Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

She was kept chained up in a dark cellar during the night. For most of her day, she was used as a punching bag for the raiders to train in arena matches. This was the real reason why she gained a skill like <CQC>. She lost many of her levels dying in these matches.

Sometimes they would bring her out and force her to create more wards and if she didn\'t, they would kill the survivors of the little settlement. Otherwise, the prisoners would work for the raiders. Farming food, serving them as slaves, or to ...release their more secular urges.

Evee was lucky that at least none among their oppressors had a special kind of thing for the undead. For some time, she felt like a true undead. There was no hope and she mindlessly followed the orders of her captors. Once again, she had lost many people she held dear. However, this time she had to get a grip on herself.

There were still people alive. Seeing them suffer made her realize that she could not stay like this. Evee started using the nights to scout out the Raider\'s base with her astral projection. The map, the guards, the patrolling routes and shifts. She found where her friends were held and started formulating a plan.

On the days she kept dying and creating wards she not only trained her <Witch Ward> skill and learned new wards. She also learned more about <Undying>. The skill randomly turned her into an undead race when she lacked mana for <Auto Revive>.

One night, when all preparations were done, she enacted her plan. The catalyst was her dying several times in the arena until she revived as a Ghoul Queen and managed to survive until they were done with her. This was an undead strong enough to even fight with the elite criminals.

She had realized the power of her new body and concealed it during the fights, barely surviving. Now she only needed to recover and wait for her chance.

In the night Evee broke her chains and escaped her cell. Sneakily taking out the guards on her way. She had fought all of them in the arena, she knew their habits and powers. She evaded those that were too hard and snuck into the slave barracks.

Her people were dirty and malnourished. They slept on thin blankets on the ground, but they were alive. She silently woke them one by one and explained her plan. Once they were out, they would flee and hide in a new safe zone.

While playing an obedient slave she had not just placed wards to fend off monsters, but she had also set up many that would confuse enemies and hinder their pursuers. She had also not just prepared their escape, but also prepared to collapse the current safe zone.

This was possible because of the changes in her skill level. Wards for cancelling, remote cancelling, and remote activation in an area were unlocked.

Her comrades were weak and could only follow her quite slowly, but they were not helpless. Their first destination was the armory of the raiders. Next, they plundered the pantry and loaded up on rations.

With everyone armed and fed they left the base and followed Evee through the ruined city. She had scouted their escape route with her astral projection long ago, to make sure there were no stronger monsters waiting for them outside the safe zone.

When they crossed the border, she canceled the wards that kept the raider base safe. But she did more. She activated wards that attracted monsters to the region.

There was no plan from here on out. It was just running straight and get as much space between them and the raider\'s base as possible.

An ear-shattering cry from above signalled the success of Evee\'s plan! A gargoyle screecher had been attracted and spotted the left-over guards. It summoned the whole swarm to their location. The raider base was sieged by a horde of gargoyles and their noise helped to attract even more monsters that would join the fray soon.

They hid in the distance and took a moment to watch the chaos from afar. The guards were ripped apart by the gargoyles and their screams alarmed the bandits inside. More monsters like a giant Komodo dragon was attracted from the vicinity and the giant beast broke down the ramparts and walls.

The bandits were tangled up in a sudden life-or-death battle with a monster horde and were hard-pressed for survival. With many of the beasts now attracted to the battle, Evee and the survivor were able to flee in relative peace.

They returned to their old base, where they stayed for a short time to recuperate. The defiled corpses the bandits had left to rot had turned into Zombies forcing them to end their friends themself. No beast had feasted on them or killed the zombies, thanks to Evee\'s wards.

They had not much time but did the best they could to give them a proper burial. Some may have said it was a waste of time but they could not have lived on with a clear conscience if they didn\'t do it.

After crossing the territory of a group of Drakes a few days of travel later, they thought these would be a good guard. They build a new base in the shadow of the drakes, thinking they were safe. They were wrong.

The leader of the bandits had not given up. He was even more eager to find and kill the survivors now. A week before she met Seth, he had led an army from the slums to raid their new base and kill almost everyone she knew.

Badly hurt she had fled with some others back to their old base, but they soon died from their heavy wounds and constant attacks of bandit patrols. She was left alone after watching them die and could only bury them beside their old comrades.

That was where Seth and the party had found her in the end.

She had a lot to mourn. She had lost her brother and her other relatives. Finding new friends and comrades had helped alleviate the pain. her mind had been constantly occupied. Even during her life as a slave, she was able to find a purpose and even managed to escape with the people that were left.

Here she was alone. And in her solitude, things started to fade like a dream and her mind kept wandering back to her brother. Despite everything that had happened, the loss of her brother was still the deepest scar in her heart. Before the apocalypse, she had already spent every day like a corpse.

People had kept telling her that her big brother had abandoned her. Her loving brother who had always worked late to support them both. Her warm brother who had always come home and greeted her with a wide smile. Her big brother who protected her all this time.

Was she really a burden to him? Had she held him back until he saw no other way but to run? The longer she waited for him, the stronger grew her doubt. They ate away at her heart. Without the shock from the apocalypse, she might not have found the strength to survive.

It was her bothers diary that resolved this heart demon and she was really grateful to Seth, even though she would never see her brother again. It had helped her a lot.

She had often paused while telling her tale. Goopy tears had filled her eyes again. She looked up to Seth.

"When you told me about my brother... You can\'t imagine how much it helped, getting even just a little bit of my old life back." her metallic skeleton hands hugged the diary of her brother like a stuffed animal.

Seth nodded. He didn\'t really know what to do. He had no real experience in comforting people, so he awkwardly glossed over the situation and changed the subject.

"So... do you want revenge on these guys? I wouldn\'t be opposed to raiding them once we fixed you,"

Seth had felt bad after killing those guys, but he was over it. Right now, he felt a lot better about killing them and was eager to kill even more. The reason was simple. Evee\'s story had really touched him...Yeah no, not really.

He had gotten almost 30% experience from killing these henchmen. How many levels would they gain by raiding the whole hideout? Compared to monsters, humans were a much easier target to farm experience at the moment.

"T-there are over a hundred bandits! We couldn\'t possibly..."

She planned to come back once she grew strong and take revenge. But not like this. She had never wanted to involve her benefactors in her own painful problems. She had even lied to them...

"I didn\'t ask about chances. I asked whether you want it. Do you want to take revenge and kill every last one of them?"

"Yes....please"