Forest of Undead

"Hello, Miss Priest. You don't mind if I sit by the fire, do you?" Punk asked as politely as he could.

"If a lost lamb wishes to feel the radiance of the Lord of Dawn, it is, of course, the lamb's honor. But what do I see now? A mage unworthy of salvation. I truly hope the Dawn's radiance can help me purify this filth," the quiet priest said, her words of pity enraging Punk.

"These religious fanatics are all the same," Punk thought, not surprised by his anger. Since the destruction of the Netherese Civilization, Deities and Mages had been in a cold war. Arrogant gods could no longer tolerate mages spreading their pursuit of truth, as it would undoubtedly lead to a massive loss of followers—the foundation of their divinity. True mages, on the other hand, were largely materialists who detested the brainwashing sermons of the gods and would never believe in them. Indeed, true mages disdained even Mystra, the goddess of magic!

The female priest before Punk was a brainwashed, "pious lamb," and even worse, a devout lamb of the Lord of Dawn. Punk could feel her genuine disgust for mages, as if she were looking at flies and maggots. This was the attitude most priests had towards mages.

Punk, in turn, despised this completely brainwashed and oblivious fool. However, even though the priest's words annoyed him, he didn't want to get into a fight with this third-level priest apprentice over a few harsh words. So, Punk let out a low, cold laugh and started his own campfire a little further away.

With the aid of magic, the campfire was quickly lit. Punk heated his rations by the crackling flames, his eyes warily watching the priest who was still praying not far away.

Punk was fairly certain this priest was also looking for the Forest of Undead. Otherwise, it was hard to explain why a cleric who seemed to worship the deity daily would appear in this desolate and barren wasteland at such a "coincidental" time. Coupled with the news of an Undead that the priest believed "must be purified"... the priest's purpose in coming to the Aegma Wasteland was obvious!

Furthermore, Punk speculated that the Church of Dawn must have spies around Mage Menesif, the only Formal Level professional in Konola City. Otherwise, how would the Church have obtained information about the "Forest of Undead," which required Formal Level magic to acquire? Could it be that a formal priest from Bidland City, two provinces away from Konola City in the Central Kamos Kingdom, had performed a Divination out of boredom? (The Kamos Empire only had this one "resident" formal priest.)

Punk had no interest in Mage Menesif's "personal affairs." He just wanted to find the Forest of Undead quickly, pinpoint its spatial coordinates from afar, and be done with it. As for any covert struggles between the Church and the Mage Guild... that was beyond Punk's current capabilities.

Sitting by the warm campfire, watching the logs turn red in the flames before gradually turning to ash and scattering in the wind, Punk, after careful consideration, decided to follow the priest. The priest, who received the light-attribute divine power of the Lord of Dawn and was determined to "purify everything" for the Lord of Dawn, would undoubtedly be more sensitive to dark energies like the aura of the Undead. Her search for the Forest of Undead would be far more efficient than Punk's aimless wandering. Moreover, although mages and priests "disliked" each other to the point of mutual aversion, they at least maintained a superficial peace. Coupled with the "honorable to the point of foolishness" nature of most clerics of lawful deities... Punk tilted his head and glanced at the "holy priest." ... "What a 'generous' scout!" Punk took a small bite of the rough, unpalatable dry food, thinking to himself, "This kind of fool is much easier to use than that fox Kane..."

"It's a shame that even with all the old mage's precautions, he couldn't guard against the Church's 'bloodhounds'!" Punk was very unhappy about the Mage Guild "leaking information," as it was irresponsible towards the members carrying out missions. Although the process of selecting members for the Mage Guild was "easy and enjoyable," if they couldn't even protect information for an "Apprentice Level mission," it was inconsistent with the rigorous image and style of mages.

Punk decided that once he found a mentor, he would cast aside his useless Mage Guild membership. But that was for later; for now, he needed to focus on the task at hand!

Although he didn't know if following the priest was more efficient than wandering aimlessly, after following her in the wasteland for five days, Punk had indeed found the Forest of Undead. If he ignored the priest's perverted stares along the way, the mission trip could be considered a "complete success."

Punk's original plan was to locate the Forest of Undead, pinpoint its coordinates, and leave. But now...

The "small" Forest of Undead covered an area of about two to three square kilometers, roughly the size of two basketball courts. Only a few small trees, distorted and withered by the Undead aura, "stood" crookedly on the equally sparse and withered grassland, barely giving this "Undead wasteland" the feel of a forest.

The priest girl, ignoring everyone else, began to shout loudly, "In the name of the supreme Lord of Dawn, I—Priest Apprentice Nimia Zerailin—will purify this unholy land!"

From a distance, Punk noticed many puzzling aspects. This Forest of Undead possessed almost all the characteristics of an Undead death land, such as withered soil, pervasive death aura, and wandering Undead creatures...

However, according to Punk's deductions, human corpses transformed into skeletons should be a minority in the Forest of Undead, perhaps only including foolish merchants and their small caravans. Most should be Undead transformed from animal corpses, such as zombie dogs or ghoul rabbits. But in reality, there wasn't even a single animal Undead here. Instead, there were at least one and a half reinforced platoons of skeletons wandering around. They were undoubtedly "purebred" humans in life, and the tattered, withered armor and clothing on their bodies vaguely revealed that they were once soldiers. Some of the Undead, now reduced to withered bones, still clutched the weapons they used in life. Their mottled bones, holding weapons of uniform shape, size, and style, exuded a decaying death aura. Even though the blades were corroded by rust, they still emanated a chilling aura in the gloomy weather!

Having gathered considerable information in Konola City, Punk recognized them almost instantly. The mouths of these Undead, which occasionally gaped open with scraps of rotten flesh still attached, silently howled. They wielded Kamos Kingdom Standard Sabers and wore Kamos Kingdom Standard Armor. On the right chest plate of some of the damaged and soiled armor, the traces of the Kamos Kingdom Griffin Inscription could still be faintly seen.

Punk's eyes narrowed slightly. These Undead were almost certainly the army of the Kamos Kingdom!

Looks like there's going to be a fight again. Come collect it, and if you could give a few more recommendation tickets, that would be even better (づ●─●)づ