[Personal Skill]
[6th Act]
"Howlless Night…"
Celene whispered her spell as she heard Emilohi's steps fade, walking away from the room they were staying, giving them some privacy to rest through the night.
Her word blew out a mist that spread throughout the entire room, sparkling it with magic that traps sounds inside so no one can hear any activity going on there.
"Search everything, but DON'T break any." Dov instructed.
"Understood."
With the situation cleared, the two Hunters began searching each and every item located inside the son's room. From something as simple as pins and stickers to notes and papers to books and documents to photos and mementos. Even his toys and clothes.
"Dov, look at what I found!"
After searching for quite a while, Celene called upon her mentor and he immediately turned his attention toward her.
"An [Adventurer's Badge]."
The items they searched were scattered all over the floor but neatly organized. They don't leave a single brush or taint, except those which already there in the first place. It was as if they moved everything without even touching them.
"Show it."
[Ezesinachi | Level: 62 | Race: Dark Elf | Class: Arcane Ripper (sword + staff) | Rank: Rhodium]
"His level is higher than mine… and only 1 below you." Celene felt a bit anxious seeing the number written on that ardorum-made badge. "Isn't this a bit… hard?"
"Relax Celene, he hasn't graduated from the Metal Ranks yet." Dov leisurely said. "We're Hunters. Compared to us, he knows nothing about a fight between adventurers."
"Well… I guess you're right. I remember during my Metal Ranks years, monsters were all the things that I fight." The tenseness of her body slowly disappeared.
"Go search for any artifacts or relics, we might know something from his collection."
"Roger."
When the Unknown Artisan descended into this world, He created three types of scenes for monsters to gather: dungeon, nest, and lair. The adventurers called them 'theater'.
Each of them is reinforced with restoration magic, so whenever someone finished challenging it, all the things inside will get repaired, and the monsters resurrected.
Dungeons are filled with low-tier monsters, while nests are mid-tier, and lairs are high-tier alongside dragons. Each time someone cleared them for the first time, they'll be rewarded with an artifact (for dungeons) or relic (for nests and lairs).
The difference between a relic gained from a nest compared to a lair is the number of bonus properties it possessed. Nests only have 2, while lairs have 3. These properties can help the wielder and their party to become stronger, or just ease their life in general.
Each province has 4 dungeons, 3 nests, and 2 lairs scattered in its region (the continent has 9 provinces). So by checking their artifacts and relics collection, we can see whether the said adventurer has come to this province or not, and their progression in it.
"Hmm… 36 artifacts and 7 nest relics." Dov gazed at the trophy they gathered at the center of the room.
"3 nest relics are from Lustmist, 2 from Siren Mars, 1 from Fatherwood Forest, and 1 from Quakefall Highlands." Celene reported. "Oh, and I also found this document." The lady then gave a light brown colored folder to Dov, which have a broken Adventurer's Guild seal on it.
"I see…" He thought after reading it. "So Ezesinachi was about to get graduated and serve as a Protector for the shrine (he even finished the exam as well), but the urgency he got from his father's death forced him to abandon his adventurer's life and become the next chief."
"I guess we could consider ourselves lucky—"
Celene's body suddenly froze after seeing a cold white owl perching on the room's window which was supposed to be closed right at that moment since they don't want anyone to see what they were doing.
"Hm?" Dov turned his gaze as he was curious by her sudden change. "Ahh… no wonder Celene got surprised."
However, before they could do anything, the owl fell flat to the floor and shapeshifted back to its original form.
A soft lady. Shaded in all white. Dressed in a babydoll which fully showcased her whole luscious round behind. Her silver hair was tied in a ponytail and stayed neat as she fell.
"Leyna, why are you dressed like a succubus?" Dov flatly commented.
"Ehh!? Why not? You're the only one who will see this form anyway."
The lady stood up with her pouty snow-like face. Now her ever enchanting beauty went presented before the two. Her shoulder, cleavage, armpits, and back, were all smoothly exposed as the room light clumsily slipped when it walked on top of them.
Her garter belt could be seen strapping on her thighs, as both her arms and legs got covered by long-sleeved gloves and shoes. Colors of black shaded the ribbon wrapped to her waist, along with feathers on her arms and legs.
She had a small hooded cowl surrounding her neck and a quarter of her face was hidden by a black demon mask with a pointy white horn on its forehead.
"You know her, Dov?" Celene got so confused seeing a youthful human girl dressed this lusty barging into their room.
"Yeah, she's Penn's little sis—"
Dov suddenly stopped after seeing how hard the lady fidgeted. The cheeks under her crystal cyan eyes went burning red and she kept staring at the Masked Hunter with a desperate look.
"Ah of course… let's teleported somewhere hidden." The lady then harshly nodded as Dov approached her.
"Wha— what happened!?" Celene got even more confused by the pace of their situation.
"Don't go anywhere, Celene. It won't take a minute."
White mists began to appear and densely shrouded both Dov and the lady. The room went brighter and brighter until a blink sparked. The two of them immediately perished from the sight.
"Seriously… what is happening…?" Celene got left standing there alone, fully dumbfounded.
*
But as Dov promised, before a minute could pass, beams of lights flickered at the center of the room. A blink happened once more and the two teleported back before the wolf lady.
The expression of that human was now completely changed. From the way her pink lips smiled and the way her cyan eyes curved, she looks like a very caring yet sinister nurse.
"Alright… now can I please have an explanation?" Celene got a bit mad that she was suddenly being left out.
"Sure. Why don't you introduce yourself Leyna." Dov offered.
"Okay." The lady then walked closer to Celene. "Greetings, miss Celene. I am Leyna Fälscher, codename: Snow Chameleon. I'll be your broker for the duration of your mission here, hunting the Pretender." She spoke softly with professionalism.
"Does she remind you of someone?" Dov asked the lycan.
"Yea… she gave me the same shivers." Celene got bothered by the way she smiled, even though it was painted with kindness.
"Leyna is Penn's little sister. She's also his apprentice, which is why she had his codename in hers." Dov explained.
"Sister…?" Leyna faintly mumbled. Her words were cloaked to the point none of the two could hear.
"I see…" Celene had her eyes wander around her for a while. "Although forgive my rudeness, but you don't look, you know… powerful like he was." Celene gave a piece of her mind.
"Ahh… sorry to disappoint you miss, but you can't compare an earth to a sky. Unlike him who transcends the art of shapeshifting, I can only transform into animals." Leyna doesn't seem to be offended by it. "Not to mention, human women aren't taught how to fight."
"Though you still shouldn't underestimate her. She can completely remove her presence from even from my senses." Dov added.
"Ahh… so that's why I didn't realize she came and opened the window." Celene noddingly impressed. "Alright now that's done, can the two of you tell me why you both suddenly teleported?"
"Hm? Why? Isn't that obvious?" Leyna tilted her head while staring addledly at the lycan.
"Eh?" Celene froze hearing her response.
"Leyna is a human, Celene. Being here in Lustmist, especially near the core of Shrine of Consciousness spiked her lust to the edge." Said Dov.
"So you mean… you two… that fast!?"
"Don't be too harsh on her, Celene. When you're that lusty even a flick can make it end." The masked Hunter sounded annoyed.
"Ohh, so you only pleased her— wait… then why did I need to use a pill? You can relieve her just fine!" Celene's tone went sky-high. Luckily the effect of [Howlless Night] was still intact, or else that would alert the whole neighborhood.
"Because you're a maiden, and our enemy is a vampire."
"Mai—" The lady went silent. "Ah, so that's how it is… why didn't you tell me you intended to use me?"
"*Sigh* I expected more from you, Celene." Dov walked away from the conversation. "Let's talk business, Leyna."
Celene's face burned red seeing his response.
"What intel did you bring for us?" Dov closed back the window which was opened by Leyna before.
"You've met a dark elf turned vampire today just before, right? I got news regarding that."
A cold mist blew behind the lady and slowly gathered itself into an ice chair. She then sat on it with her legs crossed while opening a black portal to her [Invetory Ring].
"Is it about why they leave a bitten maiden unattained?"
"Precisely." Leyna took out a stack of white and clean files from her portal and gave it to Dov without leaving her seat. "The vampires are aware of you helping the dark elves. They intended to send a royal scout and two guards with her to check on you tomorrow."
"Their names and details are on that files."
Hearing her, Dov began to read the files one by one, while Celene quickly moved to his back to peek and read along.
Unlike the files they received from Penn, this one is a lot more detailed with all kinds of information. Even the portrait of the vampires' faces and the description of the clothing they might wear tomorrow were written there.
Dov took a long glance when he stared at the royal scout.
"Is that why the bitter suddenly leave? Because they knew I'm coming?" Dov tried to affirm.
"Correct."
"How did he manage to receive the message?" He added a question.
"Like we have doves, vampires have bats."
"Speaking of that, why did you decide to side with the dark elves, Dov? Isn't their chief our target?" Celene questioned.
"We don't side with them. We're farming their trust." Answered Dov. "Our objective isn't to eradicate the entirety of their race, we just need to neutralize their leader."
"The less the fight the better." Added Leyna with a smile.
"Ahh… that's smart." Celene felt relieved now that her series of questions finally found their end.
"Anyway, it's better for us to sleep now. Our mission soon be held during the daytime. It'll be hard for nocturnals like us to keep our eyes opened if we stay awake."
Dov put away his bandaged sword, then took off his robe and use it as a blanket. A long breath blew. He sat and leaned his body resting to a wall.
"You know there's a bed right there, right?" Celene was confused by his act.
"I rather not sleep on the bed of someone whose life I'm about to end." Dov's voice went softer, he already set himself into sleeping mode.
"I see…"
Meanwhile,
[Lineage Skill]
"Shapeshift."
Leyna shapeshifted herself into a fluffy white cat and pleased herself to lay on top of Dov's lap. She calmly closed her eyes as if it was common for her to do this.
"Are you gonna stay with us, Leyna?" The lycan asked.
"Correct. I'll be mostly by your side till this part of your mission end." Leyna's pitch went higher now that she's a cat.
"Ohh…" Celene didn't seem too happy about it.