Saintess Summons Skeletons

Chapter 64: Cursed lands

So I feed you armor. Only the chestplate. And you become permanently that resilient, and despite being so small you protect my whole body, thats it?

Exactly!

What if Im cold? You dont exactly cover a lot.

Feed me a coat, Im a very adaptable piece of clothing, yes.

And last question, if you had so many owners before, why are you so afraid of these? Shouldnt you be full of incredible armor already? What could a tiny mithril coated blade possibly do to you?

Ah, well You know how I have been starving It isnt optimal for the conservation of my imprints, let us say. I had to consume them for sustenance. I am currently as tough as the shirt you fed me.

I just put you on then?

Yes, please. Truth be told, I am uneasy without a wearer. I apologize for my behavior until now. Towards you too, nau- yellow breather!

You think its really asleep? Sofia asked in a whisper.

Looks like it.

Does it feel different than normal clothes?

The wearing an object thats alive part? Or the being practically naked part?

First one.

Cant tell the difference, except I keep feeling like itll slip up or down but it doesnt. And I know you didnt ask but it feels quite breezy. Its easy to move around while wearing it at least, for obvious reasons, but I dont feel all that protected Especially visually speaking.

Well, unlike me you dont really have anything to be ashamed of.

What in gods name could you possibly be ashamed of exactly? Do you still feel like youre not tall enough or something?

... To each their own I guess

Alright lets open the boxes and get out of this place already.

Well, theyre all yours.

Alith opened the lid of the first box. Inside was a single purple bean stuck in a corner.

Want me to identify it? Sofia suggested.

No need, comes with a message, wait Ill share them.

Sofia could read the message as Alith kept going.

[Congratulations! D rank draw! You won : Night vision pill(10min)*1]

The messages kept coming one after the other as Alith opened all the boxes in quick succession. Aliths first impression on each one came along with it.

[Congratulations ! C rank draw! You won : Minor Health pill (+500)*1]

Okay, nice.

[Congratulations ! E rank draw! You won : Stylish glasses*1]

What? They dont even have actual glasses, it's just empty frames! What a scam.

[Congratulations ! C rank draw! You won : Minor Strength pill (+500)*1]

Strength is an actual stat?

[Congratulations ! A rank draw! You won : Analysis scroll*1]

Ill need you to identify this one.

[Congratulations ! D rank draw! You won : Underwater breathing pill (10min)*1]

Why not I guess.

[Congratulations ! D rank draw! You won : Relaxation pill (10min)*1]

This one she didnt comment on and just ate straight up along with the strength and health pills.

[Congratulations ! SS rank draw! You won : Selector ticket(Forgotten relics)*1]

Hey its many S like my blessing, gotta be good! Need you to identify this one too.

[Congratulations ! B rank draw! You won : Bestiary illustrated series (Slimes)*1]

And a book I guess, whatever.

Was this worth the equivalent of 900 skill levels? Sofia asked.

Dont think so, honestly, though the ticket thing and the scroll could make up for the rest.

Alright let me identify all that.

[Analysis scroll] : This scroll provides a single use of the [Identify] skill at maximum level with added system commentary.

Item level : 100. Grade : Flawless.

Restriction : user must be Alith. Soulbound.

Im sure well find a good use for it at some point, Sofia commented, scratching her head.

Or we never use it for fear of wasting the opportunity? Well see, but I dont intend on keeping it forever Ill tell you what.

[Forgotten relic selector ticket] : This selector ticket can be redeemed for a compass leading to a Forgotten grade relic of your chosen type, as long as it exists on this planet. It provides no help in retrieving the relic besides showing the optimal path to reach it.

Item level : 100. Grade : Flawless.

Restriction : user must be Alith. Soulbound.

And then this. Could turn out well, if it ends up being easy to get and a strong magical item, Sofia said.

Yeah and could be another scam, what if the thing is deep under the ocean or something?

Well you got that one underwater breathing pill

Wait, wasnt the Zangdar ring Forgotten grade too?

Yes it was.

Alith played with the ring she was still wearing, Maybe I should ask for another ring?

A skill scroll could also turn out good, Sofia added, Or straight up ask for a valuable treasure?

What if I get armor? If I ask for a good chestplate to feed this thing? Sounds like a decent plan.

Its your ticket.

Lets go for that then! Onwards to the legendary armors, give me an incredibly strong chestplate that isn't too far, ticket! Any size is fine!

The rectangular white piece of paper labeled Forgotten Relics disappeared from Aliths grasp. A small wooden compass landed on the table with a thud. Its wooden needle was spinning in all directions, and then it brutally stopped. Alith looked at the compass then at the direction it pointed at, then back at Sofia.

So about your plan to check out Skyreach again

Thatll wait, I'm not so sure it's safe anyway, even with wings... Lets go find your rusty armor, dont care if you can't die, Id still rather not have to see it Hey, different subject but now that I think about it You never used [Maidens shriek], no?

Oh, so you noticed too. Ive never stopped saying my class was terrible. But well, I couldn't transform in the locked city, and I didnt want to incapacitate Zarrow and the crew when we fought the Siren. So when would I have used it exactly?

Well, maybe now youll get a chance.

Sofia had a guess that they were somewhere in the northern parts of the human continent. The problem was, the compass pointed straight north, and she had no idea what was up there. Only that the human civilization didn't extend that way for one reason or another. Still, it would be faster to go there and check than to go back south and gather information. And Sofia was still more preoccupied by getting stronger than quenching her curiosity. She tried her best not to think about it too much. She somewhat had her hopes up that they had completely given up, since it had been so quiet, but she dreaded getting summoned by the Church again.

So Sofia flew north, Alith could fly along in ghost form but she was slower so she ended up going for a warm nap inside the sand pendant instead, it had been a while since she could enjoy that. Besides, she was still wearing her pajama pants, as she had nothing else.

Flying through the mana currents was exhilarating. Especially now that she had some amount of training, going as fast as she could in the air was incredible. She didnt want to say it, but this was even better than summoning skeletons.

Speaking of which, since Pareth still had no bones to call home, or rather body, she had tried using the skeletons from [Graveyard of the righteous]. Unsurprisingly this did not work, and even if it would have, it turned out these skeletons didnt even have legs. Unpractical. Of course there was always the option to grab any random animal, Pareth had already been a rat after all, but now it just felt wrong.

As Sofia kept going forward she observed the surroundings. It was eerily quiet. Despite the vibrant forests and valleys, animals were few and far between. And there were few signs of human life to be seen, bar some dilapidated ruins and old overgrown paths. It felt like a forbidden land. Like a place where only plants had the right to strive. She even passed the ruins of a castle, or so she thought, as it was hard to tell under the masses of verdant vegetation.

Everything was covered in wild plants and moss. Rocks, rivers, trees, everything.

Sofia kept flying north. She was thankful that she didnt have to go on foot. It might even be impossible. The plants were so prolific, at some points it was hard to see anything else but the sea of greenery. The only other sight was the rare snow covered mountain top that escaped the rampant growths. Sofia pushed forward, the vegetation lost its overbearing quality after a while, and the land looked normal again, though still unnaturally quiet.

The temperature was rising as she progressed up north, by the time she found something, it already felt like a scorching summer day. Her new clothes helped her stay cool but Alith had a hard time when she got out to check the compass. Which didn't even make sense considering her supposed immunity to heat. I guess it's in her head. The needle was still pointing north.

Finally she spotted two things on the horizon, firstly what looked to be a human village, and beyond it, endless expanses of red sand.

The peculiar village was in a valley right at the border of the desert, lodged between two small rocky hills. Before landing on the hills nearby, Sofia flew up as high as she could, trying to spot something, anything, other than red sand further north. To no avail. It was all barren red dunes, as far as the eye could see.