The sight before them made everyone unconsciously lighten their steps.
This was a long-abandoned graveyard. Dozens of crooked tombstones stood in the night like silent sentries.
This was not Blackstone Town's official cemetery. Rumor had it that, long ago, this place had been a mass grave for some unknown village, and later, a few homeless drifters had also been buried here.
As time passed, many frightening legends began to spread—women's sobs heard in the dead of night, wandering ghostly flames—but most of them were baseless nonsense.
As for someone witnessing skeleton soldiers, that was a first.
It was only just nightfall, not yet the time when skeleton soldiers might appear.
Marcus looked around and chose a slightly elevated slope beside the graveyard as the party's temporary resting place.
"Let's wait over there."
Marcus pointed. "We'll have the high ground, and it'll be easier to observe."
The four hid amid the bushes behind the slope and quietly waited for the right moment.
The night deepened, and a pallid full moon hung high overhead.
Cold moonlight spread across the earth, coating every tombstone in a silver sheen.
Perhaps because they were beside a graveyard, Zeliel felt that tonight was colder than usual. He could not help tightening his robe around himself.
In the distant woods, unknown birds gave shrill, mournful cries. A gust of chilling wind swept through without warning, making the bushes rustle. It sounded like ghosts whispering, sending a shiver down their spines.
To pass the time, Zeliel began reviewing the spell structures he had learned in his mind. Marcus polished his war blade, while Gray yawned, seeming a little sleepy.
Vales kept his eyes closed in silence, but his ears twitched from time to time as he caught every sound around them.
Before long, however, Vales let out an