April 10th, 1798 13:42

Victor and Rory left Lazar's office and made their way straight to the forest up north of the village, many villagers were looking at them, combat gear wasn't that rare, especially in a place like Magnus, everyone was walking around with at least a dagger. Even so, Victor and Rory were geared beyond what was common to see, since the villagers have seen many monster hunters and their weapons or "artifacts" as some called them, they didn't really seem bothered by their being there in the middle of the day with so many weapons.

Victor and Rory were passing by shops, taverns, and places where children were playing, just what you would expect to see in a normal village, Rory was smiling while Victor paid no attention and had only one thing in mind.

"Clueless morons".

Said Victor with a straight face as always, no matter who he was talking to or what, he never seemed to lose his composure.

"Does it bother you that some people still live their lives even in this state, Victor?"

Rory replied to Victor's comment.

"You also know the situation, Rory".

Victor tried to remind Rory that there is always a chance for an attack as soon as the sun goes down, he implied that instead of partying they could be building defenses against the attack and not waste time during the day drinking, the kids were also playing around as if there is no constant threat, they should also be taught how to protect themselves.

"I know that these people live their lives as there is no tomorrow, they enjoy these moments because there might be their last, they don't just abandon their lives because of some monsters and they keep going despite the danger, I find that mindset brilliant".

Rory explained his view to Victor who once again didn't bother replying, he clearly disagreed but there is no benefit arguing at this point, they just kept walking until they reached the north gate. With one look you could see the marks that the Shades have left in the northern gate walls, the walls were made with wood and there were clear bite and claw marks on them, Victor took some time to look around.

"The marks are in a straight line across the height of the wall."

Victor commented on the way that the marks were laid on the walls and the wooden gate.

"That doesn't mean they are capable of climbing the walls, the troubling thing is how many marks are there, some are different that others, you know what I mean, don't you Victor?".

"They are helping each other climb the walls".

Said Victor who was now measuring the size of the claw marks in order to get an idea of how lethal these monsters are.

"The villagers probably know that, that's why they didn't bother building a higher wall, a stone wall is out of the question as well, there is no way to build a stone wall in one day only to be demolished at night, I doubt even the great fishing village of Magnus is capable of an expense like that".

At this point a guard approached the two and asked what they were doing at the north gate, he seemed polite though his rough appearance and mean look implied that he has seen many horrifying things. Rory, without wasting any time replied to the guard with a sincere smile on his face.

"We are monster hunters, we are headed to the forest further ahead and we stopped by to take a look at the damage these creatures have caused."

Rory explained to the guard, he toned down his voice as a sign that he recognized their resolve and skills.

"I see, if you are headed to the forest, I'd advise you to change your plans, I have seen many hunters go to the forest and none of them came back, they all had plans on how to fight them, most of these plans were that they are nocturnal creatures and they could catch them off guard during the day".

The guard told them that in case they also had the same thought, truth be told that was their plan, Rory after hearing the stories of Magnus was sure that the Shades are nocturnal creatures since they only attack at night, he shared that thought with the guard in order to hear his response.

"But they only attack at night, I have heard stories to know that".

The guard exhaled deeply and replied to Rory's statement.

"That's true, although there is something else, even if these creatures seem to hunt at night, that's not the case. Many hunters just assumed that they are just animals hunting for food at night."

Victor stood silent and observed the conversation that Rory had with the guard in order to learn as much information as possible, nothing is too strange in a monster hunters life. Rory then insisted that they should be nocturnal animals attacking.

"But, that's what nocturnal animals do, isn't that right? They attack at night for prey. It's common sense to believe that since they don't attack the village every night, it's not like you are in a war with them."

The guard exhaled once again as a sign that they don't get his thinking and revealed more of his own assumptions.

"Yes, nocturnal animals like foxes or wolves would search for prey at night, they also don't seem to have a pattern in their attacks, the thing that most people don't notice is that they never devour their victims, a usual pack of nocturnal predators wouldn't waste meat on a kill, the Shades just butcher and then leave the corpses behind to kill even more on their path, I have gone hunting in the forest many times before they began their attacks, I know about predators and game in the forest, if this is some kind of new species that we don't know about that would mean there should be no more prey in the forest and they are now attacking the village for food. That's also out of the question since we have seen many animals from here roaming around, the treeline is as far as they go, there shouldn't be a shortage of food in the forest."

The guard has given Victor and Rory much information about the Shades, even if he isn't brave enough to go himself and hunt them down, it's clear that he wanted to help as much as he could so that they could go into the forest prepared.

"I see, you seem to know a lot about predatory behavior".

Rory tried to compliment the guard on his knowledge. Rory was excellent at social interactions, every line he said was constructed to gain the trust of the guard and squeeze information out of him without sounding rude or demanding. It worked since the guard was now smiling from Rory's compliment, he gave them more information about the situation of the village.

"Yes, Magnus was originally built to exploit the fishing in the lake, I remember my grandfather telling me stories about the founder of the village, Magnus was the first person to settle here and discovered the abundance of fish in the lake, my grandfather told me that there was a time where fish literally jumped on their boats, more and more people moved here and started their own community, the village prospered for many decades and people started their lives here at Magnus, the founder was also a true believer of God and even constructed a church in the village, that's when it all began. People would often comment that Magnus was a place favored by God and many people came here for a chance at a better life, that's when they began hunting in the forest, there was also an abundance of animals to hunt and their furs and meat also gave a huge profit to those that took advantage of hunting."

The guard was smiling remembering the stories he had heard, he revealed that apart from fishing the villagers of Magnus were also making tons of money out of the hunting in the area, it seemed like Magnus was the best place to start a great life and prosper.

"I have also heard great stories about Magnus, I remember hearing stories from about this place from a woman I used to be sweet, she had all sorts of plans about us moving to Magnus and make a family together here, that's when I dumped her when she wanted to marry me, ha ha ha."

Rory lightened the situation even more by his last sentence, that's when the guard changed his face to one of sadness as he eventually revealed the last of his thoughts about the village.

"I see, you are lucky, truth be told after the monsters started attacking the village has seen many difficulties, as of last year there aren't enough fish in the lake to feed even the locals, let alone sell for profit, no one even tries to hunt in the forest out of fear. The village hasn't felt so dreadful before and if you ask me, the Shades aren't just some sort of animals, I believe that God is punishing us for our greed, we took advantage of the goods he offered in order to make money and now we are going to suffer the consequences of our actions."

The conversation ended with the guard's last piece of information, Rory waved at the guard as he walked straight to the forest, Victor didn't even bother to turn his head to thank him, they walked along the treeline for a bit and it seemed like there was plenty of animals like they were told.

April 10th, 17:03

Victor and Rory are now walking along the treeline, Magnus is still in view as they are looking around, there seemed to be a small part of the forest cut down, probably in order for the villagers to build housing for their increasing population. Victor was silent during the whole walk, he took out his sword and cut a few branches, he placed them at different parts of the treeline, Rory commented on Victor's actions as he usually does.

"Why are you doing this, Victor?"

Victor stood up from placing a branch and replied to Rory's comment.

"I want to see how these monsters come out of the forest, if there aren't enough broken branches by their next attack that would mean they all are walking in a pack or just swarming out, indicating they are more intelligent and organized than normal predators."

Victor wanted to see if the monsters are organized and determine the height of their intellect.

"You don't really believe that there is a war between the Shades and Magnus, do you?"

Said Rory.

"We know a couple of things from that guard. First, the villagers are a bunch of religious people, if a guard, someone with the least exciting job hasn't forfeited his faith until now, all of them are serious about their religion, the church was also in perfect shape indicating that the people still make offerings despite their lack of resources at this point. Second, the Shades are capable of helping each other climb the walls but they never entered someone's house, which means they have a certain level of intelligence that lets them work as a team but are not clever enough to open a door. All I want is to see if their attacks are organized and make a clear image of their intellect, I want to know what I am about to fight."

Rory was amazed by Victor, not because of his plan though.

"That was the most I have ever heard you say in years, good job, Victor, you are becoming a normal human at last."

Said Rory chuckling, Victor once again remained silent, they continued placing branches around the treeline that faced the village, with that done, Victor wanted to go in a bit further.

April 10th, 19:23

Victor and Rory are taking advantage of the last remaining sunlight to investigate deeper in the forest, apart from the countless bugs and some animals they haven't been able to notice anything out of the ordinary, with little time on their hands, they decided to drop it off and returned to the village, the first thing they noticed is that the guards changed shifts at the north gate, obviously, the guard they met has the privilege of the day shift, once they informed the new guard that they were the monster hunters currently staying in Magnus, he opened the gate and let them back inside.

At this time the village seemed quieter, the children were now already inside their homes and the doors were shut, what picked Victor's interest is how a sum of men were walking down a road, it didn't seem like they were friends since they didn't greet each other but they all turned at the corner and walked in a dim-lit alley, Victor was curious so he also went that way, as he and Rory followed the men, he could hear the chuckle of the guard behind him.

They finally saw where all those men were headed to, it was a cabaret, the sign read "Paradise" and once they walked inside they saw that it was some sort of strip club, young girls in revealing clothing were serving the men and there was a small stage probably designed to host a show later. With one look, Victor noticed that there was a huge hinge at the door, he made the assumption that this place shut down at a certain time and the heavy wooden door was reinforced with metal bars, a clear indication that men spent the whole night there drinking and having fun with the women. The place was secure enough to withstand an attack from the Shades for sure.

Rory was enchanted with the beautiful women and sat down immediately, Victor also sat down next to him on a red-colored couch with nice fabric and woodwork. Not many people walked inside the cabaret since Victor and Rory came, probably most people just stayed at their homes. Rory called for a girl to serve them some ale while they were there and Victor pointed out the security at the door.

"The door is reinforced with metal, there is also a heavily armed guy standing there, this place could work as a bunker in case of an attack, why isn't there more places like that to provide shelter at night from the Shades?"

Rory looked at Victor and exhaled.

"Are you some kind of robot, Victor? Have some fun, I see lots of girls over there looking at you."

Rory said with a huge grin on his face.

Victor despite his attitude and facial expression was a good looking man, he had long blonde hair and a light beard, he was tall and fit, his attire seemed expensive and that caught the eyes of many of the girls in the cabaret. Also, the man at the door was also checking out Victor because he was the most heavily armed guy in the place, he was cautious about him from the moment he walked in.

Time passed by and there sure was a show, numerous women walked on stage and danced in revealing clothing, some of them even danced while taking their clothes off, Victor was unfazed as always but Rory was enjoying every moment, some girls came to sit on their lap, Victor shooed them off and Rory bought them drinks in order for the girls to sit next to them.

April 10th, 22:02

Their good time was over as soon as they heard a scream from outside, the man at the door shut the hinge and for a brief moment everyone was shocked, the music stopped and they all froze, the man at the door told everyone to keep quiet until the sounds stop, everyone was on foot with that plan, it seems like the cabaret had its own plan of action during a Shade attack, Victor and Rory also were quiet, the woman that was currently sitting on Rory's lap just grabbed him tight, Rory despite the situation was smiling. Outside, there was the sound of dozens of feet running around, there was a huge panic outside the cabaret, as they were there in silence they could hear everything that was happening outside, the slashing of the claws and the screaming of the people, Victor and Rory just sat there waiting.

April 10th, 23:40

The sounds around the cabaret seemed to have stopped, the music played back on and as if nothing happened everything returned as it was, that was the second attack in two days, Victor and Rory decided to stay inside the place until the sun comes up, the sounds have stopped around the cabaret but that doesn't mean outside is safe, there were victims tonight as well, the monster hunters, Victor and Rory have to do something about this nightmare.