Desolate World

Ace was shocked. He then asked, "Can you tell me why?"

Jordan was quiet for a second. He then looked at Ace, "Can you promise me to keep it a secret from your village?"

Ace looked at the shadow with a suspicion, but he still nodded. He said, "Okay, I promise."

Jordan sighed. He then said, "Because, we are undead."

Ace was stunned. He looked at Jordan and didn't think that he was kidding. Then he recalled the intro of the game. When he saw their race was shadow, he subconsciously thought that he had heard or read it somewhere. But, because he was too obsessed with recruiting them, and couldn't immediately remember it, he thought it was not important.

Ace sighed. It was truly unexpected to him. It was just like when you finally met someone you loved, but on the day of the wedding, your parents told you that she was your long-lost sister. Well, that was too dramatic. But it was the rough idea of how Ace felt at the moment.

Ace thought a skill or maybe it was a trait of them, that could enter the shadow was cool and powerful. If Laketown got them, it was a huge boost for the village. But, they were undead. It changed everything.

'After all, the undead are our enemy, right?' Ace sighed once more.

Then Ace looked at Jordan who was standing a little far from him. He was as if expecting something from Ace.

'Is he really an enemy?' This question suddenly appeared in his mind.

After all, they didn't try to kill each other at the moment. Could enemies talk peacefully like they had done? And if they thought that he was their enemy, they should kill him right away, when he met them under the huge tree. Actually, Ace had never felt hostility from them when he was talking with them. So, did they think he was their enemy?

Ace didn't have to be a genius to answer that. No, they didn't think that he was their enemy. Was it because they were afraid of the village behind him? 

Maybe, but then why did Jordan come here and ask all about his village, just now? to gather information about the village? but for what?

To give it to the undead as intelligence? Or, he just wanted to know if there was a chance for them to join his village?

Ace thought, he needed to confirm them to the shadow in front of him.

"Do you still want to join my village?" Ace chose to be direct.

Jordan seemed to be caught off guard with Ace's question. He didn't reply immediately. He seemed to be trying to guess Ace's intention by asking that.

He then answered, "Yes, I do. I followed you without Andrea and the others' approval. And honestly, I'm tired of being hunted by the ghosts and other undead. I want to find a place where we can live without worrying about being found out by them. 

And, you are the first person who ever offered such an invitation. Although you are a living person, I couldn't help but be tempted. I know it is ridiculous. I am even ashamed to admit it.

You can laugh, if you want."

Ace heard them carefully. But he couldn't find any indication of him lying. He could even feel his heartbeat was stable. Then he widened his eyes.

'Wait for a second! How can an undead have a heartbeat? It's too ridiculous. Or, maybe, they are misunderstanding themselves. It's too funny if it is true,' Ace thought.

Ace then asked, "Can you tell me what is undead?"

"Huh… Why? The undead are the creatures from the underworld. Don't you know it?" Jordan answered with a confused expression. Maybe he found Ace's question ridiculous.

Ace then asked, "No, I mean... I don't know how to put it. Just tell me the types of undead from the underworld. If you don't mind."

Although he didn't understand why Ace asked that, he said, "Okay. Undead are creatures that have been resurrected from living creatures. Skeletons and ghouls or you can call the idiot ones as zombies are called full undead. It was because they can be resurrected infinitely as long as their remnants were not destroyed. Because of their forced resurrection, most of them are idiots.

As for us, shadows, ghosts, and vampires, we are special undead, because we need special conditions to be transformed. 

To transform living people to be ghosts, it needs vengeful spirits. When a person dies with massive hatred or resentment, his spirit will become a ghost. Because of his massive hatred, usually, the ghost will lose himself.

To be shadow is much more difficult, you need a spirit that is still pure, then offers him the power of shadow. If he agrees, he will become a shadow. So, a shadow is needed to offer his power to the spirit for it to work.

As for being a vampire, the process is more troublesome. Vampires need to bite the living person, and have to wait for the person's body to be transformed completely. Then, the transforming person needs to accept the body of the vampire that he got. It takes a lot of time. But, at some point, usually, the transforming person will accept his condition as he will always be tortured for being thirsty for blood. And the more he drinks the blood, his mind will unconsciously accept his new status sooner or later.

Because of the process of transformation, usually only shadows and vampires that can keep their last life memory and intelligence. But, some other types of undead also have little possibility to keep their mind. Usually such special undead will rise as elite or even lord some day. But, they are really rare."

Ace nodded several times when hearing Jordan's explanation. It was such valuable information. He didn't know why he agreed to explain it. If it was him, he wouldn't answer a question that would reveal humanity's situation in such detail. He then decided to ask one more question.

"Is it normal for the undead to have heartbeats?" Ace asked. 

***