Tezariah looked at the sewer hole, thinking about something. He slowly approached the dark hole. Casting [Night Vision], [Blood Hound] and [Spectral Scout], he gazed downwards and let the spectral scout move down. saw specks of blood at the base. Following the trail of blood, it entered into a small corridor. Further into the trail, the Tezariah heard a shriek and followed it. After a few moments, his connection with the spectral scout was cut.
The sudden cut of the connection surprised Tezariah. The only things that can cause such thing where holy magic, an anti-magic ward, or worst of it, a god's relic. Holy magic was removed from the list as he felt no magic fluctuation as well as any backlash. Usually dispels from holy magic would lead to backlash, especially on dark magic.
The anti-magic ward was possible but at the same time unlikely. A anti-magic ward requires a constant supply of mana as well as a center ward which acts as a beacon. For this to occur, someone must pour magic into it continually. Mana residuals usually fill the are where an anti-magic ward is, but Tezariah did not notice any.
Of course there was a possibility the wizard erased their presence and the residual. Also he was not sure as he wasn't exactly on the spot sensing the area's mana.
Tezariah though was more sure of one thing. Combined with his conjecture a while ago and the sudden scenario, he was more inclined to believe that a god's relic was the cause. After all a god's relic is a good ward against lesser beings and specter falls under this category.
While Yuria was looking at the corpse. Tezariah went down the hole himself. After a few seconds, Yuria was calling him from above. He could tell she was shouting curses, even though he did not understood what she said as he continued to go down. After all, both love language and cursing is a universal language.
Tezariah arrived at the bottom. He casted [Six Senses], which increased his sensory sensitivity, [Mana Hearing], which allows him to "hear" mana, and [Burning Aura], which gave him protection from the pestilence aura caused by "that" god. He also casted [Night Vision] as well, as the area was dark. He was about to start walking when he heard steps coming from up the ladder. It seems Yuria steeled herself and followed him down.
Tezariah sighed and waited for her. If it weren't for the danger of infection from the pestilence aura, he wouldn't wait for Yuria. Before Yuria could step at the bottom, he secretly casted the same protections for Yuria. Walking ahead before Yuria starts to scold him, Tezariah started to follow the trail. Yuria immediately ran to follow the moment she arrived at the bottom.
After what felt like hours, they arrived at the place where the spectral scout lost connection. The smell of bile, blood and rotten flesh started to permeate. Yuria even had the urge to vomit. They continued to walked further. The once nagging Yuria has started to become nervous.
...
As he expected further down the road, Tezariah started to feel the aura of a relic. Even Yuria who doesn't have mana perception started to feel weird. Soon, the effects of the protections started to take effect. A malevolent feeling started to arise and Yuria started to shiver. Even with the protections, a god is a god after all. Their suppressive influence is stronger to mortals, especially for a high-tier god like the Horned Rat God.
The trail led to a natural cavern. It seems like someone has dug themselves from the cavern to the sewers. Inside the cavern, the strong suppressive force radiating from the relic was pulsating. Like a heartbeat, this pulsating effect amplified the suppression every beat. It took all of Yuria's tenacity to even stand up. Tezariah tapped her shoulders casting a stronger protection. Yuria felt the pressure relieved and looked at Tezariah astonished.
Slowly walking towards the relic, Tezariah was vigilant. He knew that such relics always had protectors. As an answer to what he was thinking, three kids soon emerged. Staring at each other with vigilance, both sides stood on a stand still. Yuria arrived, looking at the children curiously she was about to approach them when Tezariah stopped her.
Tezariah assessed their appearance. All of them were wearing tattered clothes. The only girl of the three had black hair with tinges of green. Her eyes were emerald green. Hold a stuffed animal that looked like a horned rat, she was happily looking at it.
On the other hand, two males were different, One had blond hair, the other was silver. The blond one was holding what looked like a fusion of a ritual knife and an assassin's blade. On his neck was a tooth necklace. On the other hand, the silver-haired child was holding some sort of mechanism. His hand was deftly tinkering it and within seconds it became a cube.
"Who are you?" Asked the one female child in the group. Yuria was about to answer when...