《The Chaosbringer》


 1 Prologue

    PTUI


    A ball of phlegm was viciously spat onto Vice''s youthful face as he was held down onto the ground by a much bigger and stronger boy. The bully, about fourteen years old, looked down at the face of what he believed to be a ''monstrosity'', disgust rooting itself deep within his soul. The boy felt like he was doing all of those around him a service by ''teaching'' Vice a lesson. What this lesson was supposed to teach, the boy didn''t care a tiny bit about, however, the fact that nobody stopped his actions in middle of the market during broad daylight reaffirmed his belief that he was doing what was right, what was needed.


    "What have I told you before? None of us want to see your putrid face here. Either you hide it under a hood, or don''t ever come here again. What is it that you don''t understand about that you demon?" George said. He gave a swift punch to the thin boy''s face. Dark purple blood spurted out from the wound he''d just created on the boy''s face, much to his own dismay.


    "AHH, you motherfucking asshole! Don''t let me see your face here again," he said, and immediately ran away to find a source of water to clean away the mess on his hands, fearing that the ''demon blood'' would possess him. His blond hair rose and fell like the waves of an ocean as he sprinted away into the thick of the crowd.


    Dozens of people walked past Vice, looking down on the boy with either fear, pity or disgust present on their faces. None, not even the kindest of children looked at him with warm eyes. He slowly got up, and wiped away the thick liquid on his face, as well as the purple blood running down from his lips. After dusting himself off, he made his way through the bustling market, forcing himself to keep moving his feet along the pavement, step after step, until he reached his home half an hour later.


    Vice opened the frail wooden door, and entered the desolate home. As he walked past the mirror hung next to the front door, Vice looked at his own reflection. He looked completely normal from his head down, and he was rather tall for his age. The six year old boy, however, had one feature which brought him all of the pain, sorrow, and unwanted attention imaginable. From his nose upward, his face was covered in a dark purple, shadow-like mask. Not only did his completely black eyes look devoid of any emotions, but the two horns that protruded from his head didn''t help either. His dark brown skin on the rest of his body was also unique, as his mother had had relations with a foreigner to the land of Restok, a man she would never see again in her life after the one night they''d spent together.


    Vice made his way through the run-down building, which was located in the slums of the capital city of Restok, Port Harbor. A weird name indeed, as the city was far from any huge body of water.


    "Oh you''re home, I made som-" his mother, Angeline, froze upon seeing the blood on her son''s lips. The woman quickly picked up a napkin from the kitchen and tended to Vice''s wound. She cradled the small boy, who had only turned six this year, in her arms. "Are you okay?" she asked.


    Vice gave no reply, and instead stood looking at his mother, emotionless. He loved her dearly, but knew that his existence had only brought her pain. Had it not been for him, then she''d probably be living a life full of luxury, for she was beautiful and sought after by many. However, his birth, and the knowledge of having to take him in was enough to dissuade anybody from pursuing his mother.


    "It''s gonna be fine Mom," Vice said, and he walked off into his room. He spent the rest of the day sleeping in his bed, allowing his sore body to recuperate, and only woke up again once the moonlight shone down onto the ground, and the night had taken over.


    Vice quietly walked out of the house, making sure the front door didn''t smash closed due to the turbulent wind present outside. His small and frail body ventured out of the slums where he lived, each building as worn down as his own. The smell of rotting meat and excrement pervaded through his nostrils, but were unable to cause him any discomfort as he''d already gotten used to the stench.


    He weaved his way through the dark streets of the city Port Harbor with ease as he could see as clearly during the night as he could during the day. There were no lanterns around, and it was pitch black during the night. The cobblestone that made up the pavement felt extremely cold during the night, and his feet, which were bare, trembled under the temperature. After an hour of walking, Vice finally reached his destination.


    A large tree stood proudly in the darkness, and a rope hung from its thickest branch. Vice had previously been here to this forest two days prior, however had decided against committing his final act as he''d been scared to take the plunge. The wind blew ferociously, causing the blades of grass in the field to bow down promptly. Vice walked up to the big brown tree, and slowly climbed up. His fingers were pierced multiple times by the sharp bark of the tree, however he didn''t once display any registering of the pain, and continued with his ascent.


    Just as he reached the branch, a blazing red comet flew from the sky, its heat a raging inferno. The comet smashed into the tree, flinging Vice away dozens of meters. The boy was unable to realize exactly what had happened, but as he mid-air, he finally smiled. He thought his life was finally going to be taken away from him, as the fall should be too much for his frail body to take. He closed his eyes in anticipation, wondering what it''d be like to finally enter the after-life.


    ''Huh?'' Vice thought as he opened his eyes. He looked around and could see the wreckage of the tree he''d just been on, its trunk being burned to cinders. The flames from the tree had ignited the nearby grass, and it spread quickly into the distance, igniting other trees and shrubbery in the forest.


    Vice quickly tried to get up onto his feet, but fell down the moment he tried to put his weight onto his left foot. His ankle was already swollen to the size of his fists, and he had numerous injuries elsewhere on his body.


    ''So this is how it ends?'' he thought to himself. He wasn''t mad at the situation, rather, he didn''t want to die in such an excruciating way, by burning alive in a forest fire. He closed his eyes, however, and let fate come for him in the way it had always intended to.


    ''Get up!'' a cold voice rung in Vice''s mind. ''Heed my call, you must get up now.''


    A chaotic energy was released within Vice''s body, and his sprained ankle quickly started to heal, its size reducing back to normal. A thick amount of arcana from the atmosphere plunged into his body, rejuvenating the boy''s spirit. Vice stood up with ease, his body feeling better than it had ever before, and looked around the forest for the voice that''d just spoken out. There was nothing but darkness and the bright red glow of the fire in front of him, however.


    ''Don''t resist my call. You must leave this place immediately,'' the voice rung out one final time.

 2 Chapter 1

    Strong winds blew across the forest illuminated by the bright sky, and the branches and leaves of all the trees moved in accordance to this absolute force. Only a gentle whoosh could be heard despite the strength of the wind, which could topple even the sturdiest of trees momentarily. Little blades of fallen leaves encircle Vice, who was walking against the direction of the wind with determination.


    ''It''s been ten years since that day hasn''t it?'' Vice thought to himself as he walked past where a large brown tree used to stand. The forest which had burned down back then was already flourishing even more than it had previously done. The trees were also much bigger now, and even sturdier then before.


    On that fateful day, Vice had gained something he found to me a priceless treasure, something he''d hope to never part with for the rest of his life. He found a friend. Alas, this ''friend'' of his was actually only present in his own mind.


    ''Ten years? Wait until it gets to a thousand years, then you can be all sentimental about it,'' a cold voice said.


    ''Sure,'' Vice replied as he continued walking through the tough weather. He was now a relatively tall boy, standing at 6 feet tall despite only being 16 years old. This height was far above the average man''s in Restok, who was only about 5 feet 8 inches. His head was still the same, covered by a purple skin that looked more akin to an artificial mask than it did a face. The two horns on his head had grown much larger, and made it difficult for him to wear any hoods to hide his face.


    Due to his ''deformed'' face, which only other people thought, Vice would only travel in large cities at night, and instead made the forests and wild lands his home during the day. Vice took a map out of a small pouch hung to the side of his belt, and studied the location marked with an ''X'' for a moment.


    "If we''re here, that means the treasure is there," he mumbled to himself. Vice studied his surroundings as he continued walking through the thick forest, and about an hour later he reached his destination.


    A small opening was dug into the walls of a hill. There was no lighting that shone far enough inside for Vice to see what was there, but he knew that his target was hidden somewhere inside. As he walked closer to the cave opening, a pungent smell pervaded his nostrils. Where any regular human would wretch in disgust or cover their noses, Vice simply continued walking, the stench unable to shake his composure. He walked with his back straight and his chest up, like a dignified emissary.


    ''There is trouble up ahead, want me to tell you about it this time or are we just going with the same old routine?'' the voice asked.


    ''We''ll go with the routine Favian,'' Vice replied. He took out a torch from his pouch, and quietly lit it. With a burst of light, the insides of the cave were revealed to Vice. The inside was many times larger than the small entrance outside would let on, and the ceiling stretched up so high that Vice''s torchlight didn??t reach it. Despite Vice''s ability to see unhindered through the dark, he still used a torch to deter any incoming beasts. Flames were useful for not just sight, but also for fights.


    The smell of death intensified as Vice walked further in, and the bones of both human and animal corpses were strewn about the rocky floor. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw something of interest, glinting at him. Vice slowly bent down and crouched onto his knee, inspecting an silver amulet that was laying on the floor, half broken. Despite it''s insignia being torn apart, Vice knew exactly where this was from, as he himself wore a similar necklace.


    ''So the three from the Treasure Hunters Guild who went missing weeks ago died here? But why, this wasn''t their mission,'' Vice thought, frowning at the necklace as he rubbed his chin in confusion.


    ''Who knows? Human greed can be used to explain any and everything possible,'' Favian said, his voice a whisper.


    ''Heh, wise as always aren''t you,'' Vice retorted playfully, something which he only ever did with the voice in his mind.


    More and more bones were strewn about the room as Vice made his way through, yet fear never gripped him even once. Such a feeling was only but an afterthought, and couldn''t usually affect this boy. After walking for a while, the cave opened up into two different paths, forking either to the left or the right.


    ''Huh, what''s that sweet smell?'' Vice thought as he tilted his head to the left path. He stared on into the darkness of that path, thinking about what to do. The path to the left smelled sweet like honey, whilst the right path smelled like the death and rotting corpses.


    Vice momentarily wondered which path to take, and decided to go with the right one. ''Everyone would have taken the left path, and I also feel some sort of magic imbued into that sweet smell. No wonder none have been able to make it out alive, they were fooled by their sense,'' he thought as he made his decision. His instincts and gut feeling had also told him to take that way, something which he trusted wholeheartedly. Whenever he couldn''t think of an answer, his instincts would help him out greatly. The fact that both his mind and gut told him to take the same path made him sure it was the correct way to go.


    ''To think I haven''t taught you much, yet your senses are already so sharp. You truly amaze me little one,'' Favian said. He sounded like a proud father whose child had walked without needing their help.


    The path went on for longer than expected. The walls were damp, and a sticky substance oozed out of them. Despite the crunching sound underfoot, which Vice knew to most definitely be bones, he continued walking undeterred. A small cave opened up at the end of the path, and a stagnant pond was all that was inside. The green water glistened under the light of the torch in Vice''s hand.


    Vice took the torch and blew it out, after which he put it back into the pouch by his belt. He didn''t take off any of his clothes before jumping into the pond, as they were all made of special materials that were waterproof. The pond was a lot deeper than he expected, however he continued to dive. The murky water obstructed his vision slightly, yet Vice was still able to make out what was in the water.


    After taking a look around for a dozen seconds, he found exactly what he was looking for. At the bottom of the pond, about 100 feet down, there was a large obsidian tooth, about the size of Vice''s whole arm. He tugged at it strongly, but wasn''t able to dislodge it from the sediment.


    Deciding against brute force, he instead pushed away the muck and sediment that had accumulated at the bottom of the pond, using his two hands to shift it away. After almost a whole minute of that, he was finally able to pick up the heavy tooth. He then placed the tip of the tooth into the pouch to the side of his belt, and the massive tooth magically disappeared into it. Vice immediately swam back up, and gulped at the air when he finally resurfaced, filling his lungs with the sweet remedy he needed. However, once he got to his senses, his face darkened in worry.


    The whole cave was shaking like crazy, as if an earthquake had just happened, and tiny pieces of rock was falling from the ceiling. The water from the pond splashed out into the pathway. Vice jumped out of the pond, and sprinted out of the cave. Larger rocks were falling onto his head, however were crushed by his two horns, fortunately for him.


    HISS HISS


    Just as Vice jumped out of the cave and got back to the forest, he heard a deafening cry from inside the cave. The screams became louder and louder, until finally he was able to catch a glimpse of what monster resided within the cave, that had made his fellow treasure hunters its prey.


    A large snake slithered frantically out of the of the small opening of the cave. It''s green scales were dyed red and there were many sharp rocks lodged into it. All over its body there were numerous stalagmites piercing into its flesh, and it hissed out in pain. It''s dark green eyes stared at Vice, who was stood only ten meters away from it with a greatsword in his hands, purple energy buzzing and crackling off the weapon.

 3 Chapter 2

    ''Huh, that was a good draw if I may say so. I actually was able to roulette the correct weapon for this large monster, what a surprise,'' Vice thought to himself, thinking back to all the times he''d been unfortunate enough to roll the wrong weapon for the situation at hand. For instance, he''d once been fighting a very sturdy Mountain Bear which had tough fur and a thick exterior which wasn''t easily pierced, and instead of getting a greatsword he rolled for a rapier, which was all but useless for that battle.


    Just as the gigantic snake, about the size of cow, had been rushing out of the cave, Vice knew that he''d need to prepare for a battle. Without hesitation he let the mana in his body surge forth to cast his spell ''Chaotic Roulette'', which gave him a random weapon imbued with chaos magic particles. The arcana in the surroundings became much thicker as the two opponents were stood still, sizing each other up. The snake looked at Vice with its green eyes, getting ready to strike.


    ???I should be just outside its striking range,'' he thought to himself. Vice then carefully took a tiny steps back, until he was in between two big trees.


    The snake''s patience had run thin, and it jumped towards Vice, opening its jaws wide. Its large fangs were revealed, and a venomous green liquid dropped out of the holes of the two fangs.


    CRASH


    The snake followed Vice carefully, its eyes ignoring any of the terrain, to its own detriment. Just as it was lunging for Vice, he moved behind a thick brown tree. The snake smashed into the tree, which stood still as if unfazed by the attack. Shards of bark were flung into the snake''s face and eyes, momentarily blinding it.


    Vice didn''t need more time than he''d just been given. With a loud huff and heave, he raised the heavy greatsword into the air, despite his slender frame, and dropping it onto the snake''s head like a crashing meteor. Blood splattered out from the wound and created a fountain of rain with the decapitated head as it''s source. All of the grass that was touched by the blood wilted immediately, whilst Vice seemed unaffected by this.


    "Well that snake was huge but so weak, size isn''t everything it seems," Vice mumbled. He then went to work on the corpse, removing each of its scales and placing it into his pouch, and then putting the remaining snake body into his pouch as well. A bright green stone the size of a finger was currently sat in the boy''s hands, a weak green light was emitted from it.


    ''I guess it''s better than nothing, but the arcana in this core is too weak. I''ll just sell it instead,'' he thought. By now the sun had already started to set, and darkness was taking over. The nocturnal birds were flying about, seeking their prey, be it mice, worms or rabbits.


    A much gentler breeze than during the day accompanied Vice during his walk back to Restok. If there was one thing he truly enjoyed, then it was staring at the moon. Being bathed by its light left him feeling rejuvenated, and calmness always took over at night for Vice. In the dark he felt much more appreciated and loved than anywhere else.


    After a while he finally reached the walls of Restok. The large stone walls that surrounded the whole city made it seem like a fortress from the outside, however there was a lot of illegal and criminal activity that went on in certain parts of the city. Restok housed many different guilds, including the Adventurers Guild, Magicians Guild and of course the Treasure Hunters Guild which was Vice''s destination.


    A large building stood inconspicuously beside two other buildings which were just as large, however, its neighbors had a much more extravagant architecture. The Adventurers Guild had been carved with a golden sword and shield which hung from the top of the three story building, whilst the Magicians Guild had a statue of a woman holding a wand placed in front. The Treasure Hunter''s Guild was a simple building, there was absolutely nothing unique about it, despite it having an income comparable to that of the other two guilds.


    Unlike the other two guilds, however, the Treasure Hunters Guild was open 24/7, every day of the week. There was always a clerk available at the front office, as well as a troupe of guards. This was due to the nature of the guild. It was much safer for its members to be able to hand the valuable stuff over as soon as possible, rather than have to wait until daylight came for their haul to be appraised, giving thieves more time to ambush them.


    A bell rang as Vice opened the front door to the guild. Multiple chandeliers were hung from the ceiling, illuminating the inside of the room completely. Two guards were stood to the side of the front desk, where a petite woman was currently sat browsing through some papers. Her blond hair shined under the ambient lighting in the room, and her blue eyes sparkled as she looked at her paperwork.


    "Oh, Vice? You got back quickly, how did it go?" Jenny asked. She put down the quill in her hand into a bottle of ink, and moved herself closer to the counter as she curiously inspected Vice.


    "Here," Vice said, and he handed her a second pouch from his belt. He''d already moved the contents of his excavation into it from his primary one, as it was much easier to do this than to take everything out.


    Jenny''s eyes flared up in surprise as she examined the contents of the brown pouch she was given, seeing all the items in the area of the pouch which was many times larger on the inside than it was outside. "That''s aˇ­ dragon tooth? And those are the scales of an Emerald Viperˇ­ What''s more, you even put in the beast''s arcane core, but why? Won''t you use it?" Jenny asked, each of her words being forced out of her lips as if she couldn''t believe what she was saying.


    Vice simply stood there, and shrugged his shoulders. He waited quietly, saying nothing more to the girl.


    ''Ah come on Vice, you need to work on your communication skills. Just tell her why you aren''t keeping the stuff,'' Favian said in his mind.


    ''Who cares? They never tried to understand me, so why should I try to understand them?'' he replied. He didn''t hate humans, however he didn''t like them either, despite he himself being what seemed to be a halfing, a half human entity.


    "Oh okayˇ­ Well here''s the payment for completing our request, and the extra amount for securing the Emerald Viper corpse. The total of 100 gold pieces," Jenny said awkwardly. She knew by now that talking to this boy was extremely difficult, however she always tried despite his flaw.


    "Oh what''s that?" Jenny asked as the tall boy handed her the broken necklace he''d found in the cave.


    "From the three who went missing," Vice said. He didn''t wait for a response from the woman, and instead left the building. He made his way through the empty streets of Restok, only drunkards and beggars were currently up and about, but a sight of either of these was rare in the direction Vice went.


    The buildings here were tall and extravagant, a homage to the wealth of the residents in this specific area. Each building had front lawns filled with flowers and colorful plants, as well as large swathes of land used as their gardens. Vice was stood in front of one of these buildings, and inserted his key into the lock. With a click, the door was slowly opened, revealing a relatively luxurious interior. Chandeliers were on the ceiling, there were plenty of mirrors and art pieces along the walls, and even statues and sculptures were littered around.


    ''To think this whole building cost you only 70 gold. This planet brings me new surprises everyday,'' Favian said into his mind with a relaxed voice.


    ''Huh, is my mother up? But it''s too late, she''s never awake at this time of the day,'' Vice thought to himself as he looked toward the kitchen where the light was currently shining bright.


    "Mom, are you awake?" he asked, his deep voice echoing through the building. He waited for a moment, however got no response. "She must have left the light on," he said, but immediately became more aware of his surroundings as he sensed some sort of danger. He knew that his mother would never leave any light on as she knew her son preferred the darkness.


    ''Hey, Favian, do you sense that too?'' he asked as he got closer to the kitchen. A bitter smell, like burnt chocolate, entered his nostrils. He was completely alert at this point, and peeked around the corner, to see his mother collapsed on the kitchen floor.

 4 Chapter 3

    "Mom!" Vice shouted in alarm. He threw all caution to the wind and ran straight to the woman lying on the floor. Her hair had long lost its youthful luster, being grayed and withered at this point, and small wrinkles were slowly showing up all over her once beautiful face.


    Vice shook his mother a couple of times, trying to wake her up, but to no avail. He then checked her breathing and pulse, and to his relief she was still alive, if only barely.


    "Shit," Vice said, as the bitter smell continued to pervade his nostrils. As he looked towards the location of the smell, he saw the culprit, a burning stove top. He immediately took out a cloth from his spacial pouch and threw it onto the burned stove, extinguishing the flames in the process.


    Vice quickly picked up his mother, and ran urgently with her to her bedroom. Once inside her spacious living quarters where no luxury was skipped, he rummaged through her cabinet until her found what he was searching. A small bottle filled with a thick red liquid, which he knew to be overly sweet tasting. He uncorked the bottle and squeezed some of the liquid into a Pasteur pipette, before putting it into his mother''s mouth.


    ''Her breathing and heart beat is more stable already,'' Vice thought as he held his ear to her chest and his fingers on her neck. He breathed a sigh of relief, and stayed by her bedside checking up on her until the warm rays of the sun entered through the window of her room, illuminating the once dark crevices of the space.


    "Uhh, Vice, is that you?" Angeline asked. She rubbed her head and groaned as she postured herself up from the bed, and looked toward the slender boy who was taller than almost any man at his age.


    "Mom, you need to rest, I''ll go get you some food right now," Vice said urgently, and slowly put her back on the bed. Only a few minutes later did he come back with a bowl of porridge. "Here, eat up, you need some more energy Mom."


    The woman gladly took the bowl of food, and wolfed it down with much difficulty, her body still in shock and in need of some rest. "Oh don''t worry about your mother so much, you''ll get more wrinkles than me if you keep frowning like that," Angeline said as she looked at her son.


    "Vice, the potions aren''t working as well as they did beforeˇ­ I''m not sure how much longer I can keep up; I can feel my strength waning day in and day out," Angeline said in a soft voice as her eyes teared up slightly. She looked out at the window, enjoying the rays of the sun for as long as they would last.


    Vice looked at his frail old mother, and the words he wanted to say couldn''t come out. He wanted to tell her it would be fine, that everything was going to be okay, but he knew it wasn''t. He knew that she didn''t have much time left, and the potions and medicine he went through so much pain and effort to buy weren''t effective anymore.


    "Don''t say that," Vice squeaked out quietly. His black eyes teared up as he looked at the only person whom he truly loved, and the only person whom he knew truly loved him for who he was.


    "Vice, I must confess to you about your father, before it is too late. He was notˇ­ human, and comes from a land far far away from here. I didn''t want to tell you this before, you were too young. But seeing you now, seeing you as the strong man you will surely turn into, I can finally reveal everything to you," Angeline said. She looked into the eyes of her son meaningfully, and then continued. "Your father''s name is Xipil, and he''s from a land unlike ours. He never told me what is was called, so I cannot tell you. But just know, he didn''t leave me and you because he wanted to, that choice was ripped away from him."


    "Xipil? Why are you telling me this all Mom, it won''t change anything. He''s gone, and I''m going to stay here to take care of you!" Vice said resolutely.


    "Here, take this. Your father told me to give this to you when you were old enough. I don''t know what it''s for, but he was adamant about you having this at the right time, which I believe is now."


    Angeline handed a small black bracelet to her son. It was nothing special to look at, but the material seemed like it was very high quality. The cold leather-like material wrapped around Vice''s wrists effortlessly, as if it had been crafted specially for him.


    [DING! Conditions for host transferal has been met. Initializing transferˇ­ Transfer complete]


    ''Huh?'' Vice jumped up as the robotic voice suddenly buzzed into his mind. He stared at the bracelet in confusion, and then at his mother to try and see if she''d heard the voice as well.


    "What''s wrong sweety? You look like you''ve seen a ghost," she said, and caressed his two horns softly with her hands, something she''d always done to calm his nerves.


    "Oh it''s nothing. Uh, I''ll go to sleep for now, I''ll see you later Mom. And take it easy! Just call for me if you need anything," Vice said before promptly leaving the room and going to his own.


    Vice quickly walked through the hallway. The paintings and art pieces were much more beautiful under the sunlight which shone down, as a glass ceiling was what covered the hallway from above. With a quick twist of his door handle, Vice opened the door and entered his room.


    ''Haha, Vice, talk to your artificial intelligence system. I can''t believe it, so the gods really reincarnated me a second time just to become a passenger of another A.I user,'' Favian said with a hearty laugh.


    ''Huh? You know what this is? What is an artificial intelligence system? And how do I use it?'' Vice quickly asked.


    [DING! This system is capable of many things, such as analyzing items and objects, as well as helping the host to learn spells. These functions are all dependent on the host''s power level, do you wish to receive your stats in the heads up display?]


    ''Heads up display? Wha-''


    Suddenly a bright blue screen enveloped Vice''s vision, startling him enough to make him punch at the screen out of reaction. His hands however swung at empty air, much to his surprise. The blue screen currently showed Vice''s body, and detailed his fat and muscle percentages, as well as his bone density. Above that, all of his stats were shown.


    [DING! Health Points: 1000, Mana Points: 5000, Intelligence: 2, Strength: 2.5, Agility: 3, Constitution: 5]


    ''Oh, interesting. So the system isn''t the same one I had, nor does it show the same things,'' Favian mumbled in Vice''s mind.


    It took a couple moments for Vice to process what was happening, as this information influx was too sudden, however after a couple moments he was able to gather his composure. He looked at the blue screen with curiosity, and asked, "So what do all of my stats mean?"


    ''Hey, there''s no need to talk out loud! Just think about it and your system will heed your call,'' Favian said.


    [DING! Your Health Points or HP are your lifeline, if that value goes to zero, then you will be knocked unconscious. Your Mana Points or MP are used up when you cast spells, if it reaches a value of zero, you can''t cast anymore spells. Intelligence determines your maximum MP you have and how fast it regenerates. Strength determines how capable you are physically. Agility determines how fast and nimble you are, and finally constitution determines your maximum HP and how fast it regenerates.


    There are more stats however these aren''t available for you to analyze yet]


    ''What? So this artificial intelligence thing that is on my wrist can show me all these things? That''s amazing! I would need at least 500 gold to buy something like this from the Mages Guild,'' Vice thought to himself in shock.


    ''Hmph, it''s much more useful than anything you could buy from some lowly Mages Guild, trust me on that,'' Favian retorted.


    Vice spent the rest of the day playing with this new gadget of his, trying to figure out what to do and how to use it. He would ask Favian questions whenever he was confused as this voice in his mind seemed to know almost everything about this system, yet there were still questions he couldn''t answer, which he simply stated as ''Your system is different than mine''.


    [DING! Quest received, ''Defeat 5 Zombies'' has been added to the list of active quests. Time limit of 8 hours has been given to the host, unknown reward available]

 5 4

    ''Huh? What''s this?'' Vice thought as the system buzzed the quest into his mind. ''This is definitely different to any of the things the Mages Guild has been able to create.''


    Vice rubbed his chin as he deep in thought, wondering what to do with the system. He knew where he could find zombies, and it had just turned dark only recently which meant that they would be digging out of their graves any time soon.


    ''Do the quest, I wonder what type of reward you''ll get for it,'' Favian said, and convinced the boy who was already thinking about doing it anyway. Favian also rubbed his chin in the space where he resided in Vice''s mind.


    ''Sure,'' Vice replied.


    ''Look at you all talkative today, I guess you''re excited for once,'' Favian said, teasing the boy. Had he an ethereal form then he''d be ruffling through his hair like an older brother would.


    Vice first checked up on his mother, who was fast asleep in her room, and then took some food from the kitchen and placed it next to her bedside table. After making sure that she was breathing well, he left the luxurious home. He''d painstakingly spent the past couple of years hunting for treasures to give his mother a better life, but recently her health had plummeted, and despite him spending copious amounts of gold on the medicine, it only slowed down her illness and wasn''t able to completely free her from the ailments.


    Vice quickly made his was out of the city of Restok, toward an area called ''The Echo''. It was aptly called this due to the weird phenomenon that occurred if you were to speak whilst there, your voice would echo back to you from different directions. This area came alive at night, and housed many of the creatures of the dark, such as zombies and ghouls. Vice had been here once before many years ago to retrieve that arcane core of a low level ghoul. Even for Vice, who was not easily scared and able to maintain his composure in most situations, The Echo gave him a weird feeling. It was as if somebody was watching him at all times when he entered the foggy barrier that separated it from the rest of the world.


    "We''re here. This place still gives me the creeps," Vice mumbled as he walked through the foggy barrier. Even during the day this place was mostly dark, with only tiny rays of light being able to penetrate through the thick layer. It was also relatively easy to get lost and lose your orientation here, Vice remembered.


    A chilling aura surrounded Vice the moment he came out of the other side of the fog, and his vision finally cleared completely. It took almost a minute to navigate through it. The moment he came out at the other side, Vice could already here the moans and groans of the inhabitants of The Echo. Blood gurgling screams and banshee wails were ever present, far away yet ever present. There were a few sickly trees scattered around, but for the most part everything was in a state of decay, be it the plants or animals here. Hopping around nearby was a skeletal bunny, minding its own business when a shadow figure jumped down from the tree it was perched on, and gnawed on the few bones left of its prey.


    ''Okay, five zombies should be easy enough, let''s get on with it. I''d rather not stay here a second longer than I need to,'' Vice thought to himself. He then slowly proceeded to make his way through the area, looking for the spot where moonlight shone down to the ground, as this was the sure-fire way of finding zombies. They seemed to love bathing in the moon''s light.


    GROOAN ROOAR


    After 20 minutes of searching, Vice was able to find a large clearing, devoid of any trees or fauna, where an ample amount of moonlight was shining through. This was one of the few areas where the fog wasn''t as thick, and therefore the light was able to shine through.


    A dozen zombies were dragging their feet across the dry soil, moaning and groaning ominously as they paced around aimlessly. Lumps of rotten flesh were visible on all of the creatures, and their black eyes were devoid of any life. Only a deathly instinct was remaining inside them, their souls hollowed out completely.


    ''Chaotic Roulette, be kind to me,'' Vice thought to himself. A burst of energy erupted from within the tall boy, and a purple aura emanated around him, causing him to glow and shine brightly in the dark. Immediately after this sure of arcana in the surroundings, each of the zombies tilted their heads towards Vice, and walked towards him. Had their speed been quicker then Vice most definitely wouldn''t have been taking the situation as lightly as he currently was.


    "A staff? What the hell am I supposed to do with a damn staff?" Vice said as he sighed in defeat. "Why''s my only spell got to be so stupid Favian?" he shouted.


    ''Did I not teach you the use of a staff already? Just insert some of your mana into it and you''ll be able to work wonders out of them,'' Favian said. He glared at his student in disbelief, wondering why he even bothered to teach this stubborn boy any magic when he couldn''t appreciate the randomness of Chaotic Roulette.


    Vice sighed again, but immediately decided to pour some mana into the weapon he''d just materialized. A warm feeling left his body as the mana in it revolved in cycles until finally it was released into the fingertips of his right hand, into the two handed staff he was holding.


    ''Oh, I get it, so if I do this it''ll throw out a spell?'' Vice thought as he inspected the staff with his mana. A purple bolt of energy was released from the tip of the staff and flew toward the zombies, hitting one of them square in the face. The impact of the bolt with the zombie left it''s face flying off its body, and with a loud thump it fell to the ground.


    The other zombies didn''t even budge at the sight of their fallen comrade, and instead continued their slow walk toward Vice whilst they moaned ominously. Suddenly, the corpse of the slain zombie exploded, and purple ashes were spread in a close proximity of the monster. All of the other zombies were immediately affected by the explosion as they''d been unable to walk far enough away. After a couple more steps, each of them collapsed to the floor.


    [DING! The host has completed the quest ''Defeat 5 Zombies''. 100 experience has been given to the host]


    Vice tilted his head in confusion, and asked, ''What does experience do?''


    [DING! The host can use experience to level up their stats and buy passive skills. With 100 experience the host can level up one stat by one level]


    ''What? That''s a bit crazy. I guess you''re just like a magical cultivation tool or something like that,'' Vice thought, trying to use his knowledge to figure out what this system was doing. ''Okay, increase my intelligence.''


    [DING! Intelligence has been increased, new value 3]


    Immediately after the system gave this notification, Vice felt the arcana in the surroundings crash into him, enveloping him in a warm barrier. After a moment, his mind felt like it was opened forcibly, leaving him clutching onto his throbbing head. The pain subsided after a few minutes, but there was an uncomfortable lingering sensation on his two horns.


    Vice snapped out of his delirium and made his way out of The Echo. He didn''t want to spend any more time in this place, and could slowly sense the foreign entity he also felt was watching him a bit more clearly. After an hour, he was able to find his way out of the area. It was still dark outside, and there was a weird stillness in the air.


    ''There''s usually a breeze here, why is it so quiet and still at this time?'' Vice thought as he looked out to the forest he was about to walk through. He could clearly see that there were no animals around, none of the owls or rabbits that usually roamed about were currently present, despite this being prime time for their nocturnal lifestyle.


    ''I sense it too. I''d suggest you get out of here immediately, there is something amiss,'' Favian warned.


    Vice didn''t hesitate before making a sprint for it. After running for what felt like ages, he finally reached the city gates of Restok. ''What''s that smell?'' he thought as a bitter smoke entered his nostrils. From far away he could see a burning building. A raging inferno was brightly ravaging through one of the estates in the richer regions of Restok.


    ''Wait a second, isn''t that-'' he sprinted to the building before even finishing his train of thought.

 6 5

    Vice ran like a bullet shot out of a machine gun, only an afterimage being displayed if a regular person looked at him. He made his way through the streets that he knew like the back of his hands, and used every shortcut possible. He jumped over certain buildings and climbed walls as that was the quickest way to get to his destination.


    The inferno burned brightly, and a terrible heat was given off from the building. Vice didn''t hesitate for even a second and flung himself into his house. The door frame broke down behind him, and a large amount of rubble rushed down. Vice jumped forward and was able to escape most of the falling stones, yet there were still some fragments that hit him. His whole body was covered in a gray coat of dust as he covered his face to make sure he didn''t inhale any of the smoke.


    "MOM! WHERE ARE YOU?" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he got into the living room. The furniture and paintings on the wall as well as all of the sculptures were destroyed, leaving behind only a charred smell and a lot of smoke. The smoke was so thick inside here that it Vice was only able to see a couple meters in front of him with a lot of difficulty.


    "Shit," he said, and ran towards his mother''s room. The smoke and flames were only starting to reach the room now, and hadn''t torn through her room as badly as it had through the rest of the home. Angeline was fast asleep, and had Vice been any moment later then he believed she''d have died in this fire. He picked up the frail body of his mother, carrying her in both of his hands, and jumped out of the window in her room. The shattered glass splashed outward, and a waft of smoke came with it.


    Vice landed on even footing as he''d jumped out of the window onto the grassy garden. "Wake up," Vice said as he shook his mother''s body. His eyes were filled with a sense of urgency, he needed to see that this woman was fine, that she wasn''t hurt. He needed to know whether to bring her to a hospital right away.


    After a full minute of him trying to wake up Angeline, she finally moved, and groaned under he breath. "Ahh, Vice, is that you?" she said as she opened her eyes. She looked at her surroundings in confusion, realizing she was in her garden right now for some unknown reason.


    "Yes Mom, are you okay?" he asked in a voice full of worry.


    "Yes I-" COUGH COUGH "I''m fine. What happened? Why am I in the garden?" Angeline asked.


    Vice turned her body around so that she could see the burning building. Her heart sank when she saw this, and she couldn''t believe the tricks her eyes must be playing on her in this moment.


    "It can''t beˇ­ Wh-" she said, tears falling out of her eyes before she could finish her sentence. "You worked so hard for this place, and nowˇ­"


    "Mom, don''t worry! I still have more than enough to get us a new place, it''ll just take some time to find somewhere willing to take us in," Vice replied. He looked at the building with sorrow, as he knew it wouldn''t be easy for him to find a human willing to rent their place for them. Buying was the only option, and that could take many days.


    "We need to find a place for you to stay for now Mom, then I can investigate what happened here. Does a hotel sound good?" Vice asked.


    "Bring me to Josie, I''m sure she''ll help us out for a couple days," Angeline said.


    Vice looked at his optimistic mother with worry, before saying, "Mother, your sister hates us! I don''t think she''ll be kind enough to take us in."


    "Ahh yes, how could I forget that," she replied. This answer left Vice feeling even more worried about his mother. Not only was she already so frail to always need medication, but now she was starting to show signs of dementia. His heart twisted in agony as he stared at the one person he loved slowly drifting away from him, right through his fingers. Yet there was nothing he knew that could help her, all of the money in the world didn''t seem to matter when it came to changing the tides of time.


    Vice ran toward the nearest high class hotel within reach and booked a room for a month for himself and his mother. One thing Vice had realized in his 16 years of life was that businesses didn''t care about how he looked as long as he paid good money and didn''t disturb their customers. On the other hand, it was the regular people of Restok, the individual home owners that cared so much about making his life a misery. They would stop at nothing to try to teach him how ugly this world truly was. People who cultivated and learned magic were indifferent to him, not caring about him unless he could benefit them or was a threat to them.


    "Thank you for booking a villa with us, that will be 20 gold for your stay," a male clerk said respectfully.


    Vice opened his spacial pouch and took the gold pieces out, which he handed to the clerk. ''I still have over 500 gold pieces left, so we''ll be fine for now,'' he thought to himself. He''d been able to amass so much money via treasure hunting, which spoke words to how lucrative the trade could be if you had that ''X Factor'' needed to becoming a good treasure hunter.


    The hotel opened up into a large neighborhood of different villas, each being just as big as Vice''s home that had just burned down. Pools were scattered onto each villa, and the walk to where he''d be staying now was filled with beautiful scenery of the different fountains and sculptures placed all around. Only the wealthiest people would be able to stay for an extended period at this place.


    However, Vice didn''t delight himself in these things. Not only did he want to get to the bottom of his torn down home as soon as possible, but he only enjoyed buying art and luxurious stuff for his mother. She was the only reason why he spent so much gold on items that could be considered ''useless'' for a cultivator such as himself. A cultivator was an individual who practiced in the mystical arts. They could use the abundant arcana in the atmosphere to cast spells or fortify their bodies to achieve superhuman feats.


    The mother-son duo were brought into their villa, and unsurprisingly it was air-conditioned and filled with the newest technologies, including a magical fridge which could keep food and drinks ''frozen in time'' according to the company''s slogan.


    "Okay, Mom, stay her and make yourself comfortable. I''ll be back soon, I promise!" Vice said, before turning around and making his way back to the scene of the fire.


    It didn''t take long for him to get there. By now, the flames had all but died out, and the city''s police force, which consisted of only cultivators, were walking around inspecting the building.


    "Who are you?" an officer shouted in alarm as Vice made his way to them. It was relatively dark so the man wasn''t able to see the horns on Vice''s head. Had he seen them the he''d have known for certainty who this person was.


    "Vice. The home owner," he replied briefly, and pointed to the building.


    The officer asked for some identification, which Vice quickly handed to him in the form of his Treasure Hunter''s card, which had a picture of him. It was almost impossible to forge something like this, so he was able to use it almost anywhere for identification.


    "Ahh, Vice the treasure hunter. I couldn''t see you properly because of how dark it is," the officer said nervously. "Let me bring you to our Sergeant."


    The man swiftly took Vice to the side and brought him to another man who was busy foraging through the rubble. His blond hair was stained black from how nonchalantly he pushed aside the rubble, however he didn''t care one bit about his appearance. His hands were blackened as well as his previously blue uniform. The man turned around to look at Vice before the officer could even approach him.


    "Vice? So this is your home?" the man asked. His blue eyes sparkled under the moonlight as he looked at Vice, and his own youth was evident. Despite being about the same age as Vice, this man was leading others for the police force already. "Officers, give him any and all help should he ask for it. Dismissed."


    Vice simply nodded, after which he started to dig through the rubble as well. For him, time was of the essence. Any and all of the information regarding what he believed to be arson would be lost the longer he waited. As such, he spent the next few hours searching every nook and cranny of his home from head to toe, leaving no rock unturned.

 7 6

    "Sergeant! We''ve found something here," an officer shouted loudly so that he could be heard.


    Vice rushed to where the voice was. The officer was stood in the ruins of the kitchen, with an almost completely burnt barrel being handled by him. As Vice went to examine the object, he noticed there was a small puddle of blackish liquid still sitting in it. He dipped his fingers into the remnants of the liquid, and brought it towards his nose.


    ''Oil? Isn''t this some of the magically refined ''Black Water''?'' he thought to himself. This liquid, ''Black Water'' as the people of Restok called it, was highly combustible, but also highly expensive. Based on the size of the barrel, Vice judged that at least 10 gold worth of liquid was used here. The annual salary of a commoner was only about 5 gold, but due to living costs they took even less of that amount home.


    ''Somebody targeted my home. Who? And why'' he thought as the rage started to seethe into his mind. He clenched his jaws tightly as he envisioned who this person was who wanted to kill his mother. ''They must have known I wasn''t at home, or else they''d never have been able to pull this off. They wanted to kill my mother, but why?''


    "What do we have here? Smells like Black Waterˇ­" Sergeant Paul said. He put the substance in his hands and inspected it. A surge of arcana focused around Sergeant Paul suddenly burst forth into existence, but disappeared almost immediately. "Hmm, there''s not trace of arcana from the culprit at all. As you must know Vice only a cultivator can ignite Black Water, so this is rather strange. Can you think of any people who''d target you?"


    Vice shrugged, he hadn''t made any specific enemies in his lifetime. It was just the people in general that hated him, however, they wouldn''t dare to strike out against him anymore due to his status as a cultivator.


    "Well I''ll log this in at the precinct, but I don''t think we''ll get far with our resources. I hate to say it, but you''re on your own with this. Oh, and before I forget, Big Sis Anne said she wanted to see you. It''s already been a couple of weeks and you''ve still ignored herˇ­" Sergeant Paul said, grinning from ear to ear sheepishly. After spending another couple of minutes finishing the inspection, he left along with his team. They would resume their investigation in the morning.


    ''Haha that''s so true. Why haven???t you talked to that Anne lady? Last I remember she''s been so sweet and kind with you, and was very adamant to get some drinks with you. Who knows what could happen after you two love birds have had your fair share of alcohol?'' Favian said in a teasing manner.


    Vice ignored the voice in his mind, but was unable to get Paul''s words out of his mind. ''I guess it''s time to visit Anne. She''ll be able to help me I think,'' Vice thought to himself. He gave one last look at the remains of the once beautiful house he''d paid for and after taking the barrel filled with Black Water, walked away, weaving himself into the darkness that was the city of Restok.


    ˇ­


    It was currently just past midnight, and a full moon was in display above the few clouds in the sky. An orchard, filled with all types of fruit trees and various berries stood silent underneath the moonlight. The smell of sweet tea pervaded through the orchard as a girl sipped onto the drink. This woman was in her late teens, only 18 years old, but when it came to standards of beauty in the city of Restok, she was by far the most beautiful woman here. Her black hair fell all the way down to her hips majestically, and glistened with a mysterious aura.


    The girl looked at her surroundings, noticing some sort of change, and then smiled widely. Her pearlescent teeth could be seen from far away in the dark as she gleefully stood up and ran to the boy that was approaching her, her large bosom bounced to the beat of her small but fast steps.


    "Vice! You finally came, I''ve been trying to get a hold of you for two weeks already," she said in her smooth voice. She dramatically sulked, making sure that Vice could see her reaction as clear as day.


    The boy looked into her yellow eyes as if captivated, but snapped out of that delirium quickly before replying, "I was busy treasure hunting." Vice''s voice sounded neither soft nor harsh, it was rather monotone, as if devoid of emotion. However, Anne knew that this wasn''t the case, and that the boy had actually warmed up to her somewhat.


    "Aww that''s always the case with you. Once you were able to leave the orphanage, you didn''t even look back at your only two friends, even if you won''t admit that we are friends," she said sadly.


    Vice had lived in an orphanage with both her and Sergeant Paul for a while when his mother first became sick. She wasn''t able to work and so she had to live with her sister, who wouldn''t let Vice stay in her home. This all resulted in Vice being sent to an orphanage at only 10 years of age. It was only once he was finally able to start practicing magic with Favian at 12 years that he was soon able to leave that place. His time there was bad, however, his physical stature stopped others from bullying him, as they simply couldn''t. He did meet Anne and Paul at the orphanage, and the three stuck together like glue, or at least Anne and Paul stuck to Vice like glue.


    "I need to ask for a favor," Vice said as he looked at Anne seriously.


    "Agreed. On one condition thought, promise that you''ll get a drink with me later," she said in a seductive tone.


    "Fine," Vice replied. "I need you to look into the arson of my house, it just happened a couple of hours ago, but there''s not trace of the perpetrator."


    "Shit! Are you okay? Is your mother fine?" Anne asked frantically. Her voice was filled with worry and she quickly touched Vice''s face softly, searching for any injuries.


    "She''s fine. Now can you help me find whoever did this? I''ve got some things to discuss with them," Vice said.


    "Okay give me a couple of days, I''ll try my best to get some information. Have you got anything I can use to cast my tracking magic?" Anne asked.


    Vice promptly handed her the barrel of Black Water. "Paul told me there''s no remnants of arcana in it," he said.


    The petite girl placed a hand on her chin before taking a look at the barrel. A thick aura was emitted from the girl as she inspected the barrel with her mana. Sweat dripped down her forehead and a strained expression was apparent on her face, which was turning her brown skin redder every second.


    "PUUHH," she exclaimed and finally took a huge breath of air into her lungs. "I can sense something, but it''s hidden really well in there. It''ll take me at least a week to figure this out," she said and sighed out loud, yet her determination to help Vice was nonetheless still intact.


    "We''ll drink today then! I''ve got some rare alcohol that was imported from the Maloi Kingdom in the north. I bought it specifically so that we could drink it together," Anne said with a smile.


    Anne walked back to her home with an enthusiastic sway in her hips. The orchard was basically her back garden, and she would take the fruits from it to eat as snacks throughout the day.


    "Why were you up so late?" Vice asked as she poured him a drink.


    The interior of her house was very relaxing, and the couch he was currently sat on was as smooth as a baby''s butt. Vice took a swig of the blue liquid that was poured into his glass. The aroma of blueberries hit his nose before the liquid went down his throat smoothly, leaving behind a bitter-sweet aftertaste. His arcana core felt a lot warmer, and enjoyed the presence of the liquid.


    "Have you noticed yet? This drink was made specifically for us cultivators, or else we couldn''t get drunk even if we both had a hundred beers," Anne said softly. "And to answer your question, I just couldn''t sleep."


    Vice looked at the girl suspiciously but didn''t bring up any more questions, instead he just sipped on his drink and let her talk her heart out to him. She''d always been like this with him and he knew it. She''d compensate for his lack of conversation by going the extra mile, just for his sake. The gesture lightened his heart and he smiled warmly at Anne, much to her surprise.

 8 7

    "Haha and then you glared at Paul like nothing had happened," Anne said, spilling some of her drink in the process as she laughed heartily.


    "Yea seriously what do I even think of most of the time," Vice said in a drunken slur. His brown cheeks were tinted red. "This drink really has a kick to it, doesn''t it Anneˇ­ Hey Anne, wake up, come on,"


    Vice tried to shove the girl awake, however she would not let her beauty sleep be ruined. She rested her head against his shoulder, a content smile plastered on her face. A whiff of a sweet vanilla fragrance hit Vice''s nose as he tried to move the girl.


    "Ahh, why are you like this Anne," Vice said as he breathed out a heavy sigh. He then picked up the with ease, who pressed her arms around his shoulder tightly.


    Vice walked up the stairs of her house carefully, until he reached the pink door he recognized was to her room. He swiftly opened the door, and put Anne on her bed, tucking her tightly into her blanket.


    ''Doesn''t she look adorable Vice. Why don''t you go snuggle there with her, I doubt she''d be angry,'' Favian said in a mocking tone.


    ''Shut up. She''s already asleep, I don''t wanna wake her up either. Ahh just shut up,'' Vice replied.


    ''Okay, okay, no need to get so defensive,'' Favian said.


    Vice walked back down the stairs and went to the couch, slumping down into it. The soft texture of the couch brought him to sleep better than any lullaby could.


    "Ahhh, my head," Vice said as he woke up from his sleep. He held his head tightly with his hand as it felt like his brain would explode any moment.


    ''What''s this?'' he thought as he noticed a warm, plump sensation on his chest.


    Vice rubbed at his eyes, trying to make sense of what was on top of him. Laying comfortably on him, with drool falling off her lips, onto his clothes, was Anne.


    "For gods sake Anne, not again," Vice muttered. He tried to move the petite girl off him, however she clung onto him tightly, and coiled around him like as he got up.


    "Good morning Vice. Did you sleep well, cos I did," Anne said with a giggle. Unlike Vice who looked sluggish from the night before, she was booming with vitality, as if the alcohol had no effect on her whatsoever.


    "What''s wrong? Why are you staring at me like that?"


    "Huh? Oh sorry. I spaced out," Vice replied.


    [DING! Would the host like to accept the quest ''Widow Maker''? Experience reward of 1000 experience and a random reward]


    ''Is there any more information available on the quest? Like what do I have to do?'' he thought.


    [DING! The system cannot give you any information on the quest until the host accepts it]


    Vice''s face contorted into a scowl, much to the surprise of Anne who was standing only a few meters away from him. "Wh-what? Is there something on my face?" she asked.


    Vice shook his head to the question, instead focusing his attention to the system. ''Fine, I accept the quest. I can just not do it if it''s too difficult.''


    [DING! The host has accepted the quest ''Widow Maker''. An mysterious figure is tormenting the family''s of Restok and killing off the husband''s of various women. Your objective is to find out who or what is causing this tragedy, and put a stop to it by any means necessary]


    ''Where do I even begin with that? What am I talking about, I don''t want to help those toxic humans from Restok who made my life a hell. No way system, forfeit the quest immediately,'' Vice thought.


    ''Haha I don''t think it''s as simple as saying you forfeit the quest Vice,'' Favian said.


    [DING! The host has accepted the quest and forfeiting will impose a 95% reduction of rewards earned for the next ten quests the host receives. If the host forfeits any further quests, the amount will be increased gradually]


    ''Told you,'' Favian said with a laugh.


    Vice slouched back into the couch before breathing out a long sigh. It was only now that he saw that Anne had been looking at him the whole time. "Sorry, I''m back now. Anyways I''ve gotta leave now, send me a message when you''re done with your end of the job."


    "For sure! See you later. Oh say hi to Angeline for me," she replied. Anne walked him to the door before giving him a long hug.


    Vice walked through the sunny streets with his hood across his head, despite it not covering his horns as they just pierced through it. Many stares came his way as he walked around, but he ignored each and every one of them, instead focusing on his walk to his temporary lodgings.


    It didn''t take too long for him to reach the hotel, and after quickly showing the hotel token to a different staff member from the night before, he reached the villa.


    "Mom, I''m back. Are you okay?" he asked loudly.


    "Yes, I''m in the kitchen," Angeline replied. As Vice walked into the kitchen he could see her cooking some things on the stove.


    "Huh? Mum you don''t need to cook, you can order some food from the kitchen," Vice said. His mother simply looked back at him and gave a tender smile. It was only then that he smelled what she was cooking, and he salivated in anticipation. "I-Is that your special salmon pasta? You haven''t made it in yearsˇ­"


    "Yes honey. I found some inspiration after I woke up today. Here eat up, I know how much you love this dish," she replied, handing Vice a porcelain plate with pasta and a tender,pink salmon that was covered in a red sauce.


    Vice hurriedly took the plate and gulfed down the contents, leaving not a single particle on it. The plate looked as clean, if not cleaner than it had been before the food was put on it. Vice was even able to see his reflection on it perfectly.


    "Thanks Mom, I needed that. I''ve got some work to do so just take it easy here. I put your medication next to your bedside table, make sure to take it," Vice said. He gave his mother a kiss on the forehead before he left the villa.


    ''Ahh I hate being out here during the day. But there''s nothing else I can do, I guess? I need to find some widows, first of all,'' he thought to himself. The sun was high up in the sky, and it was close to noon by now.


    Vice made his way to an information broker, as he needed some help with this quest of his. The system gave him no additional information, so he needed to take matters into his own hands.


    A small shabby building made completely out of wood stood in front of Vice. Its windows were tinted black, stopping any light from entering through. The rest of the street was desolate, with not a single building near where Vice was currently standing. Barely any people walked past despite it being the busiest time of the day.


    ''Awfully quiet don''t you think? Guess Jack''s got no new business as usual,'' Favian said.


    Vice walked through the fragile door with a confident stride. A bell rung as he opened the door, and immediately after a high-pitched voice called out to him. "Who''s there? Just give me one second I''m in the back."


    Vice waited behind a small counter, which only reached up to his hips. The interior lighting was extremely dim, with only a few candles that were placed on the walls adding brightness to the room. After a while, a small dwarf walked through the door behind the counter, bells jingling with every step that he took. His nose protruded out pretty far, and red dots were sprinkled across the dwarf''s snow-white skin. The dwarf opened his mouth wide in a smile as he came through to see Vice stood there.


    "Oh Vice, long time no see. What brings you here?" Jack asked. He ruffled through some metal pieces behind the counter as he spoke.


    "I need some information, apparently there''s been an influx of widows in Restok," Vice said.


    "Hmm widows?" Jack looked up at the boy towering him with a glint in his eyes. "Now that you mention it, I remember hearing some rumors about a widowmaker recently. Now if only I could rememberˇ­" he said as he rubbed at his head.


    CLANG


    A heavy bag filled to the brim with gold pieces was thrown onto the table, which Jack immediately grabbed. "Eight, Nine, Ten. Ten gold pieces, seems like it''s all in order. Okay, so I''ve heard recently that in the old residential district, more specifically in the Gwabu area, there have been sightings of a mysterious apparition at night. Every week without end one man will die there, and the cause of death is never known," Jack said.

 9 8

    Vice looked down at Jack with a face filled with curiosity. "Do you have any names of the women affected?"


    Jack shook the gold pouch against his ears, and then shrugged his shoulders whilst his brown eyes glinted mischievously. "I don''t know, I can''t really remember all of the little details you know. It''s the old age, it has finally come for me," he said.


    "Don''t make me jump over the counter, Jack. I know you''re not human but I will stillˇ­" Vice said with a menacing look as he let his mana run freely to his hands. The arcana in the surroundings surged toward Vice, and a thick, oppressive aura was released into the room.


    "O-Okay don''t make a mess in here, fine. I''ll write down a list of the women and where they live. That damn temper of yours, why is it only aimed at me all the time?" Jack said.


    "Because you do dumb shit like that," Vice said, his pitch-black eyes seemingly piercing through Jack''s soul.


    "Here. Take it before I change my mind," Jack said, not looking at Vice as he handed over the piece of paper. Almost fifteen different names and locations were written on the piece of paper in a red ink.


    "Thank you Jack, I''ll see you soon," Vice said, and walked out of the building. A fresh breeze hit Vice in the face the moment he exited, but only seconds after the smell of sewage made him regret not enjoying that initial breeze enough.


    ''So where to now buddy?'' Favian asked.


    ''We''ll go check out what some of these women have to say. This is almost like a treasure hunt isn''t it? Gotta get information from all these different sources before I can verify the location of the treasure,'' Vice thought.


    Vice strolled to the Gwabu area of the city. More traditional architecture littered this place, with expertly crafted wooden homes similar to the Oriental styled buildings back on Earth being the most common thing to see. The colors of the rainbow dotted across the landscape, with each house as colorful as the last, creating a unique atmosphere which couldn''t be found anywhere else in Restok.


    ''Okay we''re here, let''s seeˇ­ If we go to Madame Gazelle first, since she''s the closest, then we should be able to talk to almost half of the widows today,'' Vice thought. He walked up to a large building which beamed with a red and blue color, and used the door knocker.


    "One moment, I''m coming," a loud female voice replied, which was followed by hurried footsteps. Only a short moment later did the door open up, revealing to Vice an aged woman with blond hair and green eyes.


    "Hello, sorry for the wa-" the woman said. She looked at Vice''s eyes and horns with a panicked expression, and immediately ran back into her home, shutting the door behind her.


    Vice stared blankly at the door with his mouth wide open.


    ''HAHAHA, that''s never happened before. Tell me why that hasn''t happened more,'' Favian said as he laughed uncontrollably.


    Vice grabbed his head tightly trying to get the irritating squeal out of his mind. ''Stop laughing, this isn''t even funny.'' Vice gave out a long sigh, after which he stroke out the name Madame Gazelle from the list he had on the piece of paper. ''On to the next one then.''


    ''HAHAHA, ten of them. Ten of them all rejected you. Of course, your menacing looks don''t help you here. We should have been doing this type of work from the beginning instead of letting you hunt treasures,'' Favian said as he laughed madly.


    The sun was by now drooping low in the sky, its light weakly touching the ground. Vice was barely illuminated by the rays as he was stood in front of the eleventh name on the list, the wind breezing through the space between his two horns. He looked at the door with hesitation, but nonetheless knocked onto it.


    ''Hmm seems there''s nobody there,'' Vice thought after he waited by the door for a minute without response. Instead of turning back, however, he knocked onto it once more, much louder than before.


    "Yes I''ll be down in just a sec," a female voice said. Only seconds later was the blue door swung open. "How can I help you?" the woman said. Her blue eyes stared back calmly at Vice, who was able to notice dark circle underneath them.


    "Sorry to disturb you, are you Isabelle?" Vice asked.


    "Yes, is there something wrong?" Isabelle furrowed her brows as she asked the question.


    "I''m hoping that you could give me some information on the rumors of the widowmaker," Vice said quietly. The woman''s expression froze upon hearing the last word. She stared at Vice with a blank expression, and tried to move her mouth unsuccessfully.


    "I-I don''t know what you''re talking about. Have a nice day," she said before retreating back into her home.


    ''Hey do something! She''s got the information we need, just get her to listen to you,'' Favian said.


    Vice quickly thrust his foot between the woman and the door, stopping her from closing it completely. She jumped back in fright at the menacing aura accidentally given off by Vice. "Oh sorry, I didn''t mean to scare you. I''m here to find and kill the widowmaker, so please help me," he begged. "If we don''t do anything, more children and wives will be left defenseless here."


    Isabelle stared blankly at the sky for almost twenty seconds, as if contemplating very deeply, until finally replying in hushed tones, "Okay, but you''re going to have to be a lot quieter, we don''t need everyone to know about this issue here."


    Isabelle brought Vice into her home after motioning him in. A fruity fragrance of orange wafted through his nose the moment he entered, and the interior was only dimly lit by a few chandeliers on the ceiling. Colorful paintings were hung on the sides of the walls as Vice was brought through to the living room, where he promptly was asked to sit on.


    "Would you like anything to drink? I brought you some tea if you wanted it," Isabelle said sweetly as she came in with two porcelain cups filled with steaming liquids.


    "No thanks, I''m fine right now," Vice replied. "So what can you tell me about the widowmaker? What is it?"


    After taking a sip of the hot liquid in her cup, she sat down on a couch across from Vice and crossed her leg on top of the other. "It all started a couple months ago. At the annual spring festival here in the Gwabu area we held the competition for the ''Best Wife Award''. I know, it sounds stupid and pointless, but ever since that day a husband is taken away from us once a week. Without endˇ­" she said. Tears slowly filled the middle aged woman''s eyes, which she quickly wiped away.


    "What about kids? Do you know if any of the other women affected had any children?" Vice asked.


    "No, none of us had any kidsˇ­ Why do you ask?" Isabelle replied with a confused expression.


    "No reason. Anyways thanks for your time, I''ll try to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible," Vice said, after which he got up and left the room, committing the layout to memory.


    ˇ­


    ''So it''s been fifteen weeks since the first death. There hasn''t been a death yet this week, which means the widowmaker will show up soon. The last few women were at least able to give me some more information,'' Vice thought as he made his way to the last person he wanted to talk to. This woman wasn''t part of the list, however, as the winner of the ''Best Wife Award'' he simply needed to confirm some suspicions.


    "It''s already this dark, there''s probably no point in continuing the search today," Vice said as he looked up at the dark sky. Out of the corner of his eye, as he strolled out of the Gwabu area, Vice saw a dark apparition.


    "What was that?" he said as he rubbed his eyes. The image he''d just seen was gone from his vision, disappearing as if it never existed in the first place.


    [DING! Quest objective has been spotted, the host is suggested to proceed with caution]


    ''Already? Well done young one, you''ve got your first battle on the horizon. As long as you just do what I''ve taught you then I''m confident you have a chance,'' Favian said.


    ''Just a chance? That doesn''t sound good at all. Shit I need to catch up to it, system where is it?'' Vice thought as he hurriedly looked for the widowmaker.


    [DING! Tracking has been initialized, live coordinates are being transferred into the host''s mind]


    "AHHH," Vice screamed as he frantically clutched at his head. His brain felt like it was melting under a blazing inferno.

 10 9

    Vice was currently curled up on the floor, clutching at his head. The amount of pain he had just experienced was the greatest he''d ever had. It was only after five minutes of this agony that he finally picked himself up and dusted himself off. His pitch-black eyes were currently glowing in a peculiar blue light, much to his surprise as he could see blue lines on the floor in front of him.


    ''What the hell is this?'' Vice thought.


    ''The system''s given you the coordinates in real time you idiot. Go and follow them quickly, before you lose your target,'' Favian replied hectically.


    Vice sprinted toward the blue lines, ignoring most of his surroundings as he did so. The blue lines curved around any obstacles, and so he didn''t need to focus on anything other than running right now, as his mind was still a bit bogged by the previous influx of information from the system.


    ''System, is it always going to hurt this much when you do something like that?'' Vice asked as he jumped over a food cart.


    [DING! Affirmative]


    Vice sighed after hearing this and put his focus onto getting to his destination as soon as possible. There was a blue minimap engraved into his mind by the system, which he could visualize whenever he closed his eyes. The red dot that had been moving away at a fast speed was currently frozen at what seemed to be a house.


    ''Shit, it has found its target. I''m too far away right now to make it in time,'' he thought and tried to sprint even quicker than before.


    After almost ten minutes he finally arrived at the location. Vice was able to make out the large green house that had lots of shrubbery around it like a greenhouse. Roses, violets and sunflowers along with a multitude of different flowers were within Vice''s vision, and the moonlight made them all look mystical as if they were magical herbs.


    "AHHH, HELP ME," a female voice screamed out.


    The red dot that was within the minimap in Vice''s mind suddenly darted away from the building. Without a single thought he rushed after the dot.


    ''What is that? Is it a ghost?'' Vice thought as he stared at the widowmaker that was only a dozen meters ahead of him. It looked like the figure was wearing a wedding dress, and the long white dress dragged against the ground as it ran away. However, the proportions of the figures upper and lower body didn''t fit what he expected, as its lower body was many times larger than its upper body.


    ''Oh? I didn''t expect this turn of events. You''ll laugh when you find out, I think,'' Favian said softly.


    ''Favian do you know who this widowmaker is? Tell me if you do.''


    ''No, you''ll have to find out yourself dumbass,'' Favian replied, after which he went mute despite Vice continuously asking him the same question.


    "Fuck, guess I''m on my own then," Vice shouted. He wasn''t able to close the distance between himself and the widowmaker, much to his frustration. Whenever he tried to pick up the pace it would as well, almost as if it was toying with him.


    Vice had to weave through the small streets, many of which were filled with food stalls and other carts that impeded his movement. On the other hand the widowmaker was somehow able to move through them.


    ''Damn it, I didn''t want to use magic in the city or else I might have to deal with those pesky police forces,'' Vice thought. He''d been contemplating for a while but realized there was going to be no way for him to catch up at this rate.


    Purple wisps of arcana undulated around Vice''s hands, and tiny purple wisps crackled around it chaotically. A huge burst of mana was released from within Vice, thickening quickly until it solidified into a weapon. Two blackish-purple daggers sat in Vice''s hands.


    Vice looked at the weapons in his hands with rage, and threw them at the widowmaker. Immediately after throwing them he turned around and walked away.


    ''I fucking hate this chaotic roulette sometimes. What if this was a battle to the death and I was given such a useless weapon,'' Vice thought.


    ''You need to start embracing the chaos Vice. You need to become an expert in all of these weapons or else my teaching will become useless. And heyˇ­ what the hell there''s no need to call daggers useless, they''re really over powered actually,'' Favian said.


    Vice trudged back to his villa with his head drooped and knuckles clenched. The moment he made it back, after checking up on his mother who was comfortably sleeping, Vice went into his room and began to cultivate. Tendrils of different colored particle swooped into Vice''s chest as he sat in a meditative position. His horns glowed brightly as he cultivated, pulling at the particles with a strong gravitational force.


    Unlike regular humans who could only wait for the arcana particles to move toward them, Vice was able to instinctively pulled those particles from his surroundings, aiding in his cultivation greatly, and putting him in a category above almost all of his peers. Of course, there were individuals from rich families or families with a strong background in cultivation that were able to afford the expensive concoctions which Vice wasn''t able to.


    Vice sighed out in relief as he finished his meditation. His muscles felt a lot less tense than they had been for the stressful days he''d just been through. ''Cultivating always relaxes me so much, I''m glad,'' he thought as he slowly opened his eyes. He savored the refreshing feeling for as long as he could, until he finally felt the need to hop off and get back to work.


    [DING! The host has progressed to the next level by 10%]


    ''Huh? What''s this?'' Vice was jolted to his feet by the notification, which took him completely off guard.


    ''You progressed really far in one day is what it means. You haven''t cultivated since gaining this bracelet, so the reward seems pretty darn good,'' Favian said.


    Vice looked at the black bracelet on his left hand curiously. ''So you can boost my cultivation speed? What else can you do for me? Do you have a name?''


    [DING! To answer the host''s question, the system''s previous user named it Lee, however, feel free to rename the system at any point in time. And further functions will be organically given to the host, it would be a shame if the new host were to die from all of the information transfer available]


    ''Lee? Oh come on that''s such a stupid name. Hey Vice, name it something else. Something cool like Elon,'' Favian said.


    Vice stared at the mirror in his room blankly as he thought of a name. ''I don''t want to make it something pointless or without meaning. How about Virtue? It has the opposite meaning to mine,'' he thought.


    [DING! The system has now been renamed to Virtue. Thank you host, how would you prefer to be addressed as?] Virtue asked in its characteristic monotone voice in Vice''s head.


    ''Oh just call me Vice, there''s no need for anything different,'' he replied.


    ''And here you could have made it call you prince or even king. You''re really no fun most of the time Vice,'' Favian said.


    ''Oh, why don''t you go look for some other person to annoy Favian? Oh? Got nothing to say? That''s exactly what I thought,'' Vice thought with a smirk on his face.


    "Ahh it''s still dark outside, what should I do?" Vice muttered under his breath as he stared outside of his window. He then decided to take a quick shower and freshened himself up. After checking up on his mother, who was still asleep, Vice left for the woods.


    Restok as a city was covered by woodland and forest in all directions, and different roads were paved through to the different areas you could go to. The main road out of the city, which most carriages used, was the road to the main city of the human kingdom, Dia. This road was the most used, and therefore most highly protected road. This meant that a lot of merchants and travelers would use it to get to their destination, despite it being a detour.


    Vice walked past multiple carriages as he used the main road out of the city to reach thick into the beast range nearby. He wanted to fight something to test out his skills. Also, he was still furious about the incident previously against the widowmaker, and subconsciously wanted to relieve this stress against some creatures.


    The dimly lit road that was difficult for regular humans to navigate was expertly handled by Vice with his dark vision. Only a couple kilometers from the start of the road, Vice jumped into the tightly nit pine trees, disappearing into the thick foliage and bushes. Slowly the evergreen area transformed into a sickly brown, and the previous pine trees that stood tall in the area were instead replaced by weeping willows with brown leaves. Ravens cawed under the moonlight as Vice walked past the dreary area.

 11 10

    A pungent odor pervaded into Vice''s nostrils as he walked past a brownish-red monolith. The large rock towered over Vice at almost four times his height. ''Huh? I''ve never seen this thing here before, I wonder what it is?'' he thought as he stared at the thin red aura given off by the object. ''System, are you able to scan this thing?'' he asked.


    [DING! Error! The system is unable to scan the object] Virtue buzzed.


    ''Favian? Do you have any clue what this is?'' he asked as he walked up to the monolith and touched it with his hand. A warm sensation filled the palms of his hands, before they slowly started to heat up to a point where Vice couldn''t bear it anymore, and he thrust his hands away from the stone.


    ''Nope,'' Favian replied in a uncaring tone.


    Vice gave a long sigh as he stared at the monolith one last time, noting its exact location so that he could come back to investigate it in the future. He then leisurely walked further into the drab forest until he finally spotted something worthwhile to release his pent up anger on.


    Vice was currently perched up on one of the willow trees that were abundantly rooted in the area, and from his line of sight he could make out a snow white fox. The fox was moving slowly around a blue plant, which Vice wasn''t fully able to make out from this distance. It circled the plant multiple times and tried to bite it, only for a blue barrier to spring forth into existence, stopping its fangs from sinking into its target.


    ''Thatˇ­ looks valuable. My luck doesn''t seem too shitty today despite that damned widowmaker slipping through my fingers,'' Vice thought. He immediately let the mana from within his arcana core circulate around his body, until his palms were coated in a thick purplish layer. This time, however, instead of purplish wisps striking against his hands, a purple swirl of water akin to a tornado rotated in his palms. The swirling liquid continuously rotated in his hands at a high rate.


    Vice allowed the liquid in his hands to grow in size, until it was almost as big as a newborn baby. With a flick of his wrists the liquid left his hands and darted toward the white fox. Vice''s Chaotic Roulette was not only able to materialize weapons for him, but it also was able to cast elemental spells. Despite the liquids purplish appearance, it was a water elemental spell called Water Tornado, and had a high destructive force.


    CRASH


    The first Water Tornado smashed into the fox''s body, slinging it away more than ten feet. Brown leaves and black soil were flung into the air, but the blue plant stood unharmed, its barrier even thicker than before. The second Water Tornado that Vice cast had circled around the fox, and impacted it from behind. Again the fox was propelled into the air, and a loud shriek was heard from it as its bones cracked loudly. The purple liquid entered the animal''s orifices, its insides being turned into jelly by the acidic substance it was forced to ingest. Before the fox even fell to the ground, only a couple of feet away from the plant, it was already dead, unable to put up a fight.


    "Wow, those foxes are usually too fast for me to defeat with any of the weapons I get," Vice murmured. He slowly walked up toward the corpse of the animal, and instantly removed a small butchering knife from his spatial pouch. He used the knife to cut into the fox with high precision, and after making a large enough cut he plunge his hand into the still warm body of the fox. Vice wriggled his hand around for a while until they had onto something rock solid. He then grabbed onto the object and used all of his strength to remove his hand.


    A blue gem the size of a small fist was left in Vice''s bloodied hands. A viscous red liquid dripped off the gem and his hands, and the soil underneath sizzled as the fluid came into contact with it. Vice, however, was unaffected by the acidic nature of the fluid, and only a slight tingling sensation was felt as he wiggled his fingers around the gem.


    ''Hmm, this is an okay quality gem I guess. Nothing that''ll make my heart beat faster,'' Vice thought as he glanced at the item, before putting it into his spatial pouch.


    Vice moved toward the mysterious plant and was able to make out that it actually had two completely different pistils growing out of its stem. One was shining in a blue light, whilst the other was decayed and wilted into a brown color.


    "This barrier, it''s strong," Vice said as he tried to wrap his hands around the plant. He tried smashing the barrier with his fists, or cutting into it with his dagger, but to no avail. Even his Water Tornado was useless and left the plant unscathed.


    "What''s that?" Vice mumbled as his black eyes stared at a tiny area that the plant didn''t cover with its barrier. This small defect was only the size of a grain of sand, however Vice was able to spot it. He scrambled to his knees and took out the dagger from his spatial pouch before thrusting it into the defect.


    CRACK


    The barrier surrounding the plant shattered into tiny blue shards as sharp as glass, much to the dismay of Vice who had several shards lodge themselves into his hand. "Fuck," he shouted, and frantically removed the shards embedded into his brown skin. Thick purplish-red blood dropped from his wound onto the grass, and a similar sizzling sound happened as before with the fox''s blood.


    After taking a bandage and wrapping his wound tightly, Vice inspected the plant further. ''How the hell can a small plant like this even injure me? That''s just insane,'' he thought. Carefully, Vice dug into the ground near the flower. A pungent vapor akin to rotten durian fruit was released from the soil as Vice dug into it. Even for him, this smell was unbearable, and he covered his nose tightly with a bandanna that he removed from his pouch.


    "Damn this is disgusting, what in the hell is this stuff? Why can I still smell this foul thing?" he said. Finally, after digging for a few minutes, Vice found where the plant''s roots ended, and picked it up all in one go. Despite not knowing what it was, Vice believed this was some precious resource that he''d be able to fetch a lot of gold for or be able to use for his own cultivation.


    ''System, what is this thing? Can you tell me anything about it?'' he asked.


    [DING! Vice will need to upgrade this system before such a function becomes available]


    ''I expected as much,'' he thought as he gave a long sigh. With the precious resource placed into his pouch, he hastily made his way out of the forest. The sun was almost in the sky, with dawn approaching very soon by the time he''d finally left the forest.


    Vice was able to make his way back to the villa very quickly, and after checking up on his mother who was sleeping tightly, he went to his room and proceeded to sit down on his bed in a meditative position. Vice took out the blue gem he''d looted from the fox and absorbed the arcana from it. A blue aura was released from the gem as he held it, and the wisps of blue energy were absorbed into his body at an insanely quick rate. Only five minutes after he''d taken the gem out, it was already sucked dry, and it cracked into several pieces in his hands.


    Vice stared at the dulled gem pieces in his palm for a moment, before throwing them out of his window.


    [DING! Vice has cultivated to the next level by an additional 30%. Vice is now 40% along to leveling up] Virtue buzzed.


    Vice was stunned at this revelation, and stared blankly into the distance. ''So a trashy beast arcane core like that can net me so much power? I really am going to have to find some more and use them to cultivate further,'' he thought. He then spent the rest of the day cultivating, however the amount he gained from this session without an arcane core was considerably less. ''At least I''m halfway to the next level now,'' Vice thought.

 12 11

    A scorching heat encompassed the orchard behind Anne''s house, and multiple bees buzzed around from flower to flower, inadvertently pollinating the area. An extremely concentrated smell of summer fruits pervaded Anne''s nostrils as she walked through the orchard. She plucked all manner of fruits as she strolled along, including something that looked like a blueberry but many times larger, and blackberries and strawberries too. She had placed all of the fruits into a brown basket filled halfway with water. Anne hummed to herself as she made her way back to her house with a spring in her step.


    "Okay, let''s see," Anne mumbled as she looked at the barrel containing the Black Water given to her by Vice. She had seated herself by the sofa on her living room, and was inspecting the liquid very carefully with her eyes which had been augmented by her mana. The mana that flowed into her eyes caused them to sparkle like crazy, and allowed her to see the arcana particles in the substance.


    Water dripped onto her bright red floral sundress as she removed some of the fruits from the basket. She took the fruits and submerged them into the Black Water for a while. As she waited for her preparations to complete, she tied up her long black hair into a floral bun, using an assortment of flowers she''d previously plucked.


    "I''m going to hate this, but anything for you Vice," she said under her breath. Anne then took out the fruits from the Black Water, a thick black liquid dripped off of the items. She waited a moment for all of the excess liquid to fall back into the barrel, upon which she took the fully coated berries and threw them into her mouth. Without chewing she swallowed them whole.


    Anne''s face contorted in disgust, her lips twitching momentarily as she felt the urge to throw up the contents of her stomach. The bitter taste of the Black Water mixed with its highly viscous texture caused her to wretch violently. Her whole body was flung forward from her sofa, and a loud thud resounded through the room as she impacted against the floor.


    A bright yellow aura in the shape of a bear hovered above Anne''s body as she convulsed on the ground, thick black liquid drooling out of her lips. The image of the bear sniffed at the air. It''s nostrils soon became vacuums, and the minimal amounts of arcana within the barrel of Black Water were pulled into the bear. After a short amount of time, the barrel was sucked dry of all of the arcana within it, and the bear roared wildly, before jumping into Anne''s still convulsing body.


    Anne jumped up off the ground the moment the yellow bear came back into her. She slowly walked to her sofa, her steps a struggle, and let herself fall onto it. ''Ahh as soft as a cloud,'' she thought. Anne rubbed her muscles slowly, the motion helping to ease some of the pain within them. She stifled a moan as she reached a lump in her calf, but soon massaged it with utmost care as she weaved in some yellowish arcana into it. Her calf stung as the arcana flowed into it, but Anne enjoyed the sensation.


    "Ahh this is the worst part," she mumbled, and held her head tightly. The girl slumped back into the couch, and closed her eyes tightly. The mana from within her arcane core gushed out, its color that of a sweet nectar, and surrounded her body in its light.


    "AHHH," she screamed as he clutched even tighter onto her head. Her brain felt like it was wriggling with thousands of worms who were eating through her. Not long after she began to convulse again, but this time she completely passed out.


    ˇ­


    Anne rubbed her head as she slowly opened her eyes. A lethargic feeling had filled her from head to toe, and she struggled to get onto her feet as her legs buckled against her command. After a couple of attempts, she was finally able to stand up.


    ''Ugh, where am I this time then?'' she thought as she looked around her surroundings. ''Oh right, I''m at Vice''s house. Of course where else would my spell take me when the Black Water was found there.''


    The girl leisurely walked toward the kitchen of Vice''s old home, the flames having yet to ensue. A tall man was stood in the middle of the kitchen, wearing nothing but black shorts. Anne was unable to see most of his facial features, as he was more of a blur to her eyes, however she was able to make out one very distinct feature. Two horns protruded from his head in the same manner that Vice''s did, and his eyes were also pitch-black.


    "Vice? Is that you?" Anne called out. She stood frozen to the spot with her mouth agape, unable to process the image in front of her. ''No, that can''t be right. There''s no way that''s Vice,'' she thought to herself. ''If only this image wasn''t such a blur.''


    The figure knelt down to the floor, and huge surge of arcana flashed into existence around its hand. A bright red flame burst forth, which the figure quickly threw into the barrel of Black Water. The man leisurely stood up and walked forward to where Anne was stood. He stared straight into her eyes, his nose only centimeters away from hers, before he maneuvered around the girl, and left the house. As the figure left, Anne was able to spot another distinct feature. The person wore a unique earring in its left ear that resembled a wolf fang.


    ''Wha-'' Anne thought, her heartbeat racing so fast that she thought it''d explode any moment now. ''He can''t have seen me through my spell, I''m just an observer looking at the past through the lens of his arcanaˇ­''


    The area quickly blurred as the flames in the Black Water barrel exploded outward, creating the raging inferno that would leave a Vice''s house destroyed beyond recognition. Anne was instantly transported out of this vision, as her body was flung into the ground.


    ˇ­


    Anne''s body lurched forward off the sofa, causing her to hit her head onto the coffee table. "Ouch," she said as he held onto her forehead which was now glowing brightly red. She rubbed the spot in circular motions until the pain subsided.


    ''Who was that?'' she thought to herself. Anne breathed in heavily as her heart wouldn''t stop shaking in fear. Her face had lost its usual color, and the spark in her yellow eyes was all but dulled. "I need to talk to Vice as soon as possible," she said to herself as beads of sweat dripped down from her forehead.


    She stared out of her window for a moment, it having long turned to night. "Vice, pick up already, this is important," Anne shouted into a large golden card.

 13 12

    Vice opened his eyes in alarm as he felt a buzzing from within his spatial pouch. Frantically he pushed his hand into the pouch by his side and removed the golden card within it, which was shining brightly. Wisps of arcana that could only be seen by a cultivator escaped the card, and Vice was able to hear Anne''s voice from within the card.


    "Vice pick up already, it''s really important," Anne shouted.


    "Hey I''m awake, what''s going on Anne? Are you out of breath?" Vice asked into the golden card. The card increased in size until it became bigger than his hand after he put his mana into it. Vice could now see Anne through the card, and noticed the dark circles under her yellow eyes.


    "Come over to mine now please, it''s easier if I explain it to you in person," she replied before cutting the call.


    Vice jumped off his bed, and after freshening himself up with a quick bath and brushing his teeth, he left the villa. He darted through the dark streets of Restok, using his mana to augment his speed. A short while later he was already at the front door of Anne''s home.


    "I''m here, can you tell me what''s going on Anne?" Vice asked as he entered without knocking. A putrid smell entered his nostrils as he walked closer to Anne who had streaks of a black tar-like liquid on her sundress. "What the hell is that smell? I can''t stand it," Vice said as he covered his nose, and immediately walked out into the orchard. The fresh breeze that was filled with a sweet scent from the fruits helped to cleanse his nostrils.


    "I used my magic to track back the arcana in the Black Water back to its source. It was weird, the person resembled you, a lot. I wasn''t sure if it was really you or not at first, but I noticed they wore a wolf fang earring on their left ear. The person had horns just like you, and eyes just like you as well. Except for that the person was too blurry and tried their best to cover their tracks," Anne said hurriedly.


    "Whoa slow down, they looked like me?" Vice asked. He rubbed his chin for a while as he was deep in thought. ''What do you think this means Favian?''


    ''No clue, it''s not my problem either. Just get powerful enough so that I can finally leave your damned body, I don''t wanna stay here forever you know that right?'' Favian replied.


    ''You really are the worst sometimes,'' Vice thought and gave a long sigh. "Are you able to track where this person is right now?" he asked.


    Anne shook her head before saying, "As of right now, no. I''m going to need a lot of resources that aren''t exactly cheap. I''m trying to find an expert here who covered his tracks really well. I am certain the person knows that I''m looking for them as well."


    "Shit. I''ve got enough money for whatever resources you need. If they know you''re looking for them, I think it''s best if you stick with me for now. Over my dead body will something happen to you," Vice said, clenching his fists hard until they turned white. He stared at Anne with resolve and said, ??? No isn''t an option. You''re staying close to me until we find this asshole."


    "Oh I-" Anne said as her face turned bright red. "Shit, I''m messy right now. Wait here I''m going to take a shower," she said as she frantically sprinted into her house.


    Vice heard a loud thump from within the house, and immediately ran into the house. "What happened? Are you okay?" he shouted as he reached the stairs.


    "I-I''m fine, I just tripped, hahaha," Anne replied, and continued her ascent without looking back at Vice.


    ''What is wrong with her? Did her tracking spell hurt her or something?'' Vice thought to himself.


    ''An actual idiot. My student is an actual idiot. At least he''s good at studying magic, or else I''d be doomed to die on this shit planet,'' Favian mumbled.


    Vice ignored the rumbling of his teacher, and instead waited for Anne outside, as he still was unable to stomach the stench inside the building. Instead of waiting idly by he decided to meditate as he waited for Anne, and about half an hour later she came downstairs.


    Vice stared at her in awe as she wore a skin-tight black leather dress along. Her black hair that he presumed she''d just washed glistened unnaturally in the moonlight, and for the first time Vice''s heart skipped a beat. His eyes were drawn to her pink lips which were bigger than almost any person in Restok, however were perfect in size despite them not being the norm.


    "Is that lipstick?" Vice asked sheepishly as he stood up.


    "Yea, I''ve had it for ages but didn''t really feel like wearing it until now," she replied. "Like it?"


    "It looks good on you," Vice said as he touched his own lips, circling around them for a moment.


    "Oh, I-I''m glad you like it. So where are we going to go now?" Anne asked as she walked closer to Vice.


    "Hmm, I rented out a villa in the city, so we should go there for-"


    [DING! Tracking Initialized. Widowmaker has been found, coordinates are being transfered to the host] Virtue buzzed.


    Vice fell onto his knees and clutched his head. The pain was as bad as the last time the system had transfered the live coordinates to him, however it didn''t last as long. Vice was able to get back to his senses after a couple of seconds.


    "Are you okay?" Anne asked as she rushed over to him. Her hair waved about with a mind of its own.


    "It''s nothing, there''s something we need to sort out in the Gwabu area. You might want to tie your hair up, we''ve got a lot of running to do," Vice said. He waited for Anne to quickly do as he asked, and took off, sprinting away into the night. The heads up display from his system displayed the directions he should take, and just like the last time he was able to take the shortest path to his destination.


    Despite her small stature, Anne was able to keep up with Vice with ease, and ran side by side with him. "What''s wrong in the Gwabu area? Isn''t that just a residential place where all the married couples live?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in curiosity.


    "There''s something stalking the people there, it''s killing all of the married men. If we don''t get there quickly enough, another man will die tonight," Vice replied hurriedly.


    "Why haven''t you told Paul and the police force about this yet? And how do you know that we need to leave now?" Anne asked, but Vice simply ignored the questions and continued running at his fastest speed.


    After about half an hour of running at their top speeds, Vice and Anne arrived at the Gwabu area. Despite running for such a long distance, neither person was tired, displayed by the calm breathing displayed by them both.


    The residential district was deathly quiet, as they carefully jogged through it. ''Something is not right,'' Vice thought. "This is too quiet, even at a time like this there''ll always be a light on somewhere or maybe even some animal noises. Something is off here," Vice said. He looked around vigilantly, his eyes focusing on anything that seemed out of th ordinary.


    "Vice, look at this," Anne said in a shrill voice as she pointed to the ground where there was a small fork in the path they were on. A bloodied black spider leg was on the floor. What was most appalling, however, was that a decapitated head was laying next to it, it''s eyes long having been gouged out.


    "This is too big for a spider leg, what is going on here?" Vice said quietly as he walked forward to the mess on the floor. As he got closer, the smell of rotten flesh entered his nostrils, however he didn''t budge one bit because of it. The head on the floor looked to be that of man, but it was already decomposed beyond recognition. The only features that Vice could make out were the unnaturally chiseled jawline of the individual.


    ''Huh? What''s this?'' Vice thought as he saw a rather strange sigil on the wall the head was laying by. A rune in the shape of a twelve legged spider was glowing in a red light, taking up only a small portion of the wall.


    "Hey Anne, do you know what this is?" Vice asked as he touched the sigil.


    "Shit, get your hand away from th-" she screamed, but before the words could leave her mouth a blinding light engulfed the pair, followed by a crackling sound similar to thunder.

 14 13

    ''I take back what I said. My student is a complete and utter idiot. Fucking hells,'' Favian said. ''You''re damn lucky that I don''t have my own body to control, or else I would''ve smacked you to death already.''


    Favian''s annoyed voice brought Vice back to his bearings. He groaned in pain as he tried to get up back up onto his feet, but it soon became clear to him that his feet were bound tightly. Blood was rushing to his brain and it was only then that he realized he was hanging from his feet.


    "What?" Vice said in alarm as he opened his eyes to see his feet covered in a silky white substance. It took him a while to realize that those were webs that covered his feet. Vice squirmed around frantically, but his feet weren''t free no matter how much strength he tried to put into them. Even by pushing his mana into his feet to augment their strength he still was unable to achieve any results.


    "Shit, Anne? Wake up Anne, we''re in trouble," Vice shouted to the seemingly lifeless body of his friend that was hung upside down beside him. Fortunately for him his hands weren''t wrapped as tightly as his feet were, and he quickly burst through those shackles.


    "Come on Anne, you need to wake up," he said as he nudged her with his hands. The girl still didn''t wake up, however.


    ''Just give her a slap, I''m sure she''ll wake up by that,'' Favian murmured.


    "FUCK," Vice screamed, and went with the suggestion made by his teacher. He swung his right palm which he''d imbued with some of his mana, directly onto Anne''s back. A loud thud resounded through the area, and the girl was jolted awake immediately. A green vapor was forced out of her pores by Vice''s hit, and dissipated into the air.


    "Wh-What happened? Vice is that you?" Anne said, each syllable seemingly being forced out of her frame with difficulty.


    "We''re trapped somewhere. I don''t know why they didn''t just kill us, but I''m sure this widowmaker didn''t expect us to wake up this soon. Here lemme help with your hands," Vice said and quickly helped Anne break free from the bindings on her hands. "Help me with my feet, the drop isn''t too far."


    Anne obliged and sent a bolt of yellow energy hurtling for Vice''s feet. The silky restraint was quickly torn asunder, and Vice crashed head first onto the ground. "Ouch," he mumbled as he rubbed his head. "Do the same for yourself, I''ll catch you don''t worry."


    Again Anne obliged, and sent a bolt toward he own feet. Vice was able to soften her fall as he caught her in his arms. For a moment he stared into her eyes, but immediately pushed the thought he''d just had out of his mind. "We need to get outta here, and as soon as possible at that," he said.


    Vice was finally able to get a better look of his surroundings. Everything was tinted in a crimson light, and a soft red vapor was constantly circulating around him. Multiple bones were strewn about in the room he was currently in, femurs, craniums, you name it and it was there. These bones were mostly suspended in the air by silky webs all around Vice. A pungent odor of vinegar and sewage entered his nostrils, and he noticed Anne covering her nose from the smell, her face contorted in disgust.


    "We won''t be able to just get out of here Vice. That rune you touched, it''s brought us to a different dimension. It''s going to take a lot more than just running to get out of here, heck, unless you can break through dimensions with some spell of yours then we''re stuck here until we kill the owner of this realm," Anne said. She stared at Vice with an expression he wasn''t able to discern.


    "I''m sorryˇ­ We need to prepare then, we can''t just blindly run away if what you are saying is true," Vice replied. He looked around the room hastily, until he found a larger than average door that could accompany three of him side by side. However, multiple thick webs blocked his way to the door.


    Purple arcana sparkled about in his two hands as he let the mana burst forth from within himself. After casting for a short while, purple flames burst into existence from his hands. Vice played around with them briefly, changing their size and shape until they completely covered both of his hands.


    ''Just the luck I needed. The roullette isn''t always bad I guess,'' he thought to himself.


    ''I''m pretty sure you cursed my perfect technique vehemently the last time you tried to catch this widowmaker no?'' Favian asked.


    ''Shh nobody asked you,'' Vice replied.


    Vice walked up to the nearest webs and let the flames from his hands burst forth like a flamethrower. His eyes furrowed as the silky webs didn''t initially melt away, however after putting in some more mana into his hands, he was easily able to destroy it.


    "These aren''t normal spider webs, they are fortified by some arcana," Vice said. He could feel a unique tingling sensation when he touched the webs, and after pushing his mana to his eyes to augment them, he was able to see that there were red strands of arcana surrounding the white webs.


    ??Stop marveling at the damn web, you''ve got more important things to worry about right now, like WHAT made those webs maybe?'' Favian''s voice echoed in Vice''s mind with annoyance.


    "Wait a second Vice, do you see that?" Anne asked as she pointed to the ground next to the large oak door.


    Vice''s augmented eyes moved toward where his companion was pointing, and he immediately gasped. A trail of blood made its way to the door, but that wasn''t what caught his surprise. The oak door didn''t fully touch the ground, and in the small gap between the door and the ground, a large concentration of arcana swirled around. Thick black wisps of arcana covered the bottom half of the door, and a shadow could be seen moving about slightly behind the door.


    Vice pushed his finger onto his lips as he looked at Anne, and then frantically looked about the bone-filled room to find a different exit. Slowly Vice descended into madness, his eyes twitching manically as he couldn''t find any other means of escape except for the clearly booby-trapped door. There were no windows in the room, and the only source of light seemed to be some red candles which were hung upside down on the ceiling.


    ''Fuck, what can I even do here? The only way forward is through that damn do- Wait a second, what''s that?'' Vice thought. A dull blue light caught his attention from the corner of his eyes. The blue light emanated from a pile of bones by a wall opposite to the large oak door.


    Vice carefully made his way to the heap, moving his feet ever so slowly to not make any noise. As he inched closer, the blue light became clearer for him to see, and he wondered how he hadn''t noticed it in the first place. ''Maybe the fog or mist here does something weird to the light in here?'' he thought.


    A fresh breeze entered Vice''s nose, which he quickly breathed in. The pungent smell from the room still lingered slightly in his nose, but the fresh air was a nice surprise. Vice very slowly moved the heap of bones out of the way with the help of Anne, who wasn''t covering her nose from the room''s stench now.


    An even brighter blue light was emitted through the room as the pair finally removed each of the bones from the pile and carefully placed them away to the side. "What do you think it is?" Vice mouthed to Anne, who simply shrugged in reply.


    A metal trapdoor was built into the ground, and the blue light surged through it. Not only did it smell as fresh as a summer breeze, but Vice could even sense a thick amount of arcana was hidden beneath it. There wasn''t a handle on the trapdoor however. ''We''ve seen this a thousand times already, no door handle just means push your mana into it to open it,'' Vice thought to himself.


    He quickly took some of the flames from his hands and pushed them onto the trapdoor. Almost immediately the door swung open and hit Vice square in the chin. His head lurched back, and it felt like it had been knocked clean off his neck.


    "Are you okay?" Anne asked frantically. She held onto his head with care, and caressed his horns softly. Vice could still see some blinding stars in his vision but the nice sensation of Anne stroking his horns brought him back to reality. His face immediately blushed as the sensation felt too nice, much to his surprise.


    "What?" Anne mouthed as Vice stared at her with his red cheeks.

 15 15

    "Puh."


    Blood gushed out of Vice''s mouth as a spider leg broke through the barrier cast by Anne and his shield. The leg was pierced into Vice''s stomach, who was slowly lifted up into the air until he reached the Jorogumos face.


    "Isabelle?" Vice mumbled as he was able to get a closer look at the face of his attacker. The blue eyes of Isabelle stared back at him menacingly, as if she didn''t recognize him. Saliva dripped from her mouth as she opened it wide enough to be able to fit Vice into it whole.


    Vice struggled with all of his strength to push himself off the leg, however his strength was sapped away by the second, until he simply stared at the gaping mouth that was about to end him.


    ''So I''ll die with such a rotten stench as my last memory? What did I ever do to deserve such treatment,'' Vice thought. Soon after he finished thinking this, his vision blurred until everything was dark. No sounds. No feeling in his body. Nothing.


    A calm feeling washed over Vice, and he felt himself swimming underwater. His mind was eased from all of the painful memories and bad thoughts he held within himself. He didn''t think anymore, he just went with the water and waves, moving his hands instinctively.


    "Hate to break your beauty sleep, but can you wake up already?" Favian shouted. For the first time Vice was able to see what his teacher looked like. The first striking feature he noticed was that the man was tall. Very tall, almost twice his own size. His eyes glinted like purple gems, and his silky hair was similarly purple and fell all the way to his lower back.


    "What''s going on? Where am I?" Vice asked as he looked around. All that his eye could see was the dark blue ocean he was submerged in, however he was able to breath like normal despite being underwater.


    "We''re deep inside your unconscious mind right now. You should come visit me here more often, it''s a pretty interesting place," Favian said as he gave a warm smile, displaying all of his pearly teeth.


    "I canˇ­ Come here? How?" Vice asked as he rubbed his horns in confusion.


    "Actually let me rephrase, I can let you in here whenever I want to. Time works a little bit differently here as well, but we''ll get to that in the future Vice. Now give me your hand, we need to get you out of here already, you''ve been sleeping for far too long," Favian replied.


    "Sleeping? Wasn''t I just fighting the widowmaker?" Vice asked. Before his question could be answered Favian grabbed his hand and pressed down hard onto it. Vice shot up out of the water, and was propelled high up into the sky.


    "WOAH," Vice screamed as his body lurched forward, waking him up from his slumber.


    "Steady there, you''re fine Vice," Paul said. He rested his hand on Vice''s shoulder briefly, before saying, "The danger is gone."


    "What happened?" Vice questioned in a low voice as he tried to move his body up. The words came out with difficulty and he immediately clutched his stomach as there was a stinging sensation there.


    "Just stay down and rest a bit Vice. You''re so lucky that you called me when you did. If you''d been even a couple of seconds later then we wouldn''t have been able to save you from thatˇ­ monstrosity. Anyways, long story short we killed it," Paul said as he tapped his shirt. Vice noticed that Paul wasn''t wearing his formal police uniform right now. Only a t-shirt and boxers.


    "Where''s Anne? Is she okay?"


    "She''s fine, you should be worrying more about yourself since you took all of the damage my friend. Anyways, just stay here for a couple of hours until you''re healed up completely. We could definitely use your help, the worst of it isn''t over yetˇ­" Paul said before walking out of the room.


    The room Vice was in was relatively small, however he knew that he was currently in one of Restok''s many hospitals due to the high concentration of light arcana particles in the air around him. These particles were slowly but steadily healing him, and he could feel the vitality come back to him.


    As he looked around the room, Vice noticed a sweet lavender smell from a teacup on a table only arms reach away from him. ''Thank the gods that you aren''t further away,'' he thought to himself. As he took a sip from the beverage, he moaned in pleasure. The tea was exquisite, and went down smoothly with its fruity flavor. The liquid was imbued with healing properties, which Vice was instantly able to notice and the stinging sensation from his stomach was lessening in intensity.


    ˇ­


    Vice spent the next few days recuperating by his hospital bed. He felt like he was ready to leave after the first day, however both Anne and Paul were adamant that he rests for longer. As such, he didn''t fight against the only two people he could truly call his friends.


    "Mom it''s fine, I''ll be back home in a couple of days. Just stay safe okay and keep taking your pills," Vice said into his golden card. He could see the worry in his mother''s eyes as he cut the call.


    "Phew, I think I''m more than ready to leave now," he said as he gave a long sigh. Vice stretched out his arms and legs before getting off the bed for the first time in what felt like years.


    ''Ahh that feels good. I''m finally more than just a sitting duck,'' he thought to himself.


    ''Duckˇ­ What a fitting name for my beyond stupid student. Not only did you almost die because of your blunder, but you haven''t even bother to use the system hidden inside that bracelet of yours. Why did I ever do to deserve this student. This is the greatest punishment of my life,'' Favian said.


    ''Oh right, I completely forgot about that,'' Vice thought and rubbed his head sheepishly. ''Virtue, what''s my status?''


    [DING! The host has completed the quest ''Widow Maker''. An experience reward of 1000 has been given to Vice, along with a random reward. Please choose from letter''s A, B, or C for this random reward] Virtue buzzed in his mind.


    ''Uhh, let''s go with option B.''


    [DING! The host has received the reward ''Second Sense''. This will allow the host''s intuition to reach above and beyond the limits capable for a humanˇ­ For a demi-human such as yourself]


    ''Demi-human? I''m not surprised I mean look at these horns,'' Vice thought as he rubbed them slowly. ''Virtue can you give me all of the possible ways to spend these experience points?'' he asked.


    [DING! The host can increase their stats, however the amount of experience required to increase a stat increases with each point put into it. The host can also choose from a variety of quality of life improvements]


    Vice stared blankly out of the window of his hospital room as he conversed with Virtue. ''What are these quality of life improvements you speak of?'' he asked.


    [DING! With 1000 experience the host can buy one quality of life change. Due to the low experience amount the host has, you will only be able to gain a random quality of life change, such as a permanent virtual minimap that will display any and all hostiles in a radius around the host]


    ''Damn, just that alone is tempting me to gamble here. What should I do?'' he asked himself. Vice deliberated for a couple of minutes as he paced about the hospital, until finally reaching an answer. ''Increase all of my stats by one point.''


    [DING! All stats have been increased by one point. Health points and Mana points have increased as a result of this. Vice''s stats currently read as follows:


    Health points: 1500, Mana points: 7000, Intelligence: 4, Strength: 3.5, Agility: 4, Constitution: 6.


    The host has no experience left as each Strength, Agility and Constitution stat increases required 100 experience whilst a 200 experience cost came for the previously upgraded intelligence stat, and a 250 experience cost came for increasing the host''s Health Points and Mana Points]


    Vice''s body shook viciously as a large amount of arcana was released from the bracelet on his wrist. The energy enveloped him completely, and an uncomfortable pricking sensation went throughout his body, from his toes to his brain. He could feel his muscles being forced to expand and grow whilst the same thing happened to his brain. Every fiber of his being wanted to clutch onto his head to ease the throbbing pain, however his limbs weren''t responsive as they themselves were also being put through an excruciating time.


    "AHH," he screamed off the top of his lungs. After a couple of seconds the pain finally subsided for Vice.

 16 Chapter 16

    "What''s going on? Vice what happened?" Anne asked as she came sprinting into the room. Her face was filled with worry as she stared at Vice.


    "Nothing, I''m fine," he replied and simply shrugged his shoulders. Vice still wore a pained expression on his face as he tried to move his newly improved body around stiffly. ''Okay this feels good now,'' he thought as he did some jumping jacks.


    "What are you doing?" Anne asked, her eyes glinting curiously.


    "Making sure I can move properlyˇ­ How are you? Did you get injured a-" before Vice could finish his question he was stopped by the full weight of Anne being thrust onto him. She hugged him tightly, much to his surprise. Vice was momentarily stunned and didn''t know where to put his hands. "Hey, everything is fine," Vice said softly as he rubbed her back. He could feel the tears that were running down from Anne''s eyes as his shirt was extremely thin.


    "Paul said that he needs our help as soon as possible," Anne said as she pulled herself away from Vice. She wiped the tears from her eyes before continuing, "I told him we''ll get there to help out once you''re healthy."


    "I''m sorry by the wayˇ­ I put us in so much danger because of my own inexperience, I hope you can forgive me Anne," Vice said solemnly.


    "H-Huh? Don''t apologize Vice, we have more important things to take care of right now. Follow me," Anne replied. She strutted out of the room confidently with Vice following in tow.


    ''Why''s it so busy here? The hospitals usually don''t have this many people in it,'' Vice thought to himself as he followed Anne. The hospital was filled with injured men and the metallic smell of blood was present wherever Vice walked. "Anne, what''s going on? Why are there so many injured people here right now?" Vice asked.


    "The Gwabu areaˇ­ Whilst we were lucky to have Paul get there for us in the nick of time, others weren''t so lucky," she said as she looked towards a bloodied man missing both his arms and legs. The man was in a daze, and a nurse was constantly pushing what seemed to be illusion arcana particles to push him away from reality. "The Jorogumo have taken over Gwabu, that''s where we are headed right now."


    ''Favian, got any tips I can use or something?'' Vice thought.


    ''Nope. Go figure it out yourself dumbass, I''m not your butler,'' Favian replied.


    Vice clenched his teeth hard but continued walking as if nothing happened. The sun was up high in the sky, however there were barely any people to be seen once Vice and Anne made their way closer to the Gwabu area. Vice was sweating like crazy under the harsh sun rays, and had to take out a napkin from his spatial pouch to wipe away the sweat.


    [DING! The system has made an interesting discovery. Similarly to this system''s previous owner, the host seems to be more suited to the night. The host''s stats are decreased during the daytime, and all stats have been reduced by 0.5 whilst all spells require twice the amount of mana to cast. Damage received by the host is also doubled] Virtue buzzed.


    Vice stopped in his tracks as he heard this notification. ''Thatˇ­ Is not good. I think I understand and have always felt that, but I didn''t realize it''s this drastic,'' he thought to himself. ''System, is there a way to circumvent this issue?''


    [DING! At the host''s current level no. In the future, the system may or may not be able to help the host depending on how much experience he may have gained by then]


    ''Vague, I love it. You''re just like that ass of a teacher I have here,'' Vice thought.


    ''Love you too my devilish student,'' Favian replied.


    "What''s up? We need to get there quickly Vice," Anne said as she looked back to the frozen Vice.


    After a short while the pair reached their destination. A huge blue barrier in the shape of a dome had been erected around the Gwabu area, and many officers were stationed around it. As Vice looked through the barrier, he could only see a red fog similar to what he''d seen when he was transported to the different realm with Anne. The thickness and concentration of arcana from within the barrier was felt by Vice, however he simply shrugged it off, unsurprised.


    The pair walked up to the barrier, where they were stopped by one of the officers, who looked to be in his mid-20s. He wore a blue uniform that was immaculately ironed. "Ah, cultivators Anne and Vice. Sergeant Paul told us to bring you to him the moment you arrived here. Follow me."


    ''Huh, what an interesting amulet he has there,'' Vice thought to himself as he caught a glance of a spider hung beneath the officer''s collar.


    Vice was quickly brought around the barrier until he reached a large blue tent. As he entered the tent, he saw Paul was seated around a small table with three other people. Vice knew who all three of these people were, and it would be difficult to not know them with his status as a cultivator.


    "He''s come, our Treasure Hunters Guild''s young ace. Vice, come and take a seat," a middle aged lady said. Her voice was sweet and smooth. Her face, however, was covered by a rather frightening mask that looked like a red demon. She exuded a dangerous amount of arcana that ferociously attacked anything in her vicinity. This was fine though as everyone else in the tent was also a cultivator, so they were protected from any harm.


    "Master Cally, what brings you here?" Vice said, his eyes opened wide in shock. He''d seen this woman few enough times to be able to count the instances on two fingers. She did help him join the Treasure Hunters Guild, however, and without her he probably wouldn''t have been given a chance to join due to the nature of his heritage.


    "This issue we have right now can completely change the landscape of this city. Of course I would be here. Not at all because that pocket dimension where you mysteriously disappeared into might have treasures," Cally replied. Vice was certain she was smirking and had winked at him under the mask.


    "Okay enough small talk, the issue is still large at hand," a young man said. He looked to be only slightly older than Vice, however his hair was already grayed, and dark bags could be seen hanging under his eyes. "Anne, good that you''re here. Come, I''ll need your memories for just a second to determine exactly what we''re up against."


    "Of course Master Ablerus," Anne replied. She walked up to him slowly before disabling her arcane core and purging all the mana from within her system. Vice raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw this, as he himself knew that a cultivator was at their most vulnerable when they disabled their own arcane core as they couldn''t produce any mana.


    "Interesting, so it truly is a pocket dimension. I sense there are a lot of tormented souls within that realm, this must be the doing of a high level demon," Ablerus said in a low tone.


    ''So that''s how the Mages Guild leader looks like. I''m gonna be honest, I''m not impressed. At his age I was already running rampant through the universe,'' Favian said.


    "A high level demon? Interesting, if we combine all of our forces, then we should be able to vanquish this evil right? My adventurers would gladly take up this task for the right paymentˇ­ How much is the police force willing to spend for us?" a bulky man said. His hair was shaved to a buzz cut, and his face was extremely chiseled. His muscles moved as he spoke, and Vice sensed that every fiber of that man''s body was augmented with mana to a ridiculous extent.


    "The chief told me that he''s willing to spend this amount for the Adventurers Guild. The Treasure Hunters Guild is allowed to take any valuables from the dimension whilst the Mages Guild is allowed to take any magical artifacts that can be verified to further our knowledge of magic," Paul said as he handed the bulky man, Delron, a piece of paper.


    "Bring everyone here, tell them they''ll be rewarded handsomely for their time and efforts," Delron said as he spoke into a platinum card.


    "We''ve got that out of the way, finally. Now we need to talk strategy. I''m only here to represent the police force, however I know that each of you three has more experience than me in just your pinky fingers," Paul said. He ruffled through his blond hair as he spoke.


    "Actually, I''d like to hear from that young man over there. An interesting fellow to say the least. Cally, I wonder how that prodigy of yours would solve this issue," Ablerus said as he glared at Vice, a curious light within his eyes. He tapped his fingers against the small table, as if in anticipation for his answer, or lack of an answer to the problem.

 17 Chapter 17

    Vice stared calmly at Ablerus, able to sense the disdain within the man''s voice. "Let''s send you to the front lines. Problem solved," Vice said as he glared back at the man.


    ''Hahaha, you''re one crazy little shit Vice, have I ever told you that,'' Favian said.


    ''Shut it, he''s being an asshole because of the way that I look,'' Vice replied to the voice in his mind.


    Ablerus'' face contorted into a raged expression and he bared his teeth like a wild animal. Just as he was about to say something, he was interrupted by the woman seated next to him.


    "HAHAHA, this boy is just too much," Cally said as she burst into a fit of laughter. The previous tension in the room was instantly relieved, and the soured face that Ablerus had just been giving Vice was instead replaced by an annoyed look towards the woman. "I quite like that idea of yours Vice, we''ll let those pesky people from the Mages Guild go in first, whilst we loot the whole pocket dimension, how about that? Oops, did I say that out loud?" Cally asked as she quickly put her hand to where her mouth was beneath the mask. Only seconds later she fell into another hearty fit of laughter.


    "Alright you two, no need to get so riled up, you aren''t immature twenty year olds anymore," Delron said. He lifted Ablerus up from his chair with ease, and sat himself in the middle of the two. "This''ll do right? Before you two start arguing. My ears can''t handle any more bickering from you both."


    ''What is going on here? They''reˇ­ not what I expected. I knew that Master Cally is a bit, different, but all three of them?'' Vice thought to himself.


    "Always ruining my fun Delron, you know he''s such an easily aggravated old man," Cally said. "What we should do is send a small force in to scout ahead for us and note the layout. I suggest we take one or two members from each guild and the police force. It''ll do good for training as well. Any objections?"


    Silence.


    "Well that settles it, Vice you??ll be the lone member representing our Treasure Hunters Guild. I trust you''ll remember your priorities," she said. Despite Vice not being able to see her expression underneath the mask, he knew exactly what she meant. Cally wanted him to search for treasure whilst he was there, even if it was at the cost of spending more time in the pocket dimension.


    "Yes Master Cally," Vice replied solemnly, and bowed down to his hips.


    ˇ­


    Vice was currently stood at the main entrance to the pocket dimension. The blue barrier dome had a door cut into it here, allowing for people to enter and exit at will. However, Vice was told that this was the one and only entrance and exit. If the party needed to retreat, then they''d have to run back to this entrance.


    Both Paul and Anne were next to Vice, along with four other individuals who were filled to the brim with mana. The same person who''d brought Vice and Anne to the tent was now part of their party.


    "Okay people, I''ve been granted leadership of this excursion, so make sure you listen to what I say. We don''t need too many chefs in the kitchen," Paul said. "Jason here will be in charge of healing. Despite his timid appearance, I trust him with my life!" Paul gave Jason a swift pat on the back before continuing, "Everyone just introduce what you''ll do for the team."


    Jason stood very sheepishly next to Paul, his hair a dark red color, with his eyes being the same. He was by far the shortest in the group, only reaching up to Vice''s chest.


    "I''m Austin, and this is Jake. We''re from the Adventurers Guild so I''m sure you won''t be surprised that we''ll be your defense. We''ll act as tanks against the enemies we find in there," Austin, a tall and muscular male said. Both he and Jake looked identical, with Vice concluding that they were twins. They two men looked a to be in their mid twenties, and their black skin looked extremely smooth.


    "I''m Favor, I''m from the Mages Guild and my magical studies have been focused on water magic. I''m as good at attacking as I am at utility, so please take care of me," the girl said and bowed. Her dark brown hair was tied up into two ponytails.


    "Hi I''m Anne, and I''m also from the Mages Guild. I specialize in tracking magic and have some healing magic in my repertoire. I will mainly be casting barriers however, to protect the tanks," Anne said in her sweet voice. After speaking she looked at Vice, who simply didn''t say a thing despite him knowing everyone was waiting for his introduction.


    "Ahh sorry, that''s Vice. He''s a bit of aˇ­ different individual. He''ll warm up to you and speak to you all at some point I bet. He''ll be our main damage source alongside myself," Paul said. "Alright, let''s get on with it."


    The sun was still high in the sky, and Vice could feel the draining effects that it had on his strength. The group of seven walked in through the door in the barrier. Everyone except for him had already materialized their weapons or spells before entering. Vice looked around vigilantly from the middle of the group, staring at the weapons of his allies in the process. The moment he cross the threshold between the material plane and this pocket dimension Vice''s lungs heaved heavily. The thickness of the arcana was difficult to get used to on his first few breaths, but after a while his body got used to taking in much more arcana from the surroundings than it was used to.


    "Ahh what is this smell? This is just disgusting," Favor said. Her black hands covered her nose as she stared around, almost vomiting from the stench.


    Vice ignored the girl and instead scanned the area they had just walked into. The crimson fog was heavy in the air, and it was difficult to see more than ten meters in the distance. A pungent rotting smell of decomposed corpses hung in the air, however Vice wasn''t bothered by it one bit. He was stood comfortably within the formation. Austin took the front, with a sword and shield in his hands, whilst Jake took the rear with the same weaponry.


    "Okay everyone, we move forward very slowly. And I mean it when I say very slowly, Austin make sure you don''t go too fast," Paul said.


    The group was only able to cover a small area, and it would have been difficult to truly create a layout for the area due to the fog, but this was easily circumvented through the use of magic. Each member of the group had a golden card in their spatial pouches, and this would be able to scan their surroundings and send the information to the headquarters without them needed to do anything extra. The card, also known as a CC or communication card, was owned by all of the members of the guilds and the police force.


    [DING! Hostile forces approaching from the right, coordinates are being transferred to the host right now] Virtue buzzed into Vice''s mind.


    Vice frantically held onto his head before the pain could even settle in. Holding his head seemed to put a damper on how much his brain felt like it''d explode, and after a second the uncomfortable sensation left.


    "To the right, we''re being attacked," Vice shouted as he prepared himself for battle. He let the mana burst forth from his arcana core, which circulated around his body until finally wisps of purple energy sprung forth from his hands. A claymore materialized into Vice''s hand, which he quickly swung in the direction of the opponent. A purple half moon crescent of energy was released by the blade, which cut through the fog to reveal five Jorogumos.


    CRASH


    The energy wave released by Vice crashed into the closest enemy''s legs, slicing them off completely. The Jorogumo had all of its legs removed by the one attack, and fell to the floor with a loud thud. Blood gushed out of its torn limbs and it screamed out in pain. Before it could try to stop its bleeding, a different Jorogumo pierced its brain with its leg, and devoured its slain companion whole, its mouth opened wide enough to put more than twice its size in.


    "Protect the side," Paul shouted toward Austin and Jake, who quickly sprung forward and stood side by side with their shields defending against the attacks from the monsters. A thin yellow barrier covered their shields, with Anne concentrating hard to sustain the barrier on those two items. Vice knew that this was a lot easier to sustain for Anne than a whole body, as she''d done previously with himself.


    WOOSH


    Multiple arrows imbued with red energy were sent flying to the Jorogumos, with Paul constantly releasing more arrows from his flaming bow. The relentless barrage of arrows combined with Vice''s purple crescent moon slashes put the enemies on the defensive.

 18 Chapter 18

    "SKREE."


    The last remaining Jorogumo shouted wildly as a bolt of torrent of water flung it high up into the air. Moments after it exploded, and its black blood and guts spread everywhere in the vicinity, painting Vice and his companions in that color. Vice glared at Favor who had used that ability just now and thought, ''Couldn''t she have used something else? This blood is so sticky.''


    "Good stuff everyone, we have to be even more vigilant. Had it not been for Vice then we''d have been completely taken by surprise," Paul said as he huffed and puffed to regain his breath. All of the other individuals were similarly catching their breaths and allowing the thick arcana in the surroundings to restore the mana they''d just used up.


    Vice, on the other hand, was in a better shape than the others, and instead observed the surroundings for any hostiles. "The fog seems less thick," Vice said as he looked around. He could not only feel that the arcana in the area had weakened slightly, but it was much easier to look about in this crimson area.


    "You''re right, I can see much further into the distance right now. Maybe killing those beasts has something to do with that? Just a thought don''t take that as a fact," Favor said. Her eyebrows were arched up as she stared at Vice with curiosity in her eyes, much to the ire of Anne who glared at her fellow Mages Guild recruit. "You''re like a demon, right? Does that give you certain powers or what''s that all about?" Favor asked as she pointed at Vice''s horns.


    Vice was momentarily startled, and his mouth was wide agape as nobody had ever asked such a direct question which didn''t feel like it was meant to be an insult. He wanted to say something, but wasn''t sure what to say to answer that question. ''I don''t know myself,'' he thought to himself.


    "Hey you can''t just ask something like that," Anne said angrily.


    "Why not? It''s just a question. I''m interested in how that works," Favor replied, her hands stroking her chin.


    "This isn''t the time for squabbles, we''ve been given a task and we need to carry it out now!" Paul said. The group immediately went back into formation and began moving forward. Their formation was a slight bit more lax as they could finally see where they were going a little bit better.


    The ground that Vice walked on felt like a mixture between soil and concrete, a weird sensation which he wasn''t able to fully pinpoint. Everything he saw made him believe that this was the Gwabu area, as there were still many of the houses he''d seen before in the area. ''Favian, do you know what this place is? Or why does it look like the Gwabu area but doesn''t feel like it at all?'' Vice thought.


    ''That''s because this is a different dimension moron. They work in weird and wonderful ways. Most of the time the dimensions will just use the landscape of the material plane, where you reside, to format their own plane,'' Favian replied. ''Don''t be surprised if a wormhole opens up from underneath you and swallows you whole, hahaha.''


    Vice shivered at the thought, and looked down at the ground carefully to find the signs of any irregularities. The group barely talked as they walked, and the eerie silence mixed with the foreign plane started to make Vice feel uncomfortable. Before this could manifest into anything, the party reached a weird landmark. Right in front of them was a humongous dome made completely out of a white silk.


    "These are spider websˇ­" Anne said. "The same ones from when we got trapped here Vice."


    ''How many spiders do you need to create a dome of almost twenty meters in height,'' Vice thought as he nodded toward Anne.


    "I think we''ve reached out destination. There''s a huge dome made out of spider webs in front of us, I think there could be hundreds of Jorogumos hidden in there," Paul said into a golden card. "Yes. Alright we''ll turn back now."


    "What''d they say?" Austin and Jake said eagerly. Despite their huge muscles and chiseled faces, Vice sensed a certain childishness hidden inside them as they stared with puppy dog eyes at Paul.


    "They will bring reinforcements now. We are to turn back and take a rest back outside until we are called to come back here again. Okay, let''s go!" Paul said.


    "Hey, what''s that over there?" Jason asked as he pointed to a far away location with his right hand.


    Paul instantly looked at where Jason pointed, his blue eyes shot out to the side after which his face dropped.


    ''DO NOT LOOK WHERE HE JUST LOOKED. I WILL KILL YOU MYSELF IF YOU DO VICE,'' Favian said. His voice echoed loudly within Vice''s mind, so much so that he had to clutch his head tightly for a moment.


    After regaining his bearings Vice realized that all of his companions were similarly frozen to the spot with their heads dropped, and saliva was even falling from Anne''s lips. Vice had made sure not to look to his right, where Paul and presumably the others had looked to.


    Vice instantly ran back they way they''d come after picking up Anne. The decision wasn''t a difficult one for him to make either, as she had the information on who tried to kill his mother. There were no thoughts in Vice''s mind, just a deathly silence. He moved his feet one after the other, and that rhythm was the only thing he sensed.


    "Something bad has happened, everyone except for me and Anne are stuck by the spider dome," Vice said into his golden card which he promptly put back into his spatial pouch after relaying the message.


    As he ran he tried to shake Anne awake, however she was completely frozen, and her fingers were curled up tightly. It was almost as if she''d been petrified by a gorgon, yet she at least hadn''t been turned into a statue.


    "SKREE." "SKREE."


    Two loud guttural screams erupted from the distance, and the sound of cement being crushed by a powerful force filled Vice''s ears.


    [DING! Two hostile forces are about to converge on to the host''s location shortly. The host is advised to take any defensive measure possible]


    "Fuck," Vice mumbled before dropping Anne to the ground.


    ''Just because I like this girl a lot I''m going to give you a tip. Take out that plant you killed a cute ass little fox for and put it in her mouth,'' Favian said.


    ''What? Why? I don''t have time for your stupid games Favian,'' Vice quickly replied.


    ''Fine just leave her to die then. It''s not like I''ve saved you dozens of times. No not at all, why would you listen to me anyways? I''m just an aged old man who has lived for centuries -''


    ''Okay just shut up, I''ll do it,'' Vice thought. He frantically reached for his spatial pouch and removed the plant that had a blue and a brown colored pistil. He then pushed the plant into Anne''s mouth, after which a strong blue barrier formed around her body. The barrier wasn''t able to accomodate Vice however, as it only reached a couple of centimeters off Anne''s skin.


    Vice breathed out a sigh of relief, but was instantly brought back to reality as he heard the Jorogumos coming even closer. His mouth contorted into a frown as he let the mana from within his body burst forth into his hands. Purple flames crackled brightly in both of his hands, leaving a warm sensation on his palms. Vice continued to push in even more mana than usual into the spell until each flame became as big as a boulder.


    "Skree?" one Jorogumo voiced as it came closer to Vice, before turning around and running away. It''s human hands swung about aimlessly as it tried to propel itself further away from Vice. Before the creature could get even five meters away, a purple inferno akin to a flamethrower engulfed it completely. The human-spider amalgamation was burned into a pile of ash before it could even put up a fight, and a charred smell rose through the air and reached Vice.


    The second Jorogumo that was running at Vice received a similar treatment, and was instantly killed under the high temperature of the fireball that was flung from Vice''s hands. A large explosion sounded out as it was hit, and a crater was left where it stood.


    "Phew, the perfect weapon. You gotta love to see that," Vice mumbled as he took in deep breaths. The air was becoming easier for him to breath in, and the fog was again cleared up a tiny bit. From where he was stood he could make out almost 20 meters up ahead.


    "WHAT?" Vice gasped as he look into the distance. His mouth twitched uncontrollably as the dome made out of spider webs was once again in front of him, along with the frozen statues that were his five party members.

 19 Chapter 19

    ''I could have sworn I was running in the opposite direction. What the fuck is going on here?'' Vice thought to himself as beads of sweat began to drip from his forehead. His eyes opened in alarm as he noticed that Paul and the others were being strung around into a cocoon by multiple Jorogumos, who for some reason had not noticed Vice yet. They twirled their webs around expertly and used their extremely sharp legs to weave them around them effortlessly. Each one of the Jorogumos looked identical, with the only unique one to Vice being the widowmaker due to the dress it wore.


    ''If I throw my flames at them I might injure the others as well. Shit, what do I even do here?'' he thought to himself. ''I can''t run away since it just brings me back to here, but if I fight I might just dieˇ­''


    As the different scenarios played in his head, Vice was swayed to fight and protect the others by a single memory. He remembered when he first met Paul and Anne at the orphanage. Unlike the other kids, they had been extremely nice to him from the first day, and didn''t ask about his appearance which differed vastly to their own. He even remembered getting into multiple brawls with the other kids only to be helped out by Paul, who always protected him no matter what.


    ''I can''t believe I left Paul behind earlier. What have I become?'' he thought.


    Vice''s insides started to feel drained as he let more mana flow into his hands again, creating large fireballs in both hands again. Sweat was now profusely dripping from his forehead, and he knew he couldn''t cast many more of these fireballs. ''Luckily these beasts seem vulnerable to my flames.''


    Vice thrust his palms forward, and with that motion two massive fireballs went hurtling to the Jorogumo that were wrapping his companions into silky cocoons. The flames caught them by surprise, however they were too close to each other and mitigated the damage taken by each other. Five Jorogumo were pushed back a couple of meters by the fireball explosion, which only minimally damage Paul and the others.


    ''So I was right, the silk protected them a bit,'' Vice thought. Deafening screams of the Jorogumo jolted him back to his senses, and he instantly threw two more massive fireballs at their direction.


    The flames crashed into the enemies, and started to sizzle away at their skin. High-pitched screeches filled the air, and two of the creatures fell to the ground, unmoving. Vice stood still in shock as the remaining three Jorogumo opted to run into the silky dome instead of fighting him. ''Why are they so scared of these flames?'' he wondered as he ran up to his companions, making sure to shield his eyes from whatever had petrified them.


    "What is going on here? Can any of you hear me?" Vice asked to no response. Vice continued to ask questions until finally his patience had run out and he grabbed Paul by the shoulders and shook him powerfully.


    "Ahh, what''s going on? Vice, is that you?" Paul said in an almost inaudible tone. He looked at Vice with a grogginess in his eyes, which were completely fogged up with a red tint. Slowly the redness left his eyes, upon which he jumped out of Vice''s grip. "Woah what''s going on? Why''s everyone stood like that?" he asked.


    "Fuck if I know. We need wake everyone up before more Jorogumo come here. I think putting flames on them will wake them up, and those beasts are also afraid of flames," Vice said as he hastily grabbed onto Austin and Jake with his purple flames.


    "Uhhh, OW OW OW," Austin shouted as his body lurched back uncontrollably. He patted his shoulders frantically and blew onto where the flames had touched him.


    "Enough playing around, we''ve gotta get out of here! Wait, where''s Anne? Vice?" Paul said as he looked around worriedly.


    "This way, follow me everyone. Keep your eyes to the ground, don''t look around needlessly, and if anyone seems like they are frozen to the spot, take some flames and touch them with it," Vice said without taking a look back at the others who were still stood idly.


    Vice walked up to where Anne was, and took out the plant out of her mouth, before placing it back into his spatial pouch. It felt a little lighter than before, however he didn''t think too much about that. Instead, Vice used his flames to touch Anne, who was quickly jolted awake as well with what looked like a spasm. Her back and knees cracked loudly as she got back to her bearings.


    "Ahh, my head. What happened?" Anne asked as she scratched the black hair that was in a bun on her head. "Woah easy there," Anne shrieked as Vice pulled her onto her feet.


    "We don''t have the time, we need to get out of here," Vice said.


    The group quickly went back into their previous formation, and began to move to the opposite direction of the webbed dome. Vice was panting heavily as they sped away, his flames having died out already.


    "Are you okay?" Anne asked, concern written all over her face.


    "I''m fine," Vice replied bluntly. His energy had been almost completely used up in the previous fights, and he hadn''t the time to recuperate yet.


    "Take this, it''s a mana potion. It''s currently a prototype but it should help alleviate some of your issues," Favor said and handed vice a small vial filled with a silver liquid. Vice glanced at the liquid suspiciously, before she continued, "Don''t worry, it''s not poisoned or anything. Just ask your girlfriend over there she''s had some of these before. We don''t need dead weight here with you, you know that right?"


    "Hey! I''m not hisˇ­ Anyways if it wasn''t for him we''d all be seriously screwed right about now so be nicer," Anne said angrily. "You can drink the potion Vice, I promise that it isn''t going to harm you in any way. It''ll just, taste a little bit bad."


    Vice took the potion and poured its contents down his throat. A gelatinous sensation filled his mouth and a heavy metallic after taste urged Vice to throw up the contents of the vial. However, he held his mouth closed tightly with his hands as he began to retch uncontrollably. After a couple of moments he no longer felt the need to vomit, but the disgusting metallic taste continued to linger on his tongue.


    ''Huh, this feels weird, but in a good way. My arcane core is having its energy replenished a lot quicker, and the mana circulating my body is becoming denser,'' Vice thought to himself. He could very vividly feel the arcane core, that was housed somewhere between his lungs and heart, pumping out lots of mana. The mana flowed around his muscles and tissue, repairing them rapidly which allowed him to feel replenished, as if he''d had a short rest.


    "Okay, let''s keep going. We don''t have all the time in the world," Paul said authoritatively, after which the group moved onward. The twins continued to protect the front and rear of the group, whilst Vice and Paul were right in the middle, with Anne and Favor to either side of them.


    ''Woah if I didn''t know that he was here, I''d have never noticed that Jason fellow. His aura is so elusive, I can''t even remember seeing him getting petrified,'' Vice thought to himself. Suddenly, he stopped moving, and the cogs in his brain began to move at a thousand miles an hour. ''Wait. I''m not thinking about this wrong, he didn''t get petrified. Then why is he here all fine?''


    ''Ahh my student is about to learn another fine lesson. Well, actually, you''ve already learned that not everybody can be trusted,'' Favian mumbled.


    Vice glared at Jason, allowing his aura to exude forth. A dominating pressure reached the red haired youth, and he quickly turned around to look at Vice. "I-Is something of the matter?" he asked.


    "I don''t remember seeing you earlier, when I was rescuing everyone from their frozen state," Vice snarled. "Want to explain to me how that happened?"


    Before Jason could get any words out, Vice had already let his mana burst forth into his hands, and two daggers materialized into them. A dark purple liquid dripped off the tips of the daggers, and when it touched the ground a sizzling sound emanated.


    "Wh-What do you mean? Paul used some flames to save me back there. Right Paul?" he asked as he stared directly at Paul. Jason slowly cowered away from Vice, who was walking closer to him, until he was only a hairs breadth away with his dagger pointed toward Jason''s neck.


    "I smell bullshit," Vice shouted.