A sudden shift in the psychic not-noise caught my attention. I wasn’t quite sure what it meant, but the pattern I had noticed shifted, making me pause in my actions. I had been skirting around the outer area of racoon city, trying to get a better idea of the inhabitants of it, both Undead and whatever the racoons were, doing my best to remain hidden. The entire time, the chittering had been following roughly the same pattern, ebbing and swelling as if I was listening to distant conversations, too far away to make out what was said. Only now, that pattern shifted, or rather, there was something else within the pattern, a secondary one that made my gut clench in discomfort.

Trusting my instincts, I immediately turned away from the central area and started moving. The Undead I could see didn’t act any different, but I had no desire to find out what had caused the change in chittering. I was confident that the racoons used the chittering as a means of communication, though I had no idea how it worked. My best guess was that it was a somewhat specialised form of Mind Magic, a conclusion drawn from the fact that I was the only one in the party, other than Alex, who could hear it. Given that Alex was a racoon itself, I didn’t factor its ability into the idea, as it could very well be an innate racial ability that could be emulated using Mind Magic. Not that it truly mattered, especially not while running away from a potential threat, but it gave me a few ideas, both to improve my own Mind Magic and to, hopefully, escape if I got spotted. If I wasn’t already, the shift in noise could very well be some sort of alarm, calling for their forces to deal with an intruder.

I felt it was unlikely that it was the case, given that the Undead didn’t seem to be actively searching for me, or converging to deal with me, but continued to idle around, looking just like they had the entire time. Still, I didn’t want to take a risk, and so I kept moving away. It was almost time to retreat anyway, getting away with an extra hour to spare wasn’t the end of the world.

My movements gained some more urgency when I noticed that it wasn’t the Undead that were on the move, at least not those with normal eyes. The green-eyed ones, on the other hand, seemed to be quite a bit more active than they had been, though they didn’t look like they were actively searching for me. But they were spreading out, so there might be something going on in which I didn’t want to get caught up.

Suddenly, I felt myself freeze, Bullet Time reflexively activating to give my mind the ability to keep my actions smooth and deliberate. My body had started to react to a threat but my mind needed more time, time I could only get that way.

I could hear the chittering far more concentrated just a little ways ahead. Focusing my eyes and senses, I could see a racoon sitting on a windowsill above the alleyway I had been walking down. It just sat there, not obviously doing anything, just idling around, but I didn’t trust the situation. The chittering I could hear hadn’t changed but that didn’t mean much, the undertone I had noticed previously was still there.

I had a decision to make, did I want to try striking it down, risking discovery due to its absence or did I try to bypass it, risking that it might discover me either way? Both options held their own risks and rewards, making me hesitant about which was the better option. Knocking the racoon out, or even just killing it and taking the body, might yield valuable information, though it came with the risk of being hunted as I made my escape.

On the other hand, just passing by had the risk of discovery and while it would allow me to continue my retreat unmolested, maybe even let me take a look at a different part of racoon city. Trying that would cut things close, but I had made sure to have enough time to spare for things going off the rails. In my original plan, I had made sure that, even moving at my slowest speed, I had an additional two hours between the time I had planned to get back to the others and Sunrise, with my retreat starting even earlier, that went up to a little over three hours.

After a moment of consideration, I decided to go ahead. Pushing even more power into the Concealment Rune I had previously drawn on my forehead and focused the Observe-skill through that point. I wasn’t sure if there was any method to my actions, but it had worked before, both on Mundus and on Terra, so I was confident that I could gain information without giving away my presence.

My eyes widened a little when I learned that the racoon was actually something called a Withered Skulker with a rather impressive level twenty-two. Not dangerous to me, but certainly in the upper tier of enemies I had encountered thus far. It didn’t react outwardly to my Observe, giving me even more time to make my move. The name made me wonder if there were other types of ‘Withered’, that possibly anything with glowing, green eyes was one. Something to investigate.

I decided to make a gamble, creeping ever closer to the thing, before activating Overflow and channelling a burst of power into my Mind Magic, infusing it with as much Death Magic as I could without causing myself debilitating harm. I wasn’t sure if I could actually harm this creature with that attack, it had worked against Shattered and Mind Magic had worked against the Undead, but I had no idea about this one.

Sagging a little as both my Astral Power and Health took a hit, I focused on the Withered Skulker, looking on with my magical sight active. To the naked eye, it looked like nothing happened, maybe a slight fluctuation in the air, similar to hot air rising above a parking lot, until the Withered Skulker sagged, unmoving.

To my magical sight, it was far more impressive. The invisible stream of conjoined Death and Mind Magic was clearly visible to me, as was the effect it had on the Withered Skulker. Sadly, the effect was far less pronounced than I had hoped. Instead of knocking the thing cleanly out, sending it into a deep sleep only I could lift, the thing was merely knocked for a loop, stunned for a few seconds and even as I was watching, I could see it shake off the effect of my Mind Magic.

Cursing a little, I channelled even more power, this time using Ice Magic and my Frozen Shuttle. My trusty blade crossed the distance in moments, leaving a glittering trail of sparkling frost in the air, before embedding itself deeply into the Withered Skulker. The deep wound was enough to send the thing on its way, my attack had penetrated both the spine and shredded the chest, so there was nothing keeping it tethered to the mortal coil.

I had been fast enough to keep the Withered Skulker from sending out a call for help, at least I hadn’t been able to detect one, which I was incredibly proud of. To do that to a psychic creature, one that probably only needed to think of screaming for help, without having to bother with any of the mechanical components, was quite impressive. And yet, I knew I couldn’t just hope that my actions remained unnoticed, just because somebody didn’t call for help didn’t mean that a sudden silence wouldn’t be noticed - Hopefully, it would take a little longer for that though.

With a mental tug on the Frozen Shuttle still sticking in the body, I pulled it off its ledge, catching it before it could hit the ground. Pausing for a moment, I sniffed the body, frowning when I realised that the scent wasn’t right, that this thing had been neither alive nor Undead. Something else, something I couldn’t quite identify. Something I didn’t like at all.

A few quick tests showed that the blood of the Withered Skulker was almost tar-like in its viscosity, far darker than it should be, and that the body was cold, though I couldn’t be completely sure whether that was a side-effect of my overcharged attack with the Frozen Shuttle. It shouldn’t be, but I lacked the point of comparison to be certain.

Regardless, carrying the body with me, I briefly checked my notifications, pleased that my Mind Magic, Death Magic and Darkness Rune Mastery all had levelled by one, bringing them to twenty-six, eight and twenty-eight. Soon, I would be able to glean another Darkness Rune, though I wasn’t sure what the best course of action would be. Maybe trying to get something actually offensive. There was always the temptation to reach for the Magic-Rune, but I doubted I was advanced enough to reach it. Maybe by the time I got to fifty, but I would have to think about it.

For now, I had caught a body and needed to quietly get away.