Nothing of mention happened during their rest, surprisingly. Drake and Sarah talked as the teens finished their food within the hour.
Once they were done, Drake packed up the small camp.
"Alright troublemakers, get those feet moving. We're wasting daylight and ya'll are still on a schedule, three and a half days to go."
Drake pointed in the direction of the town, recalling the place from the day before.
"The town is in that direction, everyone get a move on. Sarah and I will lead, no one fights anything until after you get your quests. Especially you two, Atropos, and Clotho. I don't want either of you going over level 10 more than you have to, it will only make getting other titles more difficult and I'm honestly not sure if you both will receive your stat bonuses from your class without first ranking up fully."
Clotho and Atropos nodded.
"Sarah, take up the rear, don't go out of your way to kill anything, we want to move as quickly as possible. I'll take the front," Drake explained then grinned, "Do your best to keep up kiddos."
And with that, Drake and the rest of the group were off.
They traveled through the snow-covered forest quickly, all of the teen's stats helping them maintain a speed that would have been unimaginable before the system.
The light snowfall combined with the breaks in the clouds that allowed beams of light to pass through intermittently made for a beautiful landscape. Small radiant rainbows were produced here and there against the backdrop of the falling snow that couldn't help but be appreciated as the breathtaking sight that it was.
Drake's eyes and senses never strayed from his purpose, but even he couldn't help but smile as he took in everything around him.
He never would have guessed this was where he would end up. Sprinting through the forest at the speed of a moving vehicle without breaking a sweat, followed by teens of varying fantasy races, and even a wife of a different race on their way to pick up quests to level up then meet up or even save his family.
It was a reality he had long since accepted in the tutorial but spelling it out in his head still forced a wry chuckle from him.
Drake ran with his hands in his hoodie pouch, striding forward casually as he aimed spells at any monster that was foolish enough to come close with his eyes.
He had reached a plateau with his manipulation and skills. He felt he was on the cusp of leveling up again, but the monsters in the area -although plentiful- were unfortunately just too low level outside of the odd E-Rank.
Looking at the levels of the monsters he slew as they traveled only gave more weight to his assumptions.
I guess the world is still ramping up the monster's strength. The planet is seen as F-Rank right now if I'm remembering right. And we need to defeat two more Cardinal Beasts to upgrade the planet. But… Drake thought sighing.
"If I rush to upgrade the planet right away without more people leveling up, just what is going to happen to the planet? I might get monsters to kill and level up but everyone else would be destroyed…" he muttered, but was thrown from his thoughts as he felt a crowd of monsters in front of them.
But there was a problem.
It was inside the town they were traveling to and it was just coming into view.
"Stop," Drake said, screeching to a halt.
The rest of the group slammed on their brakes as well far more out of breath than Drake and Sah Ul' but were well enough off to give questioning looks.
"What's up?" Landin asked.
"Is there something up ahead? I don't see anything," Charlotte said, holding her spear and surveying the area.
"Monsters?" Sah Ul' asked, shouldering her obsidian ax.
"Yeah, but they're in the town," Drake grimaced.
"Inside the town? Should there not be people remaining here? Were they overrun?" Atropos asked, moving closer to Drake, as Clotho also moved to protect her from the side, his fags bared.
Quetz too moved closer to Drake, knocking an arrow out of habit, a worried chirp escaping her lips.
Kalik unsheathed his dual axes, a deep growl accompanying.
"I don't know-" Drake began but was cut off by a guttural screech that sounded like an animal in pain.
He raised his hands, his arms and back humming to life in golden light that bled through his hoodie as he prepared for what was coming.
In seconds a stampede of monsters filled their vision.
"No, not monsters," Drake said coldly.
Ghouls.
He summoned a wall of ice, covering the group in a protective barrier as the screaming deranged horde of Ghouls slammed against it harmlessly like waves breaking against rock.
"W-what is this..?" Charlotte stammered.
"Abominations… Heresy against the Mother," Kalik spat.
Drake raised his brow at that, "Abominations? They were once people, Kalik, have some compassion. If my guess is right, they were the people that stayed when I came before…" he grimaced, "I warned them but…"
Sah Ul' walked forward and placed her hand on Drake's shoulder.
"It is not the Patriarch's place to suffer for the faults of strangers. You offered them refuge and they refused, it is their fate," she comforted, "But do not fault Kalik Tu', Patriarch. In our teachings, the dead are sacred. To bring back a warrior from the eternal hunt is to damn them to a life of wandering without meaning. Many shamans of the Orc tried to bring back the dead before the Gods took us, and it only brought chaos and destruction. Dark, disgusting, and corrupted magics…"
Drake clenched his fists tighter, she was right, but that didn't make it less hard on him.
Had he pushed, or spent more time here to convince them, maybe they would have come with him.
The slamming on the clear sheet of ice almost became rhythmic after a few moments, the teens going to the edge of it to get a better look at the Ghouls. Complicated expressions on all of their faces until he heard a gasp from Charlotte and then she emptied her stomach.
Drake looked to where she was standing just a second ago and his face deepened into an intense frown.
Standing there was a child no older than four, tearing and clawing at the wall of ice. Her skin was pale and she wore a torn and tattered pink coat splattered with blood. Two braided ponytails parted her hair.
The entire mob of Ghouls continued to beat against the wall but Drake could only notice the face of the small girl as it contorted and twisted to scream, but always keeping a sliver of what looked like pain and agony to Drake.
The small girl continued to scratch and claw against the ice, lines of red forming where she struck even after her fingers had bent back, and fingernails stuck to the ice.
Drake broke from the overwhelming sound of the drumming with a flex of his aura. The area going silent.
"Enough…"
He walked forward, the Ghouls dropping to the ground and backing up shaking, a stark contrast to their single-minded frantic assault on the barrier.
"Rest in peace and suffer no more," Drake said, his voice echoing in the barrier as a crimson-red magic circle formed at his feet.
"Ignis."
The magic circle breathed to life, a white flame sparking above Drake's head and melting the barrier of ice as the warm water washed over the snow-covered surroundings.
The sound of sizzling water overpowered the grumblings and moans of the horde that was forced to fall in almost reverence of the power he was displaying with his magic and aura.
Pushing mana into the spell, the flame of pure white radiance consumed the moisture of the surroundings, but Drake's control was at the peak of F-Rank and did not harm the teens and Sah Ul'.
Drake raised his hand, the sound of the snowflakes evaporating against the heat of the spell reaching a dour finale.
"Maxima."
Almost saying the word with true sorrow the spell exploded, rushing forward into the horde of Ghouls igniting and turning them to ash instantly and without pain or suffering.
The ground around them turned from a white snow-covered wonderland into a blackened ash-filled cemetery in the flash of white fire. The town entrance was suddenly still and quiet as the snow resumed to fall as if the fight that had concluded in just a moment had never occurred.
Drake and the rest of the group stood there in silence for several breaths. The group in awe of his spell. Drake in brooding regret for not having saved them before this happened.
But once again a surprise came that they were not prepared for.
The footfalls of a single person sounded through the snow as their heads raised to look at the approaching patter of steps.
Slowly moving forward was another Ghoul, a small boy who had red lettering etched against his paling skin.
Drake moved, holding the biting and clawing boy by the shoulders.
"Not the end. Adam…" Drake read in a cold emotionless voice.
His hand shook despite himself and Drake quickly summoned a blaze of pure white fire, putting the poor boy to rest.
"Why… Why are you doing this…?" he muttered, "Why are there so many deranged people only spreading suffering and torment? Isn't the system pitting us against monsters enough?"
Drake ground his teeth, "It doesn't matter. I don't even care anymore. I'll keep my promise and once I find you, Adam…! Not even a spec of ash is going to remain!"
—------------
After using his earth magic to bury the ashes, placing a large monument of stones piled high to mark the grave. Drake took a minute to calm down, swiping away the notifications of the kills he had gotten.
Even the surprise of finishing his Ghoul quest did nothing but remind him of the melancholy task he had before him.
The teens and Sah Ul' looked at him worriedly but Drake didn't need comfort for his actions. No, he needed vindication. And the only way to achieve that was to end the undead plague that was mounting against their planet.
He had no idea where Adam was. He had no idea just how many undead there were and how many more there would be soon enough.
In less than a day, more than one hundred people had been converted to ghouls. And there was still the issue of vampires, dhampirs, and whatever else being made. Then there was his brother who was doing who knows what to even more people. The list of problems was seemingly endless.
Drake took a deep breath, motioning for the group to go forward and finish what they came for.
They took languid steps behind him, all of their faces, even Kalik's and Clotho's perpetual scowls turning thoughtful as they passed the massive gravestone.
Drake left them to their thoughts as they walked in silence, Sah Ul' stepping up to walk next to him, her presence a soothing comfort on its own.
He began tapping through his screens as they moved, eventually his eyes falling on the several bags they collected from the vampires, both the ones the teens had fought, and the several others Drake had gotten from the town earlier.
He opened them, finding monster cores, skill stones, mana coins, and more steroids. Then he found something else he hadn't earlier. Drake wasn't sure which spatial bag contained it but it didn't matter. The item itself was troubling.
[Vial of Count Blood] [F-Grade]
A vial containing a mid-tier vampire's blood.
Consuming this blood will turn the individual into a vampire.
Converted persons will be soul-bound and compelled to serve the blood donator.
Those of weaker constitutions will be turned into Ghouls.
—---------
Charlotte walked with the others with heavy steps, lamenting that she couldn't in some way help or comfort Drake after witnessing what he just did.
"Do you think those Ghouls were the reason he's pushing us so hard?" she asked, whispering to Landin.
"No idea. But that was on another level, like a zombie apocalypse," he answered back.
"What is a zombie apocalypse?" Atropos asked from behind them.
"It's like when the whole world turns into ghouls and undead. They go around biting people and infecting them to turn into more zombies," Landin explained, mimicking a biting motion.
Atropos recoiled back slightly, "That sounds awful…"
"If that group of ghouls was any indication, I think we may be in for a lot more," Charlotte said solemnly, "Those vampires are just horrible… An entire town even turning children… It isn't right. And Drake was forced to put them all to rest on his own, I wish he would at least ask us for help. Isn't that the whole reason we're doing this?" she grimaced.
"Of course, it's part of the reason, but don't jump the gun," Landin said trying to calm her, "We still have a ways to go and us getting worked up isn't going to change much right now while we're still low level. Let's just get stronger and go from there right? We have to change first before we can change the world," he said solemnly.
"It is as Landin says, Charlotte. The gap in strength to Lord Drake is just too vast at the moment. If we wish to follow him and repay his kindness we must first gain strength comparable to him. I understand your anxiousness but we can and will rise above. It is the only way to hunt properly," Atropos agreed.
Charlotte nodded reluctantly, gripping the hem of her leather armor and the shaft of her broken spear that could only be called a short spear now.
"Yeah… You're both right. Just a little longer and we'll be strong enough. A few more levels and we'll rank up and have the strength to not let something like this happen again…"
—----------
The group took its time walking through the abandoned town on their way to the system center.
Drake did his best to pretend he didn't hear the teen's conversations behind him as he walked with Sarah. He just wanted calm and silence for now, and was surprised he hadn't been assaulted by Quetz recently, or scowled at by Kalik Tu'
Maybe they've both started to change already. Quetz seems to be fine with staying close to the others now and even Kalik doesn't seem to be as grumpy and arrogant. Drake thought, putting his hands behind his head.
With absent thoughts, they eventually reached the town's center and entered the familiar-looking building.
Inside it hadn't changed and looked exactly as Drake remembered the center in the other town. A single floor, with a long stretch of counters with constructs of different races behind them.
But somehow the building felt empty despite the constructs. Like a thick air of gloom hung in the surroundings.
"Feels like this place is empty even with the constructs in here… There's no conversation or warmth. It feels just, cold," Drake muttered.
"Yeah, it's pretty creepy," Landin said, rubbing his arms, "Compared to the center in ReUnite, I feel like I could see a tumbleweed covered in snow blow past us at any moment…"
Drake gave a light scoff, even after Charlotte gave Landin a slight smack for being insensitive.
"That's true… Alright, let's see what quests are available here. We need to have you kids load up and hopefully, some of them have item rewards. We don't exactly have all the skill stones you need so the more quest items you can get the better."
Sah Ul' waited at the door, leaning against the wall with her ax doing the same as the teens all went to a different counter, speaking with the constructs.
Drake also walked up to a counter greeting the construct as he asked for a list of quests.
[Quest: Subjugate 50 Mana Bovine]
Recommended Level 1-10
Rewards: Experience, Uncommon Rarity Piece of F-Grade Equipment
[Quest: Subjugate 10 Iron Hide Bulls]
Recommended Level 10-15
Rewards: Experience, Uncommon Rarity Skill Stone of Your Choice
[Quest: Subjugate 20 Mana Wolves]
Recommended Level 1-10
Rewards: Experience
[Quest: Subjugate 10 Alpha Frost Wolves]
Recommended Level 10-15
Rewards: Experience, Uncommon Rarity F-Grade Weapon of your Choice
[Quest: Subjugate 50 Winter Tusk Mana Boars]
Recommended Level 1-10
Rewards: Experience
[Quest: Subjugate 10 Winter Tusk Alpha Boar]
Recommended Level 10-15
Rewards: Experience, Set of F-Grade Potions x10
"Bovine…? Cows? No way, is the cow level real…?" Drake laughed.