[A/N: Long chap incoming! Good day guys, since the main story has officially begun, please support it. Any form of support is good enough. Powerstones. Golden Tickets. Gifts]
Seth groaned on his bed. His body refused to stand up, but he knew it was something he had to do.
Looking at the evening clouds from his window, Seth wondered. "How long have I been asleep?"
He didn't want a repeat of last time, so he quickly jumped out of his bed and went into his bathroom. It didn't take him up to ten minutes to finish cleaning his body. He slipped into the same set of clothes and headed for his door.
His body tensed in this getup despite being used to it, and the footwear made clanking sounds that were enough to attract unwanted attention.
"Ahh, that reminds me. I need another set of clothes. I can't keep wearing the armour suit beneath the cloak. It is uncomfortable."
Seth put on the headpiece given to him by Darla before opening his room door. This time, he didn't require the young lady's help. He could still remember the process of cleaning.
✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤
Five hours later…
Seth hid in the tavern's corner, on the ground floor of the inn. It only took him two hours to finish cleaning. He spent the rest of the time watching the customers roll into the inn and converse with themselves. Some of them were too loud, so he could pick up bits of information from them.
"Rhazien, I didn't think you would stay down here for hours?" Darla walked up to him and said.
She had just finished serving a table. A brief break wouldn't hurt.
Seth looked at her and flashed a smile. "Darla. I figured that a change of routine would be nice. Staying cooped up in my room is never too good."
"Hehe, at least you figured that out." Darla chuckled. During the past two days, Seth was always in his room. He never attempted to familiarize himself with the lifestyle of the town.
Darla became concerned as she noticed something. "Are you okay? You look peaky."
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just hungry." Seth replied in a reassuring tone.
He failed to mention the true cause of his sickly appearance. 'I'm just hungry for blood.'
'I really need to do something about my predicament.' Seth internally sighed.
If things went on like this, he would become a mummy before he knew it.
Seth was about to speak to Darla when a customer called her. She left immediately, leaving Seth all to himself.
Suddenly, a body flew past him and crashed into a table. Splinters of wood exploded in all directions. Seth was quick to evade them, even the tiniest of them that were hard to see with the normal human eyes.
He laid low on the ground and waited for something else to take place.
An adventurer walked with raging steps towards the broken table. He grabbed the perpetrator by the neck and growled, "F*cking repeat what you said! I dare you!"
Not wasting any time with his words, the adventurer curled his fist and bashed the perpetrator's head with it. Blood dripped from the perpetrator's nose, but the adventurer didn't stop.
The force of his punch was heavy. Every time he punched, a ring of airburst would cloud around his arms. The floor would creak as loud as a mouse's squeak.
"F*cking repeat yourself, I tell you!" The adventurer barked violently.
His fist was now stained with blood. Most of the splashes travelled around the room. They made an artistic mess that an abstract art painter could only value.
The adventurer went in for another punch when he felt a grip on his arm.
He turned back and roared, "What is it?"
The person holding him back smiled gently. "I don't think he can speak, mate. Why don't you chill for a second?"
"Oh… Oh… sorry!" The adventurer finally came to his senses as he stared at his bloodied fist.
He looked at the man he assaulted. The man's face was barely recognizable, but the adventurer stared straight into his eyes and his face twitched in anger. Alas, the adventurer controlled his anger this time and let go of the man's neck.
"Mate, why don't y—"
The inn owner finally intervened. She threw a stick at the adventurer and yelled, "Take those two c*nts out of my inn. I don't want to see their faces here ever again. If they can't obey f*cking rules, then they can have fun elsewhere!"
She constantly threw items at the adventurer and the unconscious body beside him. Seth could have sworn he saw the glint of a knife in the air amongst the flung items.
'This inn owner is too much of a gangster.' Beads of sweat rolled down Seth's skin as he swore to never cross her.
The adventurer picked up the man beside him and scuttled away instantly. His anger seemed to have dispersed the moment he heard the inn lady's tigress voice.
After the two left, murmurs filled the inn. Everyone was talking about what had just occurred. Meanwhile, Darla appeared with a broom and swept the splinters of wood.
She muttered, "Another table gone."
Clearly, she was used to fights like this. In a popular inn, physical conflicts were always expected to pop up occasionally.
After she was done with the clean-up, she hid at the corner of the inn beside Seth. The view from this angle was marvellous. They could hear almost every conversation from here.
It was quiet between the two for a minute until Seth spoke up. "What was the fight about?"
Darla smiled, already expecting this question from the immensely curious Seth.
"Gerald and Ferman hate each other. I always wondered when this hate would spark a physical brawl. I guess today is that day. There has been a rumour circulating around. It is causing discord everywhere." Her smile quickly shifted into a frown as she spoke.
She lowered her voice as she continued, "A bunch of adventurers spotted the Stygian Knights of Avonia on their way to Cravel."
Seth bent his head with curiosity. "The Stygian Knights?"
"Oh, I forgot you are new here. The Stygian Knights are the hounds of the Ravening King. I knew that the troops of Avonia have begun a campaign on Ryithh's soil in the past year, but I never thought it would progress to this stage… where even the Stygian Knights would be summoned here."
Avonia was one of the strongest kingdoms in the Realm of Lycroft. Even before Rhazien died, he had heard tales of their conquest. It wasn't easy for tales of other realms to cross over into his realm. That just spoke heights of how influential the kingdom of Avonia was.
Avonia was situated on a neighbouring continent called Lyenta. The entire continent was submissive to their might. For them to move their troops all the way here could only be considered disturbing.
Avonia only pursued two things. Elves and Conquest. They harboured extreme prejudice against elves. Seth heard their troops decimated a tribe because they helped elves. They hung the bodies of the tribesmen on the gate of the tribe and allowed demonic beasts to feast on them.
'Ahh, just when I was feeling settled, this happened. I wonder what the campaign's aim is.' Seth could feel a headache coming his way.
He could now understand why Darla gave him a strange look.
"It is not safe here, right?" Seth asked.
"The Town of Cravel is hostile to elves. We conduct slave markets and sell elves as slaves. I don't know any reason why the Stygian Knights would come here except to seek an alliance."
It wasn't that Darla was extremely perceptive. The situation was just that simple. Even Seth had to agree with her conclusion.
He shook his head in an attempt to forget this piece of news.
"So, why did the two adventurers fight?"
"Heh, Ferman supports Avonia. He believes they will bring change to this continent. On the other hand, Gerald thinks they want to rule the continent. He is concerned about their vile hands," told Darla.
Seth thought to himself, 'It's been five hundred years since the Eternal Night. If they wanted to conquer Ryithh, they would have done it since. There is more to this campaign.'
"Darla, I'm going out. It's high time I look around."
"I understand. Be careful."
Seth stood up after a lot of thinking. He solemnly walked out of the inn and joined the closest street.
The nightlife of the town differed from what he saw in the inn. The streets were akin to a desert. There was no sign of life, only the lonely moonlight that touched the empty space.
"I need to feed." Seth decided.
Occasionally, he would come across a few humans, but they were not the right prey. He reckoned that his prey had to be inconspicuous. No one would raise an alarm if they went missing… just if.
Seth smacked his head as he continued walking. "Look at me, thinking about murder. Have I truly changed?"
First, when he merged with Rhazien, the psychological changes were faint as his mind was exceedingly compatible with Rhazien. However, after he gained [Negative Soul], he found his emotions numb. The only thing stopping him from truly becoming cold was his passionate emotions as Seth.
"I prefer to call this adapting," Seth concluded.
He soon found his way to a dark alley. The green in his eyes brightened when he noticed a shadow following him. The owner of the shadow did not know that he had already caught his presence.
Seth reduced his pace as he buried himself in the dark parts of the alley.
"Kekekeke. I don't know if you are foolish or not. Judging by your secretive appearance, I bet you are carrying goodies." A jeering voice sounded from behind him.
Seth smirked. "Oh, yes. I am."
"Kukukuku. Give them to me and I will spare your life."
A cold blade grazed his neck and trickled blood from his skin. The attacker revealed himself behind Seth with one hand holding the dagger that now threatened Seth's neck.
If anyone else was here, they would think Seth was in danger, but how could they possibly fathom that Seth allowed himself to be in this state?
How could they imagine he was the predator, not the prey?