In a void where no light existed, a simple soul was floating in stasis.
It had no eyes, it had no arms, it had no legs. It was something that couldn't have been considered alive if not for the fact that it didn't need a heart to beat, and blood to pump.
This pitiful soul- Arthur, was contemplating everything he had gone through in his unconscious void.
'Did I die again?' He thought.
After everything he had gone through he had truly believed his life had ended much in the same fashion as the one before. In a flurry of flames.
'Well, last time it was a tanker explosion. This time it was a freaking dragon,' Arthur chuckled to himself.
Out of everything he could die to in this new world, the first thing he died to was a spawn-camping dragon! It couldn't get more ridiculous even if he tried.
But, for now, he was staring at a single oscillating screen, fuzzing in and out of existence as if having an aneurysm.
[Please standby for a decision...]
For the past... he wasn't sure how long exactly, but for some time now, Arthur's been looking at that fuzzy image, awaiting a decision for which he had no part in.
'I'm a big boy. I can make my own decisions,' he shook his head, 'I'm not a goblin anymore. I wonder what life these so called 'Gods' will give me next.'
And so time passed by. Seemingly an eternity for Arthur, but an instant for the beings who controlled him. It was all he could do to not go insane until he saw a new light.
[Decision has been established! You are now subject to Reanimation!]
[Processing... sufficient mana levels have been achieved. Reanimation will be underway]
[Please standby for Reanimation!]
And just like that, Arthur was back in action...
__________________________
When waking up from the supposed void, Arthur's corpse flamed to life as he got up.
His bones were stringy and a blue light ignited in his sockets.
When he gained ignition of his sight, he was beholden to a massive crater surrounding his figure.
And a massive shadow looming over it...
{Mmh... interesting. You deconstructed the surroundings to recompense your resurrection. What have you done little one?}
As the gravely voice spoke to his mind, he was beholden to the sight of a most majestic being. He was staring at a luminescent white dragon with a dark ashy gem glittering from its forehead.
Arthur froze as he looked at the being in front of him.
'Is that a dragon..?' He stumbled in fright and awe.
"..."
Arthur looked at the dragon in silence.
'W-what should I do? I remember getting killed by flames, but I didn't think it was by a dragon?! Actually, now that I think about it, did the dragon just speak to me...?'
Once that though settled, he quickly shook his head like a wet dog and stood up straight.
Thinking of an answer to give, Arthur opened his jaw and tried to vocalise words for the first time in this form.
'My name is Arthur. I was reincarnated from another world and-'
{Oh, I forget you undead can't talk. Let's swiftly create a mind link for you.}
"..."
Arthur once again looked at the dragon in silence as this time he watched with some incredulity. He touched his neck as if trying to confirm something, but had no feeling.
'Wait, do I not have vocal cords? Wait, wait, wait... am I just a skeleton?' He pondered.
'The system message did say 'Reanimation' instead of 'Resurrection'. Guess it turned me into an undead to bring me back to... life? Or would this be considered unlife?,' he thought with equal parts self-mockery, and dread.
With these thoughts, he waited for this supposed mind link to connect him with the creature above him.
Because he had so many questions to ask...
After a moment, he felt a piece of string connect to his consciousness that transformed into a sort of mental vacuum that pulled against his thoughts into a sort of transmission matrix of mana.
It was an incredibly eery feeling, like someone patting his brain. But by the time the process was finished, he felt like his surface thoughts had a connection with another mind and he was able to express it.
{There, it's done. You may now speak, little one.}
The dragon spoke with some warmth as it directed Arthur on how to literally speak his mind.
'Um, my name is Arthur?'
{Mmh... Hello, Arthur. The mind link seems to be working as intended. It is a pleasure to meet you. Now I'm going to be asking you some questions, and I want you to answer as best as you can. Can you do that?}
Hearning the dragon's enquiry, Arthur nodded his head ferociously.
{Alright, now, I want you tell me what you are doing with both; the blessings of Ella and a curse of Marcisus. It is quite unprecedented that the Goddess Ella would bless an undead, which she dislikes most of all. What did you do that led to a fallout between two Gods? Especially one so bad that the God of Order has cursed you? Tell me little one?}
Immediately as Arthur nodded his head, he was hit with a barrage of questions that he was not expecting from the dragon. A dragon with a slight authoritative tone, suddenly transformed into a curious child acting like they were seeing grass for the first time.
Arthur's mind went dizzy with the questions.
He couldn't believe it. Was he really in the center of a spat between Gods?
But when he looked back on his system messages, he saw some messages were scribbled out and some with weird symbols. It looked as if something had scrubbed it out in a hurry as if to hide something.
The only thing he remembers before the message wipes was a bunch of error notifications...
'I remember there were system Error messages when I was dying. But anything afterwards is a blur.'
The Dragon groaned as it heard Arthur's answer.
{That Marcisus back at his games again. Mmh... I guess Ella must have blessed you to combat whatever curse Marcisus gave you and give you a fair shot in this world. As unsatisfying your answer is, it is sufficient enough to give me a grasp of the situation...}
Saying so, the Dragon fell into silent contemplation while rubbing its chin.
Arthur not wanting to disturb such a frightening entity, deciding to also be silent and wait until the dragon asked for something else.
As the both of them waited in silence, Arthur looked back on how he died... Again.
'I remember there was a huge fire that burned through the cave right before I died. And I also remember hearing the dragon speak before it ignited it...' He rubbed his chin as he remenesced on his short life.
As Arthur gazed upon the dragon during his rumination, a horrifying thought started to settle within his mind.
{Indeed, I am the reason behind your death. And I do apologise for that. But I could not let a necromancer become a Lich no matter what the cost could have been. Your life was inconsequential in that matter.}
The dragon spoke nonchalantly as if it couldn't care if its apology was accepted or not.
''At least its trying to be nice...' Arthur thought despondently.
Suddenly, the dragon froze in its chin scratching.
{How rude! Calling me an 'it' as if I'm some kind of animal. Did no one teach you respect young man! I swear these reincarnators...}
The dragon grinded 'its' teeth with indignation.
'Wait, did you just say 'reincarnators'? So I'm not the only one! Can you tell me more-'
{Child, if you do not be quite I will use your legs as tooth picks...}