Transmigrated into the Sanctuary!?

Chapter 5. The first skill activation

Driven by anxiety, Michael jumped to his feet and grabbed the scythe and shield from next to the bed.

To say he was panicking was an understatement, as his mind kept conjuring possible scenarios after activating the Raise Skeleton skill.

First, he could summon either one or more Skeletons out of thin air or maybe the ground and scare the crap out of the sleeping old man. Also, judging from how calmly Al treated him after knowing he was a 'Wanderer,' it meant that this old man had some background. Maybe he was even a hidden bigshot!

'What if upon seeing the Skeletons, he starts blasting me with Fireballs or Ice spells!? What if he hates the undead and begins yelling to gather the villagers? I don't want to get lynched!!! Or what if I fucking summon his dead wife somehow!? That's a certain recipe for disaster!!!'

Secondly, there was also the possibility of the Skeletons acting up against his orders.

'What if the Skeletons don't obey my commands due to my lack of necromancy knowledge and automatically attack the old man? Or what if they are programmed to attack the living and start massacring the villagers? I don't want that on my conscience for the rest of my life! Not to mention that this old man's son is rich and affluent in a big city. What if he puts a bounty on my head after learning what I did here!?'

The short version was that he was most definitely overthinking things. By now, old man Al had already awakened and was looking at him with a pitying glance that made Michael almost keel over.

[Don't worry, child. You're safe. Nobody is attacking you here. I don't know what you went through to have such nightmares, but time heals everything.](Al)

"Nightmares???"

[Mhm... It's not the first time. You've been screaming in fright for the past four days when you were unconscious, making both me and that lass Martha wonder what sort of hell you went through before reaching us...](Al)

Michael drew a blank. He didn't know what answer to give to the old man's assumptions and was even more puzzled when he noticed no Skeletons in the cave.

It should've been successful because of the information he gained when activating the skill. But if it was, where are the minions?

Also, wait! He's been screaming in his sleep for the past four days!? How embarrassing!!!

"My deepest apologies for disturbing your sleep, old man..."

[Don't worry, child. At my age, I don't do much but sleep. So it never lacks in quantity!](Al)

Seeing the old man laugh so heartily, he nodded and placed down his weapons while still eying his surroundings warily. What if the skill is delayed, and the minions would pop up later?

With that thought in mind, he remained wide awake until the first rays of the morning light hit the cave, making old man Al shift under his covers. Now he was feeling both energized knowing nothing terrible happened and mentally tired from keeping his eyes peeled the entire night.

He was more confused than when a girl asked him out for the first time, not knowing that it was an option to begin with.

One vital tidbit to mention was that upon mental activation of the skill, something similar to an electric impulse would travel between his brain and what he assumed to be his soul, where this one single rune was already etched. From the looks of things, that was the rune for his Raise Skeleton skill.

'The impulse carried all possible information about the skill, and it was automatically activated even if I lacked prior knowledge of necromancy. Furthermore, it did provide me with quite the details about... OOOOOH! I see! Corpses! There are no Corpses nearby!'

According to the information imparted upon his mind when activating the skill, Necromancers have an innate connection to corpses and souls. They could use said Corpses and raise Skeletons to fight on their behalf, while the more powerful and well-versed in necromancy could even stitch corpses and souls together to form a Golem.

A Golem was much more powerful and more buffed up than the Skeletons. It also had a budding intelligence thanks to the souls used to forge it, enabling it to use specific skills. That, coupled with its high health, made it the perfect meatshield, while the Necromancer threw bone spears and other curses from behind it.

[*Cough* Well, none of us ever saw magic being performed. The only Sorcerers we've heard about are the Horadrim, but they are the elite few hidden from society. As for Necromancers, they are even rarer.](Al)

[They say that you can open the gates to the Burning Hells. Is that true?](?)

[What Burning Hells, you dumb brat! If he could do that, the world would be already gone by now. Forgive them for speaking out of turn. They're just curious as well...](Al)

"Don't worry about it, old man. I grew up in a village as well. My childhood was filled with stories and rumors to pass the time. I only hope not to disappoint you all..."

Muttering the last part to himself, Michael felt an entirely different form of stage fright, hoping not to 'underperform' because of the pressure. The children's eyes were filled with expectations, while the older folk seemed interested in finding any source of entertainment possible to pass the time.

The pit was... well... a hole filled with garbage and different animal remains. However, Michael instantly focused on some of the strange objects only he could see. They looked like heaps of fresh meat, but the weird part was that he could see them through the mountains of garbage and other things covering them as if he had an infrared vision.

'So this is the 'innate connection' to corpses the skill referred to. It feels like strings connect me to them, but I can't see them. They are there for sure, though...'

Sitting silently for a few minutes, Michael felt his mind giving up the controls, letting instincts take over.

Remembering the tall dude in the sacrificial chamber, he followed his example and beckoned with his right hand.

"Rise."

A simple vocal command that wasn't necessary. It was more the inner child in him acting up, and he felt his cheeks heating up upon remembering that some tens of people were curiously watching his actions.

Deciding to thicken his skin, he didn't turn around. Instead, he watched intently as over twenty fresher carcasses exploded in motes of red light, only to begin reforming in the next second.

The transition was fast, and in less than five seconds, four Skeletons sporting a long one-handed sword began climbing up towards his location.

Michael wondered if he would be initially scared of these creatures, but he found himself mentally connected to them, giving him a higher sense of closeness than the humans behind him. It made him understand why Necromancers seemed to be the introverted type, as whatever social bonds a regular person needs could be easily solved with the help of a Skeleton or two.

'Well, except for more complicated stuff like conversation and skinship. From what I can see, there's not a lot of skin to go around...'

The two-meter Skeletons calmly waited for orders in front of him. He stepped forward and began touching them and inspecting their bones.

He was surprised to find only a musky earth smell around them, but nothing unbearable. His hands moved to the steel sword, and he was amazed to see it was real and didn't dissipate once taken out of their hands.

'I was honestly expecting something along the lines of 'made out of energy,' but I guess the old man is right. They did seem to have used the corpses as a gateway to cross over from whatever realm they were in initially.

They require sacrifices to open... the gate to this world? Wait a moment... why does that sound very similar to what Lilith used to cross over? Is she an undead on top of being a demon? Is that why she could see or locate me in the chamber? Or is it just that she's too powerful, therefore, the result?'

Theories once more threatened to turn his brain into mush, but he was luckily brought back to reality by the gasps of the children behind him. Turning around, he saw the children with tiny stars in their eyes rather than fear.

The adults also seemed to be impressed by the tall Skeletons, some of the men making bets among each other to confirm if they could take one down in a one-on-one fight.

'It does look like I've been overthinking things. However, I have no brawn to count on in this world, so I need to use my brain as much as I possibly can if I want to survive. Nevertheless, the quest will become much easier to complete with these four strong helpers.'