Sage

Nerton, 1873. A Riverside Restaurant.

I let out a sigh; it was barely heard over the chatter of the restaurant. I couldn't refuse. I was completely reliant on her for information.

I pulled the chair back and sat, my eyes still on her; she looked at me with a big smile. "Good, see a simple meal can fix all your problems."

A few minutes later, three waiters approached our table, their arms full with plates of chicken, stew, and fresh bread. Putting them down on the table, there were chicken, different bowls of stew, and fresh bread. It was like seeing something out of a movie.

You'd expect a whole family to eat this, not two people.

Eden clapped her hands while looking at the food. "OK, now where were we?" She picked up a spoon and started tasting the stew. Her manners are surprisingly elegant for someone who wants to eat all this.

"Explain what the undead are and what I am," I said, not touching the food in front of me. I was hungry, but that can wait.

"Oh yes. The Great Mystery of Taro." She said between bites. Eden then pointed at me with her spoon. "Eat."

I forced out a smile, then started eating. It was delicious.

"First of all, all living things are separated into night creatures and day creatures. Undead, spirits, golems, and the like are night creatures; they draw their power from the darkness. While on the opposite end, humans, fairies, or elves are all day creatures who are blessed by the day." Eden took a part of the chicken and stuffed it in her mouth.

After I finished taking some of the stew, she looked at me quietly. "What does it taste like?"

"What an odd question. It tastes delicious," I said.

She then continued, "The undead are born of death, blessed by the night. However, the way each one is born is different, and that decides what you become. While yes, we have intelligent creatures like vampires and you, most are mindless beasts, often enslaved by day creatures who have betrayed their own nature, necromancers and the like."

I listened closely, making sure to take in any information. I died a normal death, so how could I be undead?

Looking outside, Eden's expression relaxed. "We have a special smell that mages can detect; that's why it's dangerous for us to go out into human cities. While every creature has its unique smell, yours is weird; it's like a zombie, yet not quite."

She leaned closer, her green eyes flashing before looking at her food.

"So you don't know." I looked down, thinking of what to do.

"Not exactly," she clarified. "I've never encountered a case like yours, but that doesn't mean it's unique." She pointed at me with a chicken bone while chewing.

"Then, what about magic? You said that there are vampire mages. How can I use it?"

She glanced at me for a bit. "We have to finish the food for that answer!"

My eyes stayed on her for a bit, but she didn't mind and continued eating. What is with her?

Surprisingly, I ate a lot. I guess since I died, I forgot how it felt to relax for a bit.

After we finished, the waiter came in with the bill and looked at her. "I guess Miss Rich here will have to pull out her fortune."

"Well, it's not much; since you burnt that building, anxiety has been all over the city. So tourists are avoiding Nerton, which made some businesses go easy on their payments." Eden explained while giving a few coins to the waiter.

Fear does affect people, but for it to affect the whole city is weird.

"Anyway, magic. It's simple; magic is all around you, like an unseen current in the air. With training, you learn to breathe it in, to draw that power into yourself. Once it's yours, you can shape it and give it purpose fire, ice, illusions, whatever your will and talent allow." Eden didn't take her time to explain as she got up.

"What's eating you?" I asked.

"I heard that they caught a pirate ship a few days ago, and it will be going through this river. We can't miss that!"

I let out a sigh, and I followed her outside the restaurant. The sky was grey, but the river was calm. People from both sides looked at the far right side, waiting for what seemed to be the pirate ship.

Eden held her hat with her hand, not wanting to lose it to the wind, and I just stood there beside her, also curious to see the pirate ship since I've never seen a real one before.

I saw some in movies before on Earth; however, I wasn't that interested in entertainment since I had to worry about studying and my job.

After a few minutes, people around got too much, and even guards came around to make sure nobody got hurt. Thankfully, Eden picked a spot near the edge, and it wasn't that crowded. I guess she did plan for this before.

I eavesdropped on the people who were talking about the pirate ship. "The Duke's guard is one thing, but I heard the Frostes sent one of their Sages with the fleet. Imagine the horror on those pirates' faces!"

The water moved, and as it did, the figure of the ship from far away appeared. It had a drawn skull on it, with its size not being that big, which made it go through this river easily.

I looked at Eden, whose eyes were fixated on the ship, like she had lost interest in everything around her.

The people around us talked and chatted about pirates and things related to them. But I couldn't help but follow Eden's eyes as well. The ship approached, and finally, it was in front of us. On top of it were people with white armor looking all over.

In the blink of an eye, I saw Eden's expression change and her eyes open wide. Looking at me, she pushed me with great force, which made me collide with everyone else.

"W-what the heck!" I got up, surprised; however, the people around me were shocked and running around. On the edge of the river stood a boy.

He wasn't very tall, but his very presence was suffocating, stealing the air from my lungs.

He was floating above the ground, his long black hair flowing in the air rapidly. He looked down with his light blue eyes.

He held Eden by her hair and pulled her up to his eye level.

"Wow, a vampire in this place? I must be lucky! Of course, I am lucky. I mean, why wouldn't I be? I am a sage after all." The boy let out a laugh full of pride.

A magic user! What the hell is he doing here?

However, I realized it was the clothes he was wearing. A long white robe engraved with golden symbols looked like the people on the boat.

He was a high-ranked mage with them, and he detected us? I clutched my hands as I stood still behind the crowd, who were still full of fear.

What do I do? Do I just leave? But Eden will... How can I go against a terrifying creature like that? My fists clenched.

However, in an instant the boy with blue eyes turned his head to me in a flash, his blue eyes leaving a trail.

"A zombie?" The boy asked himself.

I found myself floating in the air, and he was in front of me, looking at me with his eyes. "No, what the hell are you?"

I took a glance at Eden, who was still struggling as a disembodied hand kept her pinned.

"W-what do you want?" I struggled to speak as words felt heavy.

I saw that on top of the mage's head, there was a golden halo.

"What do I want? Are you serious right now?" The boy's face distorted, getting angry and feeling disrespected at the same time. "I am Gilbert Bradforde Froste. The great sage of the Froste family. And why would a pure undead ask me what I am doing? Do you filth-born creatures not possess the basic courtesy to recognize your betters? Or is your brain as rotten as your flesh?"

I started screaming, as I felt like my heart was being squeezed to death.

Eden, barely conscious, fumbled in her pocket. She took out a black paper with writing on it, and then she used her mana to set it on fire. At that moment, Eden thought of herself and Taro.

Gilbert stood there speechless as both the undead he was holding disappeared. "Those bastards are disrespecting me?!"

The area around raged on as the stone ground started breaking, and then one of the guards wearing white armor came in running.

"Sir Gilbert, please calm down! Nobody here is stronger than you. And you know that you can destroy the whole city if you don't control yourself."

The area around them started to go back to normal as Gisbert let out a small sigh. "Of course, how could I ruin my entrance to Nerton like this? Hey, you, what's your name?" He looked at the man in white armor.

The man gulped and spoke, "Gernot Boerd, sir."

"Gernot, you allowed me to make a scene. Why did you not intervene sooner?"

"Huh?" The armored man was surprised; however, before he could reply, his armor crumpled inward as if struck by an invisible hammer, and he collapsed.

"I am going to go to sleep; the rest of you go look for them. One of them was a bit interesting." Gilbert spoke. His voice rose, carrying easily across the water to the knights on the ship, who watched on, too terrified to interfere.