered.
Whispers in a language Elric didn't understand. Or maybe he did, and just didn't want to.
---
Grandpa's Warning
"This is necromancy," Grandpa growled as he lit a cigarette carved from beastgrass. "But not local. It smells... foreign."
"You mean from another world?" Elric asked.
Grandpa nodded. "That fog wasn't just a scout. It was a gate."
> [Warning: Interdimensional Anchor Detected]
→ [Threat Class: Ritual-Grade Beacon Tree]
[Objective Updated: Destroy the Beacon Tree Before Sundown]
→ Optional: Extract Ritual Core (High Risk)
[Failure Penalty: Undead Summoning Tier II Begins]
Voidy hissed softly.
"They're not just coming for land," Grandpa said, voice low. "They're planting roots. A permanent connection. If we don't burn that tree, they'll keep coming—stronger, smarter, and far too fast."
---
Into the Bone Grove
Elric strapped his short sword across his back and summoned a simple bone shield, shaped from the fragmented skill he'd acquired from the scout.
> [Skill: Bone Manipulation – 4%]
[Construct Created: Bone Aegis – Tier 1]
It wasn't much, but it was enough.
He nodded to Grandpa, who gave a small smirk. "Don't die, boy. If anyone kills you, it better be me."
"Touching," Elric replied, then headed into the fog.
---
The Ritual Core
The Beacon Tree pulsed as they approached. Each step closer felt wrong—like gravity twisted sideways and the air turned thicker than water.
Around the roots were skeletal remains… but not of humans. Some were elongated, hunched, insectoid in nature. Some bore strange metal pieces, like bio-mechanical scraps fused into bones.
"Not just undead," Elric whispered. "These are... invader bones."
Voidy shifted on his shoulder.
Then the whispers turned into screams.
Dozens of skeletal arms burst from the ground—withered zombies, stitched abominations, and twisted beasts dragged from death by sheer hatred. At the base of the tree, a black-purple flame flickered to life.
And in the center of the trunk...
A glowing heart. Beating slowly. Pulsing like a summoning crystal.
---
Battle Beneath the Bone Tree
> [Enemies Detected: Tier I Undead Horde – 16 Units]
[Elite: Bonebound Golem – Threat Rank C]
[New System Perk Activated: Pack Instincts I]
Elric's beasts moved.
Crust tore through the frontline with a thunderous roar, slamming undead into the air. Snowtuft darted around with shocking agility, her horns laced with light. Voidy unleashed waves of void energy that shredded bones into dust.
Elric fought like a cornered wolf.
Sword flashed, shield blocked, spells pulsed from his fingertips as the newly grown bond with Voidy funneled strength into him.
But the Bonebound Golem rose.
A ten-foot monster built from armored bones, fused skulls, and the broken limbs of defeated enemies. It roared, shaking the hill.
"Grandpa!" Elric shouted.
But Grandpa was already in motion—blades out, cloak fluttering.
Together, they charged.
---
Victory and Fire
The battle raged for minutes that felt like hours. Blood and bone covered the grove. But in the end, Elric stood before the heart of the Beacon Tree, breath heaving.
"Do it," Grandpa said. "Use the fire powder."
Elric struck the heart with the ignition bomb—a small glass vial filled with beastfire essence from a past dungeon run. It cracked—
—and the tree ignited.
The flames were blue. Then green. Then gold.
The screams from the other side of the fog echoed one last time before fading.
> [Mission Complete: Beacon Tree Destroyed]
[Ritual Core Fragment Acquired]
[Pack Loyalty Increased]
[Beast Rank Up: Voidy – Rank 2 Achieved]
[New Skill: Shadow Veil I]
[Elric Level Up – Lv. 6]
---
Aftermath
That night, the fog vanished.
Villagers returned to the fields, wary but alive. The sheep even seemed less jumpy.
Grandpa sat beside Elric, tossing him a cold bottle of fizzy berry ale.
"You did good, kid."
"We did good."
"True. But don't get cocky. That was just the first root."
Elric stared into the starry sky, fingers wrapped around the ale.
"I won't let them take this world."
---
[System Update]
> [New Questline Unlocked: Shepherd of the Burning Border]
→ Prepare for the Second Anchor
→ Begin Beast Training Tier II
→ Optional: Investigate the Ruins Near the Forgotten La
Chapter 21: A Broken Sword and a Buried Name
—Whispers Beneath the Floorboards
---
It was past midnight when Elric awoke.
Not to danger. Not to Grandpa's snores. Not to a beast's howl.
But to a whisper.
Faint. Barely a breath. But clear.
> "Below. Dig. Wake me."
Voidy twitched from his curled-up state on the bedside table, his shadowy mass expanding protectively.
Elric didn't panic.
He never panicked.
But he did grab his bone-blade and quietly tiptoe past Grandpa's room—just in case the old man was still pretending to sleep with a dagger under his pillow.
The whisper had come from below the floorboards.
---
The Hidden Trapdoor
Their house wasn't very big—two rooms, a cramped kitchen, and Grandpa's overly trapped study that Elric definitely wasn't allowed to enter without a death wish. But under the woven rug in the center of the living room, Elric's foot had once slipped slightly, as if something hollow was beneath.
Tonight, he investigated.
A bit of quiet prying, one muttered [Bone Pick] skill, and the wooden board creaked up, revealing a metal ring.
A trapdoor.
He pulled it open, revealing a narrow staircase leading into darkness. The air was cold—not the chill of winter, but the stagnant breath of a sealed past.
---
Beneath the House
A single torch illuminated the space. It wasn't large—maybe the size of a storage cellar—but it felt different. Like stepping into another time.
Shelves of half-rotted books lined the stone walls. Rusted weapons hung beside cloaks, faded banners, and ancient beast bones sealed in jars.
In the center of the room was a stone table. And on that table…
A sword.
Or at least, what remained of it.
The blade was cracked nearly halfway, rusted along the edge. The hilt, however, shimmered faintly with an otherworldly aura. Black leather wrapped the handle, adorned with silver inlays of a symbol Elric didn't recognize.
And carved into the stone beneath it:
> "Here lies Aetherion, Bound by Betrayal. May he never rise again."
---
A Name That Shouldn't Exist
Elric reached for the hilt.
The moment his fingers touched it—
> "Finally…"
The voice echoed in his skull. Not Voidy. Not the System.
Something older.
A gust of dark energy burst from the sword and wrapped around his arm like a shackle. Elric yanked back, nearly dropping it—but the blade refused to fall.
> [Item Acquired: Broken Blade – Aetherion's Fang (Cursed)]
[Type: Unknown]
[Rank: Artifact Fragment]
[Warning: Soul Link Detected]
[Curse Active – Limited Bond Formed]
→ Benefits: +10% Shadow Resistance, ???
→ Drawbacks: ???
[Status Effect Gained: Shadowbound I]
"What... the hell is this?" Elric muttered, hand trembling as the blade pulsed like a heartbeat.
Voidy let out a nervous squeal.
Grandpa's voice suddenly boomed from upstairs. "Elric? You open that damn door?!"
Too late.
The floorboards above slammed open as Grandpa jumped down the stairs in two bounds, eyes locked onto the sword.
His expression turned dark.
"Drop. That. Sword."
"I can't," Elric replied, arm still bound by the aura. "It won't let go."
Grandpa's eyes narrowed. Then he spat on the floor.
"So… it really chose you."
---
The Secret of the Sword
They sat around the cellar table, torch flickering between them, sword resting on the stone once more.
"Aetherion wasn't just a warrior," Grandpa said. "He was the first to hold the Shepherd class. The first to tame what should not have been tamed."
"Was he from this world?"
"No." Grandpa's eyes gleamed. "He came from another… like you. Like me."
Elric froze. "Wait. You—?"
"Later," Grandpa cut him off. "Point is, the sword's cursed because Aetherion betrayed the gods who summoned him. Used their gifts to create his own beast… a monster that devoured a city."
"And now his weapon is soul-bound to me," Elric muttered, looking down at the faintly glowing hilt. "Great."
"Not his weapon," Grandpa said. "His will. That sword doesn't just cut flesh. It remembers. It judges."
---
New Quest Unlocked
> [Sword Memory Fragment I Awakened]
→ Objective: Find the Three Sealed Memories of Aetherion
→ Location Hints: Forgotten Lake, Dead Hunter's Ridge, Collapsed Chapel
[Hidden Quest: Rebirth of the First Shepherd]
(Locked until all Memories Found)
Elric leaned back, letting the torchlight reflect in the broken blade's metal.
"So I'm babysitting a cursed sword that may or may not try to eat my soul."
"Yup," Grandpa grinned. "Welcome to the family."
---