Ulric stood alone beneath the forest trees.
It had been two days since Ulric had met the future Hero party.
The words Frieren had said played in his mind constantly.
"Flow Naturally"
Flow
He had only tried to flow his Lich powers out to his fingertips.
He had never tried to flow the Lich powers in.
Ulric sat down, taking his shirt off.
He got into a meditative pose, one he had seen countless monks do online before.
He cleared his mind and focused on his veins.
Before he could flow, visions emerged in his mind.
Corpses scattered along the field.
Screams of Agony echoed throughout his mind.
The grass and trees slowly started to wither away.
The reflection he had seen when he was passed out drunk the other day came to mind.
A curved horn poking out the side of his head, his eyes glowed green, with his entire body having green veins, and half of his skull exposed to the world.
With these thoughts in his mind, Ulric didn't push them away, he didn't resist them.
He welcomed it.
He knew what he could become, what his future would become.
The only way to get control of his Lich powers was to accept what he would become.
He came up with a single solution.
He had to accept his fate.
His veins on his wrist glowed green before he tried to flow it further inside him.
It was thick like blood.
Hard to move.
But he didn't stop.
Not long after, veins on his forearms appeared.
The burning sensation that he felt when he first encountered the Endblume had returned.
Slowly turning the veins on his forearms green.
After what seemed like eternity...Night fell over the world.
Among the inner deep part of the forest, a green glowing Ulric sat.
His upper body was covered in green glowing veins.
Opening his eyes since he first closed them, a green glow replaced his once brown eyes.
Immediately, the temperature around him dropped.
The grass where he lay withered away.
The trees, once full of life, had started to decay.
Standing up, and checking over his body, the first thought that came to his mind.
"I'm a green glow stick, now I won't need light at night time."
He had done it.
His Lich power flowed throughout his whole body, not just his wrist.
Looking up, Ulric noticed them.
Hiding behind different trees, where small circular shaped, mist like orbs peeking behind the trees.
It wasn't just one or two.
Looking around him, he realized that he was surrounded by them.
They all had a face of terror and curiosity.
Ulric got the same feeling as when he first saw the silhouette of the kid looking into the house on his way to the tavern with Heiter.
They were souls.
Souls that refused to pass on.
They seemed attracted to him, attracted to his power.
He didn't pay them much mind after realizing they were souls.
They were utterly harmless.
What he wanted to focus on was his power.
He needed to test it on something.
While flowing his Lich powers through his body, he would get visions.
Visions of what he could possibly do in the future.
He was eager to find out.
Ulric started walking in a random direction, looking for his practice dummy.
He had been walking for hours.
The sun still hadn't risen.
In these few hours, he learned he could easily activate his Lich Powers at will.
Not wanting to decay everything around him constantly, he deactivated his Lich power.
Suddenly, a faint pressure deep inside his chest tugged at him.
"...What is that?"
It was as if a single thread inside his body was pulling him towards a certain direction.
He turned his head towards the hills to the west.
The feeling grew stronger in that direction.
He stood there for a moment.
The Lich powers running through his body's veins pulsed slightly, responding to something far away.
Then a scream carried through the wind reached his ears.
The pull on his chest grew stronger.
Ulric exhaled slowly.
"So that's what this is."
Death.
It was leading him towards death.
He adjusted the strap of his newly acquired cloak and began walking.
The forest behind him quickly disappeared, and a giant hill stood in front of him.
Quickly reaching the top, looking over it was a Village.
Smoke drifted in the night sky, as the smell of burning wood reached him from even where he was standing.
Then came the screams of the villagers.
Wooden houses and buildings were set ablaze, fire spread throughout the entire village.
Above in the night sky, Ulric could see multiple creatures with wings flying carefully above the flaming village.
He watched the scene from the top of the hill.
The strong pull in his chest vanished.
He found the source.
A smile appeared on his lips, pulling his cloak's hood over his blonde hair.
He descended the hill, making his way to the burning village.
Eager to try the Lich powers he saw in his visions.
.....
End of Chapter 7