DPSHealer

Chapter 231 - Falling Back (Thank you for your support, Darko!)

My skin was burning… I thought that the light only made the surroundings look like day, but it wasn’t that simple. The light also had holy energy. If I were a complete vampire, it would be the same as being roasted alive.

“Let’s go, girl. We have finished our business here. Kind of.”

I reached Glacien, who was heading to the border after receiving my orders. I decided to withdraw from this war, since it was too dangerous for me to participate now that two vampire hunter specialists were around. Besides, Jacques should know what would happen, thanks to the clairvoyant, if I were to insist on being part of this mess. 

It was truly annoying to have to worry about someone reading my future steps so clearly. Regardless, I had to be mindful of my interactions with anyone that has ties with the empire… as for Clarice, I could only hope that she would be fine now that I dealt with this guy. I had no idea what Cellica was thinking, but she should realize now that she had to be even more cautious.

‘Perhaps I should have hinted that to those two… it didn’t feel like they were fully aware of the empire’s plans.’

The empire couldn’t track me when I wasn’t in their territory. They could only rely on the clairvoyant to help them with that. In that aspect, it would be a good idea to help the dwarves… I was pretty sure that the empire was playing on both sides of this war to get what they wanted, which was the cooperation of the elves and dwarves, and there was only one way for that to fail. I had to get in their way.

‘I have to think about this more calmly…’

I wished that I could have found how that guy was able to receive messages from Cellica, then I would have been able to contact Clarice as well. If it was a magic enchantment, it would be even better, not like I had any ideas about what kind it was.

We kept moving for a while until we reached the closest mountain and began to climb it. That was a bit tough since my parameters didn’t return to normal soon after leaving the area covered in light. It made me wonder if there was something that would have the opposite effect. That way, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting weaker during the day.

‘Here I am thinking about such things… What would be the next step? Some crazy vampire plans to block the sun?’

I didn’t want to do that. It would be too troublesome and it would be too much on a grand scale. Not to mention, it would make me be hunted even more. In any case, we reached the peak of the mountain a while later and then came to a stop… I let out a weary sigh and then decided to sit down and relax a bit.

‘Go rest first. I will go later. We have a lot of work ahead of us.’

“Awoo…”

“Don’t worry, I am fine. It probably wasn’t the first time someone in my family tried to get me killed.”

I still don’t know who sent the assassin to the old home that day. To investigate it, I would have to return to the empire and that wasn’t something I wanted to do… I already learned the many demerits of revenge, after all. The satisfaction that brings was minimal.

I got a bit more than thirty thousand points of experience after killing that elf, but nothing else aside from a few moments of satisfaction of knowing that half of the side who tried to incriminate me had been dealt with.

I decided to focus on getting the blacksmithing class and then explore the labyrinths around that had those ores. I should be able to find a decent amount now that the dwarves were at war, but walking around and checking every single one of them would be a hassle. 

Just like the elves, the dwarves were very secretive about their culture, lands, and creations. They viewed their knowledge and inventions as sacred, connected to their very identity, and safeguarded them from outsiders with a near-religious zeal. Their labyrinths were among the most closely guarded secrets of their people.

Finding a dwarf willing to share any details about these labyrinths would be an exceedingly difficult task. It wasn’t just about trust; it was a cultural principle. Sharing such information with outsiders was often seen as a betrayal of their heritage. To disclose their secrets would be to compromise their safety and pride.

This deep-rooted exclusivity made gaining access to a willing informant incredibly difficult. It would likely require either an extraordinary act of goodwill or a bond of absolute trust, something that could take years to establish. Perhaps even more for someone like me who was a half-vampire.

While I was thinking about that, I kept making potions throughout the night. This time for sure, I was going to use them to level up some physical skills. If the worst comes to the worst, I will just clear all the damn labyrinths in the dwarven territory.

‘With some luck, I will just find some dwarven lady in danger and save her from her dismay, and then she will be willing to give me the information I want after falling in love. Maybe it is about time to get wicked and use my vampire charms. I bet that I can make any lady fall mindlessly in love if I tell them that I like to watch them sleep, or tell them that I have been seventeen for a while.’

I couldn’t help but chuckle at my own thoughts. At least my nonsensical sense of humor didn’t leave me. In any case, soon enough, morning came and then Glacien woke up. She looked at me reproachfully for not waking her up to take the guard duty. I wondered if I was just tired and imagining all that.

“Let’s go, girl. It is finally time to explore the dwarven territory.”

“Awoo!”

“By the way, you can go and protect Clarice for a while. I said to those guys that she is no damsel in distress, but I feel like she messes up pretty often in the most important of times. Do you want to guard her for a while?”

“Awoo?”

“Awoo… I see, I see.”

With a camouflage amulet and her skills, Glacien wouldn’t be found out that easily… so she probably could reach Clarice to guard her. Still, it looked like she wasn’t willing to do that for now for whatever reason.

“Let’s go, then.”

In a situation like this, where the iron-wrought confederacy was essentially fighting against two groups, it would be the perfect chance for someone else to attack their other borders, but the kingdom of Felyndor didn’t show such aspirations until now. The guys in the north also would have a hard time crossing their mountainous territory, so they were using all of their resources in this fight.

I didn’t have to worry about getting involved in another conflict, but there was still the main issue about finding information. I didn’t want to hide either, or change my appearance, so that was another layer of difficulty added.

When we reached the base of the mountain, we quickly found traces of the movements of the war towers… they were probably mounted close to the borders, but the other parts should be brought from all over their territory. If I followed the opposite direction, I probably could find more dwarven cities and towns… but about the labyrinths?

‘In this situation, they can’t save resources to guard their labyrinths… I don’t remember the last time their land was invaded. They only have been gaining land against the elves, after all.’

I decided to head further into the dwarven territory following the traces of the war towers… I wasn’t trying to hide since that would make me look suspicious and because it was better to make sure as soon as possible if they would threaten me like all the others.

I wasn’t expecting to be readily welcomed, but I wasn’t expecting to be chased out that bluntly either. They didn’t know much about me, after all. Just like the Elves, they probably would just be a bit cautious, and then they would try to make a profit while making business with me.

‘I guess I can use these potions as a bargain…’

The ones that Ayla made restored stamina and also increased stamina regeneration thanks to their quality and that effect can stack too. Still, before confirming if I could do that much, I had to put the potions in bottles.

A couple of hours passed and then I finally had the chance to see the path splitting. To the north and south, there were two mountains in both directions, so I wondered if both paths would lead me to towns, cities, or dungeons. It wasn’t like I had crossed a lot of their land, after all.

“What do you think, Glacien? Let’s put your wild instincts to use for once.”

“Grrr…”

It didn’t seem like she liked my jokes… I could only shrug. In any case, Glacien moved to the path south. This path would take us deeper into the dwarven territory and further from their northern borders. Was that a coincidence or was Glacien trying to put me in trouble for my joke? I didn’t think that she was that petty, but…

We headed south without wasting time, and soon enough, I was able to hear the sounds of those war towers moving. The sound was a symphony of mechanical might and arcane resonance. The rhythmic grinding of gears and chains filled the air, each turn accompanied by a metallic groan of immense weight shifting. Pistons hiss sharply as steam escapes in bursts.

The heavy clanking of reinforced steel legs meeting the ground echoes like thunder, each impact sending subtle vibrations through the earth. Occasionally, the sharp screech of metal under strain pierces through, a reminder of the sheer power being harnessed to move these fortresses.

It seemed a bit too soon for them to send reinforcements when the conflicts hadn’t even started yet…

‘Maybe they are sending them to some other point that they deem important to conquer first. Fooling the enemy is the basics when it comes to war, after all.’

Soon enough, the sound started to become more faint, and it wasn’t heading in our direction, which puzzled me.

Chapter 230 - Siblings 

I jumped away and avoided the blast of energy… it hit the spot I was being half a second ago and then unleashed a blast of energy that made it feel like the night had vanished. In the next moment, I felt weakened again since it didn’t only feel like night had vanished. The surroundings were as bright as they could be.

In the place where I had been a moment ago, I could see a spear glowing with warm light. The same warm light made me feel dizzy and weakened, or maybe it was the light of the surroundings. I couldn’t tell… still, it seemed that someone prepared all this for me.

Before long, I was able to see a blond man running in our direction with a shield in hand. The spear soon returned to his hands. I wanted a weapon with that kind of effect.

“Grrrr!”

“Back down, girl. This isn’t your fight.”

Glacien stepped forward to defend me when the armored knights approached. At first, I didn’t recognize him, but then I saw the blond young woman following him from a distance wearing priest’s clothes of the holy order. It has seen almost ten years since I saw them both… they were Jacques and Iri.

“Regulus… it has been a while.”

Jacques stopped in front of the defeated target. He only took a glimpse at him and then focused on me… I thought that Iri would heal the target, but it looked like she was only here to make sure that Jacques would remain in one piece. Besides, it wasn’t like she could heal the target that much anyway… the decay arrows destroyed the limbs of that guy without causing bleeding. It wasn’t like he couldn’t recover them, but it wasn’t something that it could be done here.

“Don’t you have nothing to say to you older brother?”

“I have. You have grown more cunning, I guess. Do you want to make me drop my guard with your act?”

“It isn’t an act. I could have hit you with my spear if I had thrown it with all my might, but I decided to talk with you a bit to confirm if you are the person that Clarice claims you are.”

“Clarice, huh? I guess she spoke too much again. No wonder you came here so fast.”

“While she spoke a bit too much to understand our side, it was already determined that we would find you here.”

The clairvoyant… It looked like that person saw Jacques’ future and realized that he would meet me here, but they still sent him, knowing that some people died facing me. That means that his future didn’t grow dark after this encounter… I wasn’t fated to kill him or something.

I still couldn’t understand very well the power of this clairvoyant, but it looked like they imagined that Jacques and Iri would be enough to defeat or capture me. The empire should have sent some reinforcements, but they wouldn’t leave those two alone. The others could be readying an ambush to make sure that I wasn’t going to escape.

“So, what is the plan? I hope that you have a better strategy than Rowan. Or are you just planning to rely on numbers?”

“No, we just came to talk with you this time around.”

“I guess you just gave another meaning to the sentence: fighting with our fists. Do I need to be weakened for you to be able to talk with me? Should I let you chain me up as well?”

“This is just a little countermeasure that I take when vampires are around the rogue type. Regulus… surrender and return home now. Do that. I can guarantee that the empire won’t do anything else to you. Father is worried as well.”

“I am sure he is. Reputation is everything to him. In any case, I am not planning to return, so do what you must.”

Jacques went silent for a moment and I could feel the atmosphere changing. It looked like his patience was quickly running out… even Iri’s calm expression looked a lot more severe than before.

“You know, you might think that you had a hard time, but you had no idea how your presence affected the whole family. Wherever we went, people looked at us with suspicion. Wondering how and why we were raising a certain little monster.”

I hadn’t seen things from that perspective before, so I couldn’t help but pause and consider for a moment. The kinds of troubles my family had to endure because of me being a half-vampire in the middle of human society were clear. Every time I stepped out, they had to deal with the weight of the whispers and side glances. People treated them differently, more cautiously, always tiptoeing around the unspoken suspicion of what I represented.

There were the unspoken accusations, the quiet ostracism from the community, and the constant need to defend not just me, but themselves. My very existence had made their lives more complicated, and they carried that burden without question, though I now realized how much it must have weighed on them.

“Because of you, father had to work hard to keep the standing of the family. He worked like never before and his hard work was always ignored because wherever he went, people only saw him as someone who kept a monster at home.”

“We all have to deal with the consequences of our own decisions. Complaining to me about his decisions won’t change a thing. Now, you can stop trying to excuse the behavior of the entire family. I honestly don’t care.”

I could see things from a different perspective now, but it wasn’t enough to make me sympathize with them. I had the mind of an adult, so I managed all that just fine and focused on other things, but their actions could have created a real monster. Moreover, someone allowed an assassin that night at home with the intention of killing a nine years old kid. I couldn’t care less about their side with that in mind.

“Besides, you complain to me, but it wasn’t I the person who really caused you all trouble. It was the empire, and those who served it. Now you are serving the empire and working as a pawn to expand its interests. So, stop complaining and do what you want to do without giving excuses.”

“... Very well, I will do just that.”

Jacques lowered his stance and then prepared to fight. Iri put her hands together and pointed them in his direction as well. This was going to be a tough fight. Against two specialists at hunting vampires, and already weakened thanks to the environment, I didn’t have any chances. Still, they should know that as well, that my best chance would be to run away.

In the blink of an eye, Iri used several support spells on Jacques and then he charged at me with insane speed. I wanted to dodge the charge, but Glacien was right behind me, so I blocked it with my bow. The impact made my whole body shake, and then I was pushed away for several meters.

“Run… Glacien.” 

Glacien hesitated for a bit, but she knew that when I used her name, my orders were absolute and she was able to tell that I had a plan. The shield alone made me feel dizzy since it was probably a blessed shield, but that wasn’t the real weapon.

Jacques trusted his spear toward me, but I used Shadow Step to the side since Glacien was already running away. His spear only cut the air.

“I guess you will have to endure a bit of shame too… failing to kill me here with your track record will certainly make people question you if you tried hard enough.”

Jacques furrowed his eyebrows when he saw me nocking an arrow and aiming at him. He could tell that it was a decay arrow and that he couldn’t mess up with this one. Still, Jacques’ expression darkened when I adjusted my aim to his side and then aimed at Iri. 

“You!”

I unleashed the arrow and then Jaques immediately moved to block the arrow, but he failed. He could only hope for a moment that Iri would be able to summon a barrier to protect herself in time… he had messed up big time.

The arrow flew in the air as if it was in slow motion for Jacques. He saw Iri summoning a barrier to block the attack, but the arrow passed by her side and pierced the chest of the fallen elf that I had captured. All the flesh around the arrow disappeared.

“Consider the debt paid.”

When Jacques looked at me again, he saw a large fireball heading in his direction. He was forced to block the attack with his shield… the impact pushed him backward several meters, but he was surprised to see two more of those heading in his direction. 

After two massively large explosions, he finally had the chance to see that I was no longer around. Even though I shouldn’t be able to use that much mana with all the holy energy around, I managed to escape.

… …

Iri rushed over, her hands glowing faintly with the healing magic she had honed over years of practice. But as she knelt beside her brother, she realized there was no injury to heal. He was drenched in sweat, his chest rising and falling heavily, but the fireballs and explosions had done little to harm him. The charred ground around them and the lingering heat in the air were stark reminders of the power unleashed, yet his body had no burns or wounds.

They exchanged a glance, a moment of shared understanding passing between them. Both of them recognized the truth. Regulus had the opportunity to strike, to finish them off in those crucial seconds of vulnerability. But he hadn’t. Whether it was hesitation, arrogance, or something else entirely, Regulus had chosen not to capitalize on the moment. The realization lingered like a weight in the air. Iri furrowed her brow, her healing magic fading as she sat back on her heels. 

“Why didn’t he...?”

“Let’s go. We obtained some important intel, and that is what matters.”

Chapter 229 - Bad Timing (Thank you for your support, Ariil Fenris!)

The heat wave that took over the surroundings was so intense that Arias and his guards were unable to keep their eyes open. They protected their faces out of reflex… something was off. It looked like an enemy attack, but the enemy failed hitting them by a couple of centimeters.

Before anyone could understand what was going on, Arias felt a sharp pain on his back, followed by a powerful, shocking wave that took control over his body. When the wave finally vanished, he found himself floating in the air, not floating, but being pulled upward while someone was keeping him in place with a technique on his neck that he had never seen before… Eventually, Arias passed out.

… …

The plan worked and even gave me another idea… after using arrows with Great Fireballs scrolls attached to them and blinding everyone around with the power of the flames; I climbed down from the branch of a large tree and then grabbed the target by the neck after piercing his back with a shock arrow, then pulled ourselves back to the branch before the smoke could dissipate.

The flames had illuminated the area for a while, but the rising smoke made me disappear in the darkness of the forest while carrying the target.

“Enemy attack! Get ready for battle!”

While those shouts were echoing in the area, I reached the place where I left Glacien five hundred meters away. I couldn’t use camouflage while carrying someone, but I could cover Glacien while she carried the target with a piece of the camouflage tent and that would hide them to some extent.

“Let’s go. We won’t have much time.”

Glacien began to run while carrying the target and I kept my eyes on the surroundings to make sure that no one would follow us. I figured out that returning to the dwarven territory would be the best place to interrogate the target, so I decided to head to the border as much as possible.

Still, before long, the target began to move, and I realized that he had woken up… I could try to shock him with an arrow, but it wouldn’t have the same effect, the surprise factor was one of the things that knocked him down good previously and my submission technique won’t work again either, even if he doesn’t have a weapon, he probably knew a spell or two that would make things harder for me.

“Guard the area, girl. I need to talk with our friend here.”

I grabbed the target by the neck and then put an arrow close to it. I didn’t want to do this. It felt like it would be a path with no return, but I needed answers. It was weird how I felt worried about this, but not about killing. Maybe it was because of what it entailed… When I killed someone, I did it for self-defense or in retaliation when I was almost killed. I could say that it was justifiable. 

Torture wasn’t justified, no matter the reason… at least not right now in my head. That was why I killed Rowan so fast, even though he enjoyed making me suffer for a while. Maybe the fact that I was a vampire and could regenerate faster with my vampiric powers influenced that, even though I lost an arm thanks to him, at least for a while.

“Stop pretending that you are sleeping… it is time to answer for your actions. You are going to die anyway, but it is your choice if you are going to die suffering a little or a lot.”

The guy didn’t react, but when the claws on my gloves emerged and pierced his neck, he panicked a little, imagining that I would cut his throat just like that. Still, was he imagining that I wouldn’t kill him if he remained unconscious?

“I am sorry! I am sorry! Please, don’t kill me!”

“... Tell me who is your insider in Arslan’s group.”

“Insider? What are you talking about?”

“I heard your little speech earlier. I know that you have an insider passing you information about their side. Don’t make me waste my time. No one is coming to save you.”

“I don’t know… what you are talking about.”

I let out a sigh… as expected, this wasn’t going to work unless I made him suffer for a bit. Still, every single part of my being made me feel like I shouldn’t do this… even my instincts. I didn’t know why they would be working at a time like this, but they never betrayed me until now, so I couldn’t help but hesitate.

“... Can you smell this arrow? It is called Decay Arrow. It has a poison made with the blood of vampires. This completely ignores the defenses of living beings. If I touch any part of your body with this, all the flesh around will disappear in a matter of seconds. Do you want me to use this on you?”

The target began to sweat bullets at my words… This type of guy should be easier to break. He shouldn’t have any loyalty toward others, only to himself. Besides, the insider should only be another grunt. Why would he be loyal toward another pawn?

“Just so you know, I have plenty of these. I can use them to chop off your limbs or melt your face. Do you want to test that?”

I let the anger take over my body and then the hunger as well. My eyes turned red and the target’s eyes opened widely. He finally realized that I wasn’t joking. I could only guess that he didn’t recognize me since three years ago. I hide pretty much all of my physical features.

I calmed down and my eyes got green once more. Thanks to that, I began to feel terrible… this wasn’t like me. Always choosing the easiest option to achieve my goals, I was worried about Clarice, but would that justify my actions?

“... It is Cellica. She is informing us of their movements.”

“... How and why?”

Cellica might have seemed a bit eccentric and unpredictable at times, but there was no logical reason for her to betray the elves. As a member of the upper class in their society, she already enjoyed the privileges and status that came with her position. 

Betraying her people would not only risk her standing, but also likely jeopardize everything she valued. Why would she destroy a system that already worked in her favor? Her actions, though unorthodox, had never indicated dissatisfaction with her role or the structure of Elven society. It simply wouldn’t make sense for her to risk everything for a change that offered no clear benefit to her.

Moreover, she genuinely looked like she loved Arslan, so she was essentially causing him a lot of trouble… I couldn’t understand what was going on.

“... We don’t know what she is thinking either… She is hard to predict. While our intel says that she doesn’t have any reason to betray Arslan, until now, all the intelligence she provided has been accurate.”

Was she planning to betray the insurgents at the final moment in order to look more impressive to Arslan? Or was she planning to overtake him? Both possibilities seemed plausible. She might even be planning for either outcome. 

“... How are you receiving messages from her?”

The target looked to the side in order to avoid my gaze and buy some time. I could tell that he was planning something. Perhaps I should really show him that meant business and at least chop one of his arms to make him speak.

I decided to ignore that path… Despite the circumstances, I couldn’t allow myself to sink so low. Even if the justification seemed noble, there were certain lines that simply shouldn’t be crossed. Some actions, no matter how well-intentioned, carry consequences that erode something fundamental, principles, dignity, my even sense of self. 

To take such a step would be to compromise a part of who I was, and that was a price I wasn’t willing to pay. There had to be another way, one that didn’t demand I betray the values I held onto, even in the face of desperation. I couldn’t reach a point that would make others think that I was indeed a monster.

“I guess it is time to end this… at least you won’t suffer that much.”

The target realized that I was serious and finally decided to put his plan into action. From under his cloak, he grabbed something and then infused it with mana… in the next moment, I felt the danger of my life and then kicked the enemy away with all my might after letting go.

Still, in the next moment, some magic chains emerged from the ground and locked my legs in place. At the same time, they began to burn my legs… it was some sort of holy magic spell. My parameters began to drop alongside my health. Even my stamina and mana were drained.

“Hah, not so tough now, huh?”

I pulled my bow from my magic bag, but soon the target did the same… It looked like he had confidence in winning as long as I was weakened. Before he could do anything, Glacien got in front of me and began to growl at him.

“What is this? I didn’t think that vampires kept real pets with them. I only thought that they only kept humans as pets.”

“You still have a chance… give up now and this won’t hurt.”

“You still think that you have the upper hand? Why do you think I had this ring with me that would be effective against you, huh? You won’t be able to surprise me anymore.”

“... You were alive until now because of my mercy, but it looks like that got to your head.”

“You need to learn your place… you might have some qualms about making your enemies suffer, but I don’t have it.”

The target summoned an arrow and then nocked it while pointing at Glacien. In the end, things ended up like that… my naivety almost caused us problems again. Before the target could unleash his arrow, I fired mine.

He unleashed his arrow and then they collided in the air, causing an explosion in the area. The target soon got ready to unleash a barrage of arrows at me, but soon when he activated Rapid Fire, his vision got blurry and then he fell on his knees. He never realized, thanks to the strong smell of my decay arrow, that my claws were coated in poison too and his stamina was drained by the poison. Good thing I didn’t use all the poison I got from the previous labyrinth.

In the next moment, I fired four decay arrows at the enemy and made him lose his limbs. Thanks to the shock and the lack of stamina, he wouldn’t agonize, aside from convulsing on the ground. I approached him and studied his eyes.

“I told you, didn’t I?”

I nocked the next arrow and then prepared to release it, but before I could happen, a blast of energy flew in my direction.

Chapter 228 - Changing the World 

When we left the cave, I went to where I left Glacien and she appeared to be in a bad mood since she couldn’t move and a lot of people were moving in the area.

“Rejoice, we have the chance to help someone who might be backstabed at any moment. You want to help her too, right?'“

“Squeak! Squeak!”

“As for me, I don’t want to help anyone for free, so I will ask for that quiver as payment.”

“Grrr…”

“Good intentions don’t put food on the table.”

Glacien decided to stop complaining after hearing my excuses. Besides, she knew that we had to move soon since the targets were also moving further in the Elven territory. They began to expand to the sides as well in order to make sure that they would find any possible people spying on them, so that made things a bit more difficult for us. Still, I decided to stay inside their formation in order to keep that guy in my field of vision as much as possible.

If something happens, I want to take him down as fast as possible and then move on. I wanted to help Clarice to some extent, but I couldn’t let that desire dictate my actions and interfere with my goals.

‘If the worst comes to the worst, I will have to kill this guy and then keep a close watch on her to learn how the one close to her is working for the empire. Given how the information is being spread, it is clear that the empire is controlling information to make the war happen no matter what… they didn’t need to do that against the orcs, goblins, and ogres because they were more simpleminded, but things are different when their goal is also different this time around.’

I couldn’t help but sigh since the empire was causing me so much trouble… I didn’t want to waste time with their shenanigans, but it looked like they would keep moving like this for a while using this rift as an excuse and everyone would allow that.

When night came, the large group finally arrived in the area where the other Elven army was. They began to set their camp to prepare for the battle. The dwarven war towers that had come earlier were a bit ahead, so they weren’t worried about ambushes.

‘Well, what now?’

The target was leading the elves that joined the dwarves. Both groups weren’t there close to work together, but they had more or less the same goals. I still didn’t know much about the dwarven side, but I knew that the Elves, at least the low rank ones, were worried that they would lose their standing if the empire obtained too much influence in their society. With that in mind, I didn’t want to do anything too drastic against the dwarves.

I also didn’t want to do anything too crazy against the elves either… I just wanted my target dead and those who worked with him as well. To pull that off and reach my goal as well, it would be better if I captured the target without being noticed.

‘This would give me some time to interrogate him and kill him if I find him too troublesome to deal with.’

The best chance to pull that off will be tonight. If they are going to start the war soon, they won’t expect something like this to happen at such a moment. Until they couldn’t say what my plans and goals are, but they would learn it as soon as I began to move, so failure wasn’t an option.

“All right, you will stay hidden again while I am going to grab that guy for a nice chat. This shouldn’t take long, so get ready to leave at a moment’s notice.”

“Awoo…”

I let Glacien hide a few hundred meters away from the enemy camp and then began to move silently toward the target. She wasn’t fighting much lately, so I imagined that she was getting restless since her experience gain should have slowed down considerably. 

The elves in the camp appeared composed and focused, showing no signs of hesitation or concern despite the battle against their own kind. Their resolve seemed unshakable, as if they had already come to terms with the conflict and what it demanded of them. Yet, I couldn’t help but reflect on the broader implications of their determination. Similar scenes would undoubtedly unfold across the Elven territories, each camp preparing to face its brethren in a large clash.

Did they truly grasp the magnitude of what lay ahead? Their land would be engulfed in the flames of war, its beauty marred by bloodshed, its people fractured. Thousands of lives hung in the balance, and I wondered if their focus on the present fight blinded them to the price their world would pay. Could they see the big picture? Or were they simply soldier, obeying orders and bracing themselves for a storm they had no power to stop?

If their goal was to change the Elven society, they sure were going to do that, but not in the way that they were expecting… the Aeloria Dominion will lose too much power once the war is over… the insurgents will have more influence than before for sure, but the empire will have much more influence over them.

‘Well, not my problem… I just want to kill my target and move on.’

Worrying about how the world was going to change wouldn’t change a thing for me… sure, I was worried about Clarice, but I couldn’t change the world all that much.

When I was one hundred meters away from the camp, I was able to see the target giving some orders to the elves around. He took a look behind and then saw the dwarves that followed his group from behind getting ready as well… They were wearing heavy armor and they also carried some tools to help with their weapons. Since they couldn’t run fast, they decided to focus on defense.

‘Dwarves won’t be able to chase me, and the elves will have a hard time finding me in the darkness… the only problem is those guys.’

The target always has six Elves by his side… his personal guard. I either had to kill them in the blink of an eye without letting anyone notice, or I had to pass by them and capture the target before they noticed it. Both options were quite difficult.

I checked my surroundings and soon found what I should do.

… …

“Send reinforcements to the sides. We will leave the Frontline for the dwarfs to guard. The members of the unseen arrow who aren’t on our side will make their moves at night and we can’t afford to let them infiltrate our formation.

Arias was giving orders to the elves with his arms crossed and a serious expression on his face, but deep down, he had a smile of satisfaction that was quite hard to hide.

‘Finally, it is time to make changes in this old place…’

Arias was the man that Regulus was looking for… he was one of Arslan’s oldest friends and allies, at least he was. When Arslan took command of the silver bows, he couldn’t help but feel that his time had finally come… Arslan was smart and pragmatic. It was clear that he would reward those who were skilled and loyal, Arias was both. At first, his guesses were right. He was given some level of authority and even some people to command. He even was the leader of the groups that went to take over the Hellblazer labyrinth, but soon enough, he changed his mind.

Maybe it was because he didn’t take control of the labyrinth soon enough or for another reason, but his position in the Silver bows didn’t change. He got results in other aspects, so he expected to be recognized by those, but that never happened.

Time passed and soon Arias realized what was going on. Arslan was given preference to those who came from families of higher standings in Elven society. Even if those had accomplished less than Arias, that was still beneficial since Arslan secured the backing of some powerful families.

It didn’t take long for Arias to connect the dots… rather than being a skilled and loyal friend, Arslan just saw him as a useful elf of lower standing. That enraged Arias so much that made him abandon his position in the silver bows without telling anyone.

It wasn’t long before Arias found himself contacted by a group of like-minded individuals, elves who, like him, harbored a deep resentment for the rigid structure of their society. They shared his disdain for the system that placed rank above skill, perpetuating a cycle where talent and ability were stifled beneath the weight of birthright and privilege. In theory, anyone could climb the ranks through effort and achievement, but in practice, those at the top wielded their influence to keep the lower tiers firmly in their place. Advancement was more illusion than reality, a hollow promise that only served to sustain the existing power structure.

These new allies spoke his language, echoing his frustrations and feeding his resolve. They, too, saw the inherent hypocrisy of a society that prided itself on tradition while ignoring merit. It wasn’t just about ambition; it was about fairness, about breaking the chains that bound capable elves to mediocrity simply because they had not been born into the right families.

As Arias listened to their stories and their grievances, a plan began to form. The fools who clung so desperately to their ranks, who dismissed skill and potential in favor of maintaining their status quo, would soon feel the sting of their own complacency. The very system they cherished, the foundation of their power, would be turned against them. Arias and his allies would ensure it.

For too long, these so-called elites had wasted their time playing politics, guarding their positions, and undermining anyone who dared to rise above their station. But their era of dominance was coming to an end. Arias could already see the cracks forming in their carefully constructed façade. All it would take was the right pressure in the right places, and their house of cards would come crashing down.

“We will depart at sunrise, so be ready for when the time comes.”

After finishing giving his orders, Arias headed to his tent with his guards. Still, before they could head to the commander's tent, four large explosions took place around them.

Chapter 227 - Tough Choice (Thank you for your support, TYRELL GRAY!)

The entrance of the cave was pretty dark, but soon I found some lights ahead. After crossing a few dozen meters, I saw a pair of giant golems defending the entrance of the hideout. They weren’t like the golems that I found in the dungeons until now… they were metallic golems created by the dwarves.

They were metallic constructs, their bodies forged from gleaming steel and reinforced with thick plates of bronze. Every seam and joint of their construction showed the masterful dwarven craftsmanship, the metal polished to a dull shine that caught and reflected the sparse light in eerie, angular patterns.

Their proportions were imposing, massive arms like battering rams, legs thick as tree trunks, and broad torsos etched with runes that pulsed faintly with an internal energy source. Their heads were featureless save for a pair of glowing, crimson eyes that tracked even the slightest movement, casting a menacing red hue across the cavern floor.

Steam hissed softly from vents in their shoulders, a constant reminder of the raw power that fueled them. They stood in perfect silence, unmoving yet brimming with energy, like coiled springs ready to unleash devastating force at the slightest provocation. These golems were no mindless constructs; they were designed with precision, built to guard the secrets of the dwarves and to crush anyone who dared trespass.

‘I don’t think that they can sense my movement, unless I get too close to them… in any case, can I get experience by destroying this?’

I knew that the dwarves liked to make a lot of things, but I didn’t hear anything about golems… they seemed like automatic defenses as well, so they didn’t need to be controlled. I wanted that kind of knowledge. Perhaps I could use something similar to clear labyrinths.

In any case, I passed above them and the golems didn’t notice me or move even a bit… Thanks to that, I was able to climb the ceiling when it expanded upward and then I had the chance to see the dwarven base.

It was massive… it looked like they had carved out the interior of the entire mountain. To make sure that their digging wouldn’t make the whole place fall apart, the dwarves created giant pillars to support the ceiling and also reinforced it with earth magic and runes.

The base itself was pretty simple. Aside from that, the buildings were all the same, aside the ones where things were being done outside like processing ores, or melting metals to reforge them into something else. I couldn’t hear much of the sound of hammers, but there was a lot of steam and smoke coming from some places.

The dwarves that I could see moving around weren’t ready for fighting. Some of them had thick hammers or axes, some of them had large crossbows as well, but neither of them had any defensive gear. It looked like the idea of the elves reaching this far never crossed their minds.

‘I guess the elves must be there…’

The center of the base had a large building that seemed like the perfect place for meetings to take place… a lot of tents were around as well. Even if they had free houses, they wouldn’t work for the elves, since the dwarven houses were quite short, plenty large, but very short.

I decided to approach one of the pillars and slowly climb down to the closest part of that area… I had to get done with this and then resume my goal of exploring labyrinths. They should be pretty defenseless now, since the dwarves were getting ready for war.

Getting a lot of magic ores should also be possible and I would need them to test a bunch of ideas. In any case, I approached the pillar and then began to climb down to the area… I was still camouflaged, but I had to be cautious and not let even a bit of dust fall from it. Thanks to that, I stopped using the claws of my gloves and then slid down the pillar. My hands were getting hot thanks to the friction, but I endured it.

While I was doing that, I noticed a bit of noise coming from below, and soon I saw the elves leaving their tents and heading to the largest building that I assumed was where the dwarves talked about their plans.

‘Things can never be easy for me, huh?’

This was the closest dwarven base to the town where that elf was supposed to be working until recently. That was already me being lucky enough. In any case, I focused my eyes to find him, but it was hard to see their faces from above… approaching right now had been a bad move in that regard.

“It is time to put the next part of the plan in motion. The empire sent reinforcements to help those who aligned themselves with the silver bows and those on the uppercase of the Elven society are following the lead of the new leader of the Silver Bows.”

‘That voice…’

I didn’t forget that voice… that guy was truly here. I couldn’t help but grin since I finally would be able to put an end to my journey of revenge. Still, he sure was well-informed, given that he stayed here for the last few days.

Then again, Renna was able to send a message to that dark elf and ask him to help me in the labyrinth, so perhaps this guy here also has some magic implement that helps him receive information from large distances. It also raised a question: who was sending those messages?

‘Maybe they have some people infiltrated among Arslan’s inner circle… Clarice said that the guy is a good archer, but being a good archer doesn’t help when it comes to avoiding being stabbed from behind.’

Of course something like that was possible… The older and society becomes, the more its people tend to rely on subtlety, deception, and backstabbing tactics rather than direct conflict to achieve their goals. 

In an older society, layers of traditions, hierarchies, and norms accumulate over generations. These social structures make outright warfare less practical or acceptable, especially among the elite. Open conflicts risk destabilizing the intricate balance that keeps the society functioning.

Instead, individuals and factions often resort to manipulation, sabotage, or covert alliances to outmaneuver their rivals within these systems. This made me worry a bit about Clarice. She was skilled too, but naïve to a fault… to the point that she never noticed that her allies worked for Cellica all along.

“We won’t be able to negotiate with them, given that the empire already sent so many troops to help the upper classes. They are planning to weaken our resolve by showing their might. Our only option is to fight and show them what we are made of.”

It looked like this guy was enticing them for the war in order to make them think that they didn’t have any other option. That would be a good way to make them fight better… if they think that they don’t have any other options, then their only path would be more clear to their goal.

“While our dwarf allies will lead the charge, we will focus on securing key points and making others join our cause. They will soon realize that the upper cast can’t be trusted when the empire starts to show their true colors. They fooled the Aquarians, but we can’t allow them to fool us!”

After that well practiced speech, the elves in the area began to shout in agreement. I was able to notice that it took a while for the others to feel the same way… elves were naturally more calm and not that hot-blooded, but that could be changed by putting some actors in the middle of their ranks to control the mood of the group.

“We won’t allow the empire to take over the world or over our lives! It is time to take back what is rightfully ours!”

The elves began to shout excitement again and soon they began to march to the exit of the base… that was bad. I had to make my move, but if I do it now, I will be targeted by hundreds of skilled elves. Avoiding so many arrows at the same time would be virtually impossible.

I wanted to take my chances and get this over with… just killing the guy should be easy, while escaping would be a bit difficult. It would be a better idea to capture him and then force him to spill all the beans. I was certain that he gave the empire the sleeping potion that caused the incident for three years, but to who? And who gave him that order on both sides? I also needed to know who was working for them pretending to be working for Arslan as well… I couldn’t give two shits if he lives or dies, but I didn’t think that Clarice would be safe with someone that could backstab her brother so close.

‘I still can make their plans come to a halt just by killing him here, but…’

The elves began to head to the exit, and when I approached a bit more, I saw that guy leading a small group of elves in the same direction… Those were the guys who controlled the mood of the larger group with their fake excitement. They were even willing to fool their own people to achieve their goal.

I stopped moving in the pillar and then considered using my bow… I could snipe him and then use the Magic Smoke Bomb amulet to make myself disappear and avoid the arrows. The smoke would take some time to dissipate here, after all.

‘Damn it…’

I couldn’t kill him yet… I had to get some answers first. Fortunately, following him now that I found him wouldn’t be hard. I just had to be patient, but I was terrible at that.

I climbed the pillar and then returned to the ceiling… while following that guy, I also retraced my steps. I had enough time to see some of the dwarves in the base getting ready to move as well. They would follow the elves from the back in order to avoid double-crossing. Now I had to remain close to both forces to achieve my goals and avoid being found out… 

You received 05 experience points.

You received 05 experience points.

You received 05 experience points.

‘At least Silent Observation will grant me a shit ton of experience since both sides are being wary of me and they want to kill me on sight as well.’

Chapter 226 - Seeking Closure

“Glacien, you can bite my leg the next time with all your might when I mention the possibility of starting another revenge mission.”

“Awoo?”

For someone like me who valued efficiency above pretty much everything else, revenge was truly a waste of time… I would have given up on this if I hadn’t already invested too much time in it. It would make me feel like a moron if I did that. Still, I had the feeling that I would feel much worse soon since this wouldn’t be easy to solve.

After the dwarves began to advance through the Elven territory, I watched their backs for a while and waited to find signs of the Elves that joined their sides, but they didn’t show up. 

In the end, the Elves that stayed behind in that town were forced to join the other group that came to investigate them. The same thing was happening to other towns that had some deserters, so the situation was truly becoming quite annoying.

‘I guess the deserters were told to do something else to make sure that the dwarves would trust them. They leaving their lands should already be plenty of proof that they meant business, so perhaps I am wrong about this… their task should be something else then.’

I had no idea what that something else was… my plan to lure out that asshole failed miserably. Come to think of it, this kind of plan had too many factors beyond my control. It wasn’t reliable at all.

I stopped to consider my options… I could just advance through the dwarven territory and then explore some labyrinths to complete my forging skills. Then return when the war is reaching another stage and then look for that asshole again. It should be easier this time around and I wouldn’t be focusing too much on a single thing that was making me waste time.

‘... I don’t think that guy will put Clarice in danger, so she should be fine once the conflict starts. It isn’t certain that it will start, anyway.’

Checking the dwarven territory should be easy, but checking their towns and cities would be pretty hard since they lived mainly underground. I could enter their territory, but it would mean letting them have massive chances of surrounding me… then again, their war machines shouldn’t be that good in a confined space.

I also was interested in their products, but it was unlikely that they would sell anything to me. I had the Thief class, but I wasn’t planning to steal anything. It would be fun though to confirm if I could steal something, then return it without being noticed and then steal it again just to gain more and more experience. It seemed like a good way to break the system.

“Well, no point in thinking too much, right, girl?”

“Awoo!”

“You are supposed to say that there is a point in thinking a lot, but I am tired of doing that, so let’s move on.”

We headed to the dwarven territory, and I told Glacien to warn me if she sensed any magic traps or magic barriers. It was hard to say if she had such senses, but she was quite high spec, so I imagined that she would.

We began to move to the mountains while using the camouflage amulets, so no one found us. In the distance, I could see some dwarves in some tall hills surveying the area… they sure are being cautious, even though their frontline should be a couple of kilometers in Elven territory already.

When it comes to defense, they should be quite good, but that was practically meaningless, since the Elves didn’t want anything with mountains, only with forests. South of their territory, there was the great sea. In the West, there was the beastkin, but they were also quite chill. That left the Northern border that was split with the Aesira Empire and the Mistralin Union… The harpies caused problems now and then, but it wasn’t much since they didn’t like to fight in confined spaces.

Mistralin Union was made of pixies and dryads. Pixies can be quite the troublemakers, but they aren’t that violent. I tried to recall what I knew about them, but it wasn’t much since the empire didn’t deal with them often.

The only faction of the pixies, if it could be called that, was the whispering wind clan. Their goal was to spread chaos and trickery across the world. The Whispering Wind Clan of pixies revels in mischief and pranks. They seek to disrupt the order of human and other mortal societies, believing that chaos and confusion bring balance to a world too rigid in its rules. Their ultimate goal is to bring an era of endless unpredictability where nothing is certain, allowing for creativity and freedom in all life.

They were certainly a group that I wanted to stay clear of… while I was thinking about that, we approached the base of the closest mountain and soon found traces of the dwarven society. There was a large cave ahead that didn’t look natural, and the surrounding area had the ground covered in brick. 

‘It seems too close to the border for them to make a town or city here… so it should be a military post.’

There was a chance that the elf that I am looking for could be hiding here, but I couldn’t enter there with Glacien. I probably could escape if I try my hardest, but Glacien might suffer some serious injuries. Leaving her outside alone could be dangerous too.

“Do you smell elves there?” 

“Awoo…”

It seemed that she could… I wasn’t planning to go to such a place, but I had the feeling that I should. It was the usual feeling that I had to do something while I had the chance. It could be the last time that I would have the chance to do it.

What I’ve come to realize is that the incident from three years ago, even though I don’t think about it all the time, has stayed with me in many ways. For a long time, I thought I could just move on by ignoring it, by letting time smooth over the sharp edges. But the truth is, the things I’ve faced in the past three years have shown me that ignoring something doesn’t make it disappear, it just hides it, letting it fester and influence my thoughts and decisions in ways I didn’t always notice.

I think what I truly needed, and maybe still need, is closure. Not to dwell on the past, but to finally face it, understand it, and let it go. Running away from problems may feel like a solution at the moment, but it doesn’t resolve them, it just postpones the reckoning. And I’ve realized I don’t want to carry that weight any longer. It’s time to confront it…

If I keep doing that, then everyone will keep looking down on me and sending people to get in my way. I had to make my point clear every single time until anyone foolish enough to come for me gave up completely out of fear for their lives.

“All right, girl. I am going to head there for a bit, but you will have to wait for me here. With the camouflage amulet, you will be fine.”

“Awooo!”

“I am just going to confirm that my target isn’t here. Don’t worry, I won’t pick a fight with all the guys there.”

“Grrr…”

“Don’t grrr me… I am the brains of our group and you are the nose, so just relax a bit.”

I could tell that Glacien didn’t like my plan even a bit. As expected, I should make a vehicle for her to pull and then she would feel like she would have the chance to help me in situations like this, when the chance of me having to run away for my life would be pretty common. I had been increasing her strength and endurance, so she soon would be able to do that and keep her speed.

A forge and an alchemy shop… it would be hard to make a wagon big enough for both. I shouldn’t focus on too many things either, but I wanted to make a lot of things.

While I was thinking along those lines, I led Glacien to the back of a large bush in the area and then put a large mana core on her camouflage amulet. It was going to last for two hours, so I couldn’t waste time with useless things.

“If something happens, you should head north. I will meet you there, okay?”

“Awooo!”

I scratched the back of her ears and then decided to move on… it was time to test my infiltration skills. I haven’t been training them that much recently, but this was a good chance for it.

After focusing my eyes a bit at the entrance of the cave, I noticed that an area beyond the entrance and in front of it was pretty clean. Still, the areas surrounding it in a half circle were more dusty.

I could feel the presence of a magic barrier ahead, its faint energy radiating through the cave like an invisible wall. Knowing that approaching it directly might trigger something dangerous, I decided to take a more cautious route.

I loaded my grappling crossbow, aimed at the jagged ceiling above, and fired. The hook latched securely onto the rocky surface, and with a sharp pull, I hoisted myself up. From there, I relied on the claws embedded in my gloves, carefully digging them into the ceiling as I clung to it like a shadow. Slowly and methodically, I made my way forward, staying as high and out of sight as possible, my every move deliberate to avoid alerting anything, or anyone, that might be guarding the barrier. The rough texture of the ceiling provided just enough grip, and the faint sounds of my progress were muffled by the cavern’s ambient echoes.

I passed above the barrier and I couldn’t sense any other ahead, but I decided to stick to the ceiling since it would give me an advantage… I only had to be cautious and avoid letting small pieces fall on the below.

Chapter 225 - Vampire Slayer

A few days had passed since the last time Clarice had heard of Regulus, and she couldn’t help but worry. She spent three years only hearing rumors about him and one day he suddenly appeared just fine, but she couldn’t help but worry a lot more than before given the situation… he was walking in a territory that was going to hold a large war.

Once things get going, they probably won’t start because if the Elven forests start to suffer damage, all the elves will fight with eagerness to crush their enemies. Their forests were that much sacred to them.

As if that wasn’t enough, Clarice was waiting for someone at the entrance of the town that her brother was ruling over… she thought that he would keep hidden a lot of things from her, but he was being surprisingly honest… or maybe he was just messing with her telling to send a certain letter and then receive this person who was coming as ambassador of the empire and also reinforcement.

“Envoy… What a joke. I am just an errand girl.”

A few days had passed since she heard that a lot of war vehicles that the dwarves made had entered their territory through the northern and southern parts of the Aeloria Dominion. She knew that a lot of Elves were unsatisfied with their society, but not to the point that they would allow that.

They were taking a lot of risks with this… not only could it destroy a large part of the forests in their lands, but if they fail, they might tarnish their names for the rest of the time. Such a thing never happened in their society and they would be considered disgraces like never before.

“Please… don’t let this war start…”

Clarice had no idea whom she was praying to… perhaps it was because of the person that she was waiting for that she felt like praying, even though she never did that before. She was taught to thank the forest now and then for their good life, but only that much.

While she was thinking about that, she saw a carriage and a large group of paladins approaching in the distance, protecting the vehicle. The ambassador and the reinforcements had arrived… Clarice’s posture straightened up and her expression sharpened. She was supposed to welcome this group, but she couldn’t help but feel her anger boiling. Someday, she will get her brother for this…

A couple of minutes later, the carriage stopped in front of Clarice and from it, just two people emerged from it. The first was a fully armored man in his early twenties who had a neutral expression on his face. He was wearing a full set of silver armor and a silver spear, and a large shield was on his back.

‘They have the same eyes…’

He had blond hair and green eyes. He looked like a normal and calm person, but he had become famous recently thanks to his accomplishments. Many called him the vampire slayer. Despite his young age, he had killed and hunted dozens of vampires… his name was Jacques Dawnshield.

Jacques had in front of his armor and the shield the emblem of the Holy Order. The emblem was a shield-shaped crest that embodies their mission to combat unholy creatures and their diverse composition of paladins, priests, and monks. At its center is a radiant silver sword, piercing a black crescent moon to symbolize their triumph over darkness and abyssal forces. 

The emblem’s design reflects the Holy Order’s values and flexible philosophy. A braided gold and silver border surrounds the shield, symbolizing the unity between their warrior, cleric, and brawler traditions. Flanking scrolls bear the inscription “Faith, Sacrifice, Valor,” emphasizing their guiding principles. The shield’s slight curves soften its rigid form, suggesting balance and humanity within their purpose. The emblem as a whole captures the harmony between their unyielding faith and their practical approach to life.

After Jacques, a young woman in her late teens emerged as well. She was wearing light clothes commonly worn by the priests of the holy order. Clarice wasn’t expecting this one, but she could tell by her eyes as well… this one was also Regulus’ sister. Iri Dawnshield.

“Greeting, I am the ambassador of the empire to help the Aeloria Dominion deal with recent matters. My name is Jacques Dawnshield, and this one is my little sister, Iri. Thank you for coming to receive us.”

“I am Clarice Urikas. It is nice to meet you both.”

Jacques and Iri bowed slightly and Clarice decided to act cordial to them as well… she didn’t hear a single bad thing about Jacques, it was a known fact that he was planning to even abandon his family’s name and inheritance to become the next leader of the holy order.

On the other hand, she only heard bad things about Regulus… his attitude in the places that he had been didn’t help him either. He was supposed to be the cowardly archer that killed one of the human commanders during the skarnash tribelands war with a sneaky attack from behind and then ran away. He actually used a sneaky attack, but it was from behind, and she knew that.

He was also supposed to be responsible for the death of a rich merchant in the war against the Aquarians two years ago, but it was only a rumor that began to spread around now and Clarice heard that he kept his face hidden back then, so it didn’t make any sense.

“My brother asked me to guide you both to his office. Please, follow me.”

“Understood.”

Clarice began to guide the siblings through the town. That was just basically formality. They didn’t need to be guided, but it was still as nerve-wracking for Clarice as it could be since she was trying to maintain her neutrality. Entertaining those who saw his friend as a monster wasn’t something that she wanted to do, but Clarice knew the value that he could get from them… besides, antagonizing them wouldn’t help anyone.

On the other hand, helping them could give her some connections and information that she wouldn’t receive using ordinary means. It was a bit annoying to act like that. She didn’t want to get involved with anyone that could see a part of their family as a worm, but she had to be smart if she wanted to make some change.

“By the way, Miss Clarice. Is it true that someone around these parts helped my little brother cause some chaos?”

Clarice looked over her shoulder and then saw Jacques’ expression. He seemed genuinely curious and still as calm as ever, so she wondered if that was a facade or not. His sister also acted like him, so both of them were hard to read.

“That is right. I was the one who did that.”

“You did? That is surprising. Is there any reason why you would help him cause problems in your own backyard?”

Clarice wondered what she should say at this moment. She stopped to think for a moment to consider some things and then decided to speak up. 

“Three years ago, I met Regulus while he was assuming another identity. Back then, I didn’t know who he truly was. We joined another party and conquered a good party of the Hellblazer labyrinth together.”

“Really? It is hard to imagine Regulus working with anyone. He even killed our sword instructor, after all.”

“He said to me a few things about that instructor. I am not sure that he was fond of him as you were. Didn’t he quit after teaching just for a year?”

“Rowan did that. Regulus wasn’t that eager to fight the way our instructor taught, so he didn’t feel the obligation of teaching him for longer.”

“That would explain why Regulus didn’t hesitate in killing him, when this Rowan person entered the dungeon alone to kill him instead of capturing him, right?”

Jacques remained with his expression unfazed. It looked like he was trained to remain like that no matter the situation, but his first teacher was killed, it was impossible for him not to feel anything about it.

“Anyway, a lot of things happened and the group split after someone caused an incident and tried to incriminate Regulus. I know that humans and elves were involved in that incident, which made some of our friends also swear that they would take their revenge on him. So, I decided to investigate this matter and Regulus showed up here recently. When he learned about my goal, he decided to help me, but we failed and the issues of war began to get in our way.”

“I see. It looks like the image that I had from my little brother is vastly different from yours.”

“You are probably right. I am not sure if either of you tried to get along with the other, but five years is enough for people to change a lot.”

I can’t say that we tried… Back then, we were kids and since then, we have followed very different paths. I can’t say that we are going to be able to see each other eye to eye. Even more so after he killed our sword instructor.”

“Even if it was in self-defense?”

“He could have just surrendered.”

“He didn’t draw his weapon until when your other brother attacked him. Why do you think that your sword instructor would have acted differently?”

“My other brother? Which one? I heard that Ulric and Remi met him in the Skarnash Tribelands, but I didn’t ask for details. Without hearing their side first, I can’t say anything, aside from that your view on the matters is probably very biased.”

“I can’t deny that, but can you not do the same? You speak like when it comes to Regulus, he is guilty until proven innocent.”

“I am very aware of how vampires operate. They tend to enjoy fooling their prey as much as possible and tasting their blood while they are shocked and suffering in agony. It is never a good thing to underestimate them or think otherwise. They don’t live among others because when they see people like you and me, they only see a walking barrel of blood.”

Clarice thought that she would be able to take a glimpse at Jacques’ nature and find some semblance of concern about his brother, but there was no such a thing in his heart. He felt a deeper connection to his sword instructor than his own little brother, whom he saw being ignored and treated badly from the moment he was born… For Jacques, his youngest brother was just another night creature that needed to be hunted down.

Chapter 224 - Getting Started (Thank you for your support, Daniel Augusto!)

I returned to that town where Ayla showed up wounded and then decided to watch things from afar… soon enough; I confirmed that the place was very quiet. Not because people were that quiet, but because a lot of them left, apparently.

At this point, the army that surrounded the place a few days ago had already checked the place and was no longer on standby. I could see some of them patrolling the streets and it looked like a large number of them had left as well.

“My hearing accessory isn’t powerful enough to hear people there… and I can’t waltz there like I own the place.”

Based on what I heard, the clairvoyant will have a better idea of how to find me, if I get in the way of powerful people that they are aware of. If they find me with their skills, they will try to change the future by keeping some people around to support those who can fight me and the empire should have plenty of those, but would they be already nearby?

In that sense, Rowan’s actions didn’t make any sense, the clairvoyant should have realized that he would die if he went to look for me, then again… using such powers shouldn’t be easy, so that person wouldn’t use it on everyone.

‘This is quite troublesome… should I just ignore my revenge and focus on getting stronger… that guy will probably die in a ditch even if I don’t do anything, after all.’

Revenge is truly a massive waste of time if you are doing it for no personal gains. I could do a lot more things in the meantime that would make me stronger. It was more efficient too…

The chances of me doing what I wanted and remaining hidden were quite low, so this was indeed a pretty risky thing to do… in any case, if some people left the town, I would guess that the elder and those working for them also did the same. They went to the dwarven territory to wait for the conflict or perhaps some negotiations.

‘I guess I can head there too and unlock the other basic smithing classes. After that, my basic set of skills will be complete and I will be able to do what I need all by myself.’

The dwarves have all kinds of magic implements and runes that can help them with their defenses. It was unlikely that I would be able to cross the border without being noticed. At least on the border with the dwarves. 

“What do you think I should do, girl?”

“Awooo! Awooo!”

“Yeah, I really shouldn’t ask an animal about my next steps.”

“Awooo! Awooo!”

Glacien pointed her nose in the opposite direction, as if trying to tell me that I should head there… Clarice should be in that direction, but joining a war because of that wouldn’t be the best of ideas. Even if it was to help a friend, the empire might try to use her to get me and Arslan probably would comply with their demands, as long as they guaranteed her safety.

The empire wouldn’t risk a lot of trouble by letting Clarice die… the Elves were that important ally to them. This was a troublesome situation, and I didn’t know what I should do… just leaving everything behind would grant me the peace of mind that would make me have fewer problems to deal with.

‘Well, I can probably sense the location of the dwarves’ barriers if I get close enough to them and destroying their energy sources shouldn’t be that difficult. Let’s head there.’

I took a roundabout route around the town to look for signs of a large group of people heading to that land, and it didn’t take long for me to find it. The steps of hundreds of people heading in the same direction were hard to miss in such a land filled with grass, after all.

The Elves have a deeply ingrained tradition that dictates how authority and trust are allocated within their society, particularly when it comes to the roles of their elders. Elders are not simply assigned to positions arbitrarily; their role as guardians or overseers is rooted in a community’s unanimous trust and recognition of their wisdom. Without suspicion or reason to doubt an individual’s allegiance or intentions, the Elves cannot justify reallocating an elder to another point of governance or influence. This tradition serves as a safeguard against internal discord, ensuring that power is wielded by those deemed unquestionably loyal and just. It wasn’t working this time, though.

At the same time, the lands where the borders are defended have a lineage of rulership that dates back centuries, if not millennia. These territories have been under the stewardship of families whose claims are cemented by both tradition and history. These ruling families wield significant autonomy and are seen as the rightful protectors of their domains. This system reinforces stability and respect for ancestral bonds but also limits the central authority’s ability to intervene directly in border defenses, as doing so would be seen as a violation of the sacred trust between the rulers of those lands and the broader Elven community.

As a result, while this structure fosters strong, decentralized governance, it also means that controlling or closely monitoring border defense can be challenging. The ruling families operate with considerable independence, and unless there is clear evidence of betrayal or mismanagement, the elders cannot impose their authority.

That made things a lot more stable, even more so when the Elves could be that isolated, but it was clear that they were changing or were forced to change.

“Grrrr…”

“Don’t grrr me… you think with your feelings, but I think with my head, sort of. I am making us head there for revenge, but I am also planning to get the class that will help me make some useful things for all of us. Like a light carriage where I can create my laboratory.”

Although Glacien was an animal, she was also part of the sisterhood. Even if someone like her sees another female doing dumb things, she would do anything to cover for her. Well, that was just my analysis. Glacien was probably just instinctively trying to help someone that had been nice to her once.

It was rather troublesome… I didn’t know if it was because of that or because I lacked charisma, but it would be difficult to convince Glacien. She wouldn’t disobey me, but she would keep bothering me for a while. That made me realize that getting another fighting pet would only double the trouble, given how rebellious they are.

While I was thinking about that, the forest ahead began to thin out pretty quickly. It looked like we were a lot closer to the border than I had expected. There were marks on the grounds of some vehicles and those war towers that the dwarves had. It looked like they were softening the ground for when they would advance through these lands.

It didn’t take long for me to see some mountains ahead in the dwarven territory… they were a bit further away down the south, but they were a lot closer here. All of them seemed massive and, from a distance, it felt like they were shining or something, probably because they were extremely rich in minerals.

I soon forgot about them when I saw a bunch of these war towers nearby. They were even more numerous than the ones I saw in the south.

“Yeah, they are truly preparing for this… another war, huh? Anyway, where is their closest camp?”

I couldn’t get closer recklessly since the last time that happened. I was ambushed with Clarice… they should have some unseen arrows nearby. I couldn’t risk being attacked by them and the dwarves, not when Glacien was with me.

While I was thinking about my next steps, I realized that if the empire reaches this far, and then subjugate the dwarves or force them into an alliance, they would have a foothold to the Kingdom of Felynor… they could finish off the survivors of the Skarnash Tribelands there and they also could fight the beastkin. It made me recall Nimir… he should have had the chance to explore and conquer more labyrinths than me, so he should have gotten quite stronger. Still, I couldn’t help but worry.

‘I have my own sorry ass to worry about, so I should forget about others… for now, let’s wait until night before making any moves.’

I set up my camouflage tent and then decided to sleep for a bit while I also set up a hanging like for the snakes that I got from the lesser chimeras to drop their poison in a pot. I split them into groups of twenty, but I still had thousands of them remaining. I had a lot of work ahead of me, but it also meant that I would have stamina potions for quite a while.

Still, I should stop using them until the next labyrinth and then spam Power Shot and Rapid Fire. Making those skills level up would help a lot.

Eventually, night came and then I began to get ready to move… I wasn’t in a hurry, but soon I changed my mind when Glacien suddenly woke up from her nap and then got tense.

“Grrrr…”

“What is going on, girl? Did something happen?”

It was pretty obvious, but I still decided to ask. Before long, I began to hear a weird sound in the distance… the sound of well-oiled engines turning and making something massive move. I decided to stay hidden in the camouflage tent and I told Glacien to calm down as well. 

Through some holes in the tent, I was able to see some lights getting closer. Before long, I saw the war towers that belonged to the dwarves passing nearby and heading to that town. It looked like I wouldn’t have to worry about crossing their territory, but it looked like their preparations were already over and I didn’t know if I would have the chance to find my target before the war started.

‘I wished that I could see the future too in order to find the best place to find that asshole…’

Chapter 223 - Politics

The last part got me curious… I thought that much, but I didn’t expect someone else would confirm that for me. Most likely, the elder that hired the guy that I am hunting bought those unseen arrows to kill us. They didn’t know my identity back then, but they still knew that I was an unknown factor that could put their plans in disarray.

“They had a secret meeting with some underlings of other elders with the dwarves. It seems that they decided to move since a lot of other elders are planning to work with the empire. They didn’t know why yet, but they predicted that they would lose their standing if the empire obtains too much influence in the land.”

It looked like some people were jumping the gun… Well, it was only obvious that such a thing would happen given the influence of the empire. The power and influence of all the elders would be diluted for a while, and the ones with lesser standing would suffer the most. Since they didn’t know what the diplomats were talking with the other elders about, they imagined the worst.

“They made an alliance with the dwarves to make sure that they would have influence… Before I could hear more, I was found out and then they attacked me. I did my best to escape, but they followed me for over a day.”

“I see… it would have been easy for you to escape, but you didn’t want to risk guiding them here and discover our hideout.”

“Thanks to that… I saw some groups surrounding the territories of the elves that aligned themselves with the dwarves.”

“I would guess that the clairvoyant of the empire informed them of that… at this point in time, things will escalate pretty fast.”

I had the feeling that the suspicious person that Ayla followed was the same person that I was looking for, but I didn’t want to ask and get involved in their situation. It looked like another war was brewing and I wouldn’t take part in it again. I would just kill my target and move on.

Neither side in this mess saw me favourably, so I didn’t have to help either of them and that was for the absolute best. War was a great place to gain experience fast, but I didn’t want to get stronger using those means.

“I will send some scouts to check things in the area… I don’t think that we have much time before the conflict starts, but it has to be done. You should rest for a few days.”

“Understood… Thank you for bringing me here.”

“Don’t thank me. Your magic bag is mine now. You can keep the money.”

“... You should return to her side. This might become a pretty nasty war and neither side can be trusted… someone like her will be likely taken advantage of. She is naïve to a fault.”

“She isn’t a damsel in distress. She might learn a thing or two with this that will put her on the right path.”

“What if it puts her on the wrong path?”

“That would be a pity, but such is life.”

I more or less considered Clarice a friend. In her own clumsy way, she tried to help me. Things didn’t go the way she had envisioned, but I didn’t blame her. There were too many people influencing people around here. Too many influential people.

Still, helping her would mean killing a lot of people… helping Arslan, her grandmother and that other woman, neither of whom I liked very much. They choose to cause more problems to me and align themselves with the empire and for that alone, I wanted to stay away from them. I could only hope that Clarice wouldn’t have to make the same choice anytime soon. I also didn’t want her to betray her own people for me. I wasn’t such a great friend, anyway.

“There is still a chance that other mediators will come and negotiate with the dwarves… picking a fight with them now would be too risky when a new rift is about to appear. However…”

“There is a chance that the clairvoyant already saw the result of the negotiations with them and they will act to make sure that the dwarves will be allies and not a problem. There is a high chance that they told the elves that the war is unavoidable using the credibility of the clairvoyant, even though this all could be just a sham to start a war and enslave the dwarves.”

The leader of the dark elves nodded at my words… Politics. The more I live, the more I come to despise that term. Politics is frequently associated with corruption, dishonesty, and self-serving behavior. People see politicians as prioritizing personal gain or partisan interests over public welfare.

Politics often exacerbates societal divisions by polarizing people into opposing camps. This divisiveness can strain personal relationships and create a hostile atmosphere. A lack of faith in the effectiveness or fairness of political systems leads people to view politics as futile or broken. The same was very true in this world as well…

In one way or the other, the Aeloria kingdom will become the battlefield of some sort of war, a verbal one or a physical one. As an unknown factor here, it was better not to get involved… I was worried about Clarice, but if this clairvoyant was trying to track me down, getting involved with her will cause more trouble than help.

Now that Rowan died, and his new master is that much influential, the empire will have even more excuses to hunt me down and kill on sight. Rayne has no long as much influence as he had before to keep me alive and locked in.

“I need to get going. There is nothing for me here. Let’s go, Glacien.”

“Mew, mew, mew!”

… …

Those four watched Regulus leave the labyrinth… it wasn’t like they imagined that a single person could change the whole war, or even change its end, but considering what they had heard from the war in the Skarnash Tribelands, a single arrow that he shot almost made the empire lose.

If he truly committed to help one side, it was impossible to know what would happen. Perhaps that would explain why the clairvoyant couldn’t see anything about him. 

“What should we do about him, leader? We can’t leave him walking around and leaving traces that lead to our hideout.”

“He didn’t know about us the first time he came, and he helped one of us when he came for the second time and if he was that bad at hiding his traces, he would have been captured a long time ago.”

The young dark elf didn’t seem that satisfied with the answer… but he noticed that their leader was lost in thought considering their next steps. He couldn’t bother him now.

“It might be the right time now… for us to come out of hiding.”

The other three looked at their leader and wondered if they should say what they were thinking, but they couldn’t. Deep down, they thought the same way as him… for centuries, they had been hiding, not changing their situation or changing the world at all to make it better for everyone or for themselves… if they keep hiding, nothing would change.

The situation was dire for the dark elves, leaving them with a tough decision to make: maintain the status quo and risk being overrun, or choose a side in the war that was approaching their lands. Neutrality seemed an increasingly impossible stance. On one hand, the natural choice would be to align with their long-time benefactor, Nylian, the former leader of the Silver Bows. Nylian had always been a reliable partner, known for his sharp mind and strategic foresight. He would undoubtedly find a way to fight alongside the dark elves and secure their collective survival, even in the face of future challenges.

However, the Silver Bows were no longer under Nylian’s leadership, and the new leader was proving to be an enigma. His motives and plans were hard to predict, and the subtle signals suggested that this leader did not share Nylian’s commitment to long-term alliances or mutual survival. The dark elves couldn’t count on the same support or solidarity that Nylian had provided. This uncertainty casts a shadow over their choices, amplifying the pressure to choose wisely.

“We need to discuss this with everyone and decide this as a group. I don’t know if there are other dark elves out there… we might be the last ones. So, if we fail, we might be erased from this world.”

The dark elves suffered something very close to a genocide back then… by the hands of the elves at that. The history passed down by their clan says some of their ancestors tried to increase their influence and were disposed of because people feared their abilities.

The history among the elves says that the dark elves tried to take control over the Aeloria Dominion after assassinating some elders… The current dark elves didn’t want to believe that, but their ancestors could have hidden some important facts from them. If they wanted to change their image, they would have to prove it in this war.

… …

I was at a bit of an annoying crossroads… I wanted to avoid getting involved in this war, but my target was someone who was connected to it and he worked for one of the elders who wanted to take advantage of the chaos.

‘I can’t blame some elves for thinking that they might become even more of a second-class citizen if the higher ups become true allies of the empire. The situation is truly dire if some of the big shots are being swayed, even that asshole, Arslan.’

I didn’t experience much of that, but most elves truly hated those who weren’t elves. Only Arslan dared to show that to me. That was the entire reason for the existence of the silver bows and unseen arrows. That made me wonder how much of a good person Clarice’s grandfather could be when those groups became influential under his leadership. It was weird given that the dark elves appear to trust him a lot…

Perhaps this was the wrong way of seeing things… seeing people as good or bad was wrong because a person can be both good and evil for different people. Everything was just a perspective… I didn’t have time to consider morality either. 

‘I can only think that those are coming after me, need to be put down… that is all that I need to know.’

Chapter 222 - Misunderstandings (Thank you for your support, Robert H!)

I guess I couldn’t even count on my tamed beasts to understand my side of things… or maybe they just had a better moral compass, and that was saying something.

In any case, I wanted Glacien to deal with the problem that she wanted to force on me, but she wouldn’t be able to carry Ayla that well. Her arm was still hurt and due to the blood loss, letting her risk losing more was dangerous. 

For starters, I let her use my rings that increase health regeneration. After that, I decided to pull the arrows from her arm and cover her arm with bandages. The smell of flesh and blood made my heart race and the hunger and the thirst got more powerful, but I focused my mind on the game and endured it.

“Come or think of it, she is something like an assassin, right? Carrying her in my back is quite scary. She can wake up and try to kill me at the very same moment.”

“Awooo! Awooo!”

“You say that, but what are the risks for you? At least watch my back and bite her if she does something suspicious.” 

“Chi, chi, chi!”

Glacien was scolding me for overthinking and for being spineless. At least that was my impression based on my interactions with her. It also could be just my mind making me think like that.

In any case, after I was done with the wounds, I began to carry Ayla on my back to the labyrinth where her group was hiding.

I was going to lose around two days since we couldn’t move that fast… for situations like this, I realized that the wagon was truly a necessity as well. Not like situations like this happen or would happen often. In any case, Glacien could recover her stamina faster now, so not using all that extra energy when it could be so useful would be a waste.

‘Putting that aside, it looks like she was ambushed and the smell of blood was coming from the West… She said that she had to confirm something, but why would she head to the dwarves’ territory?’

My initial guess was that the people in the town were planning to cause a dungeon break and then had the chaos to achieve something. Ayla probably went to confirm that, but she messed up and then ended up like this. Most likely, she was on the right track, but she was discovered and was forced to flee.

I wanted to say that this isn’t my problem, but this might involve the guy that I am looking for, so I can’t say that with certainty. Revenge is a lot more troublesome than I expected… villains make it sound so easy.

One day later, I was back at the entrance of the Insectoids labyrinth. The trip was a bit longer since Glacien informed me of the presence of troublesome people around… they were large groups of elves moving in the area, so we had to take some roundabout ways to avoid them.

That was annoying, but at least it gave me a lot of time to think. I already had the idea of making an invisible tent, but what about making an invisible wagon as well? I just had to cover the parts with the parts of the invisible tent, but it wouldn’t hide the traces of the wheels of the vehicle.

What about a flying wagon? I probably shouldn’t give myself that much time to think about those things… I also need some time to rest since I only took half an hour naps lately.

“... It looks like they don’t have any guards at the entrance once again. Their security system is seriously lacking. Do you smell anyone nearby, girl?”

“Awooo, awooo!”

“Showing up inside with her wounded and unconscious will only make things dangerous for us. I use a bow too, so they might blame me. Perhaps I should have left the arrows in her arms…”

“Grrrrr…”

I was being unreasonable. Even Glacien was ready to scold me again. Without any other choice, we got inside the labyrinth, hoping that these guys wouldn’t make me waste too much more of my time. 

Glacien cleared the path inside the labyrinth with ease while I carried Ayla on my back. She wasn’t poisoned. I could smell that her blood before was free of such things, so she must be just exhausted from overwork and the blood loss. Still, she was really causing me a lot of trouble.

Controlling my thirst for blood was already hard enough and now, with my half vampire puberty getting in the way as well, I could tell that soon enough, that would be a recipe for disaster.

When I reached half way through the first section of the labyrinth, I felt the atmosphere changing and then Glacien alerted me of trouble approaching.

“What have you done to her?”

I heard a guy’s voice shouting and then I saw some blurry movements in the air. The next moment, I caught a punch a few centimeters away from my face. The first dark elf that I saw appeared… sudden movements and attacks make the camouflage skill become almost useless and he should know that.

“I knew that this would happen, but…”

The guy tried to punch me with his other hand, but since I was supporting Ayla with the other, I couldn’t block it, so I just kicked his legs and made him fall. His endurance was really low since I didn’t feel any resistance. 

“Take care of her now. She already caused me enough trouble and I don’t want to waste any more time.”

I was ready to pass Ayla to him, but he got up while showing a pained expression on his face… his purple leg for purple where I kicked him, so it looked like I broke his bone. For him to carry Ayla would already be difficult enough. With the monsters and the distance to cross, it would make things even harder.

“... Go bring someone who has healing skills or potions. I don’t have all day, so move.”

The dark elf’s face tightened, his brows knitting together as his lips pressed into a thin line of disapproval. His annoyance was hard to miss, his piercing gaze darting between me and Ayla as if assessing the risk. His sharp features and stiff posture spoke volumes. Leaving me alone with Ayla wasn’t something he was willing to consider.

For a tense moment, he seemed ready to challenge me, perhaps to demand an explanation or flat-out reject my presence. Yet, as his gaze lingered on the unconscious figure I had brought with me, his expression faltered. His calculating eyes narrowed, and I could almost see the gears turning in his mind. 

With a heavy sigh, he finally straightened, the frustration on his face giving way to reluctant understanding. While the situation clearly didn’t sit well with him, he seemed to acknowledge the logic of my actions. No one would endanger themselves or others like this without a good reason. After a long, assessing look, he gave a curt nod, his expression still tinged with wariness but no longer openly hostile. It was clear he didn’t fully trust me, but for now, he was willing to let the situation play out.

“My life is anything but boring, huh?”

I set up my tent and then let Ayla rest inside while Glacien watched our surroundings. I decided to take a nap as well, to clear my mind and kill time too. It didn’t take long for me to wake up when I sensed the presence of people approaching. 

Eventually, that guy and the older dark elf were in the area where I was resting alongside another dark elf woman. I wanted to pack my things and leave, but they decided to treat her inside my tent.

“Thank you for bringing her here… can you tell me what happened?” 

The older dark elf was willing to listen to me, but I could tell that he was on guard. He left her with me, after all. Now she was back, wounded and unconscious. His suspicion wasn’t weird at all.

“After we reached the third section of the other labyrinth, we found the place crowded with lesser chimeras, that made her question the intentions of the elder of the area and soon left to investigate it, when I left the labyrinth a few days later, she showed up in front of me heavily injured. Then I brought her here.”

The dark elf, whose name I still didn’t know, considered my words. After a while, the woman that brought it had finished treating Ayla and her expression looked a lot better. It looked like she also knew magic to restore one person’s vitality instead of just health points.

“She had wounds caused by Elven arrows.”

“That would explain why she was so exhausted…”

The dark elf healer assessment was accurate, but I wondered how that would explain a lot about Ayla’s condition. Unless the arrows that the regular elves drain their stamina or something, or maybe seal it? It was quite something if they produced arrows like that in the past and decided to keep the same method, even though they didn’t know where the dark elves went into hiding.

“Once again… thank you for bringing her-”

“I don’t need your thanks. I just want my tent and then leave.”

Just as they were reluctant to interact with me without a good reason, I felt the same about them. Their caution was mirrored by my own. To them, I was someone troublesome. an unpredictable variable they’d rather avoid getting entangled with. And to me, they represented the same: a group whose involvement was likely to come with complications and risks I wasn’t eager to embrace.

There was an unspoken understanding in our mutual wariness, like two predators circling each other, neither willing to make the first move unless absolutely necessary. It wasn’t animosity, exactly, but a shared recognition that our respective priorities didn’t naturally align. The dark elf’s sharp gaze carried the weight of suspicion, and my guarded demeanor answered in kind. 

“Sorry, leader… I messed up.”

Ayla woke up and then tried to get up, but she was too hurt to pull it off that easily, so she was forced to rely on the support of the dark elf healer and on the guy that tried to punch me.

“It is fine, rest easy… I know that you wouldn’t have done anything risky that wasn’t good for our clan.”

The situation was getting melodramatic here, so I kind of wanted to leave…

“I followed someone that seemed suspicious and confirmed that the guys in the north are working with the dwarves… they are part of the group that ambushed you and Clarice the other day.”

Chapter 221 - Suspicious Atmosphere

I decided that it was time to go, but I also decided to make good use of my new class. I might need that outside… as soon as we leave the labyrinth. Glacien had gotten stronger and once I began to make the potions, she was able to use Beast’s Fury pretty much nonstop, so fighting the lesser chimeras was easy for her.

You received 10 experience points.

You received 10 experience points.

You received 10 experience points.

I didn’t put the liquid in a bottle, but even though I was putting it in a pot, I would receive that notification now and then. It looked like the Chemical Mastery worked whenever one hundred milliliters of the potion was made. I couldn’t use Identification on all the liquid, though.

“Yikes, the leather sure becomes nasty when it is done absorbing so much poison.”

I didn’t know why, but the leather of the kobolds was quite permeable when it comes to poison. When it couldn’t absorb anymore, the liquid that was the extract of the potion could no longer cross it, so it had to be exchanged for another piece. In any case, it looked like the potions were coming at the uncommon rank since they could restore one hundred stamina points for Glacien.

“Tell me if you start to feel something off, drinking this a lot shouldn’t be that good.”

"Chi-chi-chi!"

Name: Glacien

Race: Glacierborn Predator

Health: 350/350 (0/3600)

Regen: 0.1 per hour (0/100)

Mana: 350/350 (0/3600)

Regen: 0.1 per minute (0/100)

Stamina: 350/350 (0/3600)

Regen: 0.1 per minute (0/100)

Strength: 22 (0/2300)

Magic: 35 (0/3600)

Dexterity: 15 (0/1600)

Spirit: 24 (0/2200) 1.1

Endurance: 27 (0/2600) (1.1)

Movement Speed: 11.0 

Ice Affinity: 19 (0/2000)

Traits: Iceborne Prowess, Frost Aura, Minor Vulnerability to Fire, Enhanced Cold Resistance, 

Classes: Beast of the North, Elemental Predator, Frost Guardian, Icebound Stalker, Winter Revenant, Tundra Huntress

Aptitudes:  Arctic Camouflage, Cold-Weather Adaptation, Predator’s Focus, Frost Manipulation, Apex Instincts, Pack Tactics, Frozen Resolve, Icycle Will

Experience: 359

“It looks like all the classes you get are related to your species… or do you actually receive some options? Raise your paw if the answer is yes.”

Glacien didn’t do that and just stared at me. It looked like her version of the system was a lot more simple than mine. Still, that was convenient. I couldn’t say that Glacien was stupid, but giving her a lot of options probably wasn’t a good idea.

“Grrr…”

“Don’t read my mind.”

She was probably just sensing my thoughts and assumed that thanks to my frown. In any case, after a while, I didn’t notice anything weird with Glacien, even after she drank a few liters of the potions. The only thing that I noticed was that she wasn’t complaining about food even after a couple of hours.

‘I guess the potions are quite nutritious or something… even if they are made of poison.’

The process of making those potions was easy, but it was still annoying to make it while walking. Some other potions were more complicated and needed more attention, so perhaps I should make a small laboratory inside a wagon. Glacien’s senses were good, so she would warn me beforehand if danger approaches.

I also could set up traps around us, and that would make things even easier with magical traps and even arcane traps. I hadn’t been using the second option that much, but just like Arcane Arrow, it could explode, freeze, or shock a target.

Arcane Trap Lv 03: Place a magical trap at a location that triggers an arcane explosion when an enemy approaches, dealing elemental damage based on your magic power and dexterity. This explosion can apply status effects such as burning, freezing, or stunning based on the chosen element. Cost: 100 Mana.

‘My mana regeneration increased again, and now I can afford to be a bit less cautious when it comes to using it. With the meditation amulets, I can even use some skills nonstop now and gain all the experience instead of half.’

Things were looking up. The only problem was my arm… even when returning to the second section of the labyrinth, I couldn’t still use half of my strength. Even if I could use one hundred percent of my strength without feeling any pain, I knew that I had to be cautious for a while. Still, I couldn’t afford to do that…

Perhaps I should make a bracelet for Glacien and add the Fury Amplification to it, that should make up for our lack of fighting power while I am injured. Another Bracelet for her to be able to use Agility Surge would do it as well… aside from that, my only option was to use Blood Siphon to use the extra energy to recover faster. Still, there was a chance that it wouldn’t work, since the skill restored my stamina when my health was full.

‘I guess I can also go to a labyrinth where I can make health potions… There is only one very convenient labyrinth in this territory that fits that criteria, though, and it is very down south. Too far away from where I am…’

It was only to be expected that things wouldn’t be so easy for me… in any case, I decided to take my time leaving the labyrinth to recover as much as possible. Thanks to that, the trip back took us two days.

As we approached the exit of the labyrinth, I paused for a moment, taking a deep, steadying breath. Whatever was beyond the exit was unknown, and I needed to be ready for anything. Glacien, on the other hand, seemed unfazed. Her demeanor was calm, almost indifferent to the tension I felt. It was just her nature. An animal like her wasn’t easily rattled by uncertainty.

Still, I wasn’t about to take any chances. I pulled out the camouflage potions, carefully applying one to myself and then to Glacien. The liquid shimmered faintly as it seeped into her fur, blending her form into the surroundings. Once we were both fully prepared, I steeled my resolve and made the final preparations to step outside into whatever awaited us.

I was expecting to see arrows and fireballs raining down on me and Glacien was also ready to dash ahead with Shadow Step, so my surprise was hard to describe when I found not a single person outside… I couldn’t discard the possibility of them using camouflage cloaks or even potions as well, but the air was calm and the atmosphere was pretty soothing, so I couldn’t feel that anyone was waiting for me here.

‘Did they forget about me? Don’t they have a clairvoyant more or less searching for me?’

Something wasn’t right… It was too convenient for me. That being said, it was a golden chance that I couldn’t waste. It was time to finish the business that I had in this land and then move on.

Those two probably could give me some answers, but I didn’t want to make connections with those who very obviously wanted me very far away from their homes. I didn’t have many friends, but I wasn’t desperate to be accepted by every single person I came across.

“Let’s go. It is time to finish our business here. Or my business, since you weren’t with me when this situation started.”

“Squeak! Squeak!”

While walking around, we kept our eyes wide open for any signs of battles, but there was nothing of the sort, so it didn’t seem like the dark elves did something… We found some traces heading northwest, toward the closest town, so it didn’t seem that the dark elves had been found either and an army headed toward their labyrinth.

I realized this a long time ago, but I really needed an information network, but my only options would be to deal with low-lives and those related to them in the underworld. A lot of those guys would want a piece of me as well… was it worthy to get involved with them?

‘Even if most of them are scum, some of them should be somewhat decent… getting involved with them will help me save time and not walk in the dark that much. The less I know about the surrounding things, the higher the chances of me making a mistake at some point that will cost highly. I really need to think about this.’

A couple of hours later, I finally found some answers about what had happened… The closest town was surrounded by several armies of elves. It seemed that something big had happened. Something big enough to make the elders move their troops.

‘An insurrection or something similar?’

I couldn’t see that well from a distance… Even while using Hawk’s vision, I was too far away and the skill level wasn’t that high. I need to make an amulet of this skill as well. While I was thinking about that, I noticed a familiar feeling and then I felt the smell of blood… in the next moment, Ayla appeared behind me… I already had my short swords in hands since they would be better at close range, but soon I noticed that she wasn’t in condition to fight. 

“Are you still here?”

Ayla’s eyes were bloodshot, like she hadn’t slept in a while. She was breathing roughly and her chest expanded with effort. She had a bunch of arrows on her left arm and it was covered in blood as well… those were Elven arrows.

“Sorry to bother you, but can you lend some of those potions? The stamina ones?”

“Stamina potions will only make you bleed faster and you already lost too much blood…”

“I can deal with this. This should be enough to pay for them.”

Ayla threw a magic bag to me, but that much effort had been the final straw for her. She fell forward like a puppet without strings. Glacien acted fast enough to make sure that she wouldn’t fall on the ground.

“Look at you, Glacien. Trying to act like a heroine. That doesn’t suit us. We are more like hunted outlaws, the two of us against the world, you know.”

“Mew, mew, mew!”

“You don’t agree? Probably because that guy didn’t ask you to leave his base, he asked me to leave instead… but you were part of the pack, you know. He would have asked you to leave as well, even if you weren’t with me… probably.”

“Squeak! Squeak!”

“Nah, it is useless to try to be better than the others in this aspect. It is the law of the jungle. If they don’t welcome you, then you don’t welcome them either.”

“Awooo! Awooo!”

“Et tu, Brute?”

Chapter 220 - Alchemist

After the break, I decided that it was time to move on. Glacien was sleeping on the floor, but readily got up when she sensed my intentions. 

“Time to get that alchemist class and then be able to produce energy drinks left and right.”

“Awoo, awooo!”

Glacien looked eager for the next fight. She probably was going to obtain a new class too here given that the previous boss chamber was able to grant her a power up. Speaking of the ice phoenix, perhaps I should pick a flying animal the next time to tame. Given how Glacien was growing, a flying animal would be able to grow that much as well and then I would be able to ride it and have the ability to fight in the sky. Most enemies would be unable to fight back against us.

Having a bird like pet and one like a feline type would make the complete set for an archer for me to have, but I didn’t see many types of flying animals that it would be cool to have alongside me.

I also thought that I should cancel tame at least once with Glacien and see what happens. Even back home, I had complicated feelings about people who had pets, even more so the type that kept them in cages. It felt really odd that birds would have to leave like that when they could chirp so well that it was almost music…

While I was thinking about that, we reached the boss chamber and then found the place covered in boulders that got in the way of our vision. The air was clean, unlike the rest of the labyrinth, so we didn’t have to worry about poison slowly causing trouble.

I was hoping to hear the sound of chains given that the monster was a Minotaur, but this one was sealed here… it began to move and made the ground shake a bit. Before long, we saw the creature emerging behind one of the boulders around.

“I knew it…. Still, what weird message is that the labyrinth is passing us with this?”

The Minotaur boss was far more than the typical horned brute the legends spoke of. It was a chimera, a grotesque amalgamation of human and beast. Its towering frame stood at least four times the height of an average man, a muscled juggernaut sculpted from nightmares. Its torso bore the humanoid shape of a warrior, rippling with strength, but its legs were those of a massive bull, hooved and impossibly powerful.

Its arms were a grotesque hybrid of human and beast, bulging with unnatural sinew and tipped with claws instead of fingers. The creature’s face was where the horror truly solidified, partially human, yet dominated by the monstrous features of a bull-like beast. Wickedly sharp horns jutted out from its skull, framing glowing, hateful eyes. Its mouth was lined with jagged teeth, more fitting for a predator than a grazing animal, and it exuded a guttural roar that sent tremors through the ground.

Every inch of its form seemed engineered to inspire fear, and the way it moved, with an unnatural, terrifying brute strength, made it clear that this was no ordinary beast. The Minotaur chimera was a monstrosity born from the melding of man and beast.

“I wonder if this kind of thing came from a rift or… it has a tragic backstory as the same as the Minotaur from Greece.”

That didn’t matter since the beast roared and then changed toward me. Glacien still took her place in front of me to block the beast, but the monster was simply too large for her to defeat alone, with only my magic as support.

I grabbed my bow, expecting that I wouldn’t have to pull too much strain in my left arm. In the next moment, the beast jumped and then slammed down both arms to smash us, but both of us jumped to the side and avoided the attack.

The larger fists of the monster made the room shake and then pebbles flew in all directions, obscuring my vision. Still, I knew where the beast was and still unleashed an arrow at the monster using twenty percent of my attack.

The Minotaur raised its left arm and blocked the attack… the arrow barely pierced its skin. Still, the shocking effect began to work and then the beast was paralyzed for a moment, which Glacien used as the chance to slash her claws at the monster’s neck.

Her frost claws cut the neck of the monster, but they only made a bit of blood fall from the wound. My arrow fell from the srm of the monster and no longer shocked the beast. The creature turned around to face Glacien…

‘What about thirty percent then?’

I had to find the right amount of strength soon… mana drain worked with physical damage caused, and the previous attack didn’t cause any of it, so I just wasted most of my mana.

The beast exposed it’s back to me, imagining that I didn’t have enough power to hurt it, but soon regretted when the next arrow pierced its back… only a bit, but it was enough to paralyze it with the shock effect for a second. A second that Glacien used to jump and then target the eyes of the monster…

Although the beast was paralyzed, the shock and damage caused were just a bit above before and the monster was able to move its head to the side… Glacien claws only slashed the cheeks of the monster.

“Grrrr…”

“Sorry, girl… I am a work in progress.”

It was time for forty percent… I felt like a moron doing that. Like I was a villain mocking the hero by slowly increasing my attack power. The next thing I would do was use 120 percent or some shit, like it was possible.

The monster turned around to look at both of us in annoyance. The monster was tough and strong, but it wasn’t very agile and dexterous. Naturally, a boss of this level would have a lot of limitations.

The monster charged after raising both of its thick arms to protect its head… it wasn’t stupid, it decided to smash us while protecting itself. I almost fell bad for the beast since that wasn’t a bad idea. It would be easy to dispose of it with some decay arrows, but right now, I wanted to test the limits of my left arm.

When I was about to unleash the arrow, I felt a sharp pain in the wound… that made my aim move a bit to the side and the arrow barely scraped the arm of the monster.

“Crap…”

We jumped to the side again, but the beast was waiting for that and soon swung both of its large arms to the side to hit us… we only escaped because I used Demon’s Snare out of reflex.

“Attack freely, girl.”

I activated Beast’s Fury and then Glacien began to torment the weakened monster… I had found the limits of my arm and the bow and I found them lacking. Just three arrows made me feel some pain and I couldn’t risk delaying the closing of the wound.

I could feel my mana being restored… I knew that the boss could be considered an abomination, but I didn’t think that it would actually be an undead or abyssal creature. It made sense that it was undead, since it probably had the dead parts of a human and a bull monster.

Still, Glacien attacks only caused minor wounds on the monster. The creature closed its eyes to avoid losing them and even its eyelids were that hard to damage.

“Go for the eyebrows, girl.”

Beast Fury enraged Glacien too, but she still understood my order and began to slash apart the monster in that area… It didn’t take long for the monster to have its face covered in blood and then the Demon’s Snare disappeared.

When the monster was free, it was barely able to keep its eyes open. It tried to clean then, but more blood came out.

“Hhhhhhhhhhuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh!”

The monster roared in anger as it looked at both of us, but it also knew that charging mindlessly would be its end… this made me wonder, if this thing was created by the labyrinth and they could spawn monsters left and right, how did the labyrinths get all the data to create those kinds of creatures? Actually, did it create them or brought them from some unknown place? Some monsters showed a high level of intelligence like this one, despite their conditions.

“... All right, time to end this.”

I didn’t want to think too much about the monsters that I was hunting. It would give me some troublesome ideas about their very existence and I didn’t need that kind of trouble in my life.

At this point in the fight, two against one was unfair, and the boss was so wounded that anything else now would be simply bullying. With that in mind, I moved the sleeve from my left arm and then pulled the bowstring of my hand crossbow.

That still put some strain on my left arm, but with a single bolt being there, the pressure would be weaker… in the end, I fired a decay bolt enchanted by the power of wind… it pierced through the head of the monster without resistance.

You received 3500 experience points.

You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Dark Paladin, Pyromancer, and Alchemist.

You obtained the Alchemist class.

You improved the Mana Regeneration parameter.

You unlocked the Aptitude: Chemical Mastery.

You unlocked the skill: Explosive Flask.

You unlocked the skill: Restorative Brew.

Chemical Mastery: Gain experience points based on the quality of the potion created.

Active Skills - Explosive Flask: Throw a flask that shatters on impact, dealing area-of-effect damage equal to your magical and physical power and causing a lingering fire effect. Cost: 20 mana.

Restorative Brew: Your potions can restore five percent more health and mana to a target.

For a change, the system didn’t try to screw me over, so I sighed in relief, it looked like Glacien got a new class too, so we finally achieved our goal and could leave this hellhole. For a short while, I absorbed the knowledge of the class and understood how to create the explosive flask… I could use all sorts of materials, I just had to make them go haywire with my mana.

‘Well, time to go now.’

Chapter 219 - Will (Thank you for your support, Stormclouds101!)

Ayla noticed that the town had some guards patrolling. Actually, there were a lot of them. The sun was going to rise soon, so the number of guards was off. Having guards patrolling was already out of the norm for the elves, given that they didn’t have visitors in their territory and crimes rarely happened.

It was only natural since to punish crimes, Elves would have to apply longer sentences or harsher ones, otherwise, the criminals wouldn’t take those punishments seriously.

Putting that aside, Ayla avoided the guards with ease by jumping to the top of a close building and then jumping to the next one. She didn’t make any noise when he leaped or when she landed. It felt like she was truly weightless.

Ayla moved around from roof to roof in order to check all the places, but without getting inside, she couldn’t tell much. She had the skills to invade them, but she couldn’t check all of them.

‘Was that just my imagination?’

Ayla still felt like something was off, but she couldn’t say what it was… it has been three days since she had slept, so she couldn’t help but think that she was tired and that was slowing down her judgment.

After closing her eyes and then thinking for a short while as she rested her mind and body a bit, Ayla soon realized that something was missing in the town… considering how much poison it could be obtained in the closest labyrinth, the smell of it was weak in the town.

‘We should have kept tabs on this place for a while…’

Poison or potion making wasn’t the main form of business in the area, from what Ayla had heard, magic trees appear here quite often and when those trees eventually lose a branch or two, the craftsmen in the area would use them to Fletch the Elven arrows. It was a rather unstable source of income, but since few people could make it and the arrows were pretty valuable, it was enough for the people in the area.

The materials of the labyrinth were a bit less valuable, since elves didn’t value poison when it comes to fighting. Even if they were focused on using bows as their main weapon, poison was considerably too cowardly. The creatures in their labyrinth were also rather creepy looking, so until recently, they only kept tabs on things to a certain extent.

‘This information is outdated… the elder changed five years ago, afterwards. I need to find a place where they might store the poison for at least a day and then check what they are doing with it.’

This was going to be hard given that the sun was rising… heading to the house of the elder seemed like the best option, but it would be hard to not be noticed, she had a feeling that the guard in that place wouldn’t be only made of some elves.

It was hard to track the smell of poison, since all things were stored in magic bags. The best option would be to wait for the next group to come and then return from the labyrinth, following the guards would be a good idea too, but soon things will get out of hand once they realize that someone attacked the guards there and the other group of elves that had come with Rowan.

For Ayla and the other dark elves, capturing people and forcing them to give them information wasn’t possible… for one, they didn’t want to kill their fellow elves, even if they were seen as lesser beings by them. For another, they had to keep their existence hidden, unless they wanted hundreds of elves marching to their labyrinth. Their benefactor, Nylian, was no longer around to cover for them… and his grandson didn’t seem like he would walk in his footsteps.

In the end, the only thing Ayla could do was to wait and observe. They no longer had the advantage of their total sneakiness. The elves in the area didn’t know that the dark elves were involved, so they wouldn’t act against them immediately. They would play it safe and make sure that whatever they were doing, it would remain hidden.

In the end, Ayla’s plan worked… soon the news about the unconscious guards and the new group of elves being found spread around and everyone began to move. Some, not as willingly as the others, but the whole town began to move. Among all that, Ayla caught the glimpse of a certain elf leaving the residence of the elder and then heading west of the town by himself… it was an elf that Regulus had seen before and even from Ayla’s perspective, looked very suspicious. She decided to tail him.

… … 

‘She is taking her time… I guess she took my words to heart.’

It has been two days since Ayla left… I had planned to clean this labyrinth in a day, but this was the third since I started exploring it, since everyone gets their kicks by getting in my way. These people need to get some hobbies.

At first, I thought that the lesser chimeras were multiplying by themselves, but soon I realized that it was impossible… they were part of the labyrinth and spawned by it as well, but they were essentially monsters with different body parts of other monsters. It was impossible for them to reproduce and even if they could, their offspring wouldn’t be something like them.

“I need a hobby too, since this thought keeps bothering me.”

“Awoo, awoo!”

“Who are you to say anything? You chase your own tail.”

“Squeak! Squeak!”

It looked like Glacien didn’t like my words. Regardless, two days without being bothered again left me a bit on edge… it made me feel like once I leave the labyrinth, the largest elf army known in the world would be waiting for me outside.

I was approaching the final parts of the labyrinth, the air growing heavier with every step. The once-overwhelming presence of the countless lesser chimeras that had swarmed us was now reduced to silence. We had fought through them all, and yet, despite all we had overcome and the strength we had gained along the way, an uneasy knot of doubt sat in my chest.

The source of my worry was clear. My arm was still a glaring weakness. it was far from healed, barely even halfway through its recovery. Every movement reminded me of its frailty, and the searing ache made it impossible to wield my bow with the ease I relied on. My bow, which had always been my weapon of choice, felt more like dead weight now, a painful reminder of how much I’d lost in flexibility and range.

On the other hand, I had to rely a lot on Glacien and she also had gotten quite stronger… At some point, she began to devour my reserves of meat since she began to grow again insanely fast. She was also glaring at the bodies of the chimeras, but she always calmed down when she saw me looking at her suspiciously… eating that was simply no good, no matter what.

“This doesn’t make any sense… you can’t just grow fifty centimeters in two days.”

“Awooo! Awooo!”

Glacien probably could be used as a mount now, or even pulling a small vehicle. Since I was going to work on making potions from now on, I would need that much assistance to move as well. Glacien had too much energy, so I was sure that she wouldn’t mind, as long as she had a few kilograms of meat to eat every day… Was that actually a good trade? It should be as long as it makes me gain time.

While I was thinking about that, Glacien managed to defeat some more chimeras by herself and then the entrance of the final boss chamber in this labyrinth finally appeared before us. The final boss should be a Minotaur… quite the odd creature given that we faced chimeras until now in this section, but I had a theory as to why it was the case.

“Let’s take a break before challenging the final guardian.”

“Awooo! Awooo!”

I wanted to be done with this place once the boss was defeated, so I began to work on taking the poison of the tails of the final chimeras we defeated. While I could use both hands for doing simple and not strenuous work, I used my head instead to help with that. By tying the tails with a single rope and tightening their base and putting them upside down, I could make the poison fall by itself. It was a bit of a slow process, but it worked when it was done with dozens of them at a time. It also gave me room to take a breath.

Given how strong Glacien had become, a simple strategy would work here. Perhaps I could also fight the Minotaur with a single arm and sword, I should have gotten stronger enough to do that. My sword skills needed some polishing as well… Instead of just using them to surprise enemies or use them when I am bored, I should at least be skilled enough to defeat tougher opponents with them.

It was an odd time to think of doing that… I checked my left arm by closing my left hand a few times. I didn’t feel any pain, but it felt sluggish… I wanted to sigh, but this much recovery on such a short notice was already impressive enough. I could no longer see the stitches of mana in my arm, but the scar was still pretty fresh… it was pretty similar to what the chimeras had…

‘Why would a labyrinth spawn these kinds of creatures? The ice phoenix said something about this, but…’

The words of the ice phoenix were: Labyrinths and dungeons are similar to living beings. While they don’t have proper bodies and a single consciousness, they emerge when the spiritual energy of many beings gather in a single spot… was that the will of those spirits that decided to spawn the chimeras? If yes, why? I think that the answer would be pretty worrisome, so perhaps I shouldn’t think too much about it.

‘I wonder if the rifts are like the dungeons and labyrinths as well… in that case, would that be the will of the dead to make other beings come to this world?’

There were a lot of types of monsters that one could find in those places, but not outside… It made me question the will of the dead. It wouldn’t be funny if their only goal was to keep increasing their will or something.

How did you find my books?

Hello, everyone. I just got curious all of a sudden and then decided to ask you all this. It would be really helpful if you could take a moment to answer the poll. Have a nice day!

Chapter 218 - Thirst and Desire 

I considered what I could do for a moment… getting the alchemist class would help me in the future quite a bit. A lot of materials that I left behind could be used for potions, but I didn’t have use for them back then…

Risking Glacien's neck wasn’t an option either, so while I hesitated in showing my amulets in action, it was better than the other options. I readied the Fireball amulet and then attached a mana core when the next group of lesser chimeras showed up. I wounded the creatures just enough to give Glacien enough of an advantage. The best option would be to burn their tails, but I needed them for their poison. So, I just half burned their heads.

Ayla crossed her arms and tried to study the amulet, but I hid it under my cloak. No one was going to learn their secret if I can help it. Come to think of it, she said something weird when the first group of monsters showed up. By the look of things, she imagined that the guys in the area were responsible for the massive number of monsters here.

‘They shouldn’t be stupid enough given how long they can leave to make this kind of blunder, so they must have a reason for this… their elder can’t be that incompetent, either. Considering how long they can live as well, they should know that they are risking a dungeon break here. Still, if that was really their goal, they wouldn’t let anyone even enter the first section.’

The math isn’t mathing… I was certain that Rowan and Louise father hadn’t come to this area yet to talk with the elder here, so I could only guess that the elder was risking causing a dungeon break in order to spread enough chaos and then give the dwarves the chance to attack, but that would be too dumb.

No one would risk destroying their territory to give the chance for a war to start. Unless they were bat shit insane. Regardless, it was none of my business. I just wanted to get the alchemist class and then leave. The real problem was my mind, who liked to think about these kinds of things in order to find the answers… it was a lot easier to find those answers than the ones I actually need in my life, after all.

In the end, we stayed at the entrance of the section because the lesser chimeras kept showing up. By the look of things, the other floors would be filled with them as well, so getting the alchemist class would be pretty hard and time consuming.

‘These guys and those guys… everyone trying so hard to make my life harder. I just can’t be unlucky that I am always walking into trouble or when people are sneaking around.’

“Can you make some stamina potions with the materials you have? I need to check something outside.”

“... No… at least that is what I wanted to say, but given that you have stitched my arm back to its place, I guess I can’t say that. Still, I can’t make the potions with a single hand.”

I wanted to make her leave, so this was a good chance for me to speed things up. The only downside was that she had seen too much from us.

“I will make them then. It is better this way since the potions will have the extra effect.”

I wondered what kind of effects those would be… but even potions have ranks, so it wouldn’t surprise me that they could have extra effects. It was near impossible without the specialized class for a person to be able to make an item with an extra effect, after all.

In any case, I took the materials that Ayla would need to make the potions and wondered if they would actually make her gain time instead of just heading outside normally. Either way, it wasn’t my problem… 

Using her needle, she poked some holes in the leather of a kobold and then covered the mouth of a large pot with it. In the next moment, she poured the two types of poison on the leather. The leather began to absorb the remains of the poison as the liquids nullified the toxic properties of each other and the remaining liquid began to fall into the pot. This was exactly how things were described in the alchemy book of Clarice’s family. It would seem that they either learned a lot from the dark elves or they shared their secrets with them.

I wondered if I could make a business out of this… unlike those back on earth selling beverages with this kind of potion, they would be real energy drinks. Not like anyone would buy anything that a half vampire had made.

In any case, I tried not to watch Ayla working that much, and so focused on dismantling the monsters, but after turning around enough times, my dark side began to stir up… my mouth began to salivate while looking at Ayla’s neck. 

‘Shit…’

I turned around and then sat on the ground. I had to get used to this kind of temptation… Getting used to being thirsty when I was alone was easier, but not when I wasn’t. 

No matter what happens, I can’t let that feeling take over me… once I do it the first time, there is no going back since I wouldn’t stop the first time. Still, this made me wonder… why I didn’t feel that thirsty when I was with Clarice. We spent some time alone, even though it was mostly awkward.

‘I guess it is because I see her as a friend… somehow. She can be annoying, but she isn’t someone who would betray me, at least not as she is right now.’

This made me think… I felt thirsty a few times recently, while the feeling was weak since my mind was somewhere else. There was still a pattern. I felt like that when I paid more than a bit of attention to some individuals… and they all had a single thing in common. They were quite pretty… at least from my perspective. 

The thirst was a lot stronger with Ayla around, though, and that made me think that it was because she was gorgeous. Among all the Elves that I had seen, she and Clarice were at the top when it comes to beauty, but Clarice was more like a cute type, while Ayla was more of the sexy type.

‘Is my thirst making me think of this or am I reaching puberty with this body?’

I felt like sighing… It looked like I had to return to my hermit life pretty often if I wanted to keep walking the straight path. 

I knew that the connection between vampires’ thirst for blood and their sexual desires came from the symbolic and intimate nature of feeding. Blood represents life and passion, and for vampires, the act of drinking blood is often as deeply personal and physically close, paralleling the intimacy of sexual acts. This link is heightened by the vulnerability of feeding locations, like the neck, which are associated with sensuality. Additionally, vampires’ heightened senses make them more attuned to beauty, drawing them to individuals whose allure symbolizes vitality and perfection. This blending of hunger and desire creates a powerful connection between their predatory instincts and human-like longing for intimacy.

Gorgeous individuals are harder for vampires to resist because their beauty intensifies the temptation and internal conflict. As creatures of seduction and forbidden desires, vampires struggle between restraint and indulgence. A beautiful person embodies the perfect prey, triggering both their physical hunger and suppressed passions. This dynamic creates a compelling psychological tension where the act of feeding becomes more than sustenance. It’s a metaphor for succumbing to primal urges, making beauty and desire inseparable in the vampire’s mythos.

‘I guess this would explain a lot…’

The best way to get mentally stronger against a desire was by resisting it nonstop. There was not just a little that would be fine… once the dam is opened, fighting back would be a lot harder, so I had to make good use of Ayla’s presence.

In any case, after one hour, Ayla was done with the potions and then began to prepare to leave.

“You have my thanks. Don’t do anything harsh with your arm until I return.”

“Consider us even, and you don’t need to return at all.”

Ayla studied me for a moment before disappearing into thin air. I wondered if she had the stronger version of the Ninja class or something. I wanted that kind of power.

… …

Two hours later, Ayla was back at the entrance of the labyrinth. The guards outside were still unconscious and her leader was nowhere to be seen. Given the traces of his footsteps and the distance between them, she assumed that he had dashed back home.

‘Such a misfortune…’

She felt torn between looking for him and confirming her guesses… She wanted to ask his opinion before doing something troublesome. It was better if they all just kept for themselves… they had been doing that for hundreds of years, after all, and thanks to that, they managed to survive without suffering losses like they did in the past when they lived on the run.

Even if the world changed, as long as they remained in their hideout, nothing would change for them and they would survive just fine. That was the truth for hundreds of years and there was nothing to say that it wouldn’t remain the truth for more hundreds of years.

Still, Ayla’s instincts and curiosity made her move to confirm her doubts… just confirming things wouldn’t change much for her and her people… in the end, the whole group would have to work together if they were to change the status quo.

With those thoughts in mind, Ayla headed toward the closest town.

Chapter 217 - Hitting Where it Hurts (Thank you for your support, Bria Burnham!)

“Sorry about this…”

In the next moment, I unleashed a barrage of wind shurikens at the right arm of the kobold boss. The creature who had just blocked Glacien’s ice claw attacks was unable to react on time… the wind shurikens, despite being at a low-level, chopped the arm of the creature. Blood began to gush from the wound as the creature trembled in pain.

Glacien didn’t hesitate in charging toward the boss and then slash its neck with her claws without hesitation. The boss tried to raise its spear to block her attacks, but it was useless. Glacien jumped from side to side with extreme speed thanks to Beast’s Fury and then the wounds in the monster’s neck began to increase in size and length.

Before long, the boss kobold stopped resisting, and I decided to kill it with a few wind shurikens on its neck. Glacien didn’t complain, since the creature was on its last legs already. Trying to delay its end would be just torture.

You received 1200 experience points.

You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Monk, Fire Mage, and Pirate (Captain).

The system must be trying to pull my leg… it wouldn’t surprise me if this thing had a will of some sort. I would be able to confirm or deny that based on the previous information about this labyrinth, but I didn’t have it. Then again, I was quite certain that no half-vampires had cleared this place, so it was hard to say.

You obtained the Captain class.

You improved the Health parameter.

You unlocked the Aptitude: Maritime Captain.

You unlocked the skill: Inspiring Captain.

You unlocked the skill: Tactical Maneuvering.

Maritime Captain: Gain bonus experience when leading your crew, executing tactical maneuvers, and overcoming challenges at sea. The experience gain doubles when fighting in the sea.

Inspiring Command: Boost your crew's morale and performance during battles or challenges. This skill enhances your allies’ combat effectiveness and reduces their fear, allowing them to fight with greater resolve. Cost: 200 Mana

Tactical Maneuvering: Execute strategic movements during naval battles, allowing your ship to evade attacks or reposition advantageously. This skill increases your ship's speed and maneuverability, improving your chances of success in combat situations. Cost: 20 Mana per minute.

More useless skills… I was hoping that they would be able to be combined with other classes eventually, but I couldn’t hold my breath about it. At least now I had another reason to improve my health further.

In any case, it was time to dismantle the boss. The creature wasn’t that impressive, but at this point in time, I couldn’t be picky about what I could use. Dismantling the boss with one hand was pretty annoying, but Glacien helped. Fortunately, when I thought about moving my left arm, I felt a bit of a response in my fingers. Even without surgery or anything fancy, I could do that much now thanks to the power of regeneration.

I had avoided increasing that parameter since it makes me feel even more thirsty for blood when I get hurt, but I increased it by one hundred percent to speed up my healing… I couldn’t take any chances in fighting with a single arm.

‘That asshole took my arm for a while… but at least he had some decent gear with him.’

Sprint Boots (Rare)

Enchantment Slots: Agility Surge (Expert) - Increases movement speed by 40%.

Extra Effects: Silent Step - Reduces the noise of footsteps, improving stealth and reducing detection range.

Durability: 25/25

Berserk Ring (Epic)

Enchantment Slots: Fury Amplification (Expert) - Boosts Strength by 40% and decreases endurance by 20%.

Extra Effects: Stamina Overflow - Slightly increases stamina recovery rate during combat.

Durability: 20/20

Lightning Sword (Legendary)

Enchantment Slots: Storm Swing (Expert) - Grants the power to release a lightning strike.

Extra Effects: Charged Blade - Generates a static charge by consuming your mana.

Durability: 40/40

Those kinds of effects were quite rare, and I was itching to learn them, but I couldn’t make anything with a single arm, so I was postponing or using Essence Extraction. Putting that aside, I was feeling really bothered since I knew that we were being watched. 

‘Maybe he told her to stay to study with me as well… normally, one wouldn’t think that someone of my age would be able to travel the world without being found for so many years.’

I could only use magic for now, so that wasn’t a problem, but it would be better if she left as soon as my arm was back to normal. Not even completely would be fine by me.

After we were done with the dismantling, we headed to the next section. Half a day had passed since the fight with Rowan… it made me wonder how Rayner would react after he learned about the conditions of his death. More importantly, I wondered how much time I had left before another group of fools came to this labyrinth to bother me.

‘I feel like going on a rampage. Will they give me a reason to do it?’

The moment that I lost my focus, those thoughts became stronger in my head… It was very counterproductive to my usual approach. Once I start a rampage, I’d better be ready to continue fighting for a while, because it won’t end for quite a while.

For now, only the empire had enough reason to start a witch hunt for me, but once I kill that other elf, maybe some of the elders will feel like doing the same and teaming up with the empire in that aspect as well. Being hunted by two massive nations, lovely.

We reached the next section and then I changed my mood to focus on my surroundings. I already knew what to find here, but seeing and reading about the enemies were two different types of experience. The moment we touched the ground of the next section, Glacien began to growl in anger…

The air in this section was a bit bad. We could see a light green mist around and that certainly was poisonous. Not the best condition for someone with an almost open wound to be in.

“What are they thinking?”

An annoyed voice came from behind me. I knew that it was Ayla, but she was nowhere to be seen… she was still hidden, but she didn’t feel like hiding that much, it seemed.

I soon understood her anger when I saw a group of lesser chimeras dashing toward us and soon they pointed their tails at us. As expected, they were quite weird… Lesser chimeras are grotesque, chaotic amalgamations of animal traits, appearing as if stitched together by unstable magic. 

Their limbs were uneven and hybridized, with feline claws in the front and reptilian talons hooves at the back. A serpent-like tail writhes weakly behind them. They didn’t possess wings, but they looked quite agile. They had a weird type of head that seemed to belong to a creature that I never had seen… it was brown and filled with horns pointing forward.

Their skin and fur resembled a patchwork of mismatched textures, matted fur, dull and cracked scales, and scarred, exposed flesh. Glowing, erratic eyes and jagged, uneven teeth added to their monstrous visage. These creatures constantly twitch and spasm, as though their unstable forms were barely held together, emitting distorted growls and hisses. Lesser chimeras, though not as powerful as true chimeras, are terrifying due to their malformed, unsettling appearance and their aggressive, pain-driven behavior.

‘How and why would a labyrinth spawn something like this?’

The monster’s tails began to fire green bullets at us, but Glacien stopped them with an Ice Fortress. Still, the attacks began to melt the ice, so it looked like instead of poison, this was acid.

This was probably too much for Glacien alone to handle, and without my bow, I couldn’t use Drain Mana. I didn’t want to rely on Ayla to help us… without any other choice. I kicked the ice fortress and then used the Great Fireball on the monsters. The fire projectile exploded when it hit the first and soon the others began to burn as well.

“Finish them off.”

While the creatures were agonizing in pain, I made Glacien use Beast’s Fury. She began to jump around and attack the lesser chimeras and when one of them tried to retaliate, I threw one of my short swords at its head.

“Ugh…”

A sharp pain from my wound spread through my body… I shouldn’t have put my back on that throw. When another did the same, I threw the other short sword, but I made it spin more instead of throwing with more strength. The weapon cleaved the neck of the monster and killed it for good… Glacien was able to finish off the remaining three by herself.

You received 45 experience points.

You received 45 experience points.

You received 30 experience points.

You received 30 experience points.

You received 30 experience points.

Now, here comes the annoying part… the bodies of the lesser chimeras were useless, only the mana cores and their tails could be used. The tail could drop some of their poison/acid for the stamina potions, but it had to be pressed and stretched like I was milking it. Truly annoying. 

‘Come to think of it, I could have just used a fireball amulet to attack them instead. My head is all over the place.’

This section was crowded with monsters for whatever reason, probably because the elves in the area were only exploring the first section, so I would have a decent supply of mana cores to use.

“Clearing this place as fast as you need will be hard for you. You should give up for now.”

Ayla suddenly appeared and then said that. I furrowed my eyebrows at her. For now… as if I would have another chance to come here in the foreseeable future where an army of elves wouldn’t be waiting for me.

“You can leave. I am going to stay. Neither of you have any obligations towards me.”

“You are only going to burden this poor animal with your stubbornness.”

Now she hit where it hurt… she had a point. Glacien would do most of the work since I couldn’t use my bow or even the hand crossbow. I managed to use my short swords to kill some of the lesser chimeras, but would that work when more than six of them come at us? Even while wearing two meditation amulets, I couldn’t use wind shurikens enough to kill more of those per battle without running out of mana for the next one. Perhaps she was right…

Chapter 216 - To Not Betray Oneself (Thank you for your support, Q and All)

“There you have it. Lady Renna knows that you must have a path where you were betrayed a bunch of times. Thanks to your relationship with her granddaughter, she didn’t want to make things difficult between you, but she had a responsibility for her own people as well.”

“It doesn’t matter either way. I don’t care.”

I don’t know how that woman sent a message to them so fast, but it didn’t matter. They came too late and I almost died for the convenience of others once more. Following the path of forgiving and forgetting was the best option for the sake of efficiency and for my peace of mind, but I couldn’t only do that so many times after being betrayed and dealing with close to death situations like this one.

“We put the guards and the elves that came with these men to sleep, but they will eventually wake up and we can’t be here when they wake up. If you agree to not leave any traces behind, you can take shelter at our base.”

“I am fine. Your help is unnecessary.”

I equipped my hand crossbow in my right arm to use it with my mouth pulling the bowstring, but reloading with a single hand was still difficult, so I decided to focus on magic and supporting Glacien for a while. She had grown strong enough to deal with this kind of problem for me.

Leaving now without getting into the alchemist class was simply unacceptable, after all. Besides, I knew that they never talked with Renna, but with her husband instead. Still, they followed her request to come and help me. They didn’t have any reason to do so, at least not for free when they asked me to leave their hideout before. So, they were doing this to gain something.

“I see. I am going to leave now since I am not that good at stealth. Still, Ayla here will stay behind to make sure that her stitches will remain in place or in case you move too much and end up loosening them. She can remain in the shadows without getting in your way, so you don’t have to worry about anything. Here are some camouflage potions. You can already use the skill at a decent level, but you still leave some traces behind in the air when you move. Any veteran elf can catch that and understand what is happening.”

“As long as you don’t get in my way, I don’t care what you guys do at all.”

“All right then, good luck.”

I received the potions and then the guy turned around and left while the woman disappeared into the darkness of the area. I felt like throwing the potions on the ground since I didn’t want anyone’s help anymore… but it felt really wasteful and I didn’t like to make things less efficient.

Before moving on, I decided to use some leather that I had to support my injured arm. Any strain on it would only make the wound heal slower, so I had to be cautious about it.

I probably could heal even faster while using Blood Siphon, but my thirst only gets stronger when I try to experiment with it… as I am right now, mentally exhausted. I wasn’t sure if I could fight those desires. 

Once that was done, I turned around to resume our exploration. Glacien looked a bit worried, but we only had this final part of the section and another before we were done with the exploration here. Even if we take our time, nothing would change that much… my wound wasn’t something that could be healed in a day or two.

‘I guess what Renna is true… the empire can’t use their clairvoyant to find me, but it is clear that they are hiding many pieces of information.’

I couldn’t match the entire empire when it comes to the information that I have access to, not even by a large shot, so it couldn’t be helped that I was really walking in the dark here.

In any case, it looked like the clairvoyant wasn’t told or didn’t it find necessary to see the future of Louise’s father or Rowan… otherwise, this retard wouldn’t have come. Even if they couldn’t see my future, his death would become clear if he suddenly went to look for me and then nothing else was shown.

‘Clairvoyance is supposed to be rather dubious given how easily the future can change, but they looked confident in this new guy, huh?’

As far as I know, power like that can’t be granted… a person can’t be born with it, it has to be obtained throughout life. Then, the person also has to level up the skills involved. Maybe the process isn’t easy or maybe they stumbled on a new class that made this a lot easier for them.

Thinking about that only made me more annoyed… if they keep using that power, even if they can’t see me directly, they can use it on others to have an estimation of where I will be, then they can send a large force to get me… the possibilities were truly endless and the empire has a powerful tool now to shape the future as they see fit.

Soon I was forced to forget about that since the next group of kobolds emerged in the distance… My loyal squire, Glacien, stepped forward to fight for me, but I still had one hand to cast magic on the monsters, so I bombarded them with wind Shurikens.

… …

Clarice began to write down some things on a piece of paper after listening to her brother. Her forehead was getting darker and darker by the moment, and when they looked at each other, Arslan couldn’t help but think that she didn’t recognize him as her brother anymore. Her gaze was that cold when she raised her chin and squinted her eyes.

“You can make that kind of face now, huh?”

Clarice didn’t say anything in response. Since that meeting and how things ended, she didn’t say a single thing. She was completely astonished after seeing how those closest to her could act. Arslan forced Renna to tell what she had done, and Renna for her part didn’t try to argue back that much. She could tell that Renna had a plan of her own, but she still couldn’t believe that even her beloved grandmother could act like that.

“The empire has a powerful card in their hand now… if they are truly working to make sure that the next rift won’t change the world as we see it today, they are doing what is necessary to do so, like obtaining allies and crushing those that can be a nuisance in the future. They won’t abandon their expansionist plans, but they should delay it for a few decades. Grandmother did the right thing by focusing on the future of our people.”

For a while, Clarice knew that people act based on their self interest, even when their morals and honor were put to test. It was only logical that they would… Why focus on doing the honorable thing when that can hurt a lot of people? Even more so those closer to you?

She could understand the logic, but she still couldn’t accept what it represented… betraying everything else for the sake of the best option at the moment. For a race like them who lived for so long, that was truly short-sighted.

“Besides, the empire has more uses for that guy alive than dead, so your little friend won’t be killed. It feels like they are playing with fire by letting him live, though. I wouldn’t take those chances.”

Once again, Clarice didn’t say anything… so Arslan just sighed and told her to deliver the messages that she just wrote down. He had planned to give her a position close to him to make her understand that they were building something that will last for many thousands of years… her friendship of a few years didn’t mean anything if compared to it. Still, it looked like it would take a while before she could fully realize that.

Clarice left the room wondering if she would become like that too one day… thinking about the future of the Aeloria Dominion was something that she had to do as well, but how many lives did they have to influence negatively for them to achieve their goals? Was it truly impossible for them to do that without causing harm to others?

‘The need of many above the need of one…’

Clarice could tell that it was logical, making things the easier way is what everyone strives for. Still, she knew that doing that all the time would eventually come to bite them in the ass later…

‘Although I can’t say much since I was also afraid of him… Grandmother, Arslan and Celica also had weapons at their reach at every single moment.’

Neither of them had been fair to Regulus. He knew that and he acted like he didn’t care, anyway. Still, experiencing time and time again would eventually tire him out. Living on the run for years, being betrayed and worrying about betrayals all the time. It felt like it was only a matter of time before Regulus became what everyone feared. It almost felt like he was destined to become that, out of spite even.

‘I need to make sure that this won’t happen… I don’t want to lose my first real friend that doesn’t see my family status instead of me when they look at me.’

Clarice now had an important position, one that granted her access to opportunities most could only dream of. With the right strategy and a careful approach, she could learn secrets and obtain information that would remain out of reach for others. Thanks to that and the recent situation, Clarice understood she had to improve herself, both in strength and wisdom.

Becoming powerful would allow her to stand her ground and protect her position without reliance on others who might steer her in the wrong direction. At the same time, gaining knowledge was equally crucial. Only by understanding the surrounding dynamics, people’s motives, hidden agendas, and the systems in play could she navigate the delicate balance between using her position for good and falling prey to manipulation or corruption?

Clarice was determined to grow stronger and smarter, knowing that only by securing her independence and integrity could she truly ensure her actions remained aligned with her values. Betrayal, no matter how tempting or logical it might seem to some, would never be an option for her. Instead, she would build a foundation so unshakable that she could wield her influence without compromise.

‘I can understand why grandfather decided to leave after doing this kind of work for centuries… he must have felt crushed by the choices that he had to make. I will do my best. I won’t betray anyone…’

Chapter 215 - Obstinate (Thank you for your support, David F!)

“Ugh…”

I bit my lips to control my pain… in the end, I couldn’t show my agony, I couldn’t give Rowan that satisfaction. Perhaps I was enduring well just groaning that much, or perhaps a simple groan was everything I could muster in that situation. 

Blood began to gush from the wound on my left side and I wondered for how long I could endure in this situation. Rowan was absolutely certain of his victory, so perhaps this was the moment.

“At least have the dignity to beg for your life. You are just a blood-sucking worm, but you can at least do that much, can’t you? Or have you been waiting for this despite your calm expression until now?”

“Hehe, hehe… hehehe… hahahahaha!”

“Have you finally lost your mind?”

“No, I just had this crazy idea… What if I turned you into the thing you hated the most before killing you? I guess just obtaining these powers isn’t the only things affecting my head, huh?

Rowan looked at me in confusion. In his head, it looked like I had already lost my mind, at least in a way that he didn’t expect at all. His victory was all but assured, at least in his head… it would have been if he had tried to kill me with all his might from the beginning, but his strength and the difference in skills made him underestimate me and think that I already had used all of my cards.

“I guess I will just chop your other arm and crush this delusion of yours.”

“No, you won’t.”

Rowan realized that something was off and then swung down his sword to cleave my head, but in the next moment, a scroll under my cloak was activated and then the blood that fell from my arm flew in all directions like countless bullets. The projectiles pierced Rowan’s unprotected skin with ease.

“Argh!”

It looked like Rowan was able to protect his head at the last moment with his arms. He didn’t suffer critical damage, and he didn’t lose his sight… Thanks to his lightning armor, the power of Crimson Burst also was a lot weaker, but at least it pushed him away by several meters.

When Rowan recovered, he saw the arrow on my right shoulder being pulled from behind. Then he saw Glacien helping me with that. He immediately stepped forward to kill us both, but soon he felt his body feeling weird, his body began to burn and his health began to fall quite fast, the pain spread through his body was like nothing he felt before… like his defenses were completely nullified.

Rowan was forced to grab some potions from his magic bag and then drink them. He drank several of them to decrease the pain, but it didn’t help that much. Without any other choice, he decided to drink a certain drug that he kept with him for emergencies, but the moment he opened the bottle and drank the liquid, he saw me standing with a weird stance… I was holding my fallen left arm with my hand and then pulling the bowstring of my hand crossbow with my mouth.

Before releasing the bolts, I used Shadow Step and collided against him. The impact made him stagger backward and drop the drug… then, he felt the sharp pain taking over his body. It felt like every single spot on it was stinging, like boiling oil was put on them. In the next moment, he looked down and saw several holes in his torso.

“... Monster…”

You received 75.000 experience points.

“If I am a monster, what are you? Asshole…”

Rowan fell on the ground and then my body relaxed when the battle was over, but that only made the pain much worse for me. I was losing blood fast, so I had to do something about it. Fortunately, I wasn’t alone… Glacien worked fast to grab the magic bag that Rowan had, and I could look for some potions there.

He used a few, but he still had a lot more… as expected of someone who was rich. I began to drink the potions, and the pain weakened, but I wondered what I should do now? Could I reattach my arm? While I was thinking about that, Glacien began to growl angrily at the direction Rowan came from and before long, I heard some footsteps. It looked like I wasn’t going to have any time to recover properly…

Eventually, the footsteps ended, but I didn’t see anyone. I immediately chugged down some mana potions to use Great Fireball.

“Wait. We aren’t here to attack you.”

That voice… it was the guy who I talked with before in the insectoids labyrinth. That dark elf whose name I didn’t ask. Something was off. Why would he be here? I expected that Rowan had come with some reinforcements, so this guy should have passed by them.

“Lady Renna sent us a message to come to help you… she had no choice but to tell them where you had gone and while she expected that you would have some time to escape, she didn’t expect that you would leave traces to help them find you.”

Before long, the dark elf man appeared in front of me and then another person showed up as well. It was a woman wearing similar clothes to the unseen arrows. Her presence made me think that she was the one who was following me a while ago.

“Leave. I don’t need your help.”

I was pissed, understandably so… I don’t like to let my anger get the better of me, but I couldn’t keep my cool-headedness all the time. I was no machine.

“If you want your arm back, you will need someone to stitch back to its place while you heal. We can help with that.”

“I said leave!”

My roar scared even Glacien. Perhaps it wasn’t my roar, but the fact that my eyes turned red and my fangs became more prominent. When that happened, my hunger suddenly came at full force and both of them got ready to fight. I took a deep breath to at least calm down my hunger… I could let all sorts of things happen to me, but not let that control me.

Both of them moved their arms to grab weapons behind their backs, but soon they relaxed a bit when they saw my eyes turning green again. I was starting to get sick of things… I wasn’t into complaining that much or blaming others for the things that happen to me, but I at least have the right to be wary of the betrayals of everyone, aside from Glacien.

“Please, calm down and think this through. You probably can recover your arm like a vampire, but you will need to drink a lot of blood. You don’t want to do that, right? We will leave as soon as we are done with that.”

I took another deep breath. He had a point. I couldn’t stitch my arm back to its place by myself, and I didn’t want to drink blood to regenerate faster. I had to compromise here and think about the bigger picture. In the end, I nodded and then sat down. Those two approached and then put their weapons away.

The guy grabbed my arm and then cleaned it with some water from a magic bag while the woman did the same to my wound and moved my shirt away. 

“The cut was clean, so this won’t be hard. Still, this might sting a bit and you shouldn’t move your arm too much while it heals.”

“Geez, I guess I should thank him for the favor.”

The guy moved my arm back to its place, and the wound began to hurt like a bitch… before long, the woman grabbed a needle without a string attached and then began to connect the parts. The needle began to glow, creating a line made of mana… I didn’t know that kind of effect, and it made me wonder how long the mana would last. Still, I could see the parts attached to each other.

She was quite fast, so it didn’t take long for her to finish. When that happened, the guy used a health potion and poured over the wound. The pain began to decrease a lot more, but I couldn’t move my left arm yet.

“Lady Renna was forced to cooperate because the empire has a very powerful clairvoyant, if she hadn’t agreed with their terms clearly, it would have been a problem and she would be monitored by the same clairvoyant again and again until the Aeloria Dominion reaches a point where we would either be attacked or dependent on the empire.”

“I don’t care. Now that you did what you wanted, you can leave.”

“Let me at least explain the situation while we monitor your wound. This will be useful for you too, since it will help you escape the empire’s grasp.”

This talk about clairvoyant seemed like shit, an excuse that someone just came up with to make things convenient for them to betray me. I didn’t like using excuses for myself, so why did I have to accept them when they come from others?

“Based on what she had heard, this person can check the actions of people to a certain and from a certain point. It shouldn’t be completely under their control yet, so the time to take advantage of it was now and make the empire think that she was on their side. They also didn’t want to cause trouble with other elders because of the situation related to the next rift.”

“... Rift?”

The guy began to explain to me what was the rift… it seemed quite insane that something like that could happen. People or beings coming from another world and then taking place in this one as the land expands as well. 

Still, that would make sense why this world has all sorts of weird beings… golems, ant-people, aquarians, beastkin and so on. Still, I had nothing to do with that. So, it seemed that Rowan wasted a lot of time coming for me and now Louise’s father didn’t have a guard, not like I couldn't care less.

“You are involved because this clairvoyant, for some reason, can’t see anything related to you. She imagined that the empire was thinking that you might cause trouble eventually and perhaps let the rift destroy the world. Do you have any idea why clairvoyance wouldn’t work on you?”

“How the heck am I supposed to know?”

I knew the answer. It was probably because I was reincarnated, but there was also the possibility that the reason was the fact that I was a half vampire and those are hard to find. I couldn’t assume anything yet…

Chapter 214 - True Colors (Thank you for your support, ytm!)

Rowan studied me for a moment and I could see the caution in his eyes. Getting close to me was too risky, so he charged his sword with a lot of electricity. I could tell what he was planning, but it still made me sweat cold.

Before long, he swung down his sword as expected and then fired a blast of electric energy toward me. I only had time to turn into mist and nothing else, but as soon as I returned to normal, he was right in front of me and swinging his sword down.

With my two short swords, I was able to block the attack, but Rowan easily overpowered me… even with all my enchantments that increased my strength that much, he was still stronger.

My block was broken, but before he had the chance to cut me down, I used Shadow Step and moved away from him. Rowan turned around, looking a bit annoyed… he truly thought that he could finish me in just a couple of moves.

‘Taking him down fast won’t be that easy… even if the elves are far behind, that is still the best option.’

I had some cards that I could use, but I wasn’t sure if I should readily empty my mana. I could hear the sound of Glacien fighting some kobolds in the distance, so I couldn’t recover my energy in the middle of the fight. This made me realize how over dependent I was on my mana drain. It was another lesson learned.

Well, I didn’t really need mana, but I had to accept some costs to guarantee a certain victory against this guy. I let out a sigh, and then my swords began to glow for a moment. Rowan raised his guard since he didn’t know what was going on, and that served me well… soon enough, the glow on my weapons changed and he realized that I changed their enchantments.

“An enchanter, huh? That would explain why you managed to survive this long by yourself.”

“Shut the fuck up and come at me. It is time for you to disappear.”

I wanted to know what the empire was planning recently, but this guy was stubborn to a fault. He wouldn’t reveal anything to me and I didn’t want to take any chances with him. Still, this taunt didn’t work and soon he began to charge his sword with energy once more.

I didn’t wait for him to finish charging and used Shadow Step. Rowan saw me moving and then grinned while swinging down his sword, but he didn’t expect that I would actually attack him with feet on his face… I kicked the ground with my foot and turned my body in that short window of time to make that possible.

My double kick pushed him away and stopped his attack. Before I could even fall, I summoned my bow and then summoned and enchanted several arrows with Arcane Arrow. 

In the next moment, several explosions happened in front of me. Still, I couldn’t help but click my tongue since at the last moment, I was able to see that asshole blocking my first arrow with his sword. He truly had lightning reflexes.

‘Even at ten meters away… he can still react this fast. I guess I don’t have any other choice.’

When all the smoke vanished, an annoyed Rowan showed up with his nose bleeding and with his clothes half burned. The explosions took their toll… perhaps I should have used frost arrows instead and locked them in the spot. Still, they weren’t as effective as the explosive ones. The shocking ones were out of the question. If he could use lightning magic that well, he certainly should have some resistance to it.

“It looks like I fixed your face a bit. No need to thank me. Consider it my good deed of the week.”

Rowan bit his lips to the point that they started to bleed, but soon he took a deep breath and started to calm down. It looked like my strategy was too obvious, since I was using it pretty often. I’d better shut up and then use my head and energy to make this fight end faster.

“It looks like I will have to take this seriously… despite everything, you do have that guy’s blood, after all.”

“That has nothing to do with this. Don’t blame my merit and your incompetence on an outside factor.”

Rowan ignored my words and just charged his sword with energy again. He didn’t raise the weapon this time, so there was no opening that I could exploit. In the next moment, he touched the ground with the weapon and then created some electric mines around him. It looked like he wanted to do something big and he didn’t want any interruptions.

“Hah! Without the mana you are being fed, you wouldn’t be able to do this, huh?”

Rowan grinned while ignoring my words… taunting was no longer useful, so I decided to unleash a barrage of arrows at him. Still, the electric mines began to work and soon formed an electric wall that blocked my arrows. I soon fired an explosive one, but it was useless. The electric wall fired lightning bolts at my arrows before they could get too close and stopped them in their place.

I had the chance to run away now. A part of me believed that this was truly the best option, but I didn’t want to keep running away all the time in my life. So, I just braced myself for the unavoidable… 

Rowan moved his sword to his front and then the energy around the weapon began to envelop his body like an armor. That was one hell of a technique and I wondered if he got that from a class or the sword granted him that power, my bet relied on that.

After charging that up for two minutes, it was already done. That kind of technique truly wasn’t useful on a battlefield if it needed that much preparation… it should also consume stupid amounts of energy every single moment. Still, it made Rowan look even more confident.

“Are you done dressing up? I don’t have all day, you know.”

“Don’t worry, this will be over soon. By the way, did you seriously think that I don’t know that enchanters can use their skills to destroy the effects of enchanted gear?”

My mind went blank for a moment… that shouldn’t be common knowledge, but it should be something those who were veterans would know. It looked like Rowan read me like an open book. Just like that time, when I was facing that Triton, I was planning to use Essence Extraction and make his lightning abilities useless, but that no longer was possible.

Still, Rowan probably needs to use that sword to attack and keep that magic electric armor active, so he didn’t have many options in the matter… or so I thought, anyway. In the next moment, he took some silver arrows from his magic bag.

“Good thing I borrowed these from the Elves. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself.”

In the next moment, Rowan’s arms blurred and then I felt a sharp pain in my legs. Soon afterward, I felt my body being shocked… crap, I really had messed up this time. When the shocking sensation ended, I looked at my legs and then saw two silver arrows piercing my knees. The sharp pain made me sweat cold and my mind blanked once more. Just standing was already painful enough.

“Did you know? Vampires lose their abilities when they are in contact with silver.”

I didn’t, but I had an idea about it… in the next moment, Rowan threw more arrows, this time, at my shoulders. I immediately lost the feeling in my limbs after the electrical wave took over my body once more.

Being zapped like that wasn’t pleasant… I was lucky that his magic wasn’t high, but he could charge anything with extra mana to pack a punch when he touched with electricity, it seemed.

“I am no member of the holy order, but I know a few things about how to kill a vampire. Silver arrows are very effective in weakening them. Still, chop them to pieces, burn them alive or bath them in corrosive poison, they always return… to kill them, you have to pierce their hearts and brain with anything that they hate. Silver is good enough, weapons enchanted with holy magic are even better… it is a pity that I didn’t have that with me. It is annoying since they are only useful to worms like you.”

Rowan approached without a care and soon raised his sword, but I could tell by the glint of his eyes that he wasn’t planning to let things end so fast. He also said that before as well.

“What? You still believe that you can survive this?”

“... You lived a sorry life, didn’t you?”

“What?”

“Growing in the shadows of someone more famous and skilled who also had the same family name. Having to follow the orders of someone like that, even after despising them that much after doing something that you hated him even more for it. I would say that it was a very fitting life for you.”

Rowan studied me with a serious and astonished look on his face. He wasn’t the one who was good at psychoanalyzing others. Still, he didn’t give me time to continue and just touched my head with his sword…

I was zapped again. The feeling this time was much worse thanks to the main part being zapped was my head. I didn’t even have time to regret not increasing my spirit further. 

I fell on my knees and I didn’t even have the chance to feel worse as the wound in my knees began to bleed even more… The wounds were already burned, but they grew larger thanks to it.

“You have a big mouth. Perhaps I should try to cut your tongue first.”

“Have you heard? People show their true colors when they are close to death… how do you feel realizing that you are this kind of person?”

“Am I supposed to feel anything when crushing worms?”

“You might need to use some glasses. I am too handsome to be compared to a worm, don’t you think?” 

It looked like Rowan didn’t like my joke… because in the next moment, he swung down his sword and then my left arm fell to the ground.

Chapter 213 - Unreasonable

“Awoo, awoo!”

“Fine… you can take the lead again.”

Glacien dashed ahead and then jumped over the traps that the kobolds created and then slammed her body against one of their barricades. Four of them with bows emerged from behind the fallen barricade and then launched arrows at her, but Glacien blocked them all with an ice fortress. 

In the next moment, she collided against the fortress and made it collapse against the monsters… Calling a fortress was too much. It was just a wall that looked like the walls of a fortress. In any case, the creatures weren’t smashed by the ice fortress, but they couldn’t move that much below it. When they tried to escape, Glacien was there to slash their throats and easily finish them off.

You received 10 experience points.

You received 10 experience points.

You received 10 experience points.

You received 10 experience points.

While I got this much, Glacien got fifteen points. I could tell while checking her parameters, but I was more busy dealing with the bodies of the kobolds that we already defeated. Even with my knife made to skin creatures, it was taking too long thanks to the massive number of them here.

‘It feels like they have been multiplying by themselves? Those morons outside didn’t let anyone reach this far?’

Now that I think about it, I imagined that I would have to wait for the previous boss to respawn, but the creature was already there. I didn’t find other parties either, so it was clear that no one came to the second section of the labyrinth.

It was a lot of work to be an alchemist, even though I didn’t have the class yet. Regardless, I would get a lot of materials to work with and that would make the skills improve faster. I also would have who knows how many stamina potions to make my skills level up, so that was a good thing despite all the menial work that I had to endure right at the moment.

“Grrrr…”

“What is up, girl? You were looking quite proud a minute ago. Did we miss any kobolds coming from behind?”

The kobolds weren’t that skilled or strong, but they were smarter than most types of monsters. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of them hide in the dead ends we missed along the way and decided to attack us from behind. 

Still, if they were indeed the problem, Glacien would have just positioned between us to avoid the ambush… she was growling while showing all of her teeth. She looked really pissed. For some reason…

“... Watch my back and take care of the monsters that might come.”

Glacien didn’t follow my orders immediately. It looked like she didn’t like the idea of letting me fight alone. Her senses were good, so she probably knew that some powerful threat was coming from the entrance of the labyrinth.

‘Betrayed again, huh?’

It looked like I misjudged Renna… I wasn’t expecting to be found so soon, then again, I spent a lot of time in this section since I didn’t want to waste the materials. Before long, I noticed the shift in the atmosphere and Glacien was forced to move back since I didn’t want to get her involved in this fight.

At this point in time, I was already sick and tired of experiencing betrayals… perhaps I should just become an asshole to everyone since everyone keeps disappointing me in the end.

While I was thinking about that, a figure dashed from the other end of the corridor while a certain electric aura was covering his body. He couldn’t help but look at me with a bit of astonishment for a while, but soon he began to smile… It was Rowan.

I began to connect the dots… the first time I saw him fighting, he could swing down his sword with a speed that I couldn’t even being to understand, but I didn’t hear anything about him using electric attacks, but it looked like he was the guard of the diplomat that was in the Aeloria Dominion. The famous lightning swordsman.

Seeing him like this after three years, I couldn’t help but consider his goal… he probably was no longer working for Rayner, but his actions still had been weird. Working as a guard in a new labyrinth and now this, something was really off about him.

“Hey, it has been a while. You look pretty well. Managing to escape everyone and everything for so long is rather impressive.”

My guess is that he was trying to make connections all over the kingdom. By working near the border with the elves and the Aesira empire, he would be able to join a battle in such an area without many questions being asked. 

At the same time, borders are pretty good to hear rumors about everything that has happened nearby. The Garnier house had their border with the kingdom of Talimor as well. By working around, he was also improving his fame and showing that he no longer worked for Rayner… perhaps he received such an order for some reason, like to infiltrate other houses.

“Hey, are you listening? Do you still understand words?”

“Yeah, I do. I am just waiting for your monologue.”

“Monologue?”

“You don’t have one ready? The type that would make you say how much you hated me from the beginning and waited for the chance to kill me and blah, blah, blah?”

“Well, I do have it, but… I wasn’t expecting you to be looking forward to it.”

I wasn’t, but it was the kind of things morons like him always say before coming to attack their so-called mortal enemy. I didn’t do anything against this retard to deserve his hate, but I was used to people in this world being unreasonable towards me.

“It seems that being able to move around without being noticed for five years gives you a lot of confidence. Do you really think that you can escape me now that I found you?”

“Here comes the monologue and the usual overconfidence… I should have put an arrow in your head when you were working as a guard in that labyrinth.”

Rowan opened his eyes widely when he heard that. It didn’t seem that he realized that I had been once pretty close to him. Back then, I didn’t have enough reason to kill him and trying that would have put me in some trouble as well. Even now I didn’t have that many reasons to kill him… aside from the fact that he hated my existence and the fact that he came this far to get me.

I didn’t know what his plans were, but it didn’t matter either way. Anyone trying to get in the way of my freedom had to be put down. I decided to stop thinking and just grabbed my short swords. 

“Are you still using that kind of style? Even until now, you didn’t realize how bad it is? You are more stupid than I had imagined.”

I already knew the limitations after fighting with it for so long. Maybe that was the reason why I didn’t use it as much. My fighting style is inherently limited by its reduced reach and offensive power. Holding the blades backward shortens my effective striking range, making it difficult to engage opponents who are further away. This grip also gets in the way of the biomechanics of slashes and thrusts, resulting in attacks with less force compared to a forward grip. Additionally, the style is more suited for close-quarters combat and specific attack angles, such as upward or sideways strikes, making it less versatile and predictable. 

Against opponents using longer weapons or employing a defensive strategy, I would find myself at a disadvantage when trying to close the distance or overcome their opponent’s guard. I used the bow most of the time to avoid that kind of nuisance.

Defensively, the reverse grip can offer some advantages, like using the blades to block or deflect attacks close to the body, but it comes with its own challenges. The style requires exceptional coordination and wrist strength, as blocking powerful strikes is harder due to limited leverage. It also leaves me vulnerable to grappling or disarming techniques in close quarters, as the positioning of the arms and blades can be exploited by skilled opponents. 

“Nothing to say, huh? You are truly stupid.”

“You are the stupid one for coming here alone. Now I can defeat you without having to worry about causing problems for myself. Come, it is time to die a dog’s death, little pawn.”

The smile on his expression froze. It looked like my taunt worked. People with so much pride are really pretty stupid… the smile on his face disappeared and then he grabbed his sword that began to crack with energy. Before long, the energy began to make small lightning bolts emerge around.

When he showed his sword, he showed his hands and forearms covered in tattoos. It was the same tattoo when one uses Mystic Link… I could now tell why he was famous now for something that he wasn’t before.

“I was planning to let these effects disappear, but I guess I will kill you, anyway. I will leave my pride aside to kill you.”

“You already threw your pride away when you put those on, even if it was only to find me, little pawn.”

Rowan charged with murderous intent and raised his sword… his body moved so fast that made me think that he could move even faster than me with my Shadow Step. No, he definitely could. Still, my eyes could follow him.

Before he could reach me, Glacien used Ice Fortress to block his path, but the wall exploded with his charge with ease. He swung down his sword, but he only cut the air… or a mist that suddenly appeared in my place. The mist disappeared and then he felt the danger of his life and then jumped away with all his might.

I clicked my tongue when my short swords almost pierced his ribs… Still, a bit of blood began to drip from his clothes. The idiot only came here with simple clothes and his sword… Thanks to that, he could feel the burning pain on the wounds he received. They were only scratches, but he could feel them sapping his stamina a bit.

“You…”

“Surprised? I wonder what else I have in store for your sorry ass. Let me fix my stance here, just to be sure that you won’t try to escape with your tail between your legs.”

Rowan bit his lips in annoyance… I knew that he wouldn’t run away, but taunting fools was quite fun.

Chapter 212 - Tactical Monsters

I made Glacien use Beast’s Fury for a moment and then her body turned a bit red as she charged toward the giant stone spiders. The creatures tried to hit her with their legs and block her charge, but Glacien easily knocked the arms out and then slashed the eyes of the beasts in a quick sequence.

You received 03 experience points.

You received 03 experience points.

You received 08 experience points.

The Giant Stone Spiders were a bit stronger than the usual monsters that a person can find in the first section of a labyrinth, so it was already pretty good that Glacien could deal with two of them without using her magic. 

Using some spells would allow her to solo the place, but I decided to train her with just physical attacks for a while. Using magic was convenient, but it was too limiting.

In any case, soon enough we reached the boss chamber. I wondered if she could solo the boss if she uses all of her abilities. It should be fine. If the worst comes to the worst, I can just heal her.

“Shall I let you take the boss by yourself this time around?” 

“Awoo! Awooo!”

“At least you are looking forward to it.”

Putting my loneliness aside, I truly believed that having pets like Glacien would be useful, having more than one would make me able to focus on other things while they clear the path for me in labyrinths and… I was only thinking about the merits later. Still, I couldn’t forget the anxiety that I felt back then when she was forced to leave with Renna.

‘Well, I don’t have to do this, but if I am going to, then I should at least find an animal with a lot of potential first.’

At least I could take some necessary steps to stop making me think about that too much. In any case, I kept taking the poison of the spiders in another bag. I lost count of how many of those I had… it smelled pretty badly too. I wonder who was the genius who thought that trying to drink this was a good idea. Hopefully, they didn’t use too many people as guinea pigs to obtain that kind of knowledge.

Although Renna made Clarice give me this book and this was something that they obtained from Clarice’s parents, there was nothing that truly guarantees that they didn’t obtain that knowledge from the dark Elves… 

‘Come to think of it, they never mentioned Clarice’s parents, and that makes me think that they died in the last few decades. That would explain why this guy called Nylian decided to retire from his seat as the leader of the silver bows and Arslan took his place. Arslan probably changed with their deaths and then decided to make the silver bows into a more active force to strengthen the Aeloria Dominion.’

That didn’t involve me that much, so I wondered why I was thinking about it. In any case, we got inside the boss’ chamber and then prepared for our first gym leader in this labyrinth. We weren’t going to get any badges, but we would get some power in exchange.

The boss chamber of the giant stone spider was a vast, oppressive chamber. The space was dimly lit by an eerie, pulsating glow emanating from the chamber’s walls, which were encrusted with crystalline veins that shimmer like veins of molten stone. Jagged stalactites hang loosely from the ceiling, dripping moisture that echoes hauntingly in the silence. The air is thick and musty, carrying the faint metallic tang of ancient stone and lingering magic.

The chamber floor was uneven and treacherous, filled with deep cracks and jagged outcroppings of rock. Web-like stone formations stretch from the walls to the ground, forming natural barriers and obstacles that restrict movement and provide cover for the boss. The spider itself was enormous and terrifying, its glowing eyes reflecting the chamber’s ominous light. 

It looked like I didn’t have much tolerance for spiders… At least this place didn’t have countless eggs for the boss to make them hatch and then come to me. Glacien took a fighting position in front of me as my loyal squire and soon was forced to act when the boss fired a bunch of stone bullets at me.

“It can use magic, huh?”

Glacien jumped in the air and then blocked the stone bullets that were flying to my head. It would have been fun to grab them with my hand, but Glacien was taking things seriously as a real fight. The stone bullets fell to the ground after she blocked them and fell apart. She didn’t suffer any damage from that, so it seemed that increasing her spirit a bit made her a lot tougher.

Before long, Glacien charged at the monster to prevent the creature from using long ranged attacks and then the beast tried to stab her with its legs… Glacien jumped to the side and avoided the attacks, that had been the right call because the legs pierced the ground like real earth spears.

In the next moment, before the boss could turn, Glacien used a body slam to push the beast backward several meters. Still, it looked like she was the one who suffered most damage since the skin of the boss looked tough, like a real wall.

‘I guess she paid attention when I said that she used too much mana when fighting. In any case, she can afford to take some risks since I am here to support her.’

I made Glacien activate Beast’s Fury and since the skill had leveled up a few times, she got a bit stronger than before. When the monster approached to stab her with its legs, Glacien used her claws to slash them away.

When she confirmed that she had enough strength to block them, Glacien summoned her Frostbite Claws… her original claws became longer and covered in ice. Sparks began to spread around the area as she blocked all the attacks in the area. In the end, two legs of the monster fell apart and then Glacien went for the kill, jumping to the head of the monster and then slashing her claws at it viciously.

‘... This isn’t a sight for those faint of heart.’

I made Glacien use Beast’s Fury once again when it wore down, and then she was able to finish things off in no time. She was a bit tired since using Beast’s Fury several times in a row was quite training, but at least her skills leveled up. 

You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Acolyte (Dark Acolyte), Venom Agent, and Venom Mage (Toxic Sage)

You obtained the Toxic Sage class.

You improved the Magic parameter.

You unlocked the Aptitude: Toxic Wisdom.

You unlocked the skill: Corrosive Mist.

You unlocked the skill: Noxious Wave.

Venomous Wisdom: Gain 1 point of experience per second for maintaining poison-based effects on enemies. You gain fifty percent more experience when a target is killed by poison effects.

Corrosive Mist: Release a cloud of toxic gas in a small area, dealing poison damage equal to your magic power every second for 5 seconds. It also reduces enemy physical and magic resistance by 20% while inside the mist. Cost: 100 Mana.

Noxious Wave: Emit a pulse of venomous energy that damages all enemies within a medium radius for poison damage equal to your magic power. Applies a slow effect, reducing movement speed by 30% for 3 seconds after leaving the wave. Cost: 150 Mana.

While looking at the class, I couldn’t help but wonder… wasn’t it because of my own decision making that I was in a bind? If I hadn’t chosen those dark versions of the classes, they wouldn’t show up more often. At least that was my theory. If my theory was right, it would reach a point where all my options would be the same options of a vampire.

‘I already didn’t want to become like them because of their blood sucking nature, similar to parasites, but after learning and seeing how they treated those who they captured as guinea pigs, I got even less interested in joining their side. Still, it doesn’t look like this is a real option for me.’

The more time passed, the more I felt like someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes, or at least someone was trying to make me follow that kind of path… I also thought that I was just trying to find an excuse for myself with that way of thinking. All these problems could be just consequences of my own decision making…

In a world like this, at least when it comes to the media that I consume, there should be gods, but I never heard of anything like that. I thought that such entities could be trying to control my fate, but it looked like it could be just my imagination and overthinking nature.

‘Ugh, the more I think, the more this annoys me and the more my own thoughts make my head spin in circles…’

I decided to store the body of the boss away and then dismantle it later… Glacien was a bit tired, but she could rest as we walked. I just needed to keep my mind busy with fighting the monsters and then deal with whatever happens afterwards once they happen instead of before and inside my head.

We headed to the next floor, and I was ready to use my bow… usually, when those feelings start to bother me, I get rid of them by grinding a bit. That should have the same effect here. I immediately frowned when I reached the next section. There weren’t many differences in the walls, ceiling and ground, aside from wooden barricades and some obvious traps on the ground.

From one of those barricades, a pair of kobolds emerged… armed with crude crossbows at that. Kobolds were small, reptilian humanoids with a scrappy, wiry build that hid their surprising agility. Standing around 4 feet tall, they were covered in tough, scaly skin that was brown and red. Their slender tails sway behind them for balance, tipped with small, jagged spikes.

Their faces were sharp and angular, with elongated snouts filled with small but jagged teeth. Large, expressive eyes glint with cunning intelligence and mischief. Many kobolds sport small, curved horns atop their heads, adding a draconic touch to their appearance.

Their appearance fit what I read about them, but I didn’t hear anything about them using bows. In any case, they fired their arrows at my head and my first instinct was to grab them, but if they could have weapons like that, they probably could poison too, so I changed my mind and just moved to the side, making the arrows just cross the air.

Chapter 211 - Message (Thank you for your support, James!)

The elves in the area were getting ready to have their dinner. Some of them were lazing around while others were looking at the pot with the food being cooked. All of a sudden, they felt a strong breeze passing through the area and the sound of a whoosh. 

The flames under the pot trembled for a moment, but they soon returned to normal. Some of them looked around for a moment, but they didn’t notice anything odd, so they returned to their usual activities.

Meanwhile, Glacien and I took a peek out of the labyrinth and looked around. The plan had been a success… using Shadow Step with the leap effects of the boots. We could move a certain distance and we would appear a few centimeters above the air if we kicked the ground hard enough. At that moment, the effects of the boots would work and then we would cross a larger distance. While it wasn’t instantaneous as Shadow Step, we could cover a bit more than two times the same distance.

“Good work, girl. Now, let’s do what we need to do here.”

I whispered and Glacien remained silent. Unlike me, she wasn’t taking any chances. We also had to keep fighting silently since we didn’t know if people were inside. I didn’t notice anyone leaving the labyrinth in several hours.

In any case, it didn’t take long for us to find the first monster… The creature emerged from the walls like a golem. It was a giant stone spider. The creature’s legs were composed of dark stone across their surface. Compact and angular in shape, their segmented legs resemble sharp stone blades, grinding ominously as they move. Instead of typical spider eyes, glowing gemstone-like orbs pierce the darkness, adding an eerie aura to their appearance. 

When still, the stone spider looked almost indistinguishable from rubble or carvings, a perfect camouflage in the labyrinth. The contrast between their rugged, inorganic design and their predatory, lifelike behavior creates a chilling encounter for adventurers, blending the maze’s environmental hazards with a deadly, animated threat., or so it was written in the alchemy book on the side of the part that says that their poison can restore stamina if they are mixed with lesser chimera poison and then purified by kobold fur… it was a rather dubious process.

You received 08 experience points.

Regardless, the creature died after getting hit in the head by several wind shurikens. They didn’t have a physical shape or any real weight, so they didn’t make any noise as they cut the head of the monster.

I couldn’t leave the body behind, so I took the poison from the fangs of the beast and stored it in a bottle and threw the body in another magic bag… I wonder if I could use them to smash my enemies if I let them fall from a certain height. Their bodies were heavy thanks to the stone arms, after all. 

We began to move again and I couldn’t help but wonder when I would have the chance to use a guild. The stones of the monsters seemed useful. Perhaps they could be carved into something interesting. Still, given that I am no longer interested in hiding my face, this was probably impossible.

‘As I keep leveling up Shadow Step, eventually, no one will be able to stop me from entering a dungeon or a labyrinth, unless they have some sort of magic barrier. Well, I guess I will be fine as long as there are no rivers, lakes or an ocean nearby for people to try to drown me inside them.’

While I was thinking about that, Glacien suddenly bit my shirt and then pulled me to the wall. In the next moment, I put a mana core on my amulet and on the amulet that she had on her neck. It didn’t take long before I was able to hear some footsteps.

A group of elves approached in silence and crossed the corridor. They looked quite exhausted and not very excited by the fact that they finally could leave the labyrinth. They were so on the edge that they never noticed half a meter away from them.

‘This works for me, but why do I have a bad feeling about this?’

I made sure not to leave any traces behind of our steps or fights, so I wondered why I felt like that… I didn’t let the feeling bother me for long and then turned around to the next area, but then I turned around again and began to tail those guys.

‘Let’s hope that I am not wasting my time here…’

The group didn’t talk even once on the way back to the exit of the labyrinth and soon I understood why. They sighed and soon began to take out all the materials from their magic bags and the guards outside began to split everything. In the end, they only were returned one fifth of what they had brought.

The group left without saying a single thing… I could only think that they had a lesser rank in the Elven society. Come to think of it, Clarice mentioned the ranks, but I didn’t notice any division until now.

Still, if the elder of the area was an asshole enough to hire that annoying elf, he would be an asshole enough to tax his people this much. 

‘I never thought that elves that are so long lived would worry too much about attaining wealth… is this guy just different from the others or is he planning something?’

People with shorter lifespans often prioritize wealth because it represents security, comfort, and a tangible measure of success within their limited time. The urgency to make the most of life leads to a focus on material gain, as it can provide immediate satisfaction and leave a lasting legacy for loved ones. Scarcity of time amplifies the importance of achieving visible milestones, with wealth often serving as a symbol of accomplishment and a means to access opportunities or luxuries that might otherwise remain unattainable. 

In contrast, individuals with longer lifespans tend to ignore wealth, as their broader time horizons allow them to explore pursuits beyond material gain. Over time, the novelty of wealth diminishes, and its limitations in providing lasting fulfillment become apparent. They may shift focus to intangible values such as personal growth, relationships, and intellectual or spiritual pursuits, which hold more enduring significance. Having the luxury of abundant time fosters a more patient and reflective approach to life, where the accumulation of experiences and wisdom outweighs the transient satisfaction of material possessions. At least this made sense in my head.

‘I don’t think that the elders of this area would have any connections with the humans or with the dwarves, but now I can’t discard any possibility.’

I decided to return in a hurry to the labyrinth and then clear it as soon as possible… it would be troublesome if that group had defeated the bosses. That would make me have to wait for a full day. Still, worrying about it wouldn’t help. A couple of minutes later, I reached the end of the first floor and soon got a new opportunity. Sort of.

You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Spearman, Enchanter, and Toxic Assassin (Thief, Poison Crafter, and Ranger)

I wondered why I didn’t get this option when I got the Thief class… I already had the other two classes, so this was all making my head hurt. Was it because I was reaching some sort of milestone? Maybe it was because this new class could only be granted in this kind of a labyrinth. Regardless, I made my choice… I wasn’t going to keep running away anymore. I had to face my demons.

You obtained the Toxic Assassin class.

You improved the Magic parameter.

You unlocked the Aptitude: Toxic Mastery.

You unlocked the skill: Toxic Strike.

You unlocked the skill: Venom Cloud.

Toxic Mastery: Gain 1 point of experience for every second an enemy is affected by your poisons or toxins. The amount increases according to the damage caused.

Venom Strike: Infuse your weapon with a potent poison that deals damage over time equal to half your strength and magic combined. Poison lasts for 10 seconds.
Cost: 10 mana. This effect can stack when used in a succession.

Toxic Cloud: Release a poisonous gas in a small radius around you, dealing damage equal to your magic power per second to all enemies caught within. Enemies affected are slowed by 20% for 5 seconds after leaving the cloud. Cost: 30 Mana.

‘I am trying to become an elemental archer, but it looks like I am destined to become a poisonous one… the only problem is that I didn’t hear anything about a poison affinity parameter.’

I didn’t need that considering how my blood was deadly, in a way that no antidote would be able to fight against it. In any case, I decided to head to the next floor since Glacien was itching to fight. It was hard to imagine that more people would be so late and deep in the labyrinth and I could trust her instincts too, so I decided to hurry up.

… …

Ayla was returning to the labyrinth where the dark Elves lived after she confirmed that Regulus disappeared and had left the area. She kept a calm expression as she moved, but soon her heart began to race when she saw signs of torches ahead. It was impossible to miss the light that they offered to the forest so late at night.

Ayla knew very well that the other dark elves wouldn’t be stupid enough to use torches outside and in front of their labyrinth, so there was only one explanation… people that shouldn’t be there were nearby.

Using one of her skills, Ayla mixed with the darkness and then began to move toward the area where the suspicious individuals were… and soon enough, she confirmed that they were heading in the direction she came from. 

The group was made of several elves carrying silver bows and a single swordsman in the middle of them. They were following the traces of the bike that Regulus had left before.

‘They had come too fast… it looks like Renna isn’t as trustworthy as our leader expected. That or something else must have happened…’

Ayla could tell that Regulus wanted the alchemist class in that labyrinth, but he will have to reach the thirtieth floor to get that class. It was hard to imagine that he would pull off before he finds himself surrounded at the entrance of the labyrinth.

When they disappeared in the distance, Ayla returned to the Insectoids labyrinth, but soon she stopped when a silhouette emerged from it. It was their leader, showing a serious expression on his face and with a piece of paper in his hand…

Chapter 210 - Well-Guarded

‘I guess he sent someone to keep an eye on me…’

A while had passed since I noticed that someone had approached, but that someone didn’t do anything and kept their distance. It was hard to say if they were skilled or if my tracking skills had improved thanks to my gear. Either way, I just had to act like nothing was wrong.

Glacien growled now and then after she found our dinner, so it seemed that she realized it too, but I decided to just shake my head and she understood the message.

‘Well now, what should I do?’

I was heading north to get rid of someone who incriminated me before and probably will try to get in my way again. Although I would bait that guy, it wouldn’t change his nature. Once that happens and a fight breaks out, it is impossible to tell what will happen. With that in mind, it might be a good idea to explore the dungeons and labyrinths in the area.

I could make some potions with those places around and in one of them, I could get into the alchemist class too. However, knowing my luck, the class will probably come as mad alchemist or noxious alchemist.

‘Even if it makes my vampire blood grow strong, I am able to suppress it as it is… increasing the difficulty a bit at a time is actually very convenient for me.’

I had to at least obtain such a class before shit hits the fan and I am forced to leave the country for the time being, so I decided to head to that labyrinth. Even if I am being watched, I couldn’t care less.

Once I was done with two magic smoke bomb amulets, I decided to make something like leather armor for Glacien. I needed to increase her mana regeneration to make her skills level up faster, and that was the best way to give her enchanted items. It was also a good time to test the skills of the leatherwork class.

She didn’t need boots or gloves, they would only get in the way of her claws. I could tell that she wouldn’t be comfortable wearing anything, so I made the parts as simple as possible to cover just the right parts. While I was doing that, I wondered if I could use the moth’s wings… even if they couldn’t produce the dust that helped with the camouflage potion. Could they be of some use now? There was only one way to find out.

Beast Shirt of Camouflage (Epic)

Enchantment Slots: Manaflow (Expert)- Increases mana regeneration by eight points per minute

Extra Effects: Adaptive Camouflage - The shirt automatically adjusts its colors and patterns to match the surroundings, granting a significant bonus to evasion and reducing the likelihood of being targeted.

Durability: 15/15

It was a bit different from I had expected, but at least my enchantment came at a high rank. Now, Glacien could use magic a lot more. Making her wear that was a pain, and I had to make things like pants too… perhaps a hat? If all of them come with enchantments at this rank, then they certainly would make her quite the spellcaster.

“You want to use magic, don’t you? Then bear with it.”

“Grrr…

“Don’t grrr me, young lady.”

Before I could notice, I spent the night crafting those items. The feeling of being watched didn’t weaken at all, but I didn’t care. It wasn’t like anyone would be able to do something to me just by knowing that I had some decent crafting skills. When morning came, I decided to check my parameters, but there wasn’t much to see… only my mana regeneration had increased a bit, and it wasn’t enough to tame another pet.

Name: Regulus Dawnshield

Race: Dhampir

Health: 310/310 (0/3200)

Regen: 1.3 per hour (0/1000) (1.3)

Mana: 330/330 (0/3100) (1.1)

Regen: 16.0 per minute (0/8100) (2.0)

Stamina: 380/380 (0/3500) (1.1)

Regen: 13.0 per minute (0/10.100) (1.3)

Strength: 100 + 180 (0/5100) (2.0)

Magic: 66 (0/6100) (1.1)

Dexterity: 302 (0/5600) (5.5x)

Spirit: 21 (0/2200)

Endurance: 30 (0/3100) (1.1)

Attack Speed: + 121% (0/7700) (1.6)

Movement Speed: 15.1 (0/7600) (1.3)

Stamina Conservation: 2.2 (0/20.000) (1.1)

Fire Affinity: 30 (0/3100)

Ice Affinity: 15 (0/1600)

Traits: Minor Weakness to Sunlight, Minor Sensitivity to Holy Magic, Minor Aversion to Silver

Classes: Ranger, Pathfinder, Shadow Scriber, Demon Hunter, Dreadful Enchanter, Shadow Assassin, Merchant, Poison Crafter, Smith, Weaponsmith, Sharpshooter, Pyromancer, Dark Paladin, Arcane Archer, Shadow Archer, Barbarian, Lord of War, Bowman, Warblade, Beastmaster, Pirate, Blood Mage, Cryomancer, Shadow Inscriber, Leatherworker, Thief

Aptitudes: Wilderness Survival, Never Lost, Hunter’s Resolve, Malevolent Artifice,  Way of Shadows, Master of Trade, Venomous Engineer, Master of Forging, Master of Blades, Master of Precision, Heat Master, Silent Observation, Dark Retribution, Mystic Marksman, Shadow Archery, Rage Unleashed, Battlefield Presence, Ranged Skill, Relentless Assault, Animal Empathy, Captain of the High Seas, Blood Rain, Frost Wielder, Gliph Writer, Master of Hides, Light Hands

Experience: 2388

‘Perhaps I should just give up on the idea… I can use it more if I use some magic accessories to increase my mana, but it is better to use the ones that actually increase my main parameters.’

I decided not to create more accessories to increase my mana regeneration since I might fall for the temptation and tame another beast if I had enough mana to do so.

The skill Tamed Beast leveled up. You received 1000 experience points.

You unlocked a new skill in the Beastmaster class.

Beast Bond: Strengthen your connection with your animal companion, allowing you to transfer health or stamina between you and your companion. Transfer at least 20% of your health or stamina to your animal companion, or vice versa. Cost: 25 Mana

I nodded. It took approximately three months to finally bring that skill to level ten… it was rather unusual given that the skill consumed so much mana every second. 

‘At least I can now heal Glacien if something happens… transferring my stamina is also a good option to level up Beast’s Fury.’

Glacien was getting stronger, but my growth has stagnated. With the alchemist class, I might be able to make some potions, but it won’t increase my attack power unless I make the right potions.

“Awooo! Awooo!”

“I know, I know. It is time to move.”

Our next destination was on the border of the territory of a certain elder… if the information that I got was right, that guy would have more details about that elf that we met in the dungeon three years ago… with some luck, that guy will show up to me. With that in mind, I will have to take some risks once more.

We had to move for an entire day to reach the area. At least from the dungeon to my destination, I only had to walk for three hours. Running shouldn’t take less than one. That also meant that reinforcements could come as fast.

I wasn’t even surprised when I saw fifteen elves around the labyrinth… they seemed relaxed enough, like attacks or invasions never happened, but that didn’t make things any easier for me. The place was probably very well guarded because there was a giant tree in front of the labyrinth, the type that was the size of the tallest ones in the towns.

The labyrinth itself, at least the entrance, started in the middle of a giant stone in the shape of a minotaur. I couldn’t help but be surprised, even though I already knew the monsters that I would find there.

‘No one is coming and going through the labyrinth… Well, we had some time, so we can watch this place for a while.’

I wasn’t sure if it would be possible, but my plan was to use camouflage and Shadow Step to enter the labyrinth and escape the eyes of the guards. Hopefully, there won’t be many of them inside the labyrinth.

We moved away from the area, but I kept a straight line open to the entrance of the labyrinth. It was just noon, and I was planning to use the darkness of the night as a cover as well. I wondered if there was something else that I could use. Camouflage, Shadow Step, and the cover of the night… with just one more trick to help, I would feel confident that we would enter the labyrinth without being noticed.

‘I can’t use anything that would make it too obvious, so no attack spells to draw their attention and no other abilities that only those with classes can use… Putting some trees on fire was no good. The elves controlled their weather to avoid that kind of accident as well.’

I could use Veil of Shadows to blend it with darkness even more, but Glacien couldn’t… making an amulet with that skill was pretty hard, so I didn’t pull it off yet. In the end, the hours passed, and I didn’t have any other ideas… It looked like we would have to rely on a bit of luck as well and I hated that.

At least I made Glacien train with one Shadow Step Amulet, and with her wild instincts, she was able to control it quite fast. Speaking of wild senses, I could longer sense that we were being watched. It looked like the person who was told to watch us only was told to keep an eye on us until we left the area. 

‘Oh, yeah… I can use that too!’

Recalling those individuals that work in the shadows made me recall the unseen arrow and their equipment. This would be a bit tough to train, even more so for Glacien, but it would improve our chances of success. So, I made something like boots for her and enchanted mine as well.

Super Leap Boots (Epic)

Enchantment Slots: Power Spring (Expert): Significantly enhances leg strength, enabling jumps up to eight times the wearer’s natural maximum height or distance added with their strength.

Impact Absorption (Expert): The boots absorb the shock from high falls or landings, preventing fall damage and reducing the impact force felt by the wearer up to forty points of damage.

Durability: 20/20

Glacien’s version only had a single effect since they weren’t much of high quality… but it couldn’t be helped since animals usually don’t wear shoes. After doing some tests, night finally came and then we put the plan into action.

Chapter 209 - Leave

I just shrugged, part of me coming to this dungeon was to confirm that if Renna’s husband’s allies could be of any use when it comes to information, the other half was to make potions using the materials here and also gain some other classes.

I knew that I was being a bit reckless, but it was better to show people who I was and see if they could be trusted or not instead of playing that annoying game that takes too much time of trying to measure each other’s intentions slowly.

“I believe that you want to know the people involved in the incident on Frostkeep. Am I right?”

It looked like they had a pretty good information network, despite living inside a labyrinth and hiding. Still, the border was pretty far away from the empire, so I wondered how they knew that. Then, I recalled that in the alchemy book, there was a recipe to change one’s appearance, too. They probably are everywhere using that kind of potion to obtain information that can be useful to them.

“That is right. If you have that kind of information, what would you want in exchange for it?”

“... Hm. I can’t say that we have that kind of information. We do know that elves and humans were working together at that time, though. Their goal was to make Lady Clarice return home, and cause some conflicts with both sides. My guess is that they wanted to force both sides to talk about something that I am not familiar with yet. I believe that the mediators are here with the same objective in mind.”

I felt like sighing. It wasn’t something only a human or two were involved… that would make things a lot harder for me. Heading to the empire now would be a bad call to hunt for those guys, but at least I was a bit satisfied knowing that the empire as a whole was involved in that mess.

I didn’t know much about the emperor, but if he was allowing this kind of thing to happen where old ladies were suffering accidents and almost losing their lives, he was either too incompetent, or he was simply a sick bastard.

“What about the elves involved? They should be those close to her, am I right?”

The most obvious suspects would be her brother, Cellica and Renna. Clarice said that her brother wasn’t a liar. Renna didn’t pass that image to me, so perhaps it was Renna… but back then, would she have done this much?

“It might sound convenient for me to say this, but while those close to her are involved, they also aren’t involved. They had orders to find her and bring her home, but they didn’t say the methods. The problem wasn’t the people involved, but the person they chose. He is one that can be easily bought and he has been hidden in the last year because he finally chose his real patron.”

“That guy, huh?”

I could tell who it was… it was indeed the elf leader of that party that we found in the labyrinth. He didn’t pass the feeling of being trustworthy in any way. Still, who would he follow if not someone as influential as Arslan?

“Do you know who his master is?”

“I didn’t even tell you his name, but it seems that we are talking about the same person… the last time he was seen, he was in the northwestern part of the land. If they find you, they will certainly try to attack you. It will be better if you make it easy for him to recognize you.”

That made sense… I had grown a lot in the last three years and back then, I was using a disguise too. Using the same type of clothes and showing the same bow probably will do the trick. Now then, what was this guy going to ask me in exchange for all that information?

“What do I owe you for this knowledge? I have some mana cores, materials from other lands, and I can enchant items too.”

“We don’t need any of that. I would just ask you to leave the labyrinth immediately.”

That hit me like a lightning bolt… it kind of hurt. Was my presence really that dangerous or annoying for them? Hearing something like that was even worse than being chased out, somehow.

“... All right.”

This was a bit troublesome since I couldn’t get classes and make the camouflage potions, but a deal was a deal. My fame was already a sorry sight, so I couldn’t risk hurting one of the few things of value that I still had, my word.

“My apologies.”

“No worries. Let’s go, girl.”

We turned around and then headed to the exit of the dungeon. While I was a bit hurt, I at least had my pride to consider and not showing that was the best option.

… …

“He indeed left… I wonder if he was worried that fighting me wouldn’t be a good call or he was just readily following the part of the deal.”

The veteran dark elf couldn’t help but think about that while holding his chin. He just now realized that Regulus didn’t ask their names either. He was either not interested in who they were, or he truly understood that situation since he was someone who was being hunted down as well.

“Humph, he did the right thing in leaving. I alone would have been able to defeat him.”

The younger dark elf made the first sigh… it looked like this one needed to learn the difference in strength between people without using identification. In any case, the older dark elf had other things to consider. The half-vampire Regulus seemed sincere enough with his words and actions, but one can’t be too used… it was better to be cautious, even more so when this is a matter that determines the safety of his people.

“Ayla.”

“I am here.”

A dark-elf suddenly appeared behind the veteran dark elf; she was using a uniform similar to the ones used by the unseen arrows, but it looked like her skills were even above them given that it looked like she materialized out of thin air.

“Follow him until he reaches the territory and then watch the entrance of the labyrinth… I don’t want to believe that Renna would risk our location, but those mediators convinced all the elders to join them. We need to be cautious.”

“Understood.”

… …

I left the labyrinth two hours later and then let out a sigh when we reached the outside. I thought that I toughened myself enough to let things like that bother me, but it looked like I still could make some improvements in that kind of field.

I scratched the back of my head and then decided to change my mood, so what if people didn’t want to be related to me? Even those who were in similar situations? This world isn’t a middle school where bullied kids stick together since they don’t have friends.

“Ugh, this brought back some annoying school memories… Whatever, I can live without friends. We can live without friends, right partner?”

“Awoo?”

“Et tu, Brute?”

I put that aside and then checked the map that Renna gave me… northwest of my current position there weren’t many towns, most of the elders preferred to remain close to the central parts of the Aeloria Dominion since it would make it easy to communicate with others. It also would give them some room to move in case of invasions.

That guy told me to show myself to lure out those who had wronged me before, but now that I think about it, it would give the enemies the chance to ambush me. I had to prepare for that. Making another magic smoke bomb would do the trick, even more so since the skill is almost reaching level ten.

Magic Smoke Bomb Lv 09: Throw a magic smoke bomb that creates a cloud of obscuring smoke, reducing the accuracy of enemies within the area and allowing you to reposition or escape. Cost: 30 mana.

“We didn’t have time to make mystic link level up, but you should keep using your skills just in case. We should reach that level soon. Magic Trap is also at level nine… I should work hard to make these skills reach level ten before finding the next target.”

“Mew, mew, mew!”

“All right, let’s go.”

I checked the area once more and confirmed that no one came looking for me yet. I also didn’t want to cause trouble for the dark elves. Perhaps I could buy more information from them in the future… With that in mind, I decided to use my bike and leave a clear trail for pursuers. While that also seemed retarded, at least it would make me confirm sooner than later if Renna and the others would betray me to the empire.

I wasn’t sure if they would be comfortable in selling me out and showing that they could do that kind of thing in front of Clarice, but there were plenty of other ways for them not to do that in front of her.

Before long, night began to fall and since I wasn’t making much progress with the magic smoke bomb amulet, I decided to camp under a tree and then let Glacien hunt dinner while I worked on that project.

Since I had some experience, I decided to invest in my mana regeneration… it would be nice if I could get mana conservation as well, perhaps that would decrease the cost of keeping my skill active, Tame Beast.

‘I could double the experience points of the class by having two pets. They also would give me experience if I leave them in a labyrinth, at least on the first section. They won’t die.’

That seemed like another cheating way to gain experience… I wonder why I didn’t hear much about tamers. Was that hard to pull it off? One just needed the Beastmaster class and a lot of mana regeneration.

I couldn’t help but notice that perhaps I was feeling lonelier than usual thanks to what had happened in the labyrinth. I at least knew that my pets wouldn’t betray or run away from me, not like they had a choice in the matter. Thanks to that kind of thought, I only felt worse…

While I was thinking like that, I suddenly felt the atmosphere in the area changing… I kept working on my amulets, but soon I felt my Enhanced Hearing implement catching the sound of leaves being smashed and branches trembling.

Chapter 208 - Inhabitants (Thank you for your support, MoritzM!)

If both sides were wary of the other and hiding, things would never end like this. I didn’t know if I could trust Renna’s words, but sooner or later, I would have to come clean with the people here.

In the end, I took out the camouflage amulet and did the same for Glacien and then waited. For the other person to return. It didn’t take long for us to notice their presence, so I decided to stop wasting time. 

“I know that you are here. There is no need to hide. I am here to talk with you guys because Renna told me that I could get some information here.”

I didn’t hear anything in response, but I could tell that the person had heard me since their smell didn’t get closer or further away. An annoying silence took over the area, and I wondered what I should say next. When it comes to first impressions, I wasn’t the best person around, after all.

“... If any type of negotiation between us is impossible, then I will leave you guys alone. I will just conquer the labyrinth and then leave. I just don’t want you guys trying to stop me.”

Again, I didn’t get any response. So, I began to move with Glacien. That type of thing was truly annoying. I didn’t have time for that and I didn’t have the experience to handle that kind of situation either. This might take some time, but finding the culprit in that incident by myself should still be possible. Eventually, some morons will come for me and then I will be able to extract some information from them.

‘I have gotten used to killing in self defense and now I am going to get used to torture as well? My life sure is insane…’

I had to be dubious of any kind of information I might get with torture. Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to rely on it at all, but what other choices did I have? 

While thinking about that, we kept advancing through the labyrinth and I let Glacien handle the monsters until we reached the seventh floor. At the same time, I still could feel that we were being followed.

The chances of being ambushed were high, but the chances of such an ambush working were quite low since I was aware of them. All in all, this was a massive waste of time, but it looked like the other side couldn’t tell that.

‘In any case, if their potions are good enough to make them hide this much, they should be able to keep some guards outside. The alchemy book didn’t mention anything about the potions getting weaker if one uses them several times in a row.’

If they, whoever they were, needed to be hiding, then having some guards at the entrance of the labyrinth was very necessary. Elves had some good instincts and eyes to notice that kind of thing, but it wasn’t foolproof. 

That made me wonder… could I hide the labyrinth from the people outside? Eventually, people would look for it and then stumble on the camouflaged parts, but I still believed that it was possible. Perhaps with some illusion magic that fools the senses… that would work. Using that kind of magic seemed fun, too.

This would be a good idea to have some time for myself in such labyrinths, but it was hard to imagine finding those places unguarded and me having enough time to make enough implements to hide something that big.

While I was thinking about that, we reached the seventh floor and the number of monsters increased. I was able to smell their camouflage dust in the area they were in, so I finished one of them and then let Glacien finish the other 

“You are handling them now, but don’t complain when I monopolize all the monsters in the deeper sections.”

“Awooo, awooo!”

Glacien was getting pretty strong, but I could tell that she wanted to increase her mana regeneration. Still, I wanted to keep increasing her endurance and see how much she could grow. I also wanted to make sure that she would be sturdy enough to survive most kinds of attacks. Working with me was no walk in the park, after all.

A couple of more hours passed and then I sighed when I reached the boss chamber… of course it had been cleaned recently. Otherwise, no one would have reached this part of the labyrinth if they had come from the deepest parts.

I didn’t know how much I had to wait, but I couldn’t miss a new class. So, we just camped in front of the boss chamber and then waited for the monsters to come to us… they didn’t, though.

‘I guess our invisible friend doesn’t want to share the experience of the section…’

I wanted to complain and say that this labyrinth didn’t belong to anyone, so they couldn’t do that, but if they lived here, that wouldn’t be quite accurate to say. Glacien looked even more bothered by that, but at least it was a good chance for us to rest a bit. We sat down in front of the boss chamber entrance and then began to rest, just to make sure that no one would come and go without our notice.

I also realized that I was cutting off the return path to our invisible friend and unless he was used to eating the moths, he would have to cross this area, eventually.

‘Come to think of it, the other monsters in this labyrinth aren’t that good… perhaps they are actually used to eating these.’

They certainly wouldn’t be tasty… even if someone covered them in ketchup. Regardless, I sat down and began to meditate.

A couple of hours passed without anything happening… Eventually, the atmosphere began to change and I wondered if it was because someone behind was watching me or was the source the previous person that we crossed paths with. Either way, I was starting to think that using camouflage before really backfired.

While I was thinking about that, I began to hear footsteps coming from the first section. It looked like our invisible friend decided to stop wasting time for whatever reason. Before long, I couldn’t help but furrow my eyebrows when I saw the silhouette in the distance… my eyes were good enough to recognize what they were. A dark elf.

‘No wonder, I guess.’

I didn’t hear much about dark elves in this world… but they had the appearance that I had imagined. Silver hair, chocolate skin and a very serious expression. This one here looked a bit buffed since he was a guy, but while he had a serious expression on his face and a pair of knives on his hands, he didn’t look that ominous. He was only as ominous as someone could be when they considered fighting me.

‘I guess dark elves here aren’t elves that turned to the dark side of something. That kind of lore never made much sense. Their appearance should either be due to the environment that they usually inhabited or because of the magic that they use.’

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” 

“I believe that I already told you why I am here, and my name is Regulus.”

“You aren’t welcome here. Leave.”

Figures… I was hardly welcome anywhere. Still, not being welcomed in a labyrinth was a new feeling. I couldn’t blame this guy since there was a chance that they could be discovered thanks to me. Elves can be pretty annoying with their focus on their lineage and pedigree, so they wouldn’t waste a good chance to get rid of the dark elves. They weren’t as good with bow and elemental magic as they were with daggers and illusion magic as well. In any case, if cooperation wasn’t possible, I at least wanted to get some classes here.

“I see… I am going to reach the thirty floor and then I will leave.”

“No, you will leave right now.”

It looked like we were in a difficult spot. I just shrugged. I wasn’t planning to cause trouble for them, but I also had my own things to worry about.

“Fear not. If I bring enemies here, I will take responsibility over them.”

“... I won’t say it again. Leave now.”

The dark elf assumed a fighting stance and then got ready to charge. Glacien got up and then began to growl at this guy. It was hard to say, but he seemed pretty young, young and green enough to not realize that he didn’t have any chances of winning against me and picking a fight would be a very costly mistake to him.

“I won’t. Now, you can try to make me leave, but I can’t say that things won’t end badly for you if you do that, though.”

The dark elf increased the strength of his grip on his two knives, and then I decided to entertain him by bringing my short swords as well. This would be a good experience to see my level against people who train with that kind of fighting style throughout their lives. Still, it looked like things wouldn’t go as planned.

“Stop.”

Another man’s voice echoed in the area when the first dark elf lowered his stance and prepared to charge toward me. The second voice came from behind, so it looked like my guess was right… others noticed my presence without me noticing them… maybe I focused too much on this guy in front of me. It made sense that they would put people in some certain checkpoints in the labyrinth. A green guy like this one wouldn’t have crossed the entire labyrinth alone in order to train in this section.

Before long, I heard footsteps coming from behind and another dark elf man showed up. This one looked a lot less green in terms of experience. He had really short silver hair and his skin had the marks of a battle-hardened warrior. He made me recall that guild master that I met before… fighting this one would be a lot harder.

“You must be Regulus, the half-vampire and son of Rayner Dawnshield.”

“Yes, I am. Are you going to try to make me leave the labyrinth too? I just need a day to clear thirty floors here.”

“... I heard that Nylian is traveling the world right now, so his wife should be the one who sent you here. Am I right?”

“If Nylian is the name of the previous leader of the silver bows, then you are right.”

“You decided to use the connections of a man whose name you don’t know?”

Chapter 207 – Double Camouflage (Thank you for your support, Mario Zuniga!)

I had to run at full speed for almost two days to reach the labyrinth… I did it in order to avoid trouble with Arslan and the others.

“Even in this area, there is no snow, huh?”

I wanted to see how the elves did that, but I didn’t have time to waste. Although there was no snow, and the sky was clear, the air was a bit chilly. It looked like their magic had such limitations.

A couple of hours later, I found the labyrinth. This one was very different from the others… The forest’s canopy was so thick that sunlight barely penetrated, leaving the area shrouded in dark shadows. 

The entrance to the labyrinth was an unassuming, gaping fissure on the ground, framed by twisted roots and overgrown vines. The opening exuded an earthy, musty odor, accompanied by a faint hum as if the very ground vibrated with life. Trails of bioluminescent spores drift lazily in the air, lighting the way into the depths.

There was no great wall with an image of monsters around, but after looking with a bit more focus, I was able to see that the ground made me recall the image of a giant grasshopper with blades for arms.

“I guess we can call this Elven modern art… well, not like they made this, right, girl?”

“Squeak! Squeak!”

“You seem more excited than usual. I guess you want to fight in the beginning alone to show your progress, huh?”

“Mew, mew, mew!”

“All right then, you do that and I focus on gathering the parts of the monsters.”

With the materials of this labyrinth, I couldn’t make anything aside from camouflage potions… it made me wonder if using them would make that skill level up faster. It made a lot of progress so far, thanks to the amulets.

Camouflage Lv 19: Blend into your surroundings, becoming nearly invisible to enemies. Cost: 03 mana per second.

The skills of that class were making progress as well… I bet that I could make a lot of progress here with Bloodhound, but the smell coming from the labyrinth was already too strong. It would only overwhelm my nose. Regardless, we jumped to the interior of the labyrinth and landed after a ten meters fall.

I looked around for a moment and confirmed that the ground was normal, but the walls weren’t. The walls were made of a chitinous material, glossy and ribbed, resembling the exoskeletons of insects. They glowed in the dim light, with patches of bioluminescence casting an eerie glow. The walls seem to pulse faintly, as if alive… 

The ceiling had some stalactites, so it looked like the usual. Still, we had to be cautious of those. Even if our endurance had increased, a good hit in the head was enough to kill anyone and those looked annoyingly sharp as well.

“Let’s go.”

“Grrr... grrr...”

“Hm?”

Glacien looked annoyed, and then all of a sudden, she fired a frost arrow at a wall. In the next moment, the wall began to move, but the frost arrow pierced through the part that was flying… it wasn’t the wall moving per se, it was a type of moth monster. 

You received 03 experience points.

It didn’t seem that strong, but it should be pretty annoying to deal with. The alchemy book talked about the monsters and their materials, but not that much about the monster’s appearances. It was called dust moth, it could emit through its wings, some dust that could make their body blend even more with the surroundings of the dungeon.

In any case, I grabbed the body of the creature and then shook it, making some dust fall on a special bag that I made for that material. Storing such small amounts in a magic bag would be too annoying.

“You have done well, Glacien. I have nothing else to teach you.”

“Awooo?”

“Let’s resume the exploration. I should have asked that ice phoenix if you could only gain classes clearing labyrinths that big, or maybe you had to defeat monsters of that level… I shouldn’t have been too hasty.”

In any case, we began to move again, and I left those things to Glacien to handle. At first, I thought that making potions for camouflage would be cool, but drinking them would make me feel quite unsettling. The other types of monsters were also quite creepy. Just like on Earth, the moths here had those marks on the wings that resembled eyes, but here, they were five times bigger.

‘The things I do to grind my skills…’

We kept moving on, but at least getting the mana cores from the wasps was easy. They weren’t that thick, so it was easy to sense their location. Glacien found them for me, so that didn’t matter. Eventually, we cleaned the first floor.

You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Archer, Mage (Venom Mage), and Thief

Two options that I already had and a new one that wouldn’t help me all that much in combat.  Improving my archery skills seemed like a good idea, but I decided to go for the other option… I hadn’t been using my swords all that much lately, and they would be of better use at close range. I would rather keep the enemies away, but extra dexterity in a confined space had its limits.

You obtained the Thief class.

You improved the Attack Speed parameter.

You unlocked the Aptitude: Light Hands

You unlocked the skill: Steal.

You unlocked the skill: Trap Disarming.

 Light Hands: Gain additional bonus experience when stealing money and item from others. The higher the value the more the experience.

Steal - Perform delicate maneuvers to pickpocket, swap items, or plant objects without detection. This skill allows you to handle small objects with precision, making it easier to steal valuables or tamper with items discreetly. It includes techniques for quick and subtle movements to ensure success in high-risk situations.
Cost: 30 Mana 

Trap Disarming - Detect and neutralize traps set to protect valuable items or areas. This skill allows you to safely disarm traps without setting them off, enabling you to proceed through hazardous locations or access guarded treasures. It includes techniques for identifying various trap types and handling them with care. Cost: 30 Mana

“Attack speed, huh? This is what I wanted… in any case, I am going truly on the highway to become a criminal, huh? Even if I don’t use Steal, having it is enough to make me look suspicious. I don’t have the chance to use disarm traps either.”

I decided to move without thinking too much about this. I let Glacien train her new skills, so I found myself with a lot of time in my hands. Dashing ahead could be a good idea to save time, but Renna told me that I would find some people here that could help me… entering their territory while running won’t do me any favors to help them see me in a good light.

I wasn’t sure if I should use Renna’s name, I didn’t know the name of her husband either, so this was truly a troublesome situation.

Before I could notice it, we reached the fourth floor and then Glacien was forced to use more mana to attack the pairs of wasps that she found along the way. I used Mystic Link on her to give my mana to her. Even though Tame Beast was taking ten points of my mana, the rest still could be used and it was enough as well.

“I guess I will have to pinch in when we reach the seventh floor.”

“Grrrrr…”

“Don’t complain. When I was your age, I couldn’t even come to labyrinths, much less solo a bunch of monsters. Speaking of which, Tame Beast is almost at level ten… I wonder what the next skill will be.”

I wasn’t using the other support skill that much, but it looked like it would be a similar one. Maybe instead of Glacien stamina, I would have to use my mana or something to power her up. That would work since Glacien was already using a lot of my amulets.

“Grrrrr…”

“What is wrong? Did you read my mind or something? Unlike me, you sure don’t have qualms in using items to power yourself up.”

I would imagine that an animal like her would use her instincts and realize that overusing tools was a problem instead of a solution, but it looked like I was wrong.

In any case, it also seemed that my guess was wrong and Glacien wasn’t mad at me… she kept glaring at the space ahead, but she didn’t attack. It wasn’t a dust wasp that was too well hidden.

‘Another type of enemy? This place is pretty far away from other towns, but I guess there is a chance that they would come here…’

I decided to use the camouflage amulet and then used one on Glacien as well. We began to move slowly ahead, trying to listen to any sounds. We didn’t catch anything, but we kept moving silently, just in case. 

I decided to use Bloodhound just in case, since my instincts told me to do that, and soon enough, I began to regret it. The dusty and damp smell of the floor made me feel like my nose was on fire.

Soon enough, I began to feel the smell of something different… it seemed a bit sweaty and not smelly, so it probably wasn’t a monster. It looked like Glacien noticed it too, and it began to get stronger. We stopped moving and then waited, ready to attack.

A couple of minutes of tension passed but nothing happened… It seemed like a patience contest. Before long, the smell began to get stronger again, so it looked like we won the contest… Still, even after such a long while, we didn’t see anyone nearby. Before long, the smell began to get weaker again.

‘Wait a minute… are they using a camouflage potion?’

That looked like the most obvious explanation… Based on what Renna said, some people lived in the labyrinth, as crazy as that sounded, and they were her husband’s allies. Maybe he helped them hide here using the fact that no one would actually think  of hiding in such a place and also used the materials to make sure that they wouldn’t be found, no matter what.

‘The map says that this labyrinth has thirty floors, but I guess they must have camouflaged the entrance to the deeper floors.’

Chapter 206 - Rifts (Thank you for your support, Justin Stout!)

While Regulus was heading to the new labyrinth, the next two days passed in the blink of an eye. Clarice felt bad for leaving him alone finding those who had wronged him, but soon Renna told her what she had done and that he would find help by himself. She didn’t explain what kind of help it was…

While she was thinking about that, she heard some footsteps coming from outside. She straightened her posture as she was standing behind Renna, as if she were her assistant. Soon enough, the door of the house was opened and then Arslan and Cellica entered the room, followed by two humans. 

Clarice squinted her eyes while glaring at the last person to enter the room… he was the figure that defeated her unit a few days ago. A tall swordsman with black hair and light green eyes… She didn’t mention that to Regulus, but she believed that they had some sort of blood relation. Even their facial features were somewhat the same.

The swordsman looked relaxed, and it didn’t look like he recognized her. That was a bit annoying, but she was using her uniform before, so it couldn’t be helped. The other man wasn’t a warrior, he wasn’t in shape, and he had no weapons with him. Still, with his very short blond hair that was showing strains of white and thanks to the glint of his light brown eyes, one would think just by looking at him that he was pretty cunning.

“Please sit, Lord Garnier. I hope that you can find my humble house relaxing enough.”

“Of course, aside from the fact that I have to climb stairs without handles to avoid falling, your architecture is quite interesting and comforting as well. And please, just Jean is fine. I may be the lord of a region in the empire, but I am just a mediator right now.”

Clarice recalled what she knew about the man… she had heard it yesterday from her grandmother. She finally realized how naïve she had been when she targeted those two with her unit… Jean Garner, current head of the Garnier house and territory. He has two daughters, one of them who was a young woman who was starting to become famous as a magic swordswoman, and the other was older, who had married into the Dawnshield family. Her name was Joan… Gerard’s mother and one of Regulus’ stepmothers.

When she heard that, Clarice couldn’t help but sweat cold… Regulus did the right thing on leaving instead of waiting for this meeting. There were too many people here who had some certain level of connections with him… she could only hope that her brother and her insane wannabe girlfriend wouldn’t say a thing about him, but would they lie if Jean asks anything?

“I wasn’t expecting to meet the famous leader of the silver bows here, but this is a pleasant surprise.”

“I was in the area, and Cellica asked me to stay and help with the talk. Shall we get to the topic? I am sure you still have many elders to try to convince you to join your cause.”

“Hahaha! I just tried to tell them the good opportunities that will soon arrive. There is nothing definite yet. Regardless, are you willing to listen to us as well, Arslan?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I weren’t. Once again, unless you want to spend months here away from home and not manage your territory, you should start talking. We don’t have trains here. We like to keep our air clean and our trees perfectly healthy as well.”

“Very well, straight to the point then… The empire has some information that says that soon, more rifts will emerge. We are working to prevent the damage the rifts will cause. With that in mind, we would like to make an alliance with the Aeloria Dominion. We already made one with Aquarians, as you should be aware. They soon realized that this piece of information was true.”

“Rifts, you say… I wonder how they were convinced of that. As far as I know, they haven’t appeared in more than one thousand years and they appear randomly all over the world. Who can someone actually predict that? Unless you have in your side the most skilled clairvoyant that has ever existed in this world.”

“Well, we actually have it.”

Things got quiet after that, Arslan usually looked pretty amused, but now he had a serious expression while studying his guests… it was hard to believe that this all was true, he could only imagine that it was a ploy by the empire to take control over things and become the largest force in the world.

Thanks to that, everyone was able to notice that Clarice looked confused… she never heard of those things called rifts. If it weren’t for Renna, she probably would have remained clueless until the end of the talk.

“Clarice… Rifts are things like dungeons and labyrinths. They show up all around the world and when they do, the world changes. I was born a few hundred years after the last one, but the world had still yet to recover from the last one.”

“So, they are like holes on the ground the pop out monsters?”

“Some of those who know of their existence believe it, so… some don’t. I believe the empire is the former, am I right? Jean Garnier?”

“You are indeed right, Lady Renna. We have archives that tell in detail what had happened back then. Three new races emerged from the rift and caused havoc all around the world. Eventually, after a long and tiring war, they decided to move away to a secluded area of the world, where their rift emerged and expanded. Then, they created the Metallara empire.”

Clarice opened her eyes widely when she heard that… how was it possible that such a thing actually happened? She had heard about those beings and they were indeed weird, and that would explain why.

“Where did they come from?”

“No one knows aside from them.”

Renna shook her head… even if her long-lived grandmother didn’t know, it was very unlikely that anyone else knew. Clarice tried to recall what she knew about them, but she only knew about a single faction of them. They were the alloyed guard.

The Alloyed Guard is a group seeking to create a unified civilization composed entirely of living metal beings. They believe that their kind represents the pinnacle of artificial evolution and aim to build a society where all aspects of life are governed by their unique attributes. Their goal is to establish a new order where living metal beings dominate. There are rumors that they keep expanding their territory using some unknown magic, but that kind of rumor has yet to be confirmed.

“We have been keeping an eye on them for a while and they aren’t doing anything odd, apparently… but their land keeps expanding by the use of metal. They have the knowledge and the technology to turn all kinds of things into metals and the process takes quite a lot of energy and their main source of energy is magic trees.”

Arslan, Cellica and Renna wondered if that was also true. It seemed like another convenient piece of information used to round them up instead… that kind of technology was frowned upon by the elves since it destroyed trees, after all. The smoke released was also bad for the air…

“Is this why the dwarves have been allocating more and more towers on the border?”

Arslan went straight to the point… that would explain a lot. They were getting ready for another large-scale war, but they were acting like the rift couldn’t appear in their territory for some reason.

“I believe they are just getting ready for us to attack the Aeloria Dominion. For them, it would make more sense if we and the aquarians targeted you all first.”

The elves’ territory was indeed in the way, but they still could invade the dwarven territory through the sea… while attacking the dwarven cities would be difficult since the aquarians wouldn’t be of much help, it wouldn’t be impossible. 

“Naturally, we are planning to negotiate with them as well, but it would be a lot more convenient if you all agreed to work with us. As you should realize, our recent actions only had the goal of making sure that the nuisances wouldn’t get in the way.”

Taking over the Skarnash Tribelands and almost wiping out all the orcs, goblins and ogres was just another footstep for the empire. They were willing to go that far to reach their goals. It sense that they couldn’t turn them into allies, they wouldn’t be able to do their pirate stuff, after all. Who would they target if they turned their neighbors into allies?

“I see… while it makes a lot of sense, it was all very convenient for you all. Still, I am willing to believe you if you can show me that this clairvoyant of yours is indeed the real deal.”

“That can be easily done.”

Jean Garnier took from his pocket a piece of paper and then handed it over to Arslan. When he opened and read it, he opened his eyes widely in shock and then his expression darkened. Then he handed the piece of paper to Cellica. She acted the same way and then handed it to Renna. Clarice finally had the chance to read since she was behind her grandmother and her expression of shock was quite hard to miss. 

It was the Arslan schedule of the previous month… It mentioned who he talked to and what he did as well. It made one think that he had been watched, but it also told details of his actions when he was alone and some of his thoughts as well. There was a period of one day that information about him became empty, but soon it resumed afterwards, when Regulus left the area.

Meeting with Jena Garnier.

The letter will change his mind about the alliance.

He will agree to give information about Regulus Dawnshield.

He will notice that Renna is hiding something about him.

“This much should be enough to prove the skills of our clairvoyant, right?”

“Who would believe this crap? You are only trying to influence his decisions! It is clear that you have spies here!”

“I showed similar pieces of paper that convinced the other elders it would be quite the achievement to spy on them without being noticed for over a month. Regardless, as you can see, whenever Regulus Dawnshield is involved, our clairvoyant can’t predict things well. That is why we had a bit of a hard time in the Skarnash Tribelands. If he keeps roaming around, there is no telling how much trouble he will cause us. He needs to be stopped in order for the next rift not to destroy the world, as we know.”

Chapter 205 - Them (Thank you for your support, Proffesor Bun!)

“Are you sure about that? If you cause trouble here, we will hunt you down.”

“Good luck with that.”

I already knew that this guy would eventually find a reason to hunt me, so there was no reason for me to fear his threats. In any case, I left the house with Glacien and as soon as we were back on the ground, Clarice landed in front of us.

“You could have at least said bye, you know.”

“I knew that you would look for me soon enough, so that wasn’t necessary.”

“If you say so. Here, Grandma told me to give this to you.”

Clarice gave me a book that seemed like a diary and a map. I already could tell what the map was for, but I had no idea what the book was supposed to have inside. When I opened it, I frowned since I found some texts about alchemy and some recipes for all kinds of things. Potions, poison, ointments and so on.

“This is a book that we all in the family have. While we wouldn’t usually share it with the others. You saved my life back then. It is the least that we can do as a thanks. Arslan didn’t look pleased by this, so it is better if you don’t sell or lose this.”

“You saved me before, so we are even. But I am still going to accept this. In exchange for that, you can have this.”

I gave Clarice some stacks of papers that, once applied, she will have the chance to use my mana for a while. They had no use for me, so perhaps it wasn’t a good enough exchange for her, so after thinking for a while more, I gave her some decay arrows to use in case of emergency.

“This might make people think that you are a vampire, but they should realize the truth soon enough.”

“Thanks, I will make good use of it… Sorry, Regulus. I was planning to make up for it the last time, but I only caused you more trouble.”

Clarice bowed her head deeply and stayed like that for a while. It is true that things didn’t work out the way she had planned, but it wasn’t like I didn’t get anything out of this. I got a bit worked up here and there, but things tend to happen around me. Rather than just being Clarice’s fault, I would say that it was just my unluckiness.

“It is fine. I am not bothered by it. Things only happened this way because I did things a bit different from I usually do. Things could have ended much worse, so I see this as an absolute win.”

“Someday, I will be sure to make things right.”

“All right, don’t work too hard.”

We turned around and then left. Clarice watched us disappearing into the night and then she returned to the house.

Usually, after something like this, I would leave the country, but I still had business to attend to here. I had to find the people involved in the incident three years ago. Working with Clarice didn’t pay off in that regard and Arslan wouldn’t help me find anyone involved. He would rather do things behind the curtains to save the elves face.

Since I couldn’t work with the important people here to gather information, I had to do things in a bit of a roundabout way. Perhaps capturing some of the unseen arrows and forcing them to speak could help, but that would give Arslan reason to come for me. I didn’t have time to waste with him.

The other option was to force the humans that were here to speak. I had a feeling that they could be involved in that. This was a tough option since it would make me get involved with the empire. In the worst-case scenario, if I fail to get them, they will make more of them to look for me in this area.

‘I need to plan this carefully… Arslan might be able to find the people involved and deal with them in a way that will satisfy Clarice, but the elves involved won’t suffer the consequences of it. At least not as much…’

Politics has a way of complicating even the simplest of situations. When decisions that could have been direct and pragmatic are weighed down by alliances, rivalries, and public perception, frustration becomes inevitable. It feels like walking a tightrope, where missteps could lead to unintended consequences, further delays, or worse—open conflict.

But as frustrating as it is, the involvement of politics often shows the significance of the matter at hand. The scale of this situation has grown far beyond the point where a single individual or small group can handle it alone. Coordinating with multiple parties, managing egos, and ensuring mutual benefits are essential, even if it makes progress feel like trudging through quicksand.

On the bright side, such situations offer valuable lessons. Each encounter provides insight into how power dynamics operate, how to negotiate effectively, and how to anticipate and counteract political plays. These are skills that will be invaluable for future challenges. Though it might feel like a tiresome and unnecessary headache now, in the grander scheme, it’s a proving ground, a chance to learn and adapt. It was useless for me, though. I had no intention of getting involved with that kind of thing.

I decided to move away from the area with Glacien and then get some good rest before deciding anything. If with a fresh mind, I can’t come up with a good plan, then I can always try again later, after exploring some labyrinths.

Using my camouflage tent, Glacien and I were able to rest somewhere nearby without being bothered. When I woke up, I wondered if Clarice would keep quiet about this… maybe I was selling her short. I was also thinking that she didn’t fully know how the amulets worked after seeing them in action once.

“Well, it doesn’t matter that much…”

I decided to check the map that she gave me and then I found the location of a bunch of dungeons and labyrinths. If I had the time, I would have liked to conquer them all, but my main goal was something else. Perhaps I still could clear one with fifty floors.

After studying the map a bit, I decided to check the book of alchemy. Making potions could be handy for me, but without a class, they would only be effective to a certain limit. I wouldn’t gain experience while making them either.

Perhaps it was time to get an alchemy related class or two. Considering the types of things I could make here, not getting them would be foolish. The only downside was that the book only mentioned materials that could be obtained in the Aeloria Dominion.

Potion of Regeneration: Gradually restore health over time. Ideal for prolonged battles or recovery after taking damage.

Materials: Slime Core (Dropped by Slimes): Contains regenerative properties.

Moonflower Extract (A rare plant that blooms under moonlight): Boosts restorative effects.

Elixir of Strength: Temporarily increases physical strength and melee damage.

Materials: Minotaur Horn Powder (Crushed horn of a Minotaur): Contains latent brute strength.

Troll Blood (Extracted from trolls): Enhances raw power but is unstable alone.

Dragon Pepper Seeds (A fiery plant): Amplifies potency of strength-boosting ingredients.

Mana Essence: Restores a large amount of mana instantly.

Materials: Mana Crystal Shard (Dropped by Elementals): Pure concentrated mana.

Fairy Dust (Harvested from fairies): Boosts magical properties.

Wisp Essence (Captured from wisps): Provides a steady flow of magic.

“Yeah, Clarice isn’t that smart if she decided that ignoring this much valuable knowledge is a good idea.”

While I was thinking that, I reached the end of the book and then I found a small letter in it. I frowned since Clarice shouldn’t have had time to write this before… when I opened it, I soon confirmed that she wasn’t the one who wrote it. It had been her grandmother.

‘Thank you for keeping my granddaughter safe, Regulus. I wrote this expecting that this should have happened. It was just a feeling, but I imagined that you two would eventually find us. This made me realize that once it happens, you two probably won’t be able to work together again. At least for us while given the circumferences. Putting that aside, I had heard before that Clarice caused you some problems and that bothered her quite a bit. I am sure that one day she will be able to make up for it, but I decided to help her a bit as well. Head to the final parts of the Insectoids labyrinth, beyond its end, you should find some people that might help you. My husband and them are on good terms. Although the rest of our land isn’t.’

I frowned when I read the letter… a lot of important pieces of information are missing. It looked like being like that run in the family, being extremely oblivious.

‘Them and the former leader of the silver bows are on good terms… Who are them?’

Refugees seemed the most obvious explanation, but I didn’t think that the Elves would let people live in their lands like that… the words beyond the end of a labyrinth were weird as well. There is nothing supposed to be at the end of a labyrinth or dungeon.

I checked the map again and then confirmed that it was very further in the northern parts of the land. Pretty close to the border with the territory of the harpies… I wasn’t planning to head there for a while, but I decided to check it since the labyrinth was supposed to have thirty floors and with the materials there, one can make potions that can improve Camouflage effects.

‘Just like enchantments can mimic skills, I guess potions can do that too… I should make some stamina potions since I have a lot of skills that use that. The skills with the bow will be easier to level up thanks to stamina conservation and the effect of the bow that halves the cost of the stamina use of bow skills.’

I closed the alchemy book and then got ready to move to my next destination.

Chapter 204 - Suspicion (Thank you for your support, Chase Colip)

After knocking on the door a few times, Arslan opened the entrance of the house. Both siblings didn’t have any manners… entering places without receiving permission first.

Regardless, those thoughts vanished from my mind when I found Clarice’s grandma sitting on a chair and sipping some tea. By her side, Glacien was sitting on the floor and laying down. That got me really confused…

At first glance, she seemed relaxed, but her eyes were always moving around the room and they relaxed a lot when he saw me.

“Mew, mew, mew!”

“Oh, it is Clarice, Arslan and Regulus, huh? How long has it been Arslan? You have been ignoring your grandmother since you became the leader of the silver arrows. When you were just a little boy, you would always stick to me, but now…”

Clarice’s grandma, whose name I still don’t know, started talking for a while about Arslan’s childhood. He kept his poker face, but it felt like he wanted to cry at some points, or at least sigh.

“Grandmother, we don’t have time for this. I knew that this was just a misunderstanding, but Clarice was making a big deal out of it. Explain what happened.”

“Cellica should be coming soon, and then she will explain everything.”  

Cellica… it was probably the woman who took her and Glacien. It didn’t look like she did anything with them, but that didn’t make things any less troublesome for me. Unless she was stupid, she should have found a way to inform us of what she had done. I couldn’t discard the idea that Clarice’s grandmother was being fooled, either. She didn’t look stupid, but it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

“Regulus, was it? No need to keep such a serious and angry expression. You are too young to feel like that. Although I can understand why you would be cautious if something like this happened all of a sudden. Cellica is a bit of an airhead, but she is a nice woman.”

I didn’t say anything because I had to decide that for myself… a person can be equally good for someone and downright evil to someone else. It was only a matter of how convenient people could be to the same person.

“He is the grumpy type, Grandmother. He keeps that expression all the time as if the entire world is after him.”

“You and your attitude won’t help him think otherwise. You have become even more caustic since you took that seat as well.”

Arslan shrugged and then I ignored their banter to check on Glacien. Her body looked fine and there was nothing wrong with her parameters. I couldn’t help but sigh in relief in my mind. Still, I couldn’t drop my guard just yet.

We had to wait for half an hour until this so-called Cellica showed up. She immediately smiled from ear to ear and then jumped to hug Arslan. I couldn’t sense anything odd coming from her, but she sure was getting on my nerves. I soon understood that it was because she was similar to Clarice three years ago.

“Arslan! You never visit, but I knew that you would come eventually to see me! You are going to stay for a few days, right? We have so much to talk about!”

She had shoulder-length blond hair, and she looked like a typical airhead… She didn’t look like the leader of the town at all. Still, all that could be an act… I thought the same thing about Clarice years ago. Still, her movements were fluid, so it was clear that she could fight. She never exposed her back to anyone in the room, and it was clear that she could see me in the corner of her vision.

“Explain what has happened, Cellica. Thanks to you, I had to endure the endless and impossible to bear wrath of my little sister and her friend.”

“Oops, sorry… I can understand how my actions could have looked suspicious, but I had a good reason for it. I swear! I would never try to anger my future little sister.”

My body started to heat up, a powerful sensation spreading through me as if my very blood were boiling. The realization hit me like a thunderclap, and I couldn’t ignore it any longer. Despite my best efforts to avoid the tangled web of family drama, I had walked straight into it.

Cellica had feelings for Arslan. It was plain to see now. Her actions made sense in that context. She wanted to help him, to be close to him, and perhaps, in her own way, to prove herself useful. It was no surprise then that she’d taken an interest in Clarice, her would-be sister-in-law. But Cellica wasn’t exactly one for careful planning or subtlety. Her impulsive nature meant that whatever she did, no matter how well-intentioned, often came off as suspicious. And here I was, stuck right in the middle of the mess she had stirred up.

“Explain things in detail to everyone, Cellica, please.”

“Right… things started to look suspicious when I heard rumors of a certain white-haired young man with a large bow on his back. He had a beast with him and he had similar features to an elf. When I decided to investigate it further, I heard that he had met with Clarice and then she invited him to an old, empty home.”

“What kind of rumor is that?!”

That kind of rumor would certainly ruin the reputation of someone like Clarice. It was rather misleading, but I couldn’t care less about that. 

“That is what the rumors said, but I knew the truth. That house was used by you and your allies, right? Well, sorry to say this now… but they worked for me too. I made sure that you would have people that wouldn’t backstab you working for me and for you as well.”

Clarice was left speechless after that… her mouth was hanging open as if her time had stopped. I also would have been shocked if I learned that all my allies had been bought and were essentially babysitting me.

“Sorry about that, but I didn’t want to risk your life… you should have realized by now that a lot of people are influencing the unseen arrow… Some of them are even working with the dwarves and others that want to see our downfall.”

“You aren’t going to say that those who ambushed us are working for those suspicious people, are you?”

“That is exactly what had happened. That is why I sent people to look for the bodies, but we found nothing.”

“They stored the bodies. I have them with me. I was planning to do that.”

Arslan declared that and then he showed the magic bag that I gave him and then Cellica opened her eyes widely… It looked like this could be useful somehow. I had no idea how, though. Since most of the bodies were in pieces.

“We can do an investigation to connect them to the people involved and try to kill you both. This might take a while and we might not have enough time. Since they went as far as targeting you both, I decided to make sure that they wouldn’t have the chance to target Lady Renna. I didn’t have time to contact Arslan or you when I considered the attack, so I had to act fast to secure her, and she decided to bring that animal with her.”

Renna, that should be Clarice’s grandmother’s name… in any case, that explained a lot, but I still felt that there was something wrong, something missing in this entire situation. Maybe it was the people who caused the attack, but I felt that those three were more involved than they let out… Arslan, Cellica and Renna.

“Where are the mediators of the empire? Since they left Clarice and the others escaped alive, I thought that her guesses were wrong, but maybe by some miracle, she isn’t completely off this time around. I am going to talk with them and then decide for myself and if they are involved in all this.”

“They send the message that they will come here the day after tomorrow, so you should wait until then!”

Clarice sighed after she heard that Cellica was truly that unnerving. At this point in time, her only concern was staying with Arslan for longer. Still, she soon realized that this visit was a problem for me. I was also interested in why those guys were visiting a bunch of towns instead of taking with the leader of the silver bows already. Even though Arslan wasn’t the leader of the land, he had a lot of influence.

The most important group was the council of elders. A council of elder elves from each that rules the Aeloria Dominion. Disagreements often arise due to their different philosophies. Putting that aside, while he didn’t look much like an elder, Arslan was the leader there and he was also the leader of the Silver bows. He basically had the influence of five or more elders.

“I guess I will wait for them here too. You should too, Grandmother. Clarice, you will help as well. You owe me this much. While this wasn’t a total waste of time, you blamed someone that was innocent for a crime that didn’t really happen.”

“No, Arslan. I should have found a way to contact her. I am at fault too here.”

“You might have a point, but she needs to learn soon that acting out with recklessness only causes trouble for others. You should learn that too. Putting that aside, you shouldn’t try to refuse this. Your friend here should stay as well. Considering what you said to me years ago, it never occurred to me that the person who caused that incident could have been a human… even if they used a poison that we use, they should have gotten their hands from one of us to make it look like it had been us.”

“I am not interested. I am going to look for the culprit alone. Let’s go, Glacien.”

I had already learned the hard way that aligning myself with those in power came at a steep cost. To them, people like me were nothing more than tools, useful only for as long as we served their purposes, then discarded without a second thought. I had no intention of walking that road again. Even if they offered that quiver before me, an artifact that could tip the scales of power in my favor, I would refuse it.

It wasn’t just about the quiver or what it could do, it was about the strings attached. Accepting it would mean tying myself to their agenda, stepping into a web of control and manipulation. I’d seen it before how power corrupted relationships, turned allies into assets, and left betrayal as the inevitable conclusion. No matter how tempting their offer, no matter what glory or strength they promised, I wouldn’t trade my freedom or peace of mind for a glorified leash.

Chapter 203 - Crazy Friend (Thank you for your support, The on point heavy!)

Clarice was edgy as well. We hadn’t been resting properly lately, and it didn’t look like she was used to that. The stress of the situation only made things worse as well.

“Is your friend here going to help with that?”

“Who knows? There is only one way to find out. If you are willing to let Grandma go with that crazy bitch, I am not.”

“... What about you, Clarice’s friend? Can you speak? What are you willing to do?”

“What is necessary?”

“And what would that be? I had heard that you destroyed the dwarven towers, two of them, without being found out. Very impressive. Are you willing to do that much to rescue your pet?”

“Sure, if enough people decide to get in my way. It is better to make it clear who they are dealing with, right? If they insist on that, then it will be fine if they explode into countless pieces.”

Arslan kept glaring at me. I could say that he was used to making people cower in front of him with that alone, but I was no stranger to those tactics. Rowan always tried that, but it never worked. I had already seen a giant worm chasing me for days to eat me alive. A pair of eyes wouldn’t scare me, not even close.

“... Losing thirty unseen arrows is already an annoying blow. I suppose fighting you would be a waste of time as well. Still, I didn’t hear anyone finding the bodies of those thirty unseen arrows. Hand them to me and I will get ready to talk with her.”

I tossed the magic bag to him since I didn’t want to turn the place into a gruesome scene and make Clarice recall what we did to them. I could make magic bags left and right, so losing one wasn’t a real problem. Besides, if this made things work faster, it would be worth the penny.

I already stripped the bodies of the magic tools and also used Essence Extraction on them, so I didn’t have anything to do with them anymore. 

“All right, wait in one of the quarters until I sort things out.”

“No. We will stay here to make sure that you will do everything correctly and not plot anything suspicious.”

“Do you have no faith in your older brother? Are you saying that I would betray you two?”

“None and yes.”

“Your words hurt me deeply, little sister. Very well, but you will owe me one.”

I moved to the corner of the room and then decided to wait, I was already imagining this guy selling me out to the empire in order to secure their help to crush the dwarves, he didn’t have anything to gain by helping me, and Clarice owing him favors didn’t seem that impressive either. Unless he would force her to work for the Silver Bows.

Since I didn’t have anything to do once more, I began to make some scrolls… it was annoying to be only able to do this much, but it couldn’t be helped.

Eventually, some of the members of the organization came and then dragged the clerk to somewhere else. Others came and received orders to prepare a group to prepare to depart to the territory south of their location. It was where the crazy bitch was supposed to be. I wanted to know who that person was, but Clarice kept avoiding my gaze for a while.

‘By the look of things, she is someone that both of them are aware of. Considering what he said and his behavior, she must not be an enemy… perhaps an unhinged ally, but that wouldn’t explain the rain of arrows that almost hit us. There are a lot of pieces in this puzzle that are missing.’

I already had the fighting power to wound and kill a lot of people at the same time, but things might get a bit different since the possible enemies already knew what I could do. Making more Great Fireball scrolls might get innocent people involved… even if I was pissed, I didn’t want to risk the death of innocent people.

In this aspect, maybe some training in the knights academy would have been good for me… Ulric and Remi seemed pretty fine in invading someone else’s homeland and then chasing civilians. Burning the trees didn’t seem the right thing to do either, so I decided to change my tactics a bit.

Miasma Cloud: Summon a cloud of toxic gas in a targeted area, poisoning all enemies within it. The miasma lingers for 10 seconds, dealing poison damage and reducing their movement speed by 30%. Cost: 100 mana.

‘I guess this one will weaken people enough without risking their lives… I only have to attack to kill those who have weapons. I need to be cautious here. Otherwise, they will have more reason to target me or Glacien in the future. Making some scrolls to create an extra layer of debuffs to my arrows will work as well… let’s make some of those.’

While I was working, I noticed Arslan gaze at me a couple of times. He also looked at my scrolls, wondering what I was doing. Still, unless he had the skills to make a scroll and the spell that I was writing, he would need identification to learn it. Still, as long as it was touching me, everything would have its parameters and information hidden.

Speaking of which, I haven’t been using that skill a lot lately, mainly because I wasn’t getting many results… but that wouldn’t change unless I keep leveling up. I needed to make amulets for it as well.

After a couple of hours, Arslan finally raised his butt from his chair and then stretched. It was noon, so we would only arrive at the location at night. Maybe he was wasting time since he was planning to do something along the way. Still, that was fine by me. I would have a good reason to blow him up.

“Let’s go. I don’t have much time to waste with this. Grandmother sure likes to make me work to the bone…”

We left the room and then the building only to find a group of twenty men on their horses waiting for us. There was a carriage there as well, probably the one that this guy was planning to use… 

“Get it, or are you afraid that I might be doing something too?”

That condescending smile could be improved… I just had to make him lose a few teeth and then it would be perfect. I got inside the carriage without saying anything or reacting to his words. 

Before long, we departed from the town called Castellana. It was quite the weird name for an elf town… I ignored the difficult atmosphere and kept working on my scrolls for several hours. 

“It looks like you shared our parents’ secret about magic ink with him, Clarice. Well, I always knew that you couldn’t keep any secret, but I am still baffled.”

“Shut up. I am also baffled by the fact that your followers are all morons and retards like that woman. You will be the downfall of our homeland.”

Clarice’s tone was sharper than usual, her words cutting with an uncharacteristic brazenness that made me think about it for a moment. It wasn’t like her to be this harsh, at least not in the time I’d known her. But as I watched her interact with her brother, I began to wonder if this was how she always was around him. Perhaps she needed to be. He was undeniably an unnerving son of a bitch, the kind of person who could make anyone’s skin crawl with a single glance. 

Still, he was her brother, and that fact alone carried weight. Did she hate him? Tolerate him? Or was this harshness her way of protecting herself against whatever darkness lingered between them?

I knew very well how family drama could be annoying… and that was why I wanted to stay clear of that kind of annoyance. Eventually, when night fell, we kept moving, but I stopped making my scrolls. 

“Shall we stop to eat something? Camping in this area is quite good, you know?”

I let out a sigh… it looked like this guy knew that I had been in the land for a while, but he didn’t make any move, apparently. A guy with white hair and his sabertooth companion were bound to draw a lot of attention, so it was no wonder that he knew about me… the question was why he left me alone.

While I was wondering about that, I saw a light in the distance and then recognized the town where we found the guards… the carriage began to slow down until it stopped in front of the first line of guards.

“Lord Commander Arslan is in our carriage and he wants to meet with the leader of this town!”

We didn’t hear anything after that, but soon the guards around the place approached the carriage to check the contents. Soon they bowed and nodded when they saw Arslan and Clarice, but they flinched when they saw me.

“It is fine. I will take responsibility for whatever he does here.”

I wonder if that was his way to make me drop my guard… the guards looked at each other in hesitation, but they soon opened the path and then the carriage began to move again. The town was a lot more quiet than before, but some guys were still patrolling around and ready for battle… 

Before long, we arrived and stopped in front of the largest tree in the area. We left the carriage and soon my tension increased… The atmosphere seemed normal enough, but I still had to get ready for whatever happens.

“It looks like she wasn’t expecting us to come here. Well, let’s get to her house then.”

Arslan approached the tree and then the magic steps emerged from it as well. Without hesitation, he began to lead the way while the guards assumed their positions around the tree. Clarice waited for me to follow him since it would be weird if I followed after her while climbing the stairs. I let out a sigh.. 

I followed Arslan, ready to summon my bow and a bunch of scrolls and make them explode around me. I had to consider how to avoid getting Clarice involved in some of my attacks, but I probably can protect her with Soul Shield… eventually, we reached the highest house in the tree.