When Darius reopened his eyes, he was unsurprised to see Marasmus' bony finger still pointed at him. It meant that only a few seconds should have passed since the Stonekeeper had shot the black light into his forehead.
During this short amount of time, Gunner had obviously been startled and worried, yet had stayed where he was.
It was mostly due to the fact that he had been unable to detect any malice from Marasmus, or he'd have charged in to protect Darius by any means necessary regardless of whatever prior orders he had received!
When his master woke up again, both Gunner and Marasmus observed him with curiosity. His Branded Servant because he was wondering what had happened to him, and the Stonekeeper because he looking forward to seeing Darius' reaction to having his question answered in this particular way.
Darius wore a complicated expression he could not hide. Those memories had put him into a first-person perspective and had been extremely immersive. He had felt all the things Marasmus had experienced, had smelled the same things, and even tasted the same things.
All of this had left with him a feeling he couldn't easily describe, but his professionalism returned when he remembered that he was still in the midst of a negotiation.
Here, his decades of habit surfaced and forcibly removed all unimportant emotions from his mind as he focused on becoming the winner of this verbal duel.
Both Gunner and Marasmus noticed his pained expression which had quickly shifted to a neutral one with surprise. As for Marasmus, he chuckled and gazed at Darius provocatively.
"So, did that answer your questions about me to your satisfaction?"
Darius bowed once more with gratitude. "Yes, Lord Marasmus, your kindness in showing me these things firsthand has greatly enlightened me on what I wanted to know. I thank you for blessing me with this unique opportunity."
Marasmus couldn't help but appreciate the kind words. Most would have likened such a treatment more to a form of mental torture, yet this young lad had seemingly enjoyed living through his former life. "Continue then. You still have two questions left."
Darius pondered for a short while, using this time to digest what he had learned from Marasmus' revelation. As Darius had guessed earlier from his name, the Reaper had been born and raised in Ludo.
His life had truly been tragic, but common for people born in harsh environments, especially those in poverty. Such a thing seemed horrible and heartbreaking, but on Earth, stuff like this had happened far more than people thought.
They just lived in a different world where they wouldn't have to see or experience such things, Darius included. However, there were some important details he had noted.
Firstly, Marasmus should have died on the Gravitas continent. Unless those scientists had shipped his live body out of the lab and to an entirely different continent before killing/disposing of him... and yet he somehow ended up in Fallon.
'Does this mean that the one who reanimated and tasked Marasmus to be the Stonekeeper has the power to bring to life any target that has died even on faraway lands?' That was a chilling thought.
Secondly, assuming that had indeed been Gravitas, it raised a significant issue that had nothing to do with Marasmus, but Faust itself. Nearly 8,000 years ago, Gravitas had already possessed modern technology similar to that of Earth.
And yet, from what he had learned about the technological continent, they had not progressed much in those last 8 millennia. This might seem strange to consider, but it was a serious issue.
In a matter of 300 years, Earth had gone from using horses to having AI-driven cars when Darius had died. So for Gravitas to merely develop from the early 21st century to the early 22nd century of Earth in that much time was truly baffling.
Still, Darius decided to shelve this matter for deliberation for after he became a Journeyman.
Thirdly, Marasmus had been growing a tumor near his heart that had looked like a stone. Darius raised his head and gazed at the chest of the undead before him, seeing the First Resurrection Stone embedded exactly where the tumor had been when he had been alive, making him tremble.
After all, the possible implications of this were deep. Was it that the First Resurrection Stone was an item that had grown with Marasmus and had gained the attention of the master of the Plains of Death, thereby making him revive the fellow under himself in order to use this rare item?
Was it that baby Marasmus had been chosen to incubate the stone and only happened to die prematurely and had therefore been brought to Fallon's Plains of Death to incubate it further?
Whichever the case, Darius started to feel like Caesar hadn't randomly assigned him a Quest to make him retrieve the stone. He had initially believed the sadistic AI had simply chosen the closest thing that could make for an Impossible Quest, but now…
Darius gathered his thoughts and focused on Marasmus once more.
"My Lord, I would like to inquire as to your plans for the future." Darius asked seriously.
Marasmus had come to understand that this fellow would only ask him such personal and banal questions in order to sneakily extract information for his own purposes, so he wasn't as bothered as he had been before.
"What plans do you think an undead like me might have? None. I plan to remain here as a guard for the stone until my presence will no longer be required." The Reaper answered casually.
Darius' lips twitched. How loyal…
Still, there was a takeaway from this. Whatever the master of the Plains of Death had in mind for the Resurrection Stone, Marasmus personally would likely not be needed for it.
This made Darius wonder if his second theory about Marasmus being used as a living greenhouse for the stone was true.
Well, it was just like when he was alive, wasn't it? Even in death, the fellow was still being milked in order to safeguard this item.
"As for my final question... I would like to know why do you hover above that strange pedestal?" Darius asked with a confused expression.
Marasmus remained silent for a bit, pondering if this question was within his limits. It was half innocent and half taboo, so he was debating whether he wanted to end this questioning by answering it or make Darius go for another question.
Ultimately, his patience was wearing thin, so he decided to answer nonchalantly. "It connects to a special leyline that leads to the core of Faust in Kiel, siphoning energies to power the First Resurrection Stone."
Darius was shocked by this answer!
