"Rise and shine, dearest companion!" Ash shouted to his always-hooded servant who was lying on a mattress, which had been laid out on the floor of their room.

The young elf appeared strangely happy, compared to how he usually acted, and his servant seemed to notice. Ash however, didn't seem to care that he was breaking character.

"I am ready to serve... Master..." Said Zennereth, as he rose to his feet."

Since he was one of the undead, the lich never slept. It merely closed its eyes, every now and then, trying to remember the needs from its past life. Trying to feel alive, once again, despite the futility of such wants.

The two dark beings, who were residing in an otherwise quite ordinary room at the Golden Goose, had agreed to explore the town of Roughensburg. Zennereth had heard of a certain place, and the two had agreed to go there. In fact, the young elf had almost immediately jumped on the opportunity to explore the town he had only heard about from travelers, and had as such agreed to follow his servant around town for the day. Both of them knew that there were more pressing matters to attend to, with the upcoming feast in mind, but had still decided to go along with the idea.

"Are you ready to head out?" Ash asked, whilst pointing to the world outside their window.

The two of them then headed out, shortly after. Only one of them knew where they were going, while the other expectantly followed the hooded lich. They passed streets and squares, never stopping until they reached the gates that led to the lower-class district. Still not questioning Zennereth's intentions, Ash followed his servant, while admiring the beauty of Roughensburg.

'Maybe this town isn't so bad, after all?' The young elf thought to himself, as a smile, albeit a small one, appeared on his face.

Ash called for the lich to stop speeding away, so that he could get some food at a food-stand, which was located just down the street that led from the middle-class district's gates.

"I'm gonna go grab a bite to eat. Wait here for a moment, alright?" He said while walking toward the small wooden stand at which he was going to get some food.

All kinds of smells radiated from the various dishes, which were being sold at the otherwise poorly-constructed stand. Ash could see that a man and his daughter were tending to a small, portable furnace in which they were preparing a great many meats to be sold.

Many people were standing in line, waiting to get some of the deliciously-smelling food. They all appeared content in that moment, and just like that; for a few seconds, Ash felt his contempt for the world go away. In fact, it had been called to sleep for a while. It have been because of the strange, carefree atmosphere that hung around Groundwater City. It may have been because of the people who lived in the cottages, which appeared to be of high enough quality. But above all, it had to be the way honest people seemed to be able to get by.

Never before had the young elf seen a town in which so many people got along. Even though he and Zennereth had had a run-in with some of the guards, Ash couldn't help but to feel that the guards had been in their good right to try to apprehend them. Unlike in Elcrada, at Ash's previous master's mansion, or even at the Church had he seen such fairness towards commoners. A place where the rights of the people were upheld.

Since entering town, the young elf hadn't seen a single slave being forcibly driven onward by cruel masters. Actually, Ash hadn't even seen a slave in Roughensburg. That too contributed towards his goodwill for the town.

'I like this place. I might want to stay here, after all. Maybe I can build a life here and-'

"Sir! Sir, are you looking to buy anything?" Asked the little girl, who was gently pulling the distracted elf's sleeve.

From the looks of it, it would seem as if the young elf had been standing around, while obstructing the line.

"I'm sorry, could you perhaps choose something for me? It all looks delicious, so I can't really decide." Ash said, mostly to avoid having to make a decision for himself.

The young elf found himself largely distracted by the abnormality of his current train of thought. Never before had he regarded humans as creatures he could potentially live with; maybe even befriend.

He shook his head, hoping that it would clear up his mind, but to no avail. He continued to think in the same, strange, and mellow way he had been thinking all day. It was unnerving, but not so bad, thought the young elf to himself. His eyes once again turned to the small girl, who was doing her best to prepare a sandwich of some kind.

Food usually never interested Ash, but as he looked at the meat, which was glistening with salty fat, the bread, which had been steamed to a point where small droplets of water was visible on its milky-white surface; he realized that he truly desired the food before him. It wasn't some fancy noble's meal, nor was it gourmet food, by any means. It was a salted piece of meat between two steamed buns. Nothing more, nothing less.

With shaking hands, the young elf received the meal from the smiling young girl and her father, who had already started preparing more food for the other customers.

Ash hastily returned to Zennereth's side. The lich looked uncomfortable, being in the presence of so many of the living. The young elf could understand his servant's concern, although he wasn't feeling it himself, even though he technically should be. He knew the feeling of having to hide, because of belonging to a certain minority. It was a horrible feeling to suffer, so out of pity for the hooded lich, Ash signaled for them to continue their walk.

The two of them were walking in silence, only disturbed by the occasional chewing sounds that came from Ash, who was slowly eating the delicious treat from the stand. They kept walking and walking, until they reached an area, which reminded the young elf of the poor part of Elcrada.

The houses looked shabby, the streets were littered with trash, and there was a distinct lack of people upon said streets. This part of town could easily lead one to think that Roughensburg was a ghost town.

Ash wasnt very fond of humans, but he couldnt help but to feel bad for the people who had to live under such poor conditions.

'I suppose even the lower-class district has an under-class.' Ash thought to himself.

Zennereth, who was leading the way, turned around to look at his master, who was walking a few steps behind him.

"Here we are... This is what I wanted... To show you..." He said, pointing toward something behind him

He was standing in front of a plain concrete wall, which looked surprisingly well maintained, compared to the rest of the poor part of town. In the wall, there was a large dent, which functioned as a small room in which there was a staircase that seemingly led directly into the ground. The staircase was so inconspicuously placed that if Zennereth hadnt shown it to Ash, he wouldnt have noticed it at all.

The young elf looked around. He wasnt sure what to make of it all. He decided to start walking down the stairs, where he was almost immediately met with a cold, damp, and almost sticky gust of wind. Ash could smell the putrid remains of throwaway food, trash, and dead animals, which had been dumped along the way down the stairs.

Many times did the elf feel like throwing up, while he was descending the cold, hard stairs, but fortunately he managed not to do so. However, when he reached the bottom of the stairway, he felt sickened and weak.

Footsteps could be heard behind Ash, and soon after, Zennereth appeared by his masters side. The lich lent the weakened elf his shoulder, allowing the two of them to make their way through the cold, damp tunnel, they found themselves in. Every step they took brought them closer and closer to the source of whatever festering mess awaited them further ahead.

"Just a bit more... We're almost there..." Zennereth assured the young elf, who was on the verge of collapsing.

The lich would most likely be close to collapsing too, if he had had a sense of smell. Unfortunately, or well, fortunately, the lich had no functioning nose, and as such, no sense of smell.

"Why are you- why are you taking me here?" Ash asked, while trying his hardest not to puke out his intestines.

He didn't know why; he had seen death, chaos, and destruction, yet this smell was hurting him in ways he couldn't possibly describe. It was as if some unknown, rotting mass of flesh was repeatedly being smeared across his face, causing his eyes to swell, his stomach to ache, and his throat to fill with bile. Ash's body was almost rejecting itself, as the festering air filled the young elf's lungs, choking him with its almost putrefying, solid substance.

The young elf dropped the treat he had bought before, at the stand. It suddenly tasted like the rotten filth that polluted the air in the tunnel.

Ash hadn't actually taken a moment to look around. He had been so preoccupied with keeping the food in his stomach that he had forgotten to do so. The young elf turned his head, slowly, because he was feeling bad.

The tunnel looked like a sewer, except there was no water flowing through it. Instead, the festering remains of food, pets, and other such nasty things, were sprawled across the stone bricks that made up the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. Actually, there was no ceiling, since the tunnel was curved in such a way that the two walls met, and became a curved ceiling.

"Zennereth, answer me! Where are you taking me?" Ash shouted, as well as he could in his condition.

Still not answering, the lich kept walking through the seemingly endless tunnel. Zennereth didn't even stop to look at his master, who was clearly hurt every time he took a breath.

"Answer me, servant!" The young elf shouted, this time more forceful than before.

Finally, Zennereth looked at Ash, who was now relying completely on the hooded being's strength in order to move his body.

"I'm taking you to... A place where you must learn... You have neglected to train, and I... Wish to see you become the... Strongest magician to ever traverse the... Mortal plane..." The lich finally responded, after a while.

"You're not ordering me around." The young elf firmly said.

He tried to push himself away from the lich, but had to be reckoned with the fact that he still couldn't stand very well. The sickening sensation was slowly going away, yet the smell remained as it had always been. Disgusting.

After a while, the young elf gave up on trying to stand, and returned to rest on Zennreth's shoulder, which was the same height as Ash's head. The young elf hadn't thought about it before, but his servant was extraordinarily tall. At least fifty centimeters taller than he, himself, was.

"At least tell me what you're going to show me. I'll go along with your idea, if you explain why we're here."

Once again, Zennereth resorted to not answering. Instead, he coated his right hand in Negative Energy.

"What are you-" The young elf began, but was interrupted by a sudden warp in the air around him.

Suddenly, he found himself at the end of the tunnel, a large room, with the lich at his side. Zennereth had apparently used some high-level spell to move them from one place to another.

Ash found spells like that extremely useful, although he couldn't use similar magic, himself.

"We're... Here..." Zennereth said, and let go of Ash, who fell to the ground as a result.

The young elf was initially going to complain loudly, but was so appalled of what towered before him. It was something so appalling that it couldn't be described with words, much like the smell from before, which clearly came from what he was looking at.

Ash finally threw up.

Before him towered a veritable mountain of the putrid remains of what appeared to be people. In fact, it was too much to call them people, for they had decomposed to such a degree that they weren't even recognizable as that. Maggot-infested, they laid there; bare for all to see. Bones were visible here and there, adding to the hell-like image of pure depravity. The pile of corpses had to be at least three meters tall, and there had to be at least five hundred dead people in it.

"What is this..?" The terrified elf gasped.

His face was one of pure disgust and disbelief; who would allow such a thing to happen to so many people?

Zennereth coolly walked up to the pile, and gently moved one of the dead, revealing what appeared to be shackles around its wrists.

"I think you know... What these people were... In life..." The lich said, as he picked up a severed ear, which was lying on the ground.

It was longer, pointier, and more well-shaped than that of a normal human. It was an elf's ear. Ash knew what he was looking at. And it enraged him to an unspeakable degree, tearing down whatever barrier had laid around his mind during the day. He had remembered why he was fighting; why he had returned.

"So this is why there are no slaves here..." Ash said, strangely calm, seeing as his mental state was one of pure hatred for the people who had done away with the poor elves in the festering pile of death.

"You are half-right... These ones could no longer perform their duties as slaves... So they were done away with... The rest of them are likely still in the... Citadel..." The lich whispered, sounding as cold as ever.

The former turned his gaze to the corpses of his kinsmen, well-knowing of the fact that he could have been among them, had he stayed a slave. The stench of death increased more and more, as he moved closer to the repulsive, festering pile of dead elves.

"What do you feel... Master?" Asked Zennereth.

The young elf knew exactly what he felt, in that moment. A spark had been ignited within the depths of his heart; the heart that had been given a second chance, unlike the poor souls'. They were lying on the ground. Dead. They had had no honour in life, neither had they had closure in death. They had been killed for the way they were born; not for whatever misdeeds they had committed in life. Their reality had been one of prejudice, oppression, and fear from the moment they had been conceived.

"I feel hatred. Strong hatred." Responded the young elf, who was kneeling by his dead kinsmen's side. His voice was trembling with anger and sadness.

The lich nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer it had received.

"Then let it out... Let the energy flow from your body..." Zennereth said, gesturing toward the entirety of the room.

Ash looked up at the tall, robed figure before him. He was unsure of what his servant was asking of him.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked, as he rose from his kneeling position.

Zennereth let out a chilling laugh, surprising the young elf greatly, seeing as that was the first time the lich had shown a genuine emotion.

"Stop controlling it... Let it control you..."

And almost as the dark being had said so, Ash did exactly what he had been asked to. He finally, after all his years alive, stopped repressing the immense amount of dark emotions he kept hidden from the world. He had assumed it would feel horrible to let himself get consumed by the darkness, but to his surprise, it didn't. In fact, it felt great. It felt fantastic.

A laugh escaped the elf, as he felt a part of the madness within him leave his soul. And with the long-awaited absence of the dark cloud that had shrouded his world in a mist of despair gone, he could breathe again. The air tasted great, as it entered his lunges.

Darkness slowly started to rise from the former slave's body, slowly spreading to the farthest corners of the room, which was already dark enough as it was.

The mist, which was the word that best described the darkness, became denser and denser, until making out the finer details of the damp room became rather difficult. However, as minutes passed, it slowly dissipated.

Except it wasnt dissipating. It was being absorbed by the dead, who were strewn across the floor. Although, in reality, that wasn't true at all. What was actually happening was far stranger.

"You wanted the power... To defeat your enemies... To destroy the nobles of this world... To crush the Church underfoot..." Zennereth began.

The lich walked up to the young elf, who was still unmoving; who was still seething with the dark energy, which continuously burrowed itself into the flesh of the dead; filled them with the corrupt desires, the hatred, and the pain that emanated from the stagnant elf.

"You wanted the means to get... What you want... You're so close to... Having that..."

Zennereth placed his hand on Ash's shoulder; moved his face closer to that of his master, who was still in a complete stasis.

A faint smile had spread across the scarred elf's face. He felt relieved; he felt good; he felt free, a feeling he had never truly felt before. In the past, he had always been controlled by something. The people around him, his previous slave masters, and even the Church. But not any more.

The lich's bony features, or lack thereof, were plainly visible, as it watched the young elf realize those things. One could almost see the smile on its non-existent lips.

"Now control them again... Control your rampant emotions -- bend them to your will, like you will your enemies..." Whispered Zennereth.

Ash's face twisted and contorted, as he tried his hardest to bring himself out of the state of euphoria, which he found himself in. It was hard. The young elf had finally broken free, become happy and careless, but now he would have to go back.

The former slave looked at the dead slaves, who were still absorbing the black mist that flowed from his body. His resolve instantly became as firm as steel. He was going to take revenge. He was going to avenge the dead.

Just like that, the young elf brought the raging mist, his raging emotions, under control. He put them on a tight leash, like a beastmaster would with one of his fearsome, yet trusty, beasts. Everything was going to be as it once was. Except it wasn't. Ash could still feel the power coursing through every fiber of his being, filling his blood vessels to such a degree that it felt like it could overflow at any time.

A new smile slowly replaced the faded one, which had covered Ash's face. This smile wasn't one of happiness, nor was it one of sincerity, and God forbid purity. This was a smile of malice, and one filled with the desire to hurt those who had wronged him. A truly evil smile.

Ash backed away from Zennereth, placing himself right in front the festering pile of putrid slaves. He raised his hands, filled his lungs with air, before firmly uttering a single word that would change the life of every Roughensburg citizen.

A word filled so filled with power, it could be felt in one's bones. Hate, so strong it resembled seething poison, dripping from every syllable of the word. And lastly, resolve, so firm it could make even the hardiest of men bend the knee.

"Rise."