With the twilight, the flapping of some wings followed from a distance, if he measured the direction correctly then they came directly out of the sinkhole. But what?

  He had opened his eyes wide and at that moment he regretted his isolationist attitude towards other people. With what he saw in the sky, he wished there were some people between him and what was looming there!

  While the sun was still beginning to fade on the horizon, shadowy wings emerged on the horizon, keeping a direct course towards them. Even from a distance he could make out the former griffins, flying lizards and other creatures. Shortly before the city they descended and from their bony claws fell a few of the horses, raptors and other dead beasts from the pit. Suddenly the human camps, besieged by the massively changing unlife, appeared very inviting. A large number of the flying beasts headed for his position. Was it lucky that he regained his mana in the meantime? Regardless of this, the corpses in the city were also struck by another vigorous unlife. Before that day they seemed slow. Coordinated, but very slowly. Always swaying and shuffling. Caught between a couple of jerky movements. With the impending sunset, their whole behavior changed noticeably! It was as if the night dared to fill her with an unnaturally strong energy that led her back to her living equivalent and further strengthened her. That night was a really shitty one, but there was hardly time to curse before the first of the flying bone racks pounced on its position. A large invisible ball of fire turned the thing into a burning comet that fell somewhere in front of the gate.

  Unfortunately, these creatures did not experience a decline in morale. Like marionettes, they kept falling over his location, making the rewards a lot more sense the first time.

  It was never like he believed before that her mass alone could pose a threat, but with the darkness more dangers arose, which brought the task its high rewards.

  From the central walls in the middle of the city he could now see fireballs flying into the sky, if they had magicians, then they obviously saved them up until night and let them rest during the day. With that, his actions during the day only looked ridiculous to himself, because the real fight took place after the sun went down!

  Many of the flying piles of bones were still heading for his position. He felt as if he had drawn a damned crosshair on his back the day before, because those cursed walking undead seemed to have kept him in vivid memory. Somehow it looked like he'd made it straight to her priority list.

  "Fuck me sideways, why is everyone after me?" Magna cursed at his damn luck.

  Without it being seen, he kept throwing a few of his invisible fireballs at the approaching grays, which then turned into falling torches. He managed alone what a garrison had to endure and the crazier had to look all the more crazy that suddenly went up in flames undead, flyable creatures. Still, there were just too many for him. His own power also knew limits, even if they had not yet been reached, the outcome of this battle was more and more in sight. Gravity could bring things down from above, but would it defeat them, too? Probably not, there had to be a better way to speed up the fight.

  Was there any way of using light? A laser was certainly not possible. Could magic be touched with emotions? Were these things actually creatures of the night, shadows, or even darkness? Then there was certainly an opposite pole to it. After all, fire is also a form of light, just as its lumen spell could create artificial light. As an experiment he created some lumens with the property of emitting UV light and threw them up at the flying creatures. He let the source shine as brightly as he could, but the effect alone seemed to be marginal, presumably because either they didn't cover enough area, were weakened by the darkness, or because it didn't have to have been light alone.

  But did he feel something like purity, any feeling of that nature that he could add to the light? If he was drawn to an element, it was much more to the darkness, which ironically didn't help him except perhaps to be recognized as a necromancer.

  So what could he do? He had to realize more and more clearly that apart from magic in relation to gravity, teleportation and a few other things, his theoretical knowledge came to an end. Although there was still room for improvement in the biological and chemical divisions, it doubted that either of the two would have been of great use to him at the moment.

  Maybe a couple of chemical compounds or some magic that ... could he literally turn the ground into liquid rock? He didn't even need the Ultra Hot Fire Spells if it was just about damaging the enemy over a large area. It didn't even have to be very much, as long as the whole hordes were stuck, they would then only be shooting gallery figures that he had to work off one by one.

  But what was he doing with the bloody undead in the air? Maybe a fire tornado? Both ideas gave him new courage to deal with the situation. Fortunately for him, he had a wavering interest in his last life and belonged to that group of people who knew almost everything. This also included various natural events that were part of his collection of useless knowledge.

  It was time to choose the rest of the items as well as the benefits of his legacy. Inwardly, he thanked his foresight that he had not just distributed them evenly, but rather that he had to wait for a case like this. Damn it, maybe he needed every drop of mana he could get!

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  Without much hesitation he threw the lion's share of his free points into his intelligence, effectively doubling it! Regardless of the fact that other statistics fell by the wayside, he simply needed more and more mana resources. Some magics were just way too inefficient, others naturally ate the hair off his head!

  After his mana pool doubled, he poured one of his best mana potions down his throat without hesitation. He simply opened his throat slightly, which enabled him to quickly consume the urgently needed mana resources.

  In the same breath, not only did his regeneration increase by length, but his pool also began to fill up rapidly. With that he could now achieve a lot more.

  Apart from the inheritance benefits that he was slowly going through! Four of these unique enhancements could make a significant difference.

  Mana Control: Passive / Active

  [An amalgamation of Mana Perception, Mana Manipulation and Mana Inject. It represents a great advance in the handling of mana in general and allows a strong fine control]

  Elemental Enhancement: Passive

  [Increases the mana efficiency of all elemental magic and enhances it.]

  Scale Armor: Passive / Active - Body modification

  [Turns the skin into one if necessary Armor of the scales not dissimilar to a snake.]

  : Passive / Active - Body

  Poison ToothModification [Adds a poison container to the cutting or pricking teeth, which can be used when biting.]

  Stealth + Passive / Active

  [The further development of Stealth. You can now move at full speed in stealth.]

  Elementary combination

  [Allows you to use and combine two elements together much more efficiently.]

  Elementary resistance + passive

  [The further development of elementary resistance. Increases this resistance.]

  Elemental Mastery: Active

  [Gives you greater control over the elements you use.]

  Meat shaping: Active

  [Uses mana to efficiently shape one's own or someone else's flesh. Do you want to remain anonymous? Closing a wound or opening an opening, this is their skill]

  Mana Breathing: Passive

  [Replaces regular meditation. Has the same effect, only that the user is no longer forced to meditate]

  The system pelted him with nine options for a direct upgrade, which, like the development itself, actually gave themselves the feeling of a real boost. They were basically all excellent skills. For his current and perhaps also for many of the following situations, both control and breathing were indispensable! Only with the last two did a feeling of free choice emerge, but it wasn't easy, anyway he decided to take those that were conducive to his situation. Which is why he chose reinforcement and domination. For what he was up to, they seemed indispensable.

  If the system offered him these options, then the system literally unpacked the knowledge, relieving him of the work of studying these things in detail, but what was offered seemed very limited.

  With the help of wind magic, he began to create a light windpipe in the air, from which the undead flight creatures were hardly affected. Somehow it was a shame for him not to have any music in this new world. "Burn it to the Ground" played in his head as he kept adding oxygen to the windpants, followed by countless tiny dust particles. Slowly the damned critters had to have a clue, but long before they could reach him, it was enough to snap a finger to start the carousel fire.

  For a brief moment, followed by a strong explosion of extremely strong flames, the creatures in the fire tornado were very quickly turned into ashes, which fell from the sky like flakes at Christmas. His mana expenditure was not exactly small, but the yield of experience was plentiful.

  Also, it seemed like the whole damn city was holding its breath while the firestorm cast a shadow over the streets, but instead of just letting it die away, he instructed the storm of fire to slide through the streets. From the mana breathing he constantly regained new mana. It was like a meditative permanent state. Just the feeling of how quickly the mana penetrated into him, processed, formed and expelled again so that it fueled his magic was an intoxicating feeling.

  That didn't mean he could cast this storm indefinitely. Quite the opposite, because it still banished its mana faster than how it regained it with the new skill. The only positive thing was the rapidly increasing numbers in his quest progress, which at some point stopped at 19%. His mana burned through his system at a tremendous rate. For a moment he had the feeling of suffering from something like Mana Brand, because his whole body felt noticeably hotter from the run.

  The street straight from its location to the center of the city has been stripped of almost everything that appeared to be undead. Only ash that was blown by the wind remained of the countless bones and was carried away in silent oblivion. Shortly before the fire tornado could touch the Inner Fortress, it swiveled around it and pulled the road to the barracks with the mercenaries until it reached the gate. Despite the fact that he cleaned two main streets, they quickly filled with the hordes from the residential areas. Among them were also undead dwarfs, which weren't really any. But children! The undead knew no morals. There were and will always be moments like this in which he was grateful for his pragmatism, because as long as he did not know people, he didn’t care about them. Maybe your last life hardened a little too?

  Did it scare him? A little bit. Why was he simply not bothered by this or did he hide himself about the fact that these were no longer people, that they lost their humanity with death and therefore he did not have to feel anything when he brought them to a final rest that of the previous one, a final one Conveyed appearances?

  This whole damn city had become a city of the dead, save for a very few survivor locations. He wouldn't even have been surprised if the undead recruited those who died before their arrival to join their ranks!

  He didn't even need another spell because the firestorm was very effective! Nevertheless, he was also working on other ideas on the side. I went through the range of elements and different states of aggregation in search of other possible methods.

  Only after his mana pool was burned almost empty and the main streets seemed cleaned, he called off the spell! At 49% progress halted, but as successful as it was, the endeavor seemed unsuccessful. With the storm he could only clear the four main avenues, but everything in between swayed quickly towards these again. Some defenders had only a short window of time for structural changes in the defense of their position. From his observation point he could even make out a few daring people who were probably hiding and grabbing the opportunity so that they could storm into the supposed safety in the center.

  From there he could only observe while his mana breathing was passively creating new mana for him! In his hustle and bustle, however, the stairs to the walls had escaped him.

  Reading probe of my new story i work on. I still edit it and im damn slow while try to write from begin in english. It was an advice from another author that i already call a buddy by all the time we spoke. Dont matter and tell me your thoughts about it. If i reach 10 or 20 chapter i will start posting weekendly a chapter of that new story on the weekend.

  Bard Boneshaper

  He felt nothing when it happened. It was so different from all that he could expect. Everything around him turned black. There wasn't any kind of suffering or pain. It was only dark, nothing around him. He was surrounded by the void. Only endless deepless void. No regrets or doubts about what he did. From the moment he was free from the suffering that other people called living.

  His thoughts went to emptiness. Like the sleep of the beauty he wouldn't wake up with the difference that a kiss couldn't change that.

  His whole life always felt wrong, meaningless and empty for him. It never was like depression or what people called the state of being depressed. No, it was since his first thoughts a kind of different from that. Life was fun as long as there was something to explore until he met the point where everything felt like a variation of the same thing.

  Life meant to stay under the ceiling of glass. It was that ultimate barrier that he never could break. The chances were nearly nil because billions of human beings tried the same thing. To break through that ceiling.

  It may be funny how it did happen. On a Sunday walk beneath the castle ruins down the street. An earthquake came along and the half standing ruins did start to fall. That was the last thing he saw except one confusing message before the stones buried him.

  ‘Ding’ Welcome Survivor - This is….

  The rest disappeared after something hit his head and then he was in this darkness. Bard wasn't sure how to feel about that. Was the message only an imaginated thing?

  His family would be devastated in their sorrow and he knew how suffering works. People always found a way to manage it, move on and their lives would go on as if nothing really happened.

  Now he was free to go and at least his last thought went black.

  A natural instinct tried to cut him out of his body and in many other situations he may be able to express the wish of that instinct. But there were different things that worked on him. He fought down the instinct. Resist the power that tried to take his soul?

  Whatever tried to take him he decided when he was ready to leave and no one else was! He stood until he was ready for what may come after this.

  After a long time of darkness and feeling as if he was there while he wasn't there, he woke up again. For a second he thought they had managed to rescue him. That seems hopeless. No, it was different. It was a completely strange feeling like you recognize how you do not exist.

  From that point a voice cried for him to wake up and he felt like his eyes flattered up. A ghost feeling. There were no eyes he could open. Angry about losing his sleep and dreaming, something kissed him awake. A dark kiss that gave his bones new life!

  He stared directly in the face of a young person that stood over what appeared to be his grave. The face wasn't seen under the dark robe and the person seems to be angry about something.

  "I said follow my order!" yelled the young Person.

  Paralysed from what was happening and taken aback from experiencing his death he did nothing but stare at that person in front of him.

  Yeah. I'm alive again. Why? Did I piss on a damn god? Why am I alive after I did everything to die? That is confusing and that terrible voice makes me uncomfortable.

  "I said... “ yelled the stranger again.

  He didn't come any further than that. Bard looked down at his hand made of bones. Stared at it. Before this terrible person spelled another word he wrapped his hand on the throat of that person and pushed a little bit.

  "I'm your maste… how dare you!” ordered the other one.

  As if he gave a fuck about someone who called himself a master and tried to order him. Bard wouldn't obey anyone. His fingers start to press on the throat.

  "Please…. No. What is wrong…0" said Necro. Bard called him that in his thoughts. For real he didn't know his name and wont know it.

  The skeleton opened his mouth and started forming words… and broke up. Bard was totally shocked about his own voice. That wasn't his voice. It was confusing how he managed to build words without a nose, a tongue or teeth. No, he only opened his mouth and started to speak.

  "You disturbed my rest." spoke Bard in a cold way

  "No, No, No. The System said I'm a survivor and you should…" Necro squeezed out his last words.

  Bard got tired of that brat. A little power from his hand made that guy stop breathing. Something broke under his fingers. The guy trampled his feets and tried to hit him with his hands. All without any effect on Bard. A few seconds later the body of that person lost his life and the feet only dangled in the air.

  Did I pull him up? I don't remember doing that. Why did I kill him? That could be the only source of information for me to find out what is going on.

  Anyway, I felt damn great about killing the guy that disturbed my rest. Something changed the way I think about the value of life. I'm sure i wouldn't do that before!

  The entire event was laughable and he was nearly ready to do so, instead he threw the lifeless body away in the dirt. Everywhere around him were zombies and skeletons, in what looked to be a graveyard.

  The next confusing thing came with the following message.

  'ding' You killed Survivor level 11.

  'ding' Experience gained.

  'ding' Reward: You have killed the Survivor that disturbed your chosen rest. Gained two Stat Points!

  'ding' You are a survivor of the incoming system. Your soul still lived inside your corpses while he tried to get control over you. Your mind resisted the control effect. You gained resistance Necromance!

  'ding' You killed an enemy 10 levels over your own. Extra experience gained.

  'ding' You reach level 2.

  'ding' You reach level 3.

  'ding' You reach level 4.

  Did the world become a video game? I mean. It could be interesting enough to stay alive, otherwise I don't know how I could go back.

  Truly, this new life brought a lot of new interesting things for him to explore. On one hand it seemed that magic had become real and on the other hand it looked like he was now an undead or something like that. From his former body of flesh there are only bones now that build his figure.

  He nearly fell when a ghoul hit him from behind. It only ran into him. Also it seemed no more interested in him than in an average barrier in its way. For the ghoul he was also only another undead in the area. None of these creatures around him had a deeper interest in Bard.

  Should I read the messages or explore that graveyard? Maybe I should find out what was meant with the system. Maybe there is a menu with stats.

  In the moment he thought the menu came from nowhere in front of his face like it materialized from thin air.