In Arthur’s chest was the feeling of absolute hopelessness. Like before everything had gone back to the way it was after he died. The first time it could have been chalked up to a twist of fate or some very rare and abnormal magical event, not anymore.

  Arthur’s eyes stuck to the floor as he felt any sense of purpose fade away as terrible thoughts filled his head.

  ‘Will this just happen again?’

  ‘Is there any point if this all will repeat without end?’

  ‘Should I just stay here until I go numb?’

  Then suddenly Arthur felt a presence. A powerful, dangerous, and familiar presence from long ago, and it was in front of him. Slowly he raised his head and floating just around a meter away from him at his standing eye level was the red eye, only far more animated. The red liquid that reminded Arthur of blood swirled around like rivers, yet it moved like a living breathing being.

  Slowly Arthur stood until his head was at the same level as the eye, it seemed to squint at him like it didn’t have very good vision.

  “What are you?” Arthur was the one to break the silence. The eye relaxed back into its natural position as if it was happy with Arthur’s question.

  “I am a god Arthur, and I think you recall my name. You just didn’t remember me.” The eye spoke with no visible mouth. The words felt like they were formed from the air itself like some sort of obscure aeromancy with no practical use for any normal being. But then Arthur thought about the words the eye spoke, “I think you recall my name.” A realization from deep inside his soul, the name that has haunted him for so long, he even said it once without even realizing his first time in Antium when the city was aflame.

  “Armok.” Arthur almost whispered, but it made little difference. Armok in his eye form seemed to smile as he heard his own name.

  “Very good Arthur. I see you are just as bright as I remember.”

  “Why is this happening? Why do I keep returning here after I die?” Arthur quickly assaulted Armok with questions in his desperate state of mind. “Am I cursed?”

  “That is a rather complicated question Arthur. From what I understand it is related to the circumstances around your death, or at least your first death.”

  “But my first death wasn't anything special. I was killed in a fortress by one of the empire's mages using strange red magic. I don’t see how that could do this to me.”

  Armok paused for a moment as he seemed to squint as his form was unable to do much else to express himself. “That wasn’t your first death Arthur. I didn’t actually witness it myself but I do know you were slain for the very first time during the second era at the climax of the war of the gods.”

  Arthur felt his legs weaken as Armok spoke. The second era had ended over 1000 years ago, and this was the first time he heard anything about a war between gods, the first time the disappearance of the old gods made any sense or had any reason.

  “That… that means I was dead for at least one thousand years before I appeared here. Where was I during that time? Were you watching over me?”

  “Unfortunately that was not the case Arthur.” Armok’s artificial voice somewhat turned softer, almost apologetic. “I was also slain towards the end of the war, thankfully as a god death is not truly the end for me. But for a long while my strength and power were heavily diminished, and for a time I didn’t even recall who I was as I wandered my own realm. Even now my power is far less than what I would like, but it is enough to help you.”

  Arthur slowly nodded as Armok explained himself. It made a degree of sense, very little was known about what the gods actually were or how they worked, the idea of death not being permanent or as straightforward as it was for mortals was a reasonable belief. And even if that wasn’t entirely true it wasn’t like the other gods were lining up to prove Armok wrong.

  “Help me do what exactly?” Arthur tried to keep his voice steady, trying to stay calm. “I just lost everything I had. My wife, my unborn child, my home, and if I understand what is happening everything I have ever accomplished is gone like it never happened. What would I even do with your help Armok?”

  “You would fight against those who are fighting to keep you down.” Armok answered with a dark sincerity as the light in the room seemed to dim slightly. “Your statement was only partly correct Arthur. You may have lost your material possessions, but everything you have learned will stay with you forever. Every bit of magic you have learned no matter how obscure or unknown will forever be a part of you.”

  Arthur grew silent as he looked down to his hands. They were soft and youthful unlike his hands the day he died, a product of the potions and other alchemical creations he created practically every day on the farm. He felt for the familiar sensation of mana within himself and found nothing, all the power he had gained, all the lives he had taken to strengthen himself were all undone.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “So I need to kill all those people again?” Arthur asked without looking up.

  “Yes Arthur, you will. Though I would recommend starting with that skeleton with part of its soul still bound to it. It should be just enough to reach the next threshold.”

  Arthur gave a small nod and walked towards the office off to the right side of the room and directly towards the armor and the longsword. When he was fully adorned he took the sword in both hands and held it low with the blade pointing away at roughly the same height as his chest. His left leg took a small step back for stability and Arthur took a few practice swings in the open space. Though the sword felt heavier than he remembered his form was just as strong as before, enough to kill that skeleton.

  With a weight in his chest and Armok’s watchful eye Arthur opened the door and slowly creeped out with the longsword pointing ahead of him. Slowly he walked past the rooms lining the hallway, the occasional dead occupant bringing back memories of when he was for the first time.

  When he reached the room where the skeleton stood Arthur felt his heart pick up the pace, he gripped the sword tight and slowly stepped closer as slowly raised it high. Despite the fact that the skeleton was looking the other way and despite the fact it should have no way to hear or see at almost the last moment it turned around. Without waiting Arthur brought the sword down directly on the skeleton's skull, the impact sending it backwards and off balance while the blade itself left a hole in its forehead.

  As the skeleton fell backwards it reached for the wall to steady itself and for a moment it managed to do so. Without even seeing its position or even registering the damage it suffered it tried standing again to reach Arthur. However Arthur wasn’t a fool, he quickly brought the blade to his right side and swung wide to the left striking the side of the skeletons head.

  The skeleton fell to its side and its lower jaw broke off from its left from the force of the impact. Without even registering the fact it was damaged the skeleton kicked Arthur in the leg with its own as it tried stabilizing itself with its arms, Arthur did feel the kick but the armor he wore was more than enough to protect him.

  Once more Arthur raised the longsword up and over his head and brought it back down on the skeleton with a sickening snap. In the heat of the moment Arthur didn’t strike the skull like he intended, instead he struck the spine causing the skeleton's lower half to no longer move properly. The legs twitched like a dead rodent as the upper body still tried its best to kill Arthur with the hammer in its hand.

  Arthur raised his foot up and brought it down on the right arm of the skeleton, trapping it for a moment and quickly swiped the hammer from its boney fingers. The skeleton struggled against him but Arthur had both his hands while the skeleton tried hitting Arthur with its other. When the hammer was finally wretched from the skeleton's hand Arthur brought it down on the skeletons head with a loud crunch and forcing the small hole in its head wider. Again and again Arthur brought the hammer down until the hole was large enough to fit his whole fist in, only then did the skeleton stop moving and gave Arthur a chance to stop and breathe. He felt the strain in his arms slowly soften as he sheathed the sword before finding a somewhat place to sit on the stone floor.

  /- - - - - -\

  + 200 Exp

  Level 1

  + 10 points

  \- - - - - -/

  Arthur felt his soul slowly absorb the energy from the skeleton and adapt. He would need to take the time to invest those points into either intellect or magic, he just wouldn’t feel those effects until after he rests for roughly eight hours. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t use his magic, deep within he felt mana stirring, it was only a single unit of mana at level one but it was enough to cast a tier one spell should he need it.

  Arthur clenched his fist as he felt the tiny amount of mana swirl within, it had been a long time since he had felt so powerless and it was likely something he would continue to experience again and again.

  “Armok…” Arthur asked out loud. “I have a question for you.”

  From the nearby wall Armok’s bloody form slowly phased through like a ghost. Only when he was fully within the room did he speak.

  “And what might it be?” Armok asked back in a disturbingly fatherly way.

  “That magic from the wand that dark mage used that ended up killing me, it was very familiar to what those dark mages under the empire used to kill me way before. What can you tell me about it?”

  Armok paused for a moment, Arthur wasn’t sure if he was thinking about the question or just how to answer it.

  “In the most simple terms it was demon magic. Typically a mortal would acquire such magic by becoming an occultist by either vowing to serve the demon or by doing something in exchange. There are other ways to acquire such magic, but they are rather unorthodox and unnecessary considering it is far easier and just as effective to simply learn regular magic.”

  “So those dark mages were all occultists serving a demon. Does the empire have demons serving it? And why would any demon need so many mortals to serve it?”

  “I am afraid I do not have a proper answer to that Arthur, however it is most likely that demons have infiltrated the empire on just about every level. It is very likely that everyone that holds an important position involving the war effort is either serving a demon or someone who is in turn serving one.”

  Arthur grew silent for a while as he was deep in thought, only after he was certain he understood did he speak again.

  “That only leaves the mage who raided the farm as an outlier. He may have been an occultist, but the only time he used such magic was with a wand enchanted with it.”

  “I assume you will want to investigate him and learn where his true loyalties lie.”

  “Yes I do. That just leaves the matter of finding him.” Arthur said as he stood up and stretched. “We know he will eventually stay in that cave and he was there for a long time, the question is how long it will take him to do so.”

  “Five years is a long time Arthur, you don’t think he will have been there so long do you?”

  “Guess we will need to find out. But first I need to kill as many things as I can down here, I don’t think I will have such an opportunity to do so for a very long time.”