They came upon the abandoned village at dawn, golden light cascading down the skies.

After further questioning, the Seekers had gained a better picture of Joiroa’s problem. It turned out the Maegi would need a lot of raw materials to make the portal. Joiroa predicted this would take about a year, although that depended on Shrien and his party’s luck and haste. When asked about the materials needed, the foreigner had told the Seekers of many ingredients through gruesome description. Orion hoped this meant more of the Guilds would hear of Shrien’s party and wipe them out, but upon hearing a description of Shrien’s strength, he wasn’t so hopeful anymore.

“We should look around,” Kora said, hopping off her horse.

The other two agreed, following her.

“Remember, when we run into the Lich, run,” Orion said to Joiroa.

The dark man nodded; he knew he wasn’t cut out for violence.

As they entered the village, the Seekers started searching for clues. By the rotten food they found in houses and the date listed on the contract, they guessed the Lich had been here for almost a month. That was plenty of time to set up a trap, and considering it was a Lich, it had definitely holed up somewhere with traps outside.

They discovered plenty of blood tracks that led to nothing, but these were enough for Kora to catch the scent. She followed the trail the corpses had taken, leading them into the neighbouring forest.

The forest was quite ordinary in terms of the aged trees and the overwhelming variety of foliage around, but what immediately set it apart from others was the lack of sound. The wind breezed past but it carried with it no animal calls, chilling the party over. Still, this didn’t stop them from following the blood scent, and after trekking through the forest for an hour, the party came upon a cave in a hillside.

Kora threw her pack off and transformed, the Cruorem signature three black talons across her neck and arched horns from hairline to ears becoming apparent. Her skin became red-tinted and her muscles grew thicker and more sinuous. Joiroa stared wide-eyed at her, his body tensing up. When she pointed at him, he got the cue and led his horse away with shaky steps.

A few steps into the cave, Orion could smell the blood and rotten flesh as clear as day. It was humid inside and the stench was bad enough to twist and turn stomachs. It was also as dark as night but they knew the Lich’s lab would be lit up considering Lichs couldn’t see in total darkness either.

Minutes later, when he glimpsed the dim light in the distance, Orion felt an adrenaline rush, his body trembling with anticipation. This was a 5-star monster, something neither of them had considered fighting before their Awakening, but six months later and here they were. He had fought alongside Kora for long enough to recognise she was similarly excited.

They sneaked into the Glubber’s lamp-lit cavern but straightened as they noticed the Lich staring at them, or at least they assumed it was staring their way since it didn’t move. It was hard to tell as it was eyeless, and in fact, fleshless. The Lich wore dirty robes over its skeletal form and had a sword in its hand.

“It looks as if Fexa has finally heard my prayers,” it joked, “I asked for new subjects and here they come, as clueless as possible,”

Orion smirked at this, an ice barrier sprouting around him and Kora. Just in time too as hundreds of projectiles barraged into it, chipping at it but failing to break through as the barrier grew thicker. Orion hadn’t moved from the start – he simply commanded the ice now.

“Oh my, forgive my theatrical side,” the Lich said, its ribcage heaving up and down as it faux laughed. “If I’m right, I spy with my eyes a young Zakari, and, a Vampire? What is this beast you command, young Zakari?”

The ice barriers shattered, and Kora sprinted, leaping to strike at the Lich. However, she rebounded of a golden barrier before she could snap the Lich’s bones. There were crack-marks across the barrier but the Lich seemed unconcerned as it pointed at Kora. Toxic liquid sprayed at where she stood and it followed her as she ran, never quite hitting her as she moved faster.

Meanwhile, Orion yawned and looked around the cavern. He noted several skeletons and other ghastly Frankenstein monsters in the corner, sneaking through a sapphire pool towards them. It seemed the Lich had wanted to swiftly deal with them through the projectile trap, and if that didn’t work, through its creations sneaking up on them while they were distracted by its barrier.

He lifted his left hand at them, it vibrating as he focused on the skeletons. The one he had in his sight began to tremble, then dropped into the water, splashing loudly and ruining any chance of sneaking up on Kora. The Lich and Kora turned just in time to see the skeleton explode, bone shards shooting across the cavern.

“GET OFF THEM, ZAKARI!” the Lich roared.

Orion had no clue what the monster expected from such a request but he carried on anyway, slowly exploding its creations even as the Lich ordered them to sprint and kill him. When they got too close for comfort, he made the surface under them into ice, several spears sprouting from the ground. His ice had gotten much tougher than before his Awakening and it showed as the spears trapped the creations to the spot. While a few managed to wriggle out, he no longer cared as he turned to the Lich.

The Lich had been bombarding him with spells and curses all the while dancing with Kora, only to fail each time as his ice barrier blocked any attempts at his life. Bending down, Orion placed his left hand on the ground and focused, feeling the earth’s pulse wash over him. He pinpointed the Lich’s position and released waves towards the area, the ground around the Lich rapidly rising until it swallowed him, momentarily trapping him.

Taking a deep breath, Orion created several ice spears that shot towards the Lich. Each of them deepened the cracks Kora had made until one broke through, piercing through the Lich’s bones. As the monster rushed to restore the barrier, more and more spears flew in, quickly toppling the Lich into a pile of bones.

Orion shook his head in disbelief while wiping the sheen of sweat off his forehead. “Just magic – I’m surprised I actually did it,”

Kora walked up to the pile of bones and crushed the glowing core under her feet, sending the Lich to his second grave. “You got lucky it was such a bonehead,”

He chuckled, then felt bad about laughing over such an easy shot. “You’re just jealous I did him in,”

“I didn’t even use my skills,” Kora said, “Besides, it’d have been different if he had blood,”

“Pfft, sure sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night,” he said.

For some inconceivable reason, she didn’t find this funny as she threw the Lich’s skull at his face.

He barely dodged this strike at his life. “Stop desecrating the dead and sweep up his core,”

****

Smith inspected the shards dumped on his table. “Well, I guess you two really are monsters now,” he eventually said, digging in his drawers until he came out with two golden badges.

The golden badges had the number 5 engraved on them and a button on top. When the button was pressed, they let out lightworks showing the Seeker’s logo, the silhouette holding a sword. 5-star Seekers weren’t the sort to lose their badges and considering the other guilds couldn’t craft them, it made them effective identification.

“Are you two going to try a 6-star contract now?” Smith asked.

Orion looked at Kora. “Naa, I don’t see any reason to. I’m thinking of splurging all the money I’ve made on some quality stuff, then leaving for Edge’s End,”

She nodded.

“Good kids. I better see you two go for 6-star and 7-star eventually though. Maybe one of yous will also be the first 8-star in a century,” Smith said.

They talked for a few more minutes, before the eye-patched Seeker shooed the trio off.

Downstairs, Orion took half the money he had in his account from Maya, got back at her for all the times she had teased him, then left the building with Kora and Joiroa. It was while walking across Hexham’s road they spotted a thin and tall man seemingly waiting for them. He walked up to them and faced Orion.

“Are you Jax Whyte, sir?”

“What of it?” he replied.

“My Madame would like a word with you…”