Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 55  The Tale of The Ideal Ark

A talented and adventurous man once walked on the crust of Aigas. He was bold. He fought powerful beasts and had his name included in the records of many cities as a hero, a legend, a teacher.

His exploits were bedtime stories for children of all ages, and his tales inspired young men and women to become 'true adventurers'.

Explorers.

Mercenaries.

This man was named Eobald.

He was dashing and handsome. A calm and collected character who loved to wear a flashy smile that would make women swoon and bend, tickled by his charm.

This one of the perks of having a deep understanding of mana that transcended the Foundation Stage. Well, among the common folk, it was.

After seeing that going at his adventurers all on his own, being a one-man show, was getting cumbersome, predictable, he put out a call to those with a powerful resolve to join him on his thrilling excursions.

A single piece of paper with his signature and message caused chaos to ensue as many hot-blooded youths sought to join him.

Most adventurers, mercenaries, or those aspiring to be such, were usually at Foundation Stage. Transcending past this was not quite common in most regions of the human continent.

From the thousands that responded to his call, fifteen particular individuals managed to get picked after Eobald approved of their resolve, strength and determination for what was to come.

Among these were Irlen, Denille, Reon and Benzard who didn't know each other at the time. This party grew under the leadership of Eobald. He taught them how to improve their strength, removed their weaknesses and gave them a greater appreciation of the full capabiliies of their bodies.

He also taught them his philosophy. That after his many years of being a thrill-seeking wanderer, he had discovered that all life was precious, but not all sentient things had the capacity to keep thriving. He said that through his travels, he always found the suffering to reside in the same places, nomatter where one went.

Those that died of hunger while the rich fed themselves and slept on full bellies.

Slaughter was condoned in many places without defence for those that faced it.

That a new order was needed where equality could be established and that it started with the Ideal Ark, a beacon that would indoctrinate the entire world and save it.

It was inspiring. The grand view of a man who had travelled the world.

All who heard him believed, enthralled.

In Eobald's party, the one who hungrily devoured this knowledge most, taking it to heart, and mind with so much devotion that he might as well have been aspiring to be Eobald's twin, was Benzard.

 He and Eobald became close after he was chosen to become the vice-leader of the party that became famous across the region, calling themselves the Ideal Ark.

Denille, like every other woman in the group, fell in love with Eobald's charm and ideology that promised a better tomorrow if only she followed him. However, she was the only one who managed to reach his heart, becoming his lover.

Reon who came from a powerful, stuck-up bastion of the nation - a mighty family where the heirs who awakened the sacred Imagining Technique were sentenced to decades of isolation to groom their strength to perfection - was glad to have cool, basic company and be part of something better than strict family tradition.

Irlen was a normal shield bearer who grew to be the lead tank, being especially reliable and having a loyal character.

For four years, the Ideal Ark thrived, becoming more like a crusade of endearing, battle saints as they did performed one grand deed after another.

On one expedition spearheaded by Eobald, the growing group had managed to secure two Keys that were divided between Eobald and Benzard. The former suggested using the Keys on a legacy he knew the location of immediately after their excursion.

It seemed like this was the next grand thing that the Ideal Ark would accomplish.

Yet...

It was not.

A single day proved this, when Eobald invited Benzard to his abode. After grooming him the most out of all those in the Ideal Ark, Eobald expected Benzard to understand.

He wanted to entrust something to Benzard.

He knew of Benzard's tragic past; that he was a life spared only by luck after the privilege razed everything he knew.

Such a man, who now sought strength and fairness above all else...

He exposed his affiliation and who he truly was first.

Surely that, coupled with his idolisation of Eobald. Surely... he would understand.

Eobald began by coming clean.

He exposed his affiliation and who he truly was first.

Perhaps, that would earn Benzard's trust first before he explained what he aimed to do.

The risks involved.

Who he would be defying.

Unfortunately, it did no go as he planned.

Eobald watched as trust burned away from Benzard eyes just when he thought it was safe to speak.

He was enraged.

He was furious.

He had tried to hear the rest of the story, with the urgency with which Eobald told it, but....

The Green Neolists? The necromancers that constantly killed thousands every year?! The notorious organisation whose origin was unknown and whose activity dreaded throughout all the nation?

That was what Benzard had been invited to?

And what was this... Eobald was actually tasked with finding something that would allow the Green Neolists to Slaughter more people?

No.

Benzard didn't wait to hear everything else.

All this time....

The deception....

Benzard was ready to cut Eobald down, but he was outnumbered. He opted to escape instead, with what he knew.

He told it all to his fellow Ideal Ark members.

If the treachery had come from anyone else, it might have been very hard to believe... but coming from Benzard....

It took time... but eventually, even Denille, broken most of all, was forced to believe it.

All this then culminated into a confrontation which led to Eobald being forced into a corner after being besieged by his entire group.

...And it was only when he was cornered that revealed it.

The sword he used... didn't mark him as a swordsman.

Eobald's class was...

Necromancer.

With it, he slaughtered hundreds from the group he built from the ground up until only a few of the strongest remained. These few pursued him into the Tremur Forest.

And that was when he and Benzard cursed each other for the final time... before he fled with the Arcane Teleportation Scroll.

Benzard had had to summon inhumane spirit to resolve himself to killing Eobald.

All those years together...

They might have been a lie, but Benzard still felt a twang of pain when he saw Eobald's dead body.

There were unresolved feelings.

No closure.

The efforts of a certain fake-faced man made sure of that.

Yet, Benzard no longer cared. He had merely wanted the Key that Eobald possessed so that he could get the 'weapon' that could aid him and the remnants of the Ideal Ark in fighting off the horrifying plan that the Green Neolists intended.

Yes.

Only a legacy would do.

***

Benzard faced the two who refused to assist him and wore a scrunched up expression. Even after all that they had seen. After all they had learned, they still...

"Hypocrites..." he muttered. "I'm trying to fight against the problem that Eobald propagated and all you can say is 'you're tired' and start demeaning me when I'm the one who fucking saved you the trouble of having to discover that we were on the wrong path before it was too late?!"

"So what?! He... told me that he wanted a better world! I believed him! He truly cared and he was genuine! We forced his hand! That's why everyone died... that's why..." Denille said with a broken voice.

Benzard's eyes flared with a hot and bright flash of lightning.

"Piss off! You turned into an idiot the day you believed everything he said! Just like me! The difference is, I woke up from it, because I never lost sight of myself!"

Reon slid over to stand before Denille with a pained expression. He then glared at Benzard. Irlen stared at the confrontation with a complicated expression.

"I never would have thought that you, who were the smartest among us would justify this? Why did you stand by and fight with me if this is how you felt?" bellowed Benzard, his face turning red.

"I never cared about all that. About Eobald and his philosophy. I was only happy to be part of a family that didn't have some messed tradition just because I awakened a rare power. I was willing to fight Eobald because I hoped... we would still be the Ideal Ark after this, but... this is all that's left. So yes... I'm tired," Reon said with a soft, yet deep voice.

Denille pushed him away and pointed at Benzard angrily as she exploded:

"You...! A least we actually cared about this family. We had attachments that we believed in and would never give up so easily on, but you... all you've been thinking about is that damned legacy instead of anything else! We are grieving! I don't want to do this! Eobald was right! At least he truly wanted things to change... maybe... but you... you're obsessed with nothing but strength... admit it!"

Benzard's eyes sparked dangerously.

"That's right. I'm obsessed with strength. I've always been. But unlike a pretty bag of roses like you or a prodigy from a famous family, I grew up in the worst place a 12 year old boy could ever grow up in."

"I sought strength because I wanted to free myself. None of you fools know the true evils that humanity can resort too. Even wolves will look pretty by comparison. Unlike you, I came into this knowing that life isn't some pretty ideal where you fight and kill monsters while the world sings your praises all the damn time. That's why I believed Eobald more than every fucking one of you!"

"I believed that what I had experienced in my youth would be a thing of the past when Eobald actualised his plan, but look at us now...!"

An expression and tone that was unbecoming of the calm Benzard normally exuded surfaced.

Benzard's presence became even more intimidating as he took a single step forward, which made Denille shrink and back away.

"Now I don't give a damn about your sentiments. You can cry and regret all you want after we are done with this. You can quit for all I care, but right now, you're going to get your asses RIGHT THERE, and pump every last bit of mana you have to keep that man alive! Or so help me, I'll send you to Eobald..."

There was crippling silence afterwards as the argument drew to a close. All that was left was to oblige.