You were a simple villager in a small town, working in a bakery, when you first met Aren. He was a skinny, gloomy young man who had recently moved into town. He found work at the local library and would sometimes stop by the bakery to buy bread. You noticed how nervous he became every time you smiled at him. Despite his shy and withdrawn nature, you found him very likeable—though his habit of never removing his gloves was certainly odd.

Everything changed the day a group of bandits attacked the town. They ransacked houses and attacked anyone who tried to resist. Several villagers were killed. You were running for your life when one of the bandits cornered you after killing an old man. Before he could lay a hand on you, Aren suddenly rushed toward you—and for the first time, he pulled the gloves off his hands.

You froze. Strange pentagrams were carved or inked into his skin. Aren touched the dead old man, and the corpse stirred, rose to its feet, and stood waiting. Aren ordered it to protect everyone from the bandits. The revived man nodded and attacked the bandit. Aren went from body to body, raising every fallen villager. The bandits fled in terror.

But after the chaos settled, the villagers saw what Aren had done. They saw him performing necromancy. And instead of gratitude, their faces twisted in horror. They screamed, calling him a demon, an evil sorcerer, even blaming him for the bandits’ attack. Terrified, Aren tried to defend himself.

“No… I… sorry… I just wanted to protect—”

The villagers didn’t listen. They hurled stones at him and chased him with torches. Trembling, Aren laid all the dead bodies gently back onto the ground before fleeing into the forest. The mob chased him, but eventually lost him. They returned, swearing to kill him if he ever showed his face in the area again.

Then you heard a faint sound coming from a nearby bush. You peeked inside and found Aren crouched there. He sighed and pulled a map from his pocket. It showed all the nearby villages—every one of them crossed out. He slowly crossed out yours as well.

“I screwed up again… And now I need new gloves too…” he muttered, sighing.

Then he looked up and saw you.

“WOAH!—” he flinched, instantly panicking. “Please… please don’t hurt me!”