The first thing Rakna asked was about the System. And, once again, he was faced with a negative response.

“I should’ve known,” he muttered and the elven woman lowered her head apologetically. “Don’t worry about it, I already expected this answer. Now, onto the main topic; what can you tell me about this village?”

She breathed in and took a moment to sort her thoughts before opening her mouth, “This village is cursed.”

Rakna’s eyes widened. ‘Well, this took a turn,’ he commented inwardly. “Can I ask you to be more specific?”

“It started generations ago. No one really knows, it has just been that long,” she said. “I don’t know if you have noticed yet, but only the young elves come out of their homes or the village.”

Rakna nodded. “I saw that. That was the thing that confused me the most. Young people are indeed resourceful if anything, but to have them be all guards, scouts, and sentinels without any sort of veteran lead? That’s insanity.”

“It does look like that doesn’t it?” She replied with a bitter smile. “But, there’s no other option for this village,” she stated and slowly moved the blankets away from her. She acted as if she wanted to show something so Rakna reflexively looked at her legs only to freeze on the spot.

The only skin that was revealed was from her feet, up to her ankles but that was enough for him to rethink the entire situation. He had noticed earlier that her skin seemed to be graying somehow but that couldn’t compare to the state of her legs.

The dark skin that should have been there was replaced by stone gray covered in red lines similar to blood vessels. Rakna couldn’t even form a theory on how something like this could happen.

After seeing that, he didn’t wait anymore and cast the Appraisal he should have used already.

❮ ◈ ❯

Name: Vina Silverlight

Age: 28 | Level: -3

Race: Dark Elf

Affiliation: Fifth Plateau

Attributes:

Strength: 0.8 | Endurance: 0.8

Speed: 0.8 | Dexterity: 0.8

Intelligence: -5 | Luck: 1

Sub-Attributes:

Stamina: 3/4 | MP: 0

Swiftness: 1.6 | Agility: 2.4

Senses: 2.4 | Atr Cap: 0

Attack: 5.2 | Defense: 3.2

Magic Attack: 0 | MP Regen: 0

Proficiencies:

- Archery (Lv. Max)

- Hunting (Lv.8)

- Cooking (Lv.6)

- Knife Mastery (Lv.5)

- Mana Control (Lv.4)

- Mana Sense (Lv.4)

Note: A gentle mother that would do anything for her daughter’s safety and happiness. She was once one of the strongest people in the village but, like many others, became deeply affected by the curse that plagues her village. She has lost her powers, her mana, her skills, and even her physical abilities and is forced to rely on her daughter to get by her daily routine.

❮ ◈ ❯

‘It’s as if her skills, racial traits, and magic have been erased from her status,’ Rakna noted with a mild shock. ‘Her level and intelligence have negative values too. What does that even mean? In this state, she’s even weaker than her daughter. If I were to just flick her, I would need to be incredibly careful to not hurt her…’

“You must be wondering how this happened to me?” Her voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked at her and scowled at her weak expression as she beheld her own legs.

“Is this the curse you were talking about?”

“Yes,” she nodded and covered herself again. “This is something that happens to everyone in this village after they’ve reached a certain age.”

Rakna’s narrowed in realization. “I see. That explains a few things. But what is the source of that curse? And why don’t you just leave this village if that’s the case?”

Vina shook her head. “We don’t know the source for sure. As for why we don’t leave… it’s simply because we can’t.”

“How so?”

“Last time someone tried to run away from the village, they were found dead at the entrance with their skin as gray as stone and red lines all over them. It’s as if they went through transformation into some sort of organic statue.”

Rakna frowned. “I came here from the surface and I met a group of scouts. What about them? Are they safe because they’re young?”

“No, I’m afraid not. They can only stay in the periphery of the village or they will otherwise suffer the curse a lot faster than they should. Now, everyone knows that it’s suicide to get too far away.”

Rakna fell silent. This was a curse? For some reason, he didn’t believe it. Once again, his instincts warned him. Sometimes he wondered how far he should trust them. After all, the only reason he infiltrated the village in the first place was that he felt something was wrong.

As for what he just heard from Vina, it sounded odd. He had a very bad feeling about it.

“What about this village’s chief? Vivi mentioned that he was dangerous. Is that true?”

“Yes… yes, it is. I couldn’t tell you why exactly but it is known in the village to never let your guard down around the chief. First of all, he’s over a hundred years old already. The curse seems to have affected him too of course but no one knows how he still lives. Additionally, he…” Her face scrunched a bit before she continued, “He is the one that disposes of the dead bodies.”

“How?”

Vina shook her head. “I don’t know. Whenever a member of the village dies, he orders the body to be carried to his house and they disappear every time. It is a mystery how he does it. That makes a lot of people suspicious but he’s also the one maintaining the environment in this cave with his magic. He also heals anyone who gets injured. No one dares to confront him and he’s trusted for the most part.”

Rakna hummed and mused about what he should do. Could he really ignore these people? Even if he didn’t know any of them, even if he didn’t know if he could help them or not, at the end of it all, it still was…

“My duty,” he grumbled and huffed when Vina looked at him in confusion. He was about to ask her a few more questions when Vivi’s voice pierced through the air as she opened the door, “It’s done, mommy!”

She sauntered inside the room while carrying a tray with the breakfast she had prepared on it and placed it on her mother’s lap. “Thank you, sweetheart. Did you wake up your father yet?”

Vivi nodded. “Yes, but he said he was too tired to eat right now. Ah! Big doggy, this is for you!” She then said out of nowhere and put two bowls in front of Rakna. One was full of milk and the other had… dog food. At least, it looked it.

He glanced at the expectant expression of the little girl and sighed internally before lowering his head and digging in, much to Pronos’ amusement. Fortunately, it didn’t taste bad. He didn’t know if it was because it truly was good or because his palate had changed ever since he changed races.

It’s at that time that Vivi finally noticed Pronos who had stuck out his tiny head a bit more.

“Eh? What is that?” She inquired with a puzzling stare which was imitated by her mother.

Rakna raised his head from the milk he was drinking and licked his lips. “You have never seen a snake before?” Both shook their heads at his question. “Well, this little guy here is my friend. His name is Pronos and he’s an Eion snake.”

Pronos slithered up to his master’s head and settled between his ears as he was introduced. He hissed softly as the two elves and Vivi gazed at him with boundless curiosity. “It’s so cute!”

The little snake puffed up his belly at the compliment and Rakna almost snickered. After finishing eating, Vivi carried the tray back to the kitchen to clean it.

Vina watched her daughter go with a smile on her face. “I hope that one day she’ll be able to leave this accursed place…” She muttered sadly.

Rakna squinted his eyes and spoke, “I have one final question for you.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Where is the chief’s home?”

Vina abruptly stiffened and was momentarily stunned by the inquiry. “What are you…”

“Going to do?” Rakna finished for her with an imposing tone. “Investigate. This whole thing is fishy and I will personally get to the end of it.”

Vina’s eyes flashed with hope. Maybe, just maybe, they had a chance. “Please…” She forced herself to turn toward Rakna and bowed her head. “Save my daughter.”

He silently acknowledged her plea before answering, “I’ll do my best.” He had no intention to make a promise. Promises should only be made when the result is a certainty. At this point, he was not even sure if he himself would be spared from the curse after entering the village, he had no grounds to make such a promise to a distressed mother.

Vina seemed to understand that as she smiled. “That is the best I could hope for. The chief’s house is located at the very far back of this large cavern; on the opposite side of the entrance. It’s affixed to the walls so you won’t miss it. Since it’s the morning, I suggest you stay close to the edges to avoid being spotted.”

“I intended to do so already,” Rakna said and stood up. He walked to the door and opened it with one of his tails. As he was about to leave, Vina spoke one last time.

“Good luck.”

Rakna glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and grunted. “Luck isn’t something I lack… but I don’t know if that extends to others…” He whispered the last part and closed the door behind him.

He traced back his path inside the house and passed by Vivi who seemed to be coming back to her mother. “Big puppy? You’re leaving?” She asked with a small hint of gloom.

“Yes,” he affirmed and opened the backdoor of the house after making sure that there was nobody around. Pronos then immediately returned to his spot under Sonata where it was both safer and more strategic for him to be.

“Will I see you again?”

Rakna paused on his steps and answered without looking back, “You most likely will.”

“Then, do you think one day you can show me the outside world?” She asked hopefully.

He sighed internally and looked back at her with the softest eyes he could muster. “If the chance arises. For now, take care of your parents, all right? I’ll try to be back as fast as possible.”

“Mhm!” Vivi nodded vigorously and Rakna dashed off after activating Stealth. He had an objective and he was determined to achieve it.