Chapter 36: Preparations for an album [Side]

The seemingly gentle wind carried the grey sand making the entire view ‘grainy’. Never enough to be considered a sandstorm but always enough to make ones life a living pain - though these lands were never meant to be a pleasant experience. At least it was not a place for any living being to begin even considering roaming freely around - whether an immortal cultivator or a worm.If there was one place in the {Mortal Realm} which suited the title of ‘uninhabitable’ it was these lands.Constantly changing geography. Strong unique undead far stronger than they were alive (most of the time) that all who die will become in a matter of hours at most. Incurable illness’ that the world isn’t able to label due to being too fast to kill. And, the curses. Oh boy the curses!So for these ‘small inconveniences’ among others nobody was obviously traveling through this ‘land’ which was growing but already the size of a continent. As such there were just dunes of grey sand as far as the eye could see. What was hidden under these dunes would be enough undead to make the entire realm quake in fear despite the undead under the sand being the weakest in these lands of plague.Older undead get the stronger and more intelligent become leading to the truly impressive undead wandering around - perhaps due to instinctual fear of what was above ground? Of course, if the rulers of these lands wanted they could easily awaken this disaster. Not to mention this ‘desert’ was not the only zone to be considered; it was rightfully its own continent so had plenty of space to be ‘diverse’. Each always just as dangerous.But something was different today.Not only that but someone was making it different.A small little figure in the vast emptiness of this dessert but also a tiny little figure that would be easily overlooked in a busy crowd of humans. It wasn’t just because they wore a tattered grey cloak that seemed to help them blend in with the dust they trudged through. If judged on height it was impossible for the human child to be older than 10 and this was indeed the case… For the body at least.They didn’t seem too bothered by the journey they were taking part in - despite being a journey far past what a grown & experienced adventurer could. Even those ‘other-world heroes’ who appeared every few generations were completely torn apart for thinking themselves something in this land where everything was worthless. Yet, here this boy who didn’t even begin thinking about growing hair on his chin was. Calmly walking through these lands with his arms in his pockets and gently singing to himself.“-get this commitment from any other guy~♪” <Boy> Clearly he wasn’t even trying to hide his presence yet he still made it this far; he was even about to his destination. A crater with a cavern located at the very centre. But, it wasn’t like he came straight here, rather he certainly ensured he got everything he needed. He spent his time collecting his three keys furthermore he was about to collect the fourth & final one before opening a door to a whole new realm of possibilities!Standing on the edge of this massive monument of destruction the boy couldn’t help but glance down from bellow his hood. His left hand softly lifted up to play with black threads of hair which were swept from his right to his left making a design he was not use to. Though he may be used to looking at a slightly different face in the mirror his hair had always been the same so it initially left him feeling ‘off’. “New and feels like there is something missing… But it only makes me feel as if I just got rid of a weight trying to hold me back~. It took awhile but it appears everyone has finally taken the spotlight back off me - sure I’ll be able to change that soon though~!” <Boy>Thinking of this the boy couldn’t help but smile to himself, a grin forming to his left cheek… But not right. No matter how hard he tried, the right half of his face seemed to do the opposite idea as his mouth fell down into a frown every bit as deeply sombre as his smile was high in spirit. The contrast was unsettling to say the least - the same was true for his brow. He had a solution for this which was simple. Lifting his right hand up to cover his face it would have a black stone like skull with crimson cracks inked upon the back of his hand. But despite being 'nothing but rock’  it seemed filled with malicious glee.“Certainly things aren’t working as I planned them with that little Imp but things are still working out rather well for me… Jehehe~!” <Boy>And with that, he began to slowly walk towards the crevice bellow. Heading down to the mantle of the earth… Then further down yet…He simply said one last line as his smile became even more vicious and crazed.

His voice no different.“Time to make some music~!” <Boy>