I climbed the mountain on foot. So far, the trail had been wide and clear, without any hostile beasts. However, from here onward, it was an untamed wilderness—or perhaps a hunter's domain. In either case, nothing on this mountain was on my side. I had to stay alert until I found a place to hide.
Switching to active mode.
Skill efficiency increased by 400%.
Current stamina consumption: 0.0014% per second.
— Enhanced senses activated.
— Detecting moving entities not in stealth mode.
— Identifying clearest traces.
— Heightening sensitivity to vibrations in the ground and air.]
The Detection skill didn't need manual activation since it often worked passively. In active mode though, it consumed a small amount of stamina to significantly increase its effectiveness.
Of course, I hadn't trained my senses. I just absorbed the skill from the imperial guards.
The trail grew steeper as I climbed, and the forest became quieter. My footsteps echoed with every step, but I softened my movements. As my footsteps quieted, I noticed subtler sounds: the chirping of insects, the faint rustling of dry leaves, and the flapping of small birds.
I could hear the tired sound of the wind trapped between the trees, the scattering of tiny seeds, and even the imperceptible growth of grass. Even the still trees seemed to emit warmth and a subtle presence.
Does the ground have a voice too?
From deep within the earth, I felt the vibrations of a massive entity slowly moving.
Is it a hallucination?
At the same time, my detection range had expanded significantly.
[Switching to immersion mode!
Skill efficiency increased by 1,600%.
Current stamina consumption: 0.273% per second.
Proficiency increases by 0.5% per second!]
I instantly realized it.
I need to hold onto this sensation!
However, this serendipitous state lasted less than a minute before breaking.
[Immersion terminated.
Proficiency increase: 19.5%.
Stamina consumption: 10.647%.]
It didn't seem like something I could intentionally replicate. More than that, the stamina cost was extreme. I'd already lost 10% of my stamina in less than a minute.
I leaped between rocks, trying to recall the fleeting sensation, but instead, another memory surfaced.
This was where I had been captured by the troll while fleeing and had my skull split in two. Across the dense thicket lay a sheer cliff. I remembered vividly how Rubia had flung herself off it, choosing to die rather than be torn apart by the troll.
“Whistle♪ Whistle-whee♪ Whistle-wheee♪”
I heard a strange sound from afar. It wasn't a natural sound of the mountain but my enhanced Detection skill picked it up with ease despite the distance.
It was unmistakably the sound of a human whistling. As I focused, I felt faint vibrations from the ground. This wasn't the same eerie sensation as the footsteps that had followed me in the cave. It didn't feel particularly threatening or sinister either.
I draped a black cloak over my armor and slipped into a nearby thicket. For now, I decided to wait. If they didn't seem to notice me, it would be better to let them pass. The fewer unnecessary conflicts or missing people, the less attention would be drawn to this area.
"Whistle-wheee♪ Whistle-whistle♪"
The sound grew louder. Within a few minutes, I spotted them: hunters. Two men descended cheerfully, whistling as they went. Their steps were light, almost jaunty. I craned my neck slightly to get a better look at them.
Those weren't unfamiliar faces. I recognized them as the troll hunters I had encountered when I first traveled to this mountain with Rubia. However, their attire had noticeably changed. All six of them were now wearing studded leather armor. Only two had been properly equipped the first time I'd seen them, while the rest wore simple fur garments.
Their weapons had also improved—each carried a modified spear with a distinctive head. One of them even carried a crossbow capable of rapid fire.
One of the men carried a sealed wooden barrel which sloshed faintly with liquid. Given their location and equipment, it wasn't hard to guess what was inside.
Troll blood was an incredibly potent tonic and antidote on its own. In the hands of an alchemist, the blood was a premium ingredient for advanced elixirs.
How are they still alive?
Lying prone, I calculated the current date. The math wasn't difficult. This was about eight months after the time Rubia and I had first come here. Back then, these hunters had been killed by the trolls before me. Now, they were walking leisurely, alive and well, with better armor and weapons.
I quickly grasped the situation. This wasn't the timeline where I—or those hunters—had been killed by the trolls. In this iteration, I abandoned the mountain region after the troll killed me and sent Rubia to Yublam instead. In this timeline, these hunters had survived the incident eight months ago. They even successfully killed the troll.
So they could have succeeded after all.
In hindsight, their deaths had been my fault.
If only I hadn't dismantled the trap.
Still lying prone, I recalled the event.
"What's wrong with this little one?"
"Who knows? Maybe it wants more jerky."
The wolf cub I had freed from the trap had barked warningly. Its barks had led me to cautiously spot a massive trap hidden in plain sight.
"This is a huge trap. It would've been bad to get caught in it."
I had cut and dismantled the trap's wires, congratulating myself on avoiding danger. But the wolf hadn't been warning about the trap—it had been warning about the troll. The enraged troll had slaughtered both the hunters and me.
I sighed in my head, snapping out of my reverie.
I waited for the hunters to pass. There was no need to confront them. As I watched their retreating backs, my attention lingered on the black barrel they carried.
That seems like too little blood for a single troll.
Trolls stood over two meters tall, and they had massive muscles. By volume, they were at least three times the size of a human. They'd need at least a barrel large enough for two men to carry if they had fully drained a troll's blood.
That barrel is too small.
I set aside my doubts as the hunters disappeared into the distance. Even if they were hunters, they weren't skilled enough to detect me lying silently in wait.
I rose from the bushes where I had been hiding. While keeping the Detection skill active, I continued climbing for about an hour.
On one side of the path, a dark iron stake driven deep into the ground held a D-shaped trap. It wasn't my first time seeing this trap. I had personally pried it open with my own hands. The trap was connected to a small skeletal carcass.
The bones belonged to a small, four-legged animal. Its form and size made it easy to identify.
It was the wolf cub I had saved—the one with fur as white as snow. I remembered how it had growled fiercely when I approached to free it from the trap, refusing to eat even the jerky I had thrown at it, likely out of pride.
Now, it lay weathered and decayed. It seemed the hunters who had set the trap had either ignored the wolf or forgotten about it entirely.
Was its fur and meat not worth the trouble?
Thinking back, on the day the cub was caught in the trap, the same hunters who had just passed me had succeeded in their troll hunt. They were likely too preoccupied with quickly processing the troll's valuable carcass to bother with the cub.
I stared blankly at the skeletal remains bound to the trap. I felt pity. This little wolf had endured unimaginable suffering, dying in agony while tethered to the steel jaws. That same cub had barked so fervently to warn me when I freed it from the trap.
I felt a sense of responsibility. I approached it and grasped the dark metal trap with my hands...
Even though the trap's jaws were tightly clamped, I easily pried them open with both hands.
It's just a simple trap...
I gently stroked the wolf cub's skull. I carefully gathered its bones and cradled them in my arms. I decided to lay its remains to rest somewhere vast and peaceful—far from the reach of any trap.
I remembered its fur as white as snow and its beautiful, piercing blue eyes. If only I could release it once more as it had been in life. But I knew it would already be dead when it awakened beside Rena.
The moment I thought this...
The skeletal remains trembled slightly in my arms, making a faint noise.
[Skill: Lord of Bones Lv. 1 — Activate?
You may use control points to resurrect the target.
Required control points: 5
Available control points: 10]
Lord of Bones. The unique skill I had absorbed from Gith-Za-Rai allowed me to exert control over skeletons. This was my first time seeing a direct prompt to resurrect a target.
A flower petal suddenly appeared and floated in the air before settling between the tiny rib bones of the wolf cub. It landed in my palm.
Should I resurrect it? It might disturb its peace unnecessarily. But then...
[The skeletal remains of the wish to run again.
You sincerely care for this being.
Would you like to establish communion?
Communion requires double the control points.
Required control points: 10]
This skill can even detect the emotions of the deceased...
I found it remarkable. I wanted to fulfill the cub's wish if the message wasn't lying.
I gave it will. That alone was enough to activate the Lord of Bones skill.
[Control points expended!]
[Communion established]
[Control points used: 10]
The skeletal remains of the wolf cub stirred in my arms, its bones reconnecting in an organic, living motion.
The cub lightly nibbled my finger, mimicking a licking motion. It had no tongue, so biting was its substitute.
[Communion has increased Affection by 5.
Current Affection: 10
Lord of Bones skill proficiency has slightly increased.]
I carefully observed the cub. Its teeth were intact, but its ribs—numbering just over ten—looked soft and underdeveloped. I gently set it down. It stood easily on all four legs.
Its delicate tailbones wagged enthusiastically. It approached and tapped me a few times with its front paw.
Did becoming a skeleton make it more sociable?
Perhaps this behavior was influenced by the Lord of Bones skill. I was slightly surprised by its newfound friendliness.
It kept pressing my leg with its front paws. Despite its tiny frame and weightlessness, I understood what it wanted. It was asking me to follow.