Chapter 56 - A very normal energy

A commotion rose up near the north western districts as many clamoured toward the explosion site. Believe it or not, the bodies of four guards did little to ease public concern.

Very intriguing.

"Alright, Jeffrey follow my lead and don't do anything stupid," Savage said to Jeffrey as he eyed a blockhouse connecting to the wall.

The plan was to get to the top of the walls through the blockhouse then jump down before fleeing into the dead of night. Usually, a big flaw in the plan would be that jumping off the 30 or so foot wall would most certainly break one's legs if not lead to instant death, there were also the numerous guards milling about to factor in as well.

However, Savage, being keenly aware of his and Jeffrey's capabilities estimated that they would be able to jump off with minimal injuries, and the guards would be a nonissue if they were sneaky about it, because as seen before, the guards in Joost were clearly very lax.

Sneaking beside the blockhouse Jeffrey nearly lost sight of Savage, which was quite ridiculous. Savage was a big fella so it should've been super easy to just follow him.

In fact, this was due to a racial trait Savage possessed. There are many examples of creatures and animals being able to detect danger and other presences nearby, especially rabbits. This is due to the passive positive energy that any and all 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 beings radiate. Key point being 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴. Savage as an undead naturally does not emit any positive energy, which all creatures are able to passively detect to certain extents. This was the reason why he was always able to sneak up on Jeffrey, despite Jeffrey having a keen presence detection. The problem lay in that while he may be able to detect even the minutest of presences, he was still only detecting positive energy, instead, Savage emits a very faint negative energy. The opposite of positive energy, or more commonly known as life and death essence respectively.

For most beings, negative energy is nigh undetectable, and much more volatile than positive energy. However, due to the unstable qualities of negative energy, much more power can be squeezed through the usage of negative energy. Reason being why undead are even able to move in the first place, as the amount of energy needed to animate them would be extreme, not something viable with positive energy.

This also means that Savage as an intelligent undead can use this amazing energy for his will, though there is a drawback to overusing it. As an undead is only kept moving through the negative energy flowing through them, if it were to be completely drained then the undead would simply cease to be. In an anticlimactic fashion at that.

This is also a popular method to quickly dispatch undead thralls en masse. By flooding them with an outburst of positive energy, the two energies will react aggressively, leading to them eating each other, dissipating both and leaving a pile of bones behind.

Nonetheless, that meant that Savage was hella sneaky despite his large frame. There were no guards outside the blockhouse, very careless. Usually, there would be, however, due to the sudden events, many were dispatched to other 'key' areas.

"Tsk, it's locked," Fiddling with the handle, the door was unsurprisingly locked. Savage had anticipated that with the guards in front of the blockhouse, he could jump them, then take their keys and enter the blockhouse.

Bringing out two pieces of wire, Savage quickly shoved them into the keyhole as he jostled the lock around. Savage with all his years of experience had, of course, picked up numerous skills and random knowledge. Lockpicking is a rather useful one he knew.

After a minute, the lock clicked, as Savage moved in silently, waving Jeffrey over. The inside of pitch black, but it was only a minor inconvenience to Jeffrey. He could still somewhat sense the location of objects in his vicinity if he focused enough, and Savage, well, he didn't have eyes in the first place.

Eventually, they found the way up onto the chemin de ronde. With this, they were only two steps away from escaping the city.

However, it would be that Lady Luck wanted them to experience the toughest way out of this place.

"Urh, what?" As soon as Savage set foot onto the walkway, someone just had to somehow walk by and then somehow trip across Savage's foot, which was barely even exposed on the side walkway.

Looking closer, Jeffrey recognised that this stranger was actually a close acquaintance.

The Hero!

Savage and the Hero made eye contact instantly, as the Hero stared absentmindedly at the enchanting blue soul fire beneath Savage's visor. That was the material manifestation of an undead's soul essence and negative energy, and it only manifested on strong undead or undead who are actively burning their negative energy.

Immediately drawing his daggers, he stabbed at the Hero, however, it was barely enough to leave even a mark on the armour. This was due to the quality of the armour as mentioned before. All items possess an innate quality, from Subpar to Deity. In between, there was Standard → Rare → Epic → Legendary → Mythic, in that ascending order.

The equipment provided to the Hero was of the Epic quality and was also layered with many enchantments, boosting effectiveness as well as personal attributes, improving his strength further than what it should have been. With that said, Savage's Standard quality daggers were unable to deal any damage, and realising his blunder, turned to knife the Hero's head.

*Puchi!*

With a quick flick of the wrist, the knife made contact, however, the recipient was not the Hero.

"ALAISS!" The Hero's scream echoed throughout the night sky as he grieved an elf he barely knew.

"YOU SCUM!" He shouted to the night sky as tears welled in his eyes.

"I'll make you pay!" he turned to glare at Savage, as he embraced the dead body. Blood staining his tunic.

Too bad that his short monologue wasn't enough to keep the fugitives in place. As the two rushed to vault over the battlements, their path was blocked by a Knight.

"Heretic, do not believe you can escape so easily," Though he was assigned to watch over the Hero, he was by no means weak. Drawing a pitch black sword he gave a preliminary slash toward the two, as he dished a sudden strike at Jeffrey, enhancing his capabilities with the night essence around him, slightly catching Jeffrey off guard.

Raising his machete, he barely blocked the strike as he was pushed back several feet.

As the Night Knight was about to follow up, he was intercepted by Lily and Savage. This attracted no small attention, considering there were still guards up here.

If they didn't sort the situation soon, then they would actually be surrounded.