The corpses are lining

Hoa laid on her bed in her dark room, feeling annoyed. “I shouldn’t have drunk that last bottle of juice… Damn it,” she muttered, standing up from the bed and making her way towards the toilet.

Opening the door, she looked at the dimly lit corridor in the Mansion. She didn’t see anyone, but a strange feeling filled her heart. The area she was in was the part where the Lord lived, along with her. Every important discussion happened at this part of the mansion and there was only one way to get in. A thick door and three guards.

Normally, there were only two guards at the front door and one at the aforementioned door. But her employer, Gautama had guests this time and he was dealing with some shady business. He told her almost everything, but she didn’t even see the guests this time. Her Lord’s secrecy intrigued her even more.

“This is so cold~” she talked to herself, feeling the cold tiles under her feet. Using some fire attributed Mana, she comforted herself. But as she neared the door on her right, a dreadful feeling started to fill her heart. Listening to her instincts, she used her Sense. She sensed not only the presences of people but even the shapes of their bodies.

Sensing that all of them had some kind of wound at their vitals, she realized that her night would turn troublesome. What made it even worse was that most of them were walking around as if nothing bad happened. They seem to suck in Mana to keep their bodies strengthened and moving. Their cells are being nurtured in the same manner. But those holes in their hearts, throats and other such places…

This must be Necromancy. Damn it, what have I gotten myself into by going to the toilet? She thought with a frown on her face.

“Why are there walking corpses in our yard? What happened to the guards?” she questioned the air, trying to pick up on the presence of the intruder. But even after trying five times, she couldn’t sense anyone. Looking at the slightly opened door, she walked closer and stuck out her head through the gap.

There were patches of blood on the ground, recoloring the white tiles to dark red. The disgusting smell of burned hair and blood mixed together filled the corridor. Pinching her nose, she pulled her head back.

“I’ll notify Gautama. This must be dealt with carefully since I have no idea what his plans are” she mumbled, making her way towards Gautama’s bedroom.

---

Hearing her last words, Elena and Dred were sure that she left. When she went further away, they slipped out of the mansion and entered the next one. After making a few more zombies, they then commanded them to go to the city and attack any adult they see. Seeing that there were a few hours left from the night, they attacked a few weaker gangs with their newfound strength, adding to the number of walking corpses.

“It’s around 6 a.m. Let’s go to bed. I’m quite tired after staying up for so long…” Elena said in a dark alleyway. Agreeing with her, Dred nodded his head and took the lead. Although many guards were notified, it was still dark, so nothing big happened. They had no problems escaping the normal guards’ senses.

Without anyone noticing, she followed Dred into their room, finding Audrey sitting in the middle of the bed, meditating. Not minding her, she got onto the bed and laid down in the corner, while Dred stayed on the ground this time. Although it wasn’t as comfy as a bed, his standards weren’t high since his fur provided him with a good enough place anywhere. Closing their eyes, both of them fall asleep in a few seconds.

Audrey stopped rotating her Mana and opened her eyes, about to talk, only to realize that both of them were sleeping. Falling asleep instantly… what the hell were they doing to get this tired? Well, I can question them when they wake up too. It’s best if I continue my training until then, she thought, shaking her head, a strange smile forming on her face upon seeing Elena’s peaceful expression.

“You must have had some kind of talk with Dred. You seemed to be troubled in these last few days. I guess I won’t have to find my chance to talk to you about your problems,” she muttered, caressing her face one last time before going back to training.

Hearing her voice, Dred woke up for a moment before falling back asleep, with a feeling of comfort in his heart. It’s not just me who is liking you as you are, it seems, he thought.

---

Elena woke up a few hours later. Sitting up on the bed, her long, black hair fell down on her shoulder, sprawling out on the bed. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned loudly. “We should cut your hair,” a female voice resounded in the room.

“Ah, leave me be, Audrey. It’s not that long yet and it’s not annoying thanks to my race. I can just turn it into a shadow when I’m fighting. In fact, I don’t even need the shampoo we produce since my hair won’t turn greasy. I’ll take a nap before your questions,” Elena replied, pushing her face into the soft pillow under her head.

Audrey was sitting on a chair, in the middle of the room, her right leg crossed over the left, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Raising a brow, she waited for a few seconds, thinking that Elena was just joking. Hearing her breathing turn stable, she realized that she really meant her words.

“I’ll tell you everything in her place,” Dred said as he sat up on the ground, swaying his tail.

“Can I touch it?” Audrey asked, her eyes following the tip of his tail.

“I’m not a cat for fuck’s sake. You can’t just pet me! Do you want me to bite you?” Dred replied, his voice conveying his anger.

“Yet you let Elena do anything with you?” Audrey asked, raising a brow.

“W-Well, she is a different case,” he muttered, turning his head to the side.

Seeing that he wouldn’t budge, Audrey ignored their short conversation and got to the point. As Dred told everything to her, she had a surprised face on the whole time. “You’ve had your adventure, it seems. And the fact that it’s good that I wasn’t there saddens me. Hoa could have caught me since my stealth isn’t as good as yours. Especially not as yours,” she said, her head hung.

“Why the long face? Do you even realize the possibilities you have opened up for us up till now? There will be times when you can’t follow us and even I’ll have to go alone since I can hide even better than Elena. But that won’t make her useless-” Dred tried to soothe her, misunderstanding her words.

“Wait, wait. I’m not sad over that. It’s obvious, haha. Don’t you dare think that I don’t know even this much! I was just sad over the fact that my stealth is shitty compared to yours. I’ll need a spell that can hide my presence even better. The way we have been using Cosmological Constant is great. But if somebody had some clues about this element, even if we split Mana Cells to put us into a different space, he or she will notice it.”

“I just realized that even such a good hiding skill has weak points. I’ll have to upgrade it so that it won’t have any!” she decided in herself.

Dred continued to look at her with his mouth slightly open. After a few seconds of staring, he nodded his head, “You are amazing. We need people like you,” he praised her.

“You sounded like some kind of agent…” she replied with a chuckle.

“Are we waiting for somebody or something to happen?” Audrey asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Firstly, I’ll explain these things to Jake. It would be useful if he knew about the oath too. Well, it came in handy since his acting was believable this way. He thought that he would die if he broke his oath,” Dred laughed upon thinking that far.

“Anyway, once I’m done with explaining everything to him, I’ll be back here. We are waiting for the guards to connect the dots and come to us. Once news spread some more, somebody will definitely report our group for being suspicious. People can’t be ignorant enough to not do it.”

Nodding her head, Audrey closed her eyes and started to meditate. Dred came back a few minutes later, Jake behind him. “You guys are having a separate room and here I am, staying alone. It’s really lonely…” he grumbled as he closed the door behind him.

“What’s happening?” he asked with a frown on his face, seeing Audrey sitting in the middle of the room.

“Haha, just ignore it. She was ready for some serious questionnaire, but I told her everything. I guess she forgot to sit on the bed instead,” Dred laughed upon hearing his question.

“I can hear you crystal clear, but don’t mind me. Keep chatting about me,” she said, furrowing her brows, her eyes still closed. Without even looking at anyone, Jake sat down on the ground beside Audrey, his left shoulder touching her thigh.

Elena raised her head and turned to her side, her right hand under her head. She kept looking back and forth between Audrey and Jake before asking, “Did you get anywhere?”

“Who?” both Audrey and Jake asked at the same time.

“Haha, isn’t it obvious? Well, it is not my business so you don’t have to say anything,” she said with a chuckle upon hearing their synchronized reply.

“They seem to be closer to each other. I guess they had a good talk,” Dred joined in on the fun.

“We can’t deny that, can we?” Jake asked, grinning from ear to ear, looking up at Audrey. The girl in question only chuckled as a smile formed on her face.

“Suspicious,” Elena muttered.

Seeing that nobody said anything, Elena brought up a topic, that still felt strange to Audrey and Jake. “Since all of us are here, it’s time to share our blood and knowledge, don’t you think?”

“Is that so?” Audrey asked, opening her eyes to look at her friend.

“Yes, come here or I’ll go~” she replied, almost singing.

“I won’t go. I don’t know what came to me at that time. I won’t drink your blood unless it is necessary. I’m not a vampire! The thought of drinking blood in larger amount is disgusting! Licking my wounds is fine, but… No!” Audrey refused to do anything of the sort, shaking her head vehemently.

“I’ll do it in that case,” Elena said as she appeared behind her. Pulling Audrey’s blouse and bra strap sideways, she leaned forward and bit into her bare shoulders.

“I’m always surprised how I don’t feel anything. Does your race have some kind of poison on their teeth?” Audrey asked, wiping her shoulder with her hand. But she was surprised to see that her wound was still opened unlike at other times.

“Jake, it’s your turn. Stop gazing at her breasts. You will bore a hole into them this way,” Elena ignored Audrey’s question and interrupted Jake. Since Elena pulled Audrey’s blouse to the side, he was able to peek through the unbuttoned part of her cloth in his sitting position and see more than what could be called appropriate.

“Huh? Wait, no! I wasn’t-”

“Move already or do you want her to bleed to the death?” Elena urged him, seeing that Audrey’s blood was starting to overspill.

“R-right…” Jake stuttered upon realizing what he was about to do. He didn’t drink anyone’s blood yet and the thought of it felt quite disgusting to him as a human from the past. But he believed that it wouldn’t be terrible.

“I’ll do it now,” he stated his intention, asking for permission from Audrey. Seeing that she didn’t say anything, he slowly put his lips on her shoulder. Opening his jaws, he sucked out a mouthful of blood before moving back.

“Let me seal it for you~” Elena said as she gave a kiss on Audrey’s shoulder and the wound closed in the next second. “What was it like?” she asked, looking at Jake.

“It’s terrible to know that it wasn’t bad, actually…” he replied, gulping down Audrey’s blood. Her knowledge about her spells filled his mind.

“You knew such things? Now I feel stupid…” Jake muttered as new concepts formed in his mind, which he had to unfold in the future if he wanted to use them.

“You still didn’t reply to my question,” Audrey pressed on, looking at Elena with her brows raised.

“Haha, it’s nothing much. The truth is that we are nothing like Vampires. If you were to drink a human’s blood, you would be disgusted. It works only among creatures, who are blood-related to me or Dred. But there are no such people other than you two. As long as we drink each other’s blood, it will be tasteless, odorless, and wounds caused by our teeth will heal quickly.” Elena explained everything, asking, “Are you happy now?”

“I am. But then why did you kiss my shoulder?” Audrey asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Well, that was for the fun. Look at him,” Elena chuckled, pointing at Jake. Turning to her right, Audrey saw a mesmerized look on his face.

“Why are you fantasizing about perverted things? I’m not lesbian…” Audrey rebuked him, flicking his forehead.

“What? But it was fun,” he laughed, feeling happy to see her simple reaction.

Biting her own finger, Elena stuck it into Audrey’s mouth. The latter gulped in surprise, earning Elena’s in-depth knowledge about Shadow Bacteria and Spellsteal. “That still looked erotic,” Jake mumbled, squatting beside them.

“Sure,” Elena replied, wiping spit covered finger into her simple, black skirt.

“You really let go of yourself today. A skirt and a vest. Aren’t you waiting for the guards? Do you want to seduce them or what?” Audrey frowned upon seeing her showing so much skin.

“No, but it is easy to move around in this and I can just change my clothes when they arrive. It doesn’t take even a second for me. Also, there is nobody other than us here and if Jake’s eyes are wandering at the wrong place, he isn’t worthy of you. But hey, he has been looking at you all this time!” Elena replied, giving Jake a thumbs up.

A smile formed on his face as he did the same, thinking, Nice job, Elena! But I didn’t know that I was being tested by her… I must be careful in the future. It’s good that I didn’t dare to look at her after being threatened by Dred so many times. Even now… I bet that he is looking at me! Hii! He does! What’s with those murderous eyes?

“Haha, I really would like to know what is going on in your head now,” Elena laughed upon seeing his ever changing facial expressions. In the next few hours, they have spent their time with chatting, planning, and training.

*Knock* *Knock*

Before anyone could say anything, two knocks on the door interrupted them, followed by a shout, “Please open the door, we came from the guard post and wish to ask a few questions!”

A smile formed on Elena’s face upon hearing the guard’s words. Her light clothes changed into her usual leather leggings and vest, with a T-shirt under it. Straps formed on the sides of her thighs. Pulling out her daggers from her storage ring, she pulled them out of their hilt and looked at their dull edges with a frown before strapping them to her thighs. “We really have to upgrade our shitty equipment. This dagger is no good at this point…” she muttered.

Stopping in front of the door, she opened it and stuck out her head to ask, “What can I help you with?”

“Could you let us in?” the same female guard asked, placing her hand on the door, gently pressing it. Why asking if you are going to be forceful in the next second? Elena thought, feeling the door slowly moving in her hand.

“Of course” she replied, not showing anything on her face other than a simple smile. When the guards entered the room, they looked around and spotted Dred instantly. Elena moved her hand like lightning and grabbed the woman’s hair with two fingers. Rubbing it, she said, “Miss’ hair is quite dry. We have a great product to handle it. Would you like to try it out? It would be free of charge!”

I’ll act like a powerful merchant as we planned, she thought, taking out a few bottles of shampoo from a drawer.

Holding up her hand, the female guard stopped her, “Miss! Stop trying to make business. Although I could be interested in it when I’m not working, I have my duties to take care of currently. One of them is that I have to take you to the main guard post, to see the vice-captain. Do you have anything against this?” she said, pointing at everyone in the room, one by one.

“No? We can go anytime. Our storekeeper can take care of our business anyway,” Elena replied with a smile, while the others stood up, ready to go.

“But could you tell me why we have to go? It’s really annoying when people just intrude and then make you go to places, don’t you think?” Audrey asked with a frown, making it more troublesome for the guards. If they just went along without even uttering a word, that would have made them suspicious.

Sighing loudly, the male guard muttered, “It’s beginning,” wiping his sweaty forehead.

“I can’t tell you anything myself. We have been told to stay silent. I’m sure that the vice-captain will tell you everything,” the woman replied, thinking that Audrey would start an argument like most people.

Audrey replied to her thoughts as ‘expected’, “Why? We didn’t do anything other than selling our wares. Is that against the laws?” she stomped on the ground.

“Miss, no… it’s just that we aren’t allowed to say-”

Interrupting the female guard, Elena rebuked her friend, “Audrey! I am also annoyed but you must learn how to be a good merchant! You should take the better of your emotions and exercise some control over them! We will learn about everything in due time.”

“Fine…” she grumbled, throwing her red hair over her shoulders, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“I’m glad to see that you understand,” the male guard said with a sigh, earning a glare from Audrey. The guards were above the two-hundredth level, so they surely didn’t meet Jake yet. Without saying anything, he too followed after them.

“Call that monster too,” the woman pointed at Dred with a frown on her face, seeing that he wasn’t moving.

“Dred? I don’t get why you need him, but fine. He is very tame as long as you don’t try to hurt me, so please don’t be forceful with me or I won’t be able to control him,” Elena explained, beckoning Dred with her finger. He jumped up from the bed and pressed his body through the door, being much bigger than usual. With his current size, even if they took measures of his paw and claws, it would never match the wound on the dead guard’s back.

“He is really scary from up close,” the man whispered into the woman’s left ear, which didn’t escape Elena’s ears.

“He is, isn’t he? Haha, but as I said, he is very tame. He helps a lot when I have to hunt for the ingredients,” Elena replied with a chuckle, rolling her black hair around her finger and caressing Dred’s side.

“I see,” the man muttered as he left the building.

When they left the Inn, the guards led the way and also left them behind by a few steps, seeing how obedient they were. If Elena wanted, she could have run away anytime, not to mention with this much of a gap. But that wasn’t her intention. Turning slightly to the left, she focused her senses on the two guards.

“Hey, Sandra. What the hell were you thinking? Why did you let her catch your hair? I thought that you were done for, for a moment. You should watch out for your surroundings more,” the man rebuked the female guard, looking at Elena from the corners of his eyes.

“Do you think that I’m an idiot? I sensed her movements, but my body reacted slower than usual and I couldn’t move before she reached my hair. She must have some kind of passive skill that slows other people’s movements. We should report this to Captain Sally,” Sandra elbowed him, feeling annoyed by the man’s belittling thoughts.

“I’m sorry in that case, and yes. We will tell her everything. Who knew if it would help somehow?” he apologized, bowing his head slightly.

“I’m glad to see that you understand. We use this line too much… I guess it is because people are always questioning us. Anyway, let’s get closer to them. What if they tried to escape?” she nodded her head, looking at Dred from the corners of her eyes.

“You are right.”

“Are you done chatting about us?” Elena asked with a smile, her hands behind her back.

The guards’ bodies twitched at the same time. Not saying anything, they picked up their pace as the man said, “Let’s walk quicker.”

“I’m sad to see you being so suspicious of me,” Elena sighed, following him.

Seeing the orange colored building, Jake ran ahead, surprising the guards. Opening the door, he saw a different woman than Sally, sitting at the receptionist desk. “Hello. Where can I find the Vice-Captain?” he asked, leaning on the corner of the desk.

“Hello… Do you have a time appointment? You can’t just bother-”

“I’m a guard too,” he replied to the woman’s questioning, showing his emblem.

“That’s nice but your rank isn’t high enough to meet her as you please,” she said with a smile, looking towards the guards in the doors.

Clicking his tongue, he turned towards the corridor and charged in. Running towards the testing ground, he looked at the nameplates on the doors. But before he could take another step, he felt a hand grabbing his shoulder, pulling him back. It was one of the guards, who originally stood in the door.

“Let go of me!” he shouted, but his strength wasn’t enough to break free and he didn’t want to use any techniques. When he was almost dragged out of the corridor, the door on the other side of the corridor opened and Sally stuck out her head.

“What is this ruckus? Also… if you want to break free, your movements are really shitty,” she remarked, pointing at Jake.

“I don’t want to attack him… Wait, don’t ignore me, vice-captain!” he shouted, seeing her almost closing the door.

“Haha, I was just kidding. Let him through,” she waved her hand and the guard let him through.

“Your receptionist sucks,” he grumbled, sitting down in front of Sally.

“Is that so? But she is just doing her job. Why did you come here?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Captain. I have something to tell you. One of my friends, the black haired girl you met is called Elena and she has a black panther. But I’ve known her for a long time and the four of us have lived together for just as long. I am telling you this because of her black panther. Today two guards came to bring us here. They will be here in a moment. I just wanted to tell you that we have nothing to do with these recent murders. I know that Dred, Elena’s panther will be suspicious, but believe me!”

“I just didn’t want to talk about him since I knew that we would become suspects. Once that happens, people will frown at us, along with the other guards. If my friends can’t do business, we will have to leave the city, which we don’t want to do!”

Hearing his sudden outburst, Sally was left in a dumbfounded state. Rubbing her eyes, she was about to reply when somebody knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” she asked, expecting the answer after Jake’s explanation.

“I’m Sandra. We brought in a few suspects related to the recent murdering events,” she replied.

“What?!” Audrey’s surprised exclamation resounded in the building. Before a ruckus could happen, Sally told them to come in.

“I didn’t want to make them worried,” Jake explained why he didn’t tell his friends about the fact that they could become suspects. Understanding his reasons, Sally nodded her head.

Stopping beside her, the male guard leaned forward and whispered into Sally’s right ear, telling everything that happened to her. Elena heard it this time too, which almost made her laugh.

“Why are we here?” Audrey asked with a frown on her face, sitting down beside Jake.

“Calm down, the captain will explain everything,” Jake soothed her, coiling his left arm around her back. That bastard is using our acting scheme to get closer to me… I’ll… do something later. But his arm is really warm, she thought as a smile formed on her face without her knowledge.

Clearing her throat, Sally said, “Enough of flirting. Let’s get to the point. There have been many murders in these last few days and a few of the victims had claw marks on their backs. We also know that the murderer or his or her partner or pet has a black tail. I initiated a search for anything or anyone with such features. Your panther happens to have both claws and a black tail, which makes you into possible suspects and crime partners.”

“You are the fifth group today, so you aren’t alone if that makes you happier. I’m sorry for this inconvenience, but we will have to make sure that you have nothing to do with the mentioned crimes. Jake told me about your circumstances, so I understand your problems, but I have good news for you.”

“I too visited your store and I didn’t even know that you were the ones making that shampoo, so as long as you don’t make a scene, I don’t think that anyone would realize. By the way, it’s really good,” she praised their wares, winking.

“We’re glad to hear that,” Elena replied, showing a smile.

“And how could we prove our innocence?” Jake asked as he leaned forward, his face serious.

Crossing her fingers, Sally made a thoughtful face before saying, “For one, we could take a measure of your Panther's claws and compare it to the wounds. If you don’t mind, we could also ask a mind specialist to look into your memories. The latter would prove your innocence instantly, while the former would lift some suspicion. Of course, I understand that you have things wouldn’t want others to know, not to mention your training methods. It’s up to you.”

They can do such a thing too!? That’s rather surprising. Mind Magic is very rare… but it wouldn’t work on me, which could not only make me more suspicious, it wouldn’t lead them anywhere. Let’s take that oath before my plan blows up, Elena quickly thought over her possibilities.

“I have another offer. You can see the result yourself. I swear that I have nothing and won’t have anything to do with the recent murders and that I didn’t kill anyone in this city. Death shall take me if I lie!”

You have taken an Oath! (Elena)

Seeing the window in front of her, she shared it with Sally. “As you can see, I’m still standing here, alive and walking,” she said with a smile.

Sally closed her wide opened mouth and nodded her head. “That was rather daring and surprising, but I believe you. Right, there is this method too, but I didn’t want to kill the criminal, so I didn’t use it. I need answers!”

“I understand, but I can’t help you with that, unfortunately,” Elena made a disappointed face as she grumbled, “I could earn a lot with such a piece of information!”

Sally’s brows twitched when she heard her words. Looking at Jake with a strange face, she didn’t say anything. “Ha-ha, she can be a little greedy sometimes, but she is a good girl,” he laughed in an awkward way, scratching the back of his head.

After all three of them took the oath, only Dred stayed silent. “And how do you plan to prove his innocence?” Sally asked, pointing at Dred.

“Simple. I swear that Dred spent all his time with me and didn’t kill anyone in the city. I also swear that unless being attacked, neither of us will kill anyone” Elena answered her question.

“I accept,” Audrey and Jake accepted the oath, while Sally thought that it was automatic for Dred since Elena was his owner.

You have taken an Oath! (Elena, Dred, Audrey Frost, Jake Hughes)

After showing the window to Sally, she couldn’t help but sigh loudly. “Alright. You four are clear. Oaths are managed by the Ancestor. There is no way to cheat it. If you had anything to do with the recent cases, you would be dead by now. Argh! This makes me happy yet sad since I still don’t know anything!”

“Captain, don’t hit your head,” Jake stood up, trying to soothe Sally.

“Just leave already. I have this shitty paperwork to do,” she waved her hand.

“Alright, goodbye~” Elena almost sang in her happiness. Seeing her good mood, a smile formed on Sally’s face as she thought, She is a rather cheerful person, even though she is wearing only black. Such contradictions…

But before they could leave the room, somebody barely knocked before opening the door. It was a simple guard. “Captain! You have to see this! There are more than fifty zombies walking around in the city! They are destroying the stores, attacking people. Some of them are people who got lost last evening and I’m quite sure that the remaining people… zombies are similar.”

“They are fighting without any regard to their bodies and they are very strong! We have trouble dealing with them!”

“Fuck this shit!” Sally shouted, smashing her fist on the table, breaking the table into smithereens. She didn’t even wait for Elena and the others to leave before rushing out of the building. A smile formed on Elena’s face as she said, “Let’s go.”

“You foul creature…” Jake muttered, shaking his head.

When they found an area without anyone on the streets, they used their Shadow Forms to get to Gautama’s mansion. “Let’s get in and find out more about his plans. Something's fishy around him. We might be able to take control of the situation and lead Sally towards him,” Elena said, stopping behind a bush in the garden at the front of the house.

Nodding their heads, Dred took the lead. Seeing the empty corridors, Elena whispered in a surprised tone, “I thought that they would reinforce their defenses after we broke in. This is quite worrisome.”

“Well, you attacked numerous places, so they might think that they were just one from the many,” Jake remarked, turning a corner.

“Don’t be so naive. What kind of person would loosen his defense after somebody broke in? You should take an example of Audrey…” Elena rebuked him for saying such stupid things.

“I’m sorry…”

Reaching the thick, wooden door, the smell of blood and iron was nowhere to be found. Grabbing the handle of the door, Elena slowly turned it and poked her head through the gap. Strangely enough, the corridor was completely dark, as if night befell the mansion. “This is getting stranger and stranger,” Audrey muttered, looking at the goosebumps on her arms.

“Shouldn’t we turn around?” Elena questioned Dred, feeling unsure of her idea.

“Stay here, I’ll look around,” he replied, making his way towards Gautama’s room.

There wasn’t even a shred of light, but he saw everything. The vases with the flowers, the pictures on the walls, the blinds on the windows. His body raised out of the ground. Raising his front right paw, he pushed on the door, opening it. He didn’t see anyone inside. There were two corpses on the ground, both of them wearing black capes. Sniffing their bodies, he realized that they were the people their group was looking for.

“What’s going on? This has nothing to do with us…” he muttered, looking around.

“H-Her...e” a hoarse voice resounded in the room, though it was barely audible. Picking up on it, Dred got around the bed and noticed Gautama, who was in a sitting position between the bed and a small cabinet, leaning on the wall. His eyes were hollowed out and there was a terrible wound on his chest. His lungs were penetrated and blood littered the ground under him.

“W-Who… you?” he tried asking who Dred was.

“What do you mean?” Dred asked with a calm voice.

“You… from the kingdom? Or… rebel?” Gautama said, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

After thinking about it for a moment, he placed his bet on the kingdom. Hearing his answer, Gautama showed a slight smile as he muttered, “Finally.”

“What happened here?” Dred asked, making it sounds as if he knew something.

“Rebels. It’s the… city Lord. He found *cough* me out. Damn! I don’t have... time. Notify the kingdom,” he struggled to utter his last words. As the last bits of air left his lungs, his heart stopped beating, his cells suffocated and his Mana left his body.

“Elena!” Dred shouted. In the next moment, she appeared beside him.

“What should we do? If we devour his body, it could give us a huge boost of strength but Audrey and Jake would stay too far behind.”

Placing her hand on her chin, Elena furrowed her brows. Let them reach our current power level and we will devour the rest,” she replied, looking at Audrey and Jake, who were standing behind them by now.

“It will hurt for a few minutes, but it will slowly disappear. But don’t be surprised since you will gain a huge deal of strength in a very short amount of time,” Elena warned them as she stepped to the side. “Tell me what happened here until then,” she said, looking at Dred.

---

After hearing his explanation, she realized that there was a rebellious group and Gautama was probably an agent of the kingdom. “It’s likely that the kingdom didn’t know more than that there was a rebellious group. After finding out about it, they sent Gautama to investigate. I think that he wasn’t able to deal with something alone, so he called for two helpers.”

“It’s likely that the leader of the rebels is the city lord, which means that the guards are his force. Does this mean that Sally is a part of his force? He told you to notify the kingdom, which means that they still don’t know the leader’s origin. I don’t know the structure of this kingdom… we must visit some kind of library if there is anything of the sort.”

“I’ll always look for such things at first from now on. How could I jump into this thing without any background knowledge? You should have told me…” she thought everything over and couldn’t help but point a finger at Dred too.

“Haha, but if I just said it, you wouldn’t learn and… I too am newborn, I’m just more silent since I think more. We are the same, why should I know more than you?” he questioned her, tilting his head to the side.

“Why, you said it just now! You are more silent so you have the time to think more! Haha. Talking seriously, it’s good that I can learn about the process of things in this kind of environment,” she said as a smile formed on her face. Seeing that Jake and Audrey stood up from the ground, she shared the remaining DNA with Dred. As her shadow processed it, her body started evolving and turning stronger.

Reaching the two-hundredth level, a new table appeared in front of her.

Lv

Class: ShadowMoor (Exclusive, Legendary)

Devourer

Stealth

Demonology

10 - 100

...

...

...

200

Allocation: Once devouring a creature, you will be able to unlock their DNA and modify aspects. You can control your evolution and strengthen any aspect of yours.

Penetration: You will learn a muscle skill, which will help you increase your strength by a great deal for a moment before each of your attacks. Combined with your accuracy, you can deal devastating surprise blows.

High-Demon: You can transform into a High-demon and summon three mid-ranked demons or many lesser demons, who will obey your commands.

“It’s definitely Allocation to me,” she muttered, deciding right after reading all three choices. “Which one should I go for? Penetration would just increase the force of my attacks, which would be great. But if we plan to stay active among humans, I should get an ability that could mass produce disposable creatures. While people would kill my minions, I could disappear from sight and attack once again!” Dred reasoned beside High-Demon.

“Then go for it. I think that it would be good to have a Mass Summoner in our team,” she replied, leaning on his side.

“Elena, we have something to show you,” Audrey said, showing a bright smile.

“What is it?” she asked with a frown on her face, feeling suspicious.

“This!”

Lv

Class: Arcane Mage (Epic)

Dark Arts

Mystic

Caster

10

...

...

...

180

Necro: For a real mage, nothing is taboo. Dead bodies are just a way to gain more power. But creating clever corpses is a hard thing to do, even for the Necromancer Class. But you are a True Mage. This ability will help you creating intelligent and obedient undead creatures.

Elementals: Anyone can learn to control the elements, but how deep of a connection can they experience? As an Arcane Mage, you truly want to connect with them. The Elementals can help you in this. This will boost the power of your element related attacks.

Split: A proficient Mage can split his or her attention and focus on numerous things. Casting one spell might be the last thing you do, so why not make it two? With this specialization aspect, you will be able to divide your attention and focus both on attack and defense!

“Oh! So Epic ranked classes can pick a specialization on level ten and a hundred and eighty. I wonder what level is necessary for Rare ranked classes. Anyway, have you decided yet?” Elena asked, showing her white teeth.

“I definitely don’t need Necro since you can mostly take care of that and I know necromancy as well. I think that it should be possible to gain the same ability by myself. Although split is a great one, it’s nothing I can’t do by training hard. Let’s train when we are done with this city. So I thought about the second aspect of Mystic specialization, Elementals. I can’t deny that I’m interested in them, not to mention that I’ll have something to use, other than Eon Element and such. It would be bad if I blew up everything, every time I fought,” she replied, shaking her head with a wry smile on her face.

“Haha, you are right. And what about you?” Elena questioned Jake. Stepping forward, he showed her his table.

Lv

Class: Twin Crescent Moon (Epic)

Swordmaster

Elementalist

Void Master

10

You seek to become one with the sword. Even if you had problems comprehending how to use any kind of sword, it will be nothing but a fleeting memory with this specialization. It increases your Weapon Mastery.

You know both dual wielding weapons and Magic too. With this, you can apply your knowledge of the elements to your weapons. Gives the ability Elemental Wielding.

There are huge spaces separating cosmical bodies yet they are so close to each other. A small step for you might mean ten to many. This specialization will help you understand the Void Element.

180

Extension: Weapons are but extensions of your arms. It would be surprising if your weapons could reach further than their original length.

Elemancer: Your class originally wields a Physically buffed and a Magically buffed weapon. This will make it possible to use both kinds of buffs on both of your weapons.

Blink: As a master of the Void Element, you can blink through short spaces to surprise your opponents. Every attack starts with one step, this is especially true in your case. Limited to a range of one centimeter every three hundred seconds. -1 sec cooldown and +10 centimeter range per level.

“You see, when I drank your blood for the first time, this class came up not long after. As you know, this class is a dual wielder. The only restriction is that I have to use curved blades to use the full potential of this class.”

“I can place enchantments on both blades, one being Physical, the other one being Magical. At first, I picked Void Master. Although I never told you about it, I have some really good tricks, which I haven’t used. But a weapon would be really nice… Elemancer would be really cool, but Audrey has picked an Element related specialization just now, so it would be pointless.”

“To increase the diversity of our team, I think that Blink would be for the best. I can feel that I should be able to use it, there is just a little bit of the necessary knowledge that I’m missing. I know that it looks like a shitty skill at the moment, but even one centimeter could turn the tides, not to mention how much this skill will grow as I level it up!” Jake explained his choice in a roundabout way, almost tiring out Elena with his long explanation.

“Jake… I’m your ‘Master’ in a way, I know. But you don’t have to report why you want to pick something you are interested in. You can ask for bits of advice, but how you train with such a powerful class is up to you. If I was to force on you some kind of route you don’t like, it would not only slow you down, but it could possibly make you weaker too.”

“I’ll always let you decide for yourself unless it is related to our mission or it is a terribly stupid choice you made. I’m not your mother, after all,” she replied with a smile, patting his shoulder.

“But you rather feel like that to me sometimes. It might be because of your blood,” Jake uttered such words, not realizing their weight.

“Guh… Do I look that old or what? I didn’t even guide you. This, this is terrible…” Elena mumbled as she turned around, grabbing her chest. “I think my heart is aching after hearing such words,” she continued her muttering, shaking her head.

Realizing his mistake, he laughed awkwardly as he corrected himself, “Hey, I meant it in a good way! You just have a motherly feel to you. It just shows your maturity. I didn’t mean your looks and such, obviously… You look very young and beautiful- Ah! But I like Audrey more!” he corrected himself upon noticing Audrey’s gaze.

“Hahaha, you are too easy,” Audrey laughed, waving her hand. Turning around, she left the room, followed by Elena. Both of them were grinning from ear to ear as they locked arms.

“What?” Jake muttered, feeling somewhat lost.

“They were playing with you,” Dred enlightened him as he left the room.

“Screw you, girls!” Jake shouted, following them with loud stomps.

---

The mansion was devoid of life and light. “Let’s set this mansion on fire. Dred, go and look for Hoa. We haven’t seen her corpse yet. Once you are back, we will proceed with our plan and leave this place for now. We will have to rethink our tactic with this new piece of information in our hands,” Elena told her current plans.

Nodding their heads, everyone left to do their job. Audrey set fire to the curtains, wooden furniture, anything that was flammable. Jake and Elena did the same, all around the mansion. Dred rushed towards Hoa’s room and broke through the closed door.

“Where the hell is that girl?” he grumbled in a low voice, not seeing her anywhere. “There is another door…”

Walking closer, he put his ear on the door. “It’s as if a wind was blowing,” he whispered. Using his strength, he broke the door and saw a dark tunnel behind it. After entering it, he barely had to walk for a few meters before seeing it branching, one way leading somewhere far, the other leading back towards the mansion. “Let’s check the other entrance,” he muttered as he turned to the right.

Smashing the small trap door at the end of it, he found himself in Gautama’s room. “Haha, the entrance was right behind the cabinet! Is that why he laid here? I guess Hoa escaped, which means that she should be rushing towards the main city of the kingdom. Dang it, we need more information. But the night is creeping closer. We had to wait for quite a long time before the guards came for us…”

“Whatever, I’ll go back for now. I’m sure that Hoa got away,” Dred talked to himself before going back to Hoa’s room. Leaving towards the corridor, he saw Elena, Audrey, and Jake, waiting for him. “Let’s go!” he said, rushing past them.

They didn’t stop until reaching the Inn. They were about to go up to their room when the Innkeeper stopped them. “Miss! I’m sorry to ask, but why did you have to go with the guards? Did you…” she asked with a wry smile, looking towards the door. Her indication was clear. If they did something bad, they would have to leave.

“Don’t worry. You surely know about the recent murders. A few of the people had claw marks on their backs. After taking an oath, we were found innocent. It has nothing to do with us or we wouldn’t be here, don’t you think?” Elena replied with a smile.

“Haah- Indeed, your words make sense. That’s good to hear. The owner has told us to kick out any criminal we see. It would have been really troublesome if I had to force you to leave,” she heaved out a sigh of relief, her hand over her chest.

Inspecting her, Elena almost laughed. Tilting her head to the side, Elena said with a smile on her face, “Your courage is really good with your current strength. I’m a nice person, but be careful since some people could be offended by such a remark. It’s enough if you stop after ‘troublesome’ the next time. Your words sound a little belittling.”

After making a thoughtful face, realization dawned on the Innkeeper. Showing her white teeth, she said, “Thanks for your guidance! I’ve never realized it before!” Waving her hand, Elena went towards their room, where Dred explained to them what he found.

“So she is probably alive. In that case, we should learn who is the leader of the gangs. If the guards aren’t taking them out, they might have a purpose in this city. There is this Rhoderick too. Supposedly, he is some kind of super merchant who buys every business with force if necessary. He should know a lot. Maybe I’ll visit him later,” Elena talked to herself, ignoring her environment.

“You can do that later. Go and ask if there is some kind of library or archive. We need to find out more about how the kingdom works or we will be screwed,” Dred interrupted her, using a serious tone.

Looking at him, Elena nodded her head. Jumping up from the bed, she said, “Let’s go, in that case~”

Placing his paw on her shoulder, Dred stopped her, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Turning around, Elena looked towards the way he was pointing at. Seeing that the sky was darkening and the moon was crawling up, she scratched the back of her head. "Haha, we have slept in the morning so my sleeping habit is a bit messed up now. Then... let's visit a weapon and armor store and then go to bed!"

"That sounds better," Dred replied with a nod. Hearing the words 'weapon' and 'armor', Jake's eyes glimmered with interest. He left the room ahead of everyone else, almost knocking over everyone, "Move your legs! You are slow!"

"Make sure to teach him how to behave in the future," Elena said with a chuckle, looking at Audrey.

Sighing loudly, Audrey shook her head as she said, "I will."