Chapter 8

He didn’t hesitate and activated his skill [Shadow knife]. The bigger one wanted to hit him hard with his fist but before his fist could even reach him, he had already disappeared. Out of the shadows came his knife and hit the thug in the back, this time the strike was deadly. Without any sound the big thug fell to the ground. Blood was flooding out of the back where he was hit. The other thug trembled and ran away. He didn’t give chase, he had to hurry back and help his teacher to cure the people. Back at his teacher’s house were a lot of people. They were sick or had relatives, friends or comrades with them who had the sickness. After he made his way into the house, he saw lot’s of people lying everywhere and some nuns and his teacher who were running from bed to bed to help the people. At first, she didn’t notice him but after he shouted her name she finally saw him. With a tired expression she came to him and asked if he had the herbs. He showed lots of herbs to her. Her expression suddenly brightened up and she took the herbs and ran to her alchemist laboratory. They finally had a cure! After his visit at his teacher’s house, he went back home and noticed relieved that his parents were not sick. They had avoided the town and his father worked in the forest, so they weren’t at any risk.

For the next days and weeks Ragen helped his teacher to cure the people. But even with the herb there wasn't a 100% gurantee that the person would be healed from the illness and so there were also those who still died. They could save around 60 to 70% of the people but the other 30% died and one of those deceased was a son of a noble. The father, an influental aristocrat saw the guilt in Janets treatment. The reason for that was, that Janet didn't treat the nobility special and handled them the same like the normal pedestrians. The noble was furious after the death of his son and started to spread rumors about Janet. How she didn't treat everyone the same and that she used black magic for the treatment. He even went to the local church and persudaded them to do an investigation on Janet. With the help from the underwolrd of the town by spreading rumors and the church which started an investigation the problems started to turn into a crisis.

It was normal day like any other. After he went for his first time back into the library to read some books and eventually meet Victor again, he saw a small figure approach him. It was the poor boy who had been attacked by the two thugs. He whispered to Ragen: “Come with me I have something to tell you.” Ragen was surprised to meet this boy again and followed him. They walked into a side alley where the boy took out a paper and showed it to him. On the paper stood:

To all citizens of San Tomas kill the evil witch Janet who spread the ‘Blue Strangler’ among us. Seek for Justice!

He couldn’t believe it. Why would the people of this town think that Janet had spread the virus? He asked back: “Who spread this leaflet?” “They call him the rat. It’s one of the debt collectors. I think you know him. He now works together with some nobles and the church. They hired them to damage the reputation of the healer called Janet. You saved me from him. I am thankful for that. I heard you have killed his companion and now he wants you dead.” “Can you help me? I will reward you if you want. I need to find this rat.”-Ragen. “I owe you a lot Ragen. So sure, I will help you. By the way my name is Elijah.” “Good where can I find this rat? Where is his hideout?”-Ragen. “Follow me and I will show you his hideout.” Elijah headed to the east part of the town and Ragen followed him. They walked trough small and dark alleys into one of the poorest parts of the town. On the street was dirt and some beggars approached them, but they didn’t stop for them. Finally, they stopped in front of a shabby building near the harbour. It was an old warehouse. Elijah climbed up to the roof and Ragen followed him. Inside of the warehouse were a small group and one person who stood in the middle on small chair and shouted about some evil deeds. “Hear me citizen of San Tomas, the evil witch Janet has spread her black magic among us and soon we will all die. She will target me because I have revealed the truth, but you will spread my word of truth among our people and together we will strike back.” He heard applause and calls to kill the witch. He didn’t know what to feel. He was enraged, sad and hated them. They didn’t deserve to be saved from Janet. This trash needs to die. Without thinking he jumped down and attacked the speaker. With one swift strike with his knife he had killed him. The people started to cry but he didn’t show mercy and started to kill them randomly. While he was totally enraged, he heard a ding sound.

Player has unlocked the hidden skill [Demons Wrath] (novice)

He didn’t listen to the AI and continued his cruel massacre until most of them were dead and a few had fled. Then he turned around and saw the face of Elijah who was deathly pale. “Ragen you went too far. This were innocent people who just were blinded. You can’t kill them like this.” Ragen remained silent and stared into the wall. “I know you are enraged and angry, but this isn’t justice, this is just cruel. Stop now.” Ragen looked up and stared at Elijah and in his eyes was the rage still burning. As Elijah saw the hate and rage in Ragen’s eyes he knew that Ragen wouldn’t stop until he was dead, or his rage was satisfied. He made a disappointed expression and said: “Ragen you went too far, and you know it. Now the whole town will search for the culprit of this. If they find me, I will be dead. I will leave this town and go to another country. You should do the same. I wish you goodbye.” With that Elijah turned around and left the warehouse. Ragen waited a moment before he also went home.

At home he checked his new skill.

[Demons Wrath]

Increases Players STR + 30 %

Creates an aura of fear with a radius of 5 meters

He was please with the results.

The next days, Ragen often hunted and explored the forest. He improved his archery skill from novice to apprentice. The difference seemed small at first but in reality, it was huge. He now could even aim at targets further away and still hit them perfectly. Another was his time he needed for shooting. With novice he needed around one minute to reload the bow and aim. Now he needed around 40 seconds. At first it didn’t look like a big improvement but in combat every second counted and so it was quite important. In his hunts he had collect a large amount of furs and dried meat. So he went to sell it. Furthermore, he had heard that there was magic store which even sold some magic books and skill scrolls. So he wanted to pay it a visit after he had sold his furs.

When he got into town, he noticed instantly the change in the atmosphere. People were wary and the guards looked like they were searching for something. He ignored it for now and went to the market. After a couple of minutes, a costumer came and wanted to buy some furs. While they were trading, he asked the customer what was happening in town. The person looked first surprised and then realized that Ragen probably wasn’t aware of the situation in town. He replied: “Rumours has it that a little demon appeared near the harbour and killed a group of people. Today is the trial for the culprit and everyone is afraid that the little demon will come back to save it’s master. That’s why everyone is so upset.” Little Demon? Master? Culprit? He didn’t know what the man was saying but he felt like had role in that. So, he asked: “Where will be trial be held?” “They will make it in public, so the trial is on the main piazza in front of the mayors house. I think it will start around late noon.” After that he sold the rest of his furs and then headed in the direction of the main piazza. On the way he spotted the shop with the magic books and scrolls. So he made a short break and looked at the goods. At first, he didn’t find anything interesting there mostly spells for everyday life like ‘Body cleaning magic’ or ‘Bread baking’ but nothing interesting. The shopkeeper was an old man who looked at him and then asked: “What’s such a young kid doing here? Where are your parents?” He looked at the old man and said: “I’m alone old man and I am searching for some spells for my bow. I want to hunt with it.” The old man made a mischievous grin and then asked: “Does this young one even have enough money to buy something like that? Normal prices for such books are around 3 to 8 gold coins. Can you even afford that?” Ragen grinned back and opened his pouch. Inside were a lot of silver and gold coins. The old man became silent and nodded. It didn’t matter how old this boy was. He had money and was willing to pay so he was a normal customer. The old man said: “Please follow me dear costumer. I will show you the books and scrolls which you need.” He guided Ragen to corner in the shop where some big and heavily books were. They had titles like ‘Dragon Flames’ or ‘Piercing Ice Lance’. He thanked the shopkeeper and looked around. There were plenty books, but he couldn’t buy them all and he didn’t need all of them. Around half an hour later he was finished and left the store with three new books and one magic scroll. He went into an alley and activated appraisal and learn.

Player has acquired the skill [Magic Arrow] (novice) Player has acquired the new element fire for the skill [Magic Arrow] (novice) Player has acquired the skill [Necromancy] (novice)

He thought status.

Name: Ragen Lv. 3

Title: None

Race: Human Exp: 260/300

VIT: 39

STR: 41

WIS: 34

INT: 56

AGI: 26

LUC: 3

Skills:

[Archery] (apprentice) [Tracking] (apprentice)

[Language Translator] (passive) [Learning] (apprentice)

[Demon eyes] (sealed) [Domination] (rare) (sealed)

[Shadow Knife] (apprentice) [Appraisal]

[Poison Resistance] (novice) [Magic Shield Dome] (novice)

[Demons Wrath]

[Magic Arrow] (fire) (novice) [Necromancy] (novice)

He was surprised to see that [Tracking] and [Shadow Knife] had improved too. Even his stats had increased a bit and he would soon reach level 4. He left the magic scroll for later.

When he exited the alley, he saw a lot of people heading towards the main piazza, so he followed them. The first thing he saw was a small hill which was out of wood and he suspected oil. He had a real bad feeling at this moment and hoped not to see what he was thinking about. Beside the large amount of wood was a small podium.

After a couple of minutes, he heard a loud voice: “Dear citizens of San Tomas we are here today for the trial of the witch case of Janet the healer. Our Mayor and the church of the town declared her guilty. Her crime was to use black magic to make all the rightful people in this town silent. Also there is a high possibility that this witch is spy from the empire and wanted to spread a deadly virus in town, to kill all the important people. We church will save this town. With my rights as an executioner of the church I will execute her now. Bring the culprit.”

He just thought NOOOOO! How can this be. This old innocent woman will be executed? Because she saved those trash lives? He couldn’t believe it. He was too shocked to move and could just watch how they brought her up and bound her on the wooden hill. Then the priest made a pray and asked if she had any last words. Janet said loudly: “All of you made a mistake and you know that, but I will forgive you. The goddess knows that I am not guilty and so I don’t have to fear anything.” Then she stopped saying anything. The executioneer said some last words to person behind him and the had a burning torch in his hands. "The goddess wants this sinner dead and I will carry out her will now." With those words he throwed the torch on the small wooden hill. It went up in flames in no time. Right when Ragen saw the flames he realized it. They really intended to kill her. He shouted: “Noooooooooooo, you bastards let her free. You trash scum. You all should burn there but not she.” Everyone looked at him and Janet too noticed him. Before the flames swallowed her, she smiled at him. Right at this moment someone shouted: “That’s him the little demon of the witch. Kill him!” Everyone now focused his attention on him and he knew he was in deep shit.