I bid my farewell to the sleeping guy who I lent my ear all night long with a gentle brush onto his head that is full of majestically red fur, but I suppose there is no concept of day and night here since the sky didn’t rotate at all - it just bleeds.

After taking my first step outside, the first thing I do is asking for direction to the City Hall which I have been informed is the place where lord Hedrick’s head is being kept.

The place is huge, almost like a castle.

All kinds of demi-human and monsters are walking by so orderly around here, similar to most of the ones that are outside, they wore armor. I walk up to the counter where a busty demon lady is a receptionist.

She glanced up to me, “If you’re looking to be a hunter - unless that you are an undead or the like - I’m afraid we don’t accept humans here, even if they are Immortal.”

So, she could tell that I’m immortal at a glance? She must be using Appraisal on me then, but any kind of Appraisal shouldn’t go further beyond the Status Profile and the main ability which is the Active Skill. Maybe it’s just an assumption.

“Ah no, I’m here for my friend’s corpse.”

“Hmm, one without the body?”

“Yes, just the head.”

She searches through the list inside the book she’s holding, “Hmm alright, that’ll be 50 million golds.”

*Bwoosh*

My eyes popped.

$1 equals 100 golds, so we’re talking $500.000 here. My income as a (new) pro player back then was around $400.000 a year.

“Uhh, f-fifty million? Are you sure the number is right?”

Even if I can exchange real money to in-game by using the transfer, I still won't have enough for that and I don’t want to borrow more money from aunt Linda again.

“Yes, your friend has committed a crime of stealing the captured animals that other hunters have hunted, even his own parties. The continuous act was repeated several times and he has been hiding to also repeat the same thing endlessly.”

“Then, how did he die?”

“His last party, which are the servants of the War God, severed his head once he got caught running away from them with the animal they hunt in his hands.”

“Eeeh?” what kind of crime is that. Why the hell is he even doing that? If he wants meat, he could've just gone outside. Ekolia is full of resources after all.

“I-I see, um…” wondering if I can do this too, “Is there a way I can pay with meat?”

“Of course, that would be the most ideal, considering what your friend did, but how much do you have, mortal?”

Mortal? So, it was an assumption after all.

“Well, I only have a few.”

Taking all three meat and laid it down on the desk.

Her eyes opened wide, “Th-This is!” she hesitatingly touched the surface as she mumbled, “It’s real, meat from the surface. H-How, how did you get your hands on— No, pardon me. Ahem, this meat should suffice for the exchange. I shall bring your friend's remain right away.”

“Alright.”

Three cheap foods from the surface are equal to 50 million golds here, which means I’ve paid around 10-20 million for the gems I’ve bought.

If other normal players were able to access this place, then for sure, they would bring shock to the entire world just by flaunting their meat around – not that meat by the way.

Trying to recall the number of players that have access to this place back then, as far as I'm aware there weren’t really that many since there are other realms that have better benefits - at least to what I've seen. Then again I haven't been here or know much about it at all, but… hmm, my memories are all fuzzy when trying to remember something that I didn’t personally have an interest in.

What a waste, I really did miss a lot.

“Here you go, madam. It has only been 3 years, but we made sure to keep it fresh so it will be easier to revive him. Though, we don’t know where his body went. I assumed that since you were looking for the head, you have found it?”

As soon as I touch the cold sandbag that is oozing in frosted snowflakes containing the supposedly, lord Hedrick’s head.

! {Quest Updated}

! {Unending Pair / Rank S / Objective: Return Hedrick’s severed head / Reward: Access (1) Inaccessible Book from the Grand Archive of Purgatory}

“Yes, um…” don’t really know what to say, “Thank you.”

“No problem, and oh, when you have revived him, please tell him that our lord is displeased when he ran around preaching his nonsensical ideal to others.”

“I-I’ll be sure to relay that to him.”

As I walked out of the establishment, “Phew.”

Can’t believe it was actually this easy, but now what? Should I go back or go around exploring and see if I can finish Avarice’s Quest too?

Looking at the sandbag, I nudge it a bit with my finger, and it was really cold. “Hahah, alright, I’ll do the latter.”

I left the city and met up with my summoned creature whom I placed outside just in case the people inside the city went up to me with a lot of questions.

“You’ve been good, boy?”

*Krooooghogoghk*

“Hmm, I’ll never get used to your voice, but let’s go.”

The landscape is like a dried surface of a volcano, and it’s really hot in here. Even though I feel no pain, I can feel my skin being seared.

I have no meat left, which means, no money to buy the things that might help me in search for this devil, but I have other ways. Aside from using the [Seraph Wings] which I cannot use because of low Faith points, I can just use this little guy to find those Devils.

While Sombak is not a high rank and thus unable to do the Ghost Walk, the boy is still a ghost in the end albeit and a demon, partially. So, it might be possible to locate another of its kind.

'Wait, I don't think that's possible... this thing... it's not a dog.'

There are many terms for any kind of creature, but for this one.

Demi-Human, is of course, half-human and half monster. Separated from the well-known/major race such as Elven and Dwarven while also excluded from the other race that is in the minority, which is Beastmen and Lizardmen.

Demonic Creatures are corrupted animals that have undergone an "Evil" evolution.

Demon is akin to Human, it's like an “Evil” side of them. The appearance however, is equal to what a real monster would look like. They are often indescribable.

Devil is a higher life form that is closer in appearance to a human, but also has several traits of the “Evil” side of a holy being, such as Angels. Devil and Angel are often excluded from the category of the three above due to the difference of faction, one is "Good" and one is "Evil".

Demi-Human spread all around the world, joining many different factions. Demonic Creature is mindless animals, and Demon has always been a mystery. People often mistake them for Demonic Creatures, but I’ve seen their difference, their powers are indeed worlds apart.

Devil on the other hand is put up on the “Evil” faction that is believed to be the ones serving under the Dark Lords, which goal is not to stand at the top of the world – which again is the goal of all Gods –, but instead, they want to destroy it.

‘Hmm, that’s all I know about the faction. If I want to know more, lord Hedrick will be able to provide me with the knowledge I need to complete this knowledge.’

There are too many forces in play in the world of Ekolia that it’s hard to keep track of which one is the enemy and which one is the ally.

‘I too have my own goal for playing this game, so I shouldn’t be distracted too much by these things. After all, everything would be pointless if I can’t reach it next year.’

Avarice should be able to find those devils easily. Then again, she’s occupied by something else – at least is what I assumed. This too will also be able to increase my standing with her if I were to succeed.

‘Devil, devil, devil…’

What do I know about them…?

Thinking back on it, I used to find them a lot on the outskirt of Crystal Palace – the place where my friends and I defeated King Ludwig and his dragon – other than that, I found them roaming around in groups.

Three at most with a couple of guards, be it vampires or draugrs. Most of what I found were not doing any of that Ghostwalking or anything too fancy to cover themselves, which means, the only way I can find them now… is to get ambushed by them.

‘But is it possible to be in that position here in the Hellblade Realm?’

Cracking a smirk.

‘Looks like I have yet another reason to use my strongest ability again.”