[A/N : Clean edits have been made]
'So, Camp Lostvale is actually a sanctuary. One that will be amiable to travellers that find themselves in the same predicament as I.' Seth ruminated while walking down the street.
The quest was used as a device to move the travellers to a safe place. This further reaffirmed Seth's theory about tutorial quests.
"Hmmm… what is this smell?"
Seth's sensitive nose picked up a familiar scent, but it was heavily mixed with something strange; the scent of blood. He instantly recognized the familiar scent as that of Raina, the thief.
"Hehehe, now I'm curious."
A quick check wouldn't spoil the day.
Instead of going straight down the street towards the Adventure Outpost, Seth turned to an alley, which he used to cross into another street.
The scent he followed was visual. Red and orange mist wafted in the air, dancing like a leaf detached from its tree. It led a trail towards god-knows-where, and Seth followed it.
Half an hour concluded when Seth finally stopped at a large closed building. The smell of blood assaulted his nose. It was sickening… too thick and material. Seth almost lost control of his vampiric self, but inflicting pain on himself still regulated his logical side.
'There is no doubt. This is the place!'
It was an easy guess.
The large assembly of humans that crowded the building was his first clue. They littered around, whispering to themselves as they held onto each other in fear.
"This is horrible. Who would slaughter an entire group in such a fashion?"
"You didn't hear. This was no ordinary group. The people that used to live here regularly held a slave market in it. "
"That's not all. Have you checked inside? The bodies were branded with a strange symbol. I have heard about it before. Do you think it's the—"
"Oh blessed moon! The Blade of Demise struck again. I should have known he would target Cravel this time around. This mad lad needs to be stopped, always protecting elves as if they are worth saving."
"Yes, he is the shame of humanity. I pray that his fate is crueller than his victims."
Rains of curses were thrown at this gory figure. It was at this point that Seth decided to squeeze through the crowd and have a look at the corpses in the building.
It was a tough task, especially with the hood over his face, but Seth managed. He infiltrated the building, which held a lesser portion of the crowd and finally spotted the dead bodies piled up to form a pyramid.
The formation was unique and well thought out. The perpetrator probably wanted to spread a message.
"Hmm… is that…?"
Seth saw the brand that the whispering crowd mentioned. These symbols were fixed on the bodies' foreheads, a sign of shame. It could be considered a semantic character, but Seth knew of no language that possesses this character. But then again, he barely knew any language.
His language repertoire consisted of regular Artun and evil-tongue. Artun was a universal language that was understandable by any sentient mind. It was the common language used in the nine realms, particularly Lycroft. Meanwhile, evil-tongue was the language of demons that was adopted by the people of Tascar. All demonic-affiliated beings used this language.
However, this symbol didn't belong to the two languages.
"It releases a low vibration that is hard to pick on. I can barely hear it but this vibration is in rhythm, forming a sort of melodic sound below the spectrum of the regular sense of hearing… wait, isn't this familiar?" Seth whispered.
In the span of a minute, Seth dug into his memories as Rhazien and searched rampantly for something particular. He soon found the memory in question.
'Of course, it's familiar. It's a f*cking rune! Whoever this blade of demise is, he is damn vengeful to cast a rune on his victims.'
According to his memories, only runes fit the description of the symbol. Runes were also akin to languages, but they were a primordial language that overshadowed the force of Mana.
"I need to get going. I have seen all there is to see."
.
.
.
.
Seth rejoined the route leading to Adventure Outpost, but he still couldn't get his mind off the recent event.
'What does this mean? That Raina is somehow involved with the blade of demise. It will be dangerous to hunt her down like I originally planned. F*ck!'
Arriving at the outpost, Seth pushed the wooden door open. He attracted the attention of the adventurers there. They were casually conversing with each other at their respectful tables, but when he came in…. It was all eyes on him.
Facing this attention, Seth composed himself and addressed. "Good day, brave adventurers. I bear a message for Caleb."
His excellent speech brought down the guards of the adventurers. They pointed at a certain table which held four adventurers.
Seth bowed as a sign of appreciation. He moved on to the table and spoke, "Bless–"
Before he could finish speaking, one of the adventurers grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the surroundings. The adventurer was so fast that Seth suddenly found himself in a closed room.
"Ah, sh*t! What is this now?" He rasped in a weary tone.
"I expected you to come sooner, but you just had to pick a bad timing." A familiar voice responded to him.
"It's you… f*cking b*tch!"
Seth couldn't control the curses that flowed out of his mouth as soon as he saw the adventurer. It was the adventurer, Raina! The thief that took his money.
"Hey, f*ck you too. And where is your gentleman's demeanour? I guess it was a facade." Raina released him.
Her hands blurred at an insane speed. In the next moment, a sword appeared... pressed against his throat.
"What is this?" Seth asked.
"Well, you can't be careless when dealing with a vampire. Now that you are here, I have questions for you."
Seth flashed a sly smile. "And why would I answer?"
Immediately, the sword brightened with a coral glow. Seth could see a strange energy radiating from the blade of the sword. The radiation pierced his skin, making him uncomfortable. He felt himself becoming sick and weak under this radiation.
"The curse of vampires. So, it is this powerful." Seth whispered to himself.
This was his first time experiencing the magical energy called Mana!
Seth said, "You really know about vampires, huh. What do you want?"
He finally understood he was not in control of this situation. A mana blade was more than capable of threatening his life. Although it could not kill him, it could make him wish he was dead.