Chapter 3: The Phantom

How strange, how could a skeleton feel cold?  

This sudden chill startled Wade for a moment, then he saw a ghostly blue flame floating out from the corpse.  

The fire hovered right before his eyes, giving him an inexplicable sense of familiarity. He quickly recalled what that familiarity was—it was very similar to the soul fire inside a skeleton’s skull, yet somehow different.  

The soul fire of a skeleton cannot exist independently. That flame must depend on a body that matches the soul; otherwise, it will be extinguished like a candle flickering in a strong wind.  

This was something else. Wade remembered a book he had once read about the study of the undead.  

When he was still alive, there was a period when he was particularly interested in necromancy.  

In fact, he was originally not from this world. Although he had gone through many hardships later, learned new writing and language, taken on a new identity as Wade, and gradually blended into life on this land, during the first twenty years of his life, the education he received had convinced him that when a person dies, everything ends.  

But in this world, that conclusion seemed wrong. Death was not the absolute end. The soul was confirmed to exist. He was very curious about this and wanted to learn more about these secrets, so he somehow obtained several occult books to study.  

He remembered that a book titled Soul Fate wrote:  

“Phantoms are rarely seen. It is important never to treat them as continuations of the living, that is, as ‘someone after death.’  

Phantoms are the birth of a new type of spiritual entity, more like elemental spirits. To describe them, newly born phantoms are like flying fireballs. They have no clear consciousness but can at most retain a trace of obsession from their life. For example, if killed by a soldier, they will hate soldiers; if they died from illness, they may spread the same phantom pain to those who touch them.  

In their initial birth phase, phantoms do not display such ‘obsessions.’ They instinctively absorb soul power and magic power to maintain their existence. Once they accumulate enough to evolve a form, phantoms begin to express some form of consciousness. Yet, even with sufficient soul power, most phantoms dissipate within thirty days. Only one percent evolve a form within half a year, and among those formed phantoms, higher-level banshees and cursed spirits have less than a one in ten thousand chance of being born.”  

Based on Wade’s current knowledge, this must be the phantom that the dead girl had transformed into.  

“So, it’s you who is crying?”  

Wade wanted to ask this, but he was a skeleton. Skeletons have no vocal organs; even if their jaws open and close, they can only produce eerie rattling sounds.  

He couldn’t speak. All he could do was stretch out his hand and try to touch that ghostly blue light.  

Without much thought, he instinctively reached out his hand.  

If he were alive, he would never have been so reckless. But now that he was dead, he didn’t care anymore.  

His hand touched the fireball but did not absorb it like soul fire.  

It was a very special sensation. He felt an icy chill that pierced his bones, a layer of frost forming over his white bones. It was a cold so intense it could freeze even souls…  

But that was not the most remarkable thing. Something even more extraordinary happened before Wade’s eyes.  

Upon contact, the fire brightened. Its light outshone the oil lamp’s glow, filling the cramped wooden cabin with ghostly blue light.  

The flame instantly swelled into a huge fireball, larger than Wade himself, with its outer flames nearly touching the cobwebs on the ceiling.  

Wade stepped back. The bright blue flames fluttered like drifting starlight, then melted into the darkness like snow.  

It was a beautiful and mysterious scene. The flames gradually dimmed, folding inward and solidifying into a shape.  

The flame transformed into a translucent, frost-like soul.  

A very tiny soul, as small as the fabric dolls children use for pretend play. It felt as if he could pinch her whole being with one hand.  

The upper half of the soul showed some features of a girl. She wore the same sweater as the corpse, the same short hair, but frosty white in color. Her lower half was ethereal and elusive, like white mist, intangible.  

The ghost took shape, lowered her head, and covered her face with small hands, softly sobbing.  

“Wuwu, wuwu—”  

The crying was exactly the same as what Wade had just heard in his “dream.”  

Wade watched this phantom being born before him.  

He thought, if what the book said was true, then for some unknown reason, that soul seemed to have evolved a form within seconds, accomplishing what other phantoms needed half a year or longer to complete.  

He was still a bit stunned. At the moment of contact, he felt as if he was alone in an ice cellar-like cabin. His limbs were freezing, powerless, and he could barely breathe. He clearly felt death closing in.  

Was that the girl’s pain and fear?  

Wade empathized deeply. Though it lasted only briefly, it was enough to imagine how terrifying it must be to endure such suffering until death. No wonder the girl cried.  

That crying gave Wade a sense of déjà vu. He remembered other children who had cried loudly before him. What did he do then?  

Right, he reached out and gently stroked the child’s forehead.  

Wade shook off the frost from his body, extended his hand, and gently caressed the little phantom’s head.  

It felt like touching something—like water, soft yet cold.  

This was the first time Wade had experienced “touch” since becoming a skeleton. It probably wasn’t physical contact but rather his connection to a strange soul.  

This was the only way he could comfort her now. Hopefully, he wouldn’t scare her—after all, Wade was now a terrifying skeleton.  

The good news was that the phantom seemed not to fear the skeleton, but her crying did not stop because of Wade’s actions.  

She still covered her face, but as Wade’s hand gently stroked her, the crying gradually weakened.  

Truly wonderful, Wade seemed able to sense her emotions. She was slowly calming down.  

After a while, the phantom lowered her hands from her face and lifted her head under Wade’s touch.  

The speechless skeleton and the temperatureless phantom locked eyes. The phantom stared into the empty eye sockets.  

She floated softly like a dandelion blown by the wind. Wade stayed kneeling on one knee, remaining still so as not to startle her.  

Wade thought he could sense the phantom’s pain, fear, and unease. Perhaps she also glimpsed his inner feelings.  

It had been a long time since he encountered anyone who wouldn’t attack him first. He felt happy inside. He did not want conflict with this phantom he had so hardly met, who seemed capable of communication.  

He held goodwill. Under that goodwill, the phantom lowered her guard, and the distance between them grew very close.  

Wade gently stroked the phantom’s head like petting a stray kitten.  

The skeleton’s hand was cold and hard, incapable of warmth, but the phantom did not resist. However, she did not express further intimacy.  

She only tilted her head upward, looking at the skeleton’s face.  

Her eyes showed confusion and curiosity but no fear.  

Wade felt he had made a new friend. He estimated their relationship had changed from “strangers” to “friendly.”  

It was about time to change posture. Getting closer to a new friend wasn’t bad, but there were still many things he hadn’t figured out, like where exactly this place was. He wanted to look outside the cabin, so he withdrew his arm and stopped repeating his previous motion.  

But just seconds after he pulled his hand away, the little phantom suddenly slipped into Wade’s arm crook.  

She curled up between his upper and lower arm, in the bend of his elbow.  

Bone pressed against bone, enclosing this tiny translucent soul. She only showed half her head, her small eyes meeting Wade’s gaze.  

Wade felt she was like a night spirit, full of innocence, naivety, and a bit of timidity.  

Maybe she felt the snowy night was too cold—so cold that even the skeleton had warmth—and thus she nestled closer for warmth.  

She seemed completely unable to speak and was unlike a normal human. How could a normal person be so close to a skeleton?  

She probably really didn’t remember her past life, just as the book said. Phantoms were not continuations of the living but the birth of another new spiritual entity.  

He didn’t know if she felt warmer now, but while she snuggled close to Wade, he suddenly saw more things.  

These were not his own experiences but probably what the girl saw before death.  

Like an old hand-cranked projector slowly playing film reels, flickering intermittently.  

The images were clearer than the “mirror” he saw in the dream. Wade saw waving torches, iron helmets with only eyes visible, groups of men, long swords, sharp axes, and crossbows…  

It felt immersive. Heavy breathing, terrified screams, barking dogs, curses echoed in his ears…  

He could almost smell the scent of burnt charcoal and the sharp sting of blood, along with the biting cold wind.  

Those tall men set fire to houses, slaughtered men and women, and spared neither children nor elders.  

Short glimpses and moments but enough for Wade to understand what the girl had faced.  

…  

“Viking pirates, huh…”  

Wade pushed open the door and looked toward the only place with firelight.  

The deep winter of the far north was covered with white snow, the cold wind howling. Thick snow blanketed the fir trees. In the distance, fire and black smoke could be seen.  

Wade had heard rumors of Viking pirates. He once lived in Helburg in the southern continent and had never been to the northern continent, but he had indeed heard of them.  

Viking pirates were considered “world-famous,” but they were notorious.  

These people lived on islands and ice fields opposite the Ice Sea. Every spring, they repaired their longships, sharpened weapons, and bought coastal defense intelligence from merchants.  

Summer was the Viking pirates’ season of plundering and celebration. When the Ice Sea melted, they would sail down. The advantage of longships allowed them to land on shallows and even drag ships inland.  

They were like locusts; where they passed, nothing remained. They only returned in autumn with the stolen wealth.  

Winter was supposed to be the season for Viking pirate councils. Because the Ice Sea was frozen, longships couldn’t sail, so the Vikings had to return home to wait for the next year.  

The probability of Viking attacks in winter was very low; most people could sleep peacefully.  

But in very rare cases, a few extremely greedy pirates would ride sleds and use frozen rivers to attack the nearest villages.  

The girl’s village was attacked by Viking pirates.  

The girl was wounded by a pirate archer. She escaped the village in the dark, came to this cabin to treat her wounds, but helplessly met her destined death.