Waking up, Kai looked around his room for anything out of place. His room was colder than he ever remembered, and there was this weird aura. Like someone was watching him, although Kai couldn't see anything, he knew something wasn't right.
"Where is this coming from?"
Getting dressed, Kai decided to explore the inn; maybe he could find something interesting or at least find out what this weird feeling was.
Arriving in the lobby, Kai saw the attendant was still looking down. The attendant was whispering this time, getting closer to hear what he was saying.
"Only through darkness will salvation come, escape the light. Proclaim your loyalty to princes before death comes."
"?"
'What the hell is going on with this guy?'
Just as Kai was going to leave the deranged attendant to his mumbling, he suddenly jolted up, locking eyes with Kai.
His red ruby eyes gave Kai a sinister feeling like he was looking at someone who's already passed. Someone that shouldn't exist.
"Won't you join me in praise? Come follow this lowly servant; we will show our loyalty to the seven princes. "
Closing the book on his desk, the attendant picked it up and, with his other hand, grabbed Kai's arm. Leading him down the hall where the rooms were located.
Although Kai could have escaped, he might find something useful or at least see what this weird feeling was.
"We are both servants of the princes; call me brother Floo."
'It seems he thinks I'm on his side; this could work well or completely backfire. But who are the seven princes? Is this related to what he's been reading?' Kai recalled every time he had seen Floo; he was looking down, presumably reading whatever that book was.
At the end of the hall, the two of them approached a metal door. Taking out a key from his pocket, Floo unlocked the door gesturing for Kai to go in.
If Kai didn't go first, Floo might suspect something. Even though Kai never said he was part of whatever this was.
Walking through the dark room, candles lit. With the burning candles, Kai could see a staircase descending.
Sighing, Kai went down the stairs. With Floo just behind him, Kai couldn't do anything; for the time being, he just hoped Floo wouldn't try anything.
"Hehe, soon, brother. Once the moon is high, we will commence the ritual. Hahaha, aren't you excited to serve our lords?" Floo had a big grin, showing his chipped yellow stained teeth.
'Laugh while you can.'
Despite his thoughts, Kai had to put on an act.
"Of course, brother Floo. Are we heading to the ritual now?"
Hearing 'brother Floo,' he was delighted; he actually managed to convert someone to help me serve the princes.
Nodding, "Yes, brother, I've worked hard over the months getting all the preparations."
Puffing his chest out and showing off his book, Floo was proud of what he'd done.
This didn't escape Kai's eye. With only the corner of his eye, Kai saw Floo show off his book.
'It must be where the ritual comes from or at least related to it.'
~Mmmmmm~
~Hmemmmp~
"Brother, what are those noises?"
"You'll get used to them soon. For what they are, you'll see, haha."
Kai had a bad feeling about those noises, but he couldn't press Floo anymore without drawing suspicion.
Arriving at the end of the stairs, another metal door awaited them. Moving to the side so Floo could unlock it, Kai already decided the man in front of him had gone mad. But if what he's been saying is true, it means something far worse is coming.
Unlocking the door, as Floo walked in, candles were set ablaze.
Illuminating the room, Kai saw many drawings of circles with words he'd never seen before.
'What kind of language is this?'
On top of some desks were jars and vials full of different liquids.
In the middle of the dark, the big, stone room was dozens of circles inside circles, with many different words around them.
"Amazing, isn't it. This is the ritual. Haha."
'It's something that's for sure.'
"Brother, what are these liquids?" Kai asked, pointing toward the many different vials and jars.
"My collection. Each one of them is full of different blood. And this is my greatest masterpiece. It took me a long time to learn the demon language, but it was worth every second."
'Blood? How did he get so much, and each one is different; who has yellow blood? And the 'demon language' is what these words and symbols are? This isn't as simple as I thought.'
Inside the room, the muffled sounds were louder and more frequent.
Looking toward the corner of the room, Kai saw another metal door, presumably where the noise was coming from.
"Truly impressive, my brother. Can I see what is causing the noises now?"
A glint appeared in Floo's eyes, "Yes, after all, you'll need to help me move them for the ritual."
'So that's the ritual, to sacrifice. Was Floo always this crazy, or was it after reading his book? Could someone have done a ritual in Nightmare City, or is that completely different.'
If he was dealing with a ritual that could affect an entire city, then maybe tier 3 wasn't enough.
Leading him to the door, Kai prepared himself, but even after preparing himself, his stomach still dropped.
Opening the door, he got a full view of who and what was causing the noises.
Ten, no, twenty people chained inside a cell.
From elves, dwarves, and humans to even demi-humans.
Demi-humans are a general category race. Demi-human refers to humanoid races with distinctive features. They are half human mixed with another race. For example, someone with cat ears is most likely a demi-human, a half human, half cat.
There are some exceptions. Once a beast reaches tier 5 or sometimes referred to as a pseudo-mythical beast, they gain the ability to turn into a human form or humanoid form, taking on characteristics from the race they are.
Only someone of the same tier or higher would be able to tell the difference between a demi-human and a pseudo-mythical beast in their humanoid form. Most people either don't know about the pseudo-mythical beast or realize it's extremely rare for a pseudo-mythical beast to appear, especially in a different form than its original form.
All the captives had dry blood covering their bodies, only they knew the horrors of what Floo did to them.
Their arms were bound behind their backs, chained to the floor; there was a cloth stuffed into their mouths that stopped them from taking.
Seeing the cloth stuffed in their mouths enraged Kai as he remembered what Ashen and Eric did to him.
"Haha. Collecting so many sacrifices took time. Owning an inn sure came in handy, haha. They all came to me; how could someone turn down five copper coins a night. It was a simple trap, but it brought me all the sacrifices I needed and a new brother, HAHAHA."
The sight of Floo madly laughing while looking toward the prisoner's disgusted Kai.
'If they all came to the inn, some surely were adventurers, right? How could he capture so many?'
Kai felt like he missed something important. How did no one notice missing people? Or how did no one hear them struggle when Floo went to capture them?
'He couldn't be, right?'
'{Inspect}.'
{Floo Fonglor}
{Tier 1: Level 5}
Kai's eyes slightly widened; he never thought Floo would be a tier 1.
'Now it makes sense.'
"Tonight, brother, we will sacrifice them to our lords and receive a blessing; after we're done, we'll leave this city. I know a place where we can get even better sacrifices; we'll receive an even better reward too, HAHA."
'I wonder how much he's planned. He is a level lower than me, and he's clearly gone mad, so it should be hard to kill him. The only problem is if he has any trump card, he too might have a mutated evolution or even class.'
"Yes, my brother, but what are good and bad sacrifices, so I know what to look for."
Floo nodded as if happy Kai asked, "It's good your thinking about this. The purer and more connected one is to light, the better the sacrifice. Our lords don't want us to sacrifice those connected with darkness as they are allies."
"I see. Thank you for your guidance, brother." Kai said, but he was thinking, 'Could my dagger even kill a tier 1? It is a tier 0 weapon. I'm afraid I'll have to use my claws.'
With so many witnesses, Kai didn't want to show his claws; he was still unsure if it was normal or accepted.
As he was thinking, it was like a light bulb went off in his head, 'My [Slash] skill with my dagger should be more than enough.'
Hiding his right hand behind his back, Kai quietly equipped his dagger; walking toward Floo, he put his left arm on his shoulder. Empowering his dagger with his Will, Kai gave Floo a few last words, "I must repeat myself, thank you, brother!"
Using his full strength, Kai pushed down Floo's shoulder, halting any movement; he quickly brought his dagger to Floo's neck, slicing through it.
~Shing~
~Thud~
The moment Floo's head fell onto the ground, the prisoners erupted into muffled screams.
~MmhmmmmmmM~
"Shh, it's ok." Kai quickly said to them, putting away his dagger and holding his arms up.
"I'm an adventurer, see" Kai showed the group his adventurer ID.
Seeing it, some stopped screaming, while others continued.
'This is gonna be a pain.'
Taking Floo's book, Kai walked toward the cell. Bending the metal bars, Kai walked inside the cell.
One by one, Kai ripped off the chains and took the cloth from their mouths.
While some couldn't stop thanking him, others stared in disbelief; they were free. Some couldn't even stop crying.
'That bastard even took kids.'
If Kai had to guess, about ten adventurers were among the twenty; most of them were females, which Kai found odd. While ten in total were under 15 years of age.
'What the hell should I do now?'
{Earned 400 Experience Points}
{Obtained, Floo Fonglor's Inventory}
'They don't seem to be in any condition to walk; I doubt they've eaten recently either.'
Sighing, Kai decided to report this to the Adventurer Guild; he didn't know what else he could do.
"It's ok; I'm going to the Adventurer Guild to get some help. I won't be gone long, so please calm down; I'll be right back." Kai put on the kindest smile he could to hopefully reassure everyone.
"I'll go with you."
A boy only slightly younger than Kai stepped forward. He had pitch-black hair with yellow tips. Despite his current situation, his yellow eyes were full of life.
Kai couldn't think of a reason to stop the boy from coming, so he redundantly said yes.
Leaving the inn, Kai and the boy headed toward the Adventurer Guild.