~~~Lionel~~~


    The surroundings flashed and it took a few seconds before ourvision normalized, wegot teleported to a woodland along with a few other ghouls whom we easily dispatched soon after.We had to use the remaining healing potions. While Lynnette, threated the rest of our wounds using her healing magic, when she had finished, she gulped down two bottles of energy potion before resting under a tree.


    "What fuck happened at Witzlarn Lionel?! It''s like you already knew what was going on there!" [Grant]


    Grant angrily walked over and grabbed meby the collar.


    "Get your hands off Lionel!" [Artemis]


    Artemis swiped at Grant for grabbing my collar. I wouldn''t blame him because I deserved it.


    "Grant, stand down." [Hughes]


    "This isn''t your problem, Hughes. No more games Lionel, spit it out!" [Grant]


    "G-Grant..." [Lynnette]


    I stared into Grant''s eyes and recounted the events that happened that day.


    A few months ago, the Emperor received a report that a town had unearthed a book during a renovation on one of its old buildings. It is said that the book contained magical symbolsfrom ancient times. Malik, who was intriguedby it, asked his Excellencyfor meretrieve it along with a few soldiers. When we had got to Witzlarn the one whounearthed the book had disappeared with it, the person of interest has no particular affinity nor knowledge of magic. So, we assumed he may have fled and sold it somewhereafter discerning that it was rare and very important.


    Exhaustedat the distance we traveled, I instructed the soldiers to take a rest andsince the whereabouts of the book is unknown, I told them that at daybreak we will fly back to the capital. The following day, a few townsfolk came to us looking for help, therehad been two people who had recentlygone missing. Some of them had accused us that we had done somethingand I knowing our soldiers,have denied any involvement and immediatelyconducted an investigation.


    As the days passed more and more people have gone missing, from our findings, the disappearances only happenedat nighttime. We had initially thought that it was a monster attack, but the absence of bodies and remains led to something else, possibly human involvement. After issuinga curfew it has somehow halted, that is... until it is our soldiersthat who had begun to disappear... The total number at that time was seventeen, which gradually ballooned to twenty-two the following day.Before nightfall, I orderedthe soldiers to gather the remaining townspeoplein the townhall and create a perimeter.


    Two days had passed and it was uneventful,but at the third... the ghouls attacked. Being prepared we easily fought them off and managed totrack a lone ghoul that retreated into the woods. It went back to a person you could say as it''s master, whoworea black hood over its head.


    The ghoul spoke in an unintelligible dialogue as if reporting to its master what had happened. The master stroked the chin of the undead and with a nod, led it into the forest. It lifted both of its arms in the air and began to chant words that we were not able to understand. Only then, that I noticed that it was holdingthe book in its right hand... when it began to show strangemovements we ambushed them. I had amputated the head and hand of the master, then I checked fortheir identity and pulled down its hood, the head was that of a human...


    "Wait, a human that could control the undead?!" [Artemis]


    "Yes, I was also astonished when I discovered that." [Lionel]


    "Could that book be a..." [Lynnette]


    I nodded to Lynnette. Since she is a magician who likes spending her time at the imperial library, this information isn''t new to her.


    "Grimoire..." [Artemis]


    "Eh? Are you familiar with grimoires too Emi?" [Lynnette]


    "My parents used to tell me stories about them ce- back in the day." [Artemis]


    For a split second, Artemis and I made eye contact and I continued on with the story.


    The book in its hand had this unusual cover which made out of skin of some sort. I wasabout to pick it up but stopped shortwhen it gave me a weird feeling. Just then, a magicianwith our soldiers took it and flipped at its pages, I observed from afar and saw that everything was normal.


    With the book in our custody, we went back to Witzlarn and as we arrive the magician held his arms up. I was only able to know when I heard a fellow of his who was beside me asking about the magicians weird behavior. I killed the magician to the soldiers surprise and shouted not to touch the book, soon after, screamsbegan to echo at the townhall. As we got there, wespotted a black magic circle that was dissipating over the building, we only barged inwhen it has ceased...


    Everyone inside was screaming as their bodies twitched and twisted, bending into unforeseen proportions. Their neck turning at 180° and spines bent in the opposite direction. Aside from it being already horrifying just to watch. It also began to happen to the children... their eyes turned bloodshot watered with red tears running down their face as they cry in agony...moments later, their lifeless bodies littered the hall.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Soon, there was again a sign of movement, a soldier went to the aid of a child that was slowly moving its fingers. Taking a potion from his pocket and before administering it... he was bitten at the neck. The child had ripped a huge chunk of flesh that it sprayed blood all over him. Afterwitnessing what had happened I shifted my focus on the other bodies and realized that they had allstarted to move too, with haste I ordered the soldiers to surround out of the building and shouted not tolet even a single ghoul escape, as it is still not clearly understood how they can multiply...


    As the ghouls exited the building, our soldiers were baffled at the sight of them. Though most look normal, their contorted bodies gave away their facade. A few soldiers refused to strike down the women and children which made it somewhat troublesome... The fight was intense but we only hadminor losses, althoughthe same couldn''tbe said for the townspeople... they were all wiped out by whatever that spell was in the book...


    To make sure that a diseasewouldn''t spread, we cremated all of the dead. Shortly thereafter, Idestroyed the book because I deemed it to be far too dangerous, for I fear that if anyone were to randomly come into contact with it and they''ll use it against us, let alone inthe capital...


    Only when we got back that I was told by Malik that the book was indeed a grimoire.


    "What are they? Those grimoires?" [Grant]


    "They are accursed bookswhich had powerful spellslocked inside of them. It is said that whoever gets a hold of a grimoire is able to use the spells within it despite not having prior knowledge, nor the ability to wield magic, but at the cost of losing your own sanity..." [Lynnette]


    "Isn''t what you''re holding also a..." [Grant]


    "No, this is a tome that I had created tohelp me efficiently cast my spells because they were too complex." [Lynnette]


    "I see... but who is crazy enough to make those books?" [Grants]


    "They say that it was created by a race who were banished a long time ago. As for their purpose, no one knows..." [Artemis]


    "Which race are they?" [Hughes]


    "From what I had read, they were once a race whom we fought during theancient war. As for their name, however, it was omitted from the history books." [Lynnette]


    "Thesaid race wassaid to have been so powerful that the Humans, elves, dwarfs, and demi-humans were forced to band all of their armies together in order to fight them." [Artemis]


    "So they were like the undead and wyverns?" [Hughes]


    "No, Hughes. They were much... much worse..." [Artemis]


    "Grant, do you remember the tale of the four great heroes?" [Lynnette]


    "Yes,I used to play and act like them duringmy childhood." [Grant]


    The four great heroes, people who hailed fromthe coalition of races,they were all brought together by grief, tragedy, and hardship. Fighting for the ones they love and theothers they had lost...they are the only people who are capable of fighting the saidrace on equal footing...


    Most of the things weuse and know today came from them. From the human''sweapon skills,demi-humans body strengthening, elves Invoke and Cast type magic, and the dwarfs for the discovery of Mithril.There are a few others, though some were lostthrough the years...


    "Then, what about the reaper?" [Grant]


    "It may have only wandered into the town while we were absent." [Lionel]


    "Alright... and that woman we are after?" [Grant]


    "What about her?" [Lionel]


    "Don''t lie to me! I saw you looking at her after she used thatweirdmagic. She had no reason for saving us!" [Grant]


    "I am just as confused as you are." [Lionel]


    "Bullshit! Maybe you are both into something?" [Grant]


    "Gra-" [Hughes]


    "Don''t bother Hughes, he won''t listen to whatever I say." [Lionel]


    "I will reportyou and see to it that somethingto be done at your actions!" [Grant]


    "Wait, Grant! You shouldn''t!" [Lynnette]


    After hearing that Lynnette stood up ran up to Grant. Most of us knew that Grant is from anoble family that is close to the Emperor and knowing him, his words could sway some powerful figures.


    "Are you sureabout that?" [Lionel]


    "Yes! And when I''m done I will have you tried for conspiracy!" [Grant]


    "Then you are aware that what you''re going sayis going up against the Emperor?" [Lionel]


    "That''s..." [Grant]


    When he realized his mistake, Grant backed down.


    "Lynnette, toHerxheim please so we could restock our supplies." [Lionel]


    "... Okay..." [Lynnette]


    It is most likely that by the time we finished resupplying, they will have managed to pass through the trail could be anywhere by now...The other side of the mountain is chock full of towns andvillagesseparated into multiple pathsthat it would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. Searching after this is going to be difficult...


    ~~~Angelica~~~


    (Yawn...)


    My back hurts...


    "You okay?" [Jody]


    "Yeah," I answered while stretching.


    "Ifmy hunch is correct we are almost out of the trail." [Spencer]


    "That''s good to hear!" [Angelica]


    I felt recharged when I heard that the end was in sight,for some time now I had been managing the road nonstop, sitting at the front the saddle likethe statue of liberty with one hand up. Well, the reason forit is because I needed to aim the magic crystal in order to create the road as we slowly progressed through the path. Hmm... how could I explain it in simple terms...


    It''s like using a remote to operatethe television, as the remote being the magic crystal and the television as the designated target. We all know the fact that if you don''t point the remote towards the television then it won''t pick up the infrared signal from the remote''s lens, so it wouldn''t turn on/off or change channels. Although that is not always the case... because some spells had different requirements like thoseof areaof effect.


    Isearched for Matthew andfound him still moping from where he sat from earlier, he''s not glaring at me which is a good sign or he''s probably thinking up a few ways to kill me lol.


    "Spencer! Could you take a look at this?" [Jody]


    I was startled when Jody called for Spencer. When I looked back to the front there were multiple diverging paths all of which are unmarked...


    "Well, this is a problem..." [Spencer]


    That doesn''t sound good... Jody and I worriedly exchanged glances.


    "No need to be all serious. I was just joking hahaha!" [Spencer]


    I was also going to laugh but then felt a negative aura beside me.


    "Seems like we forgot to leave someone back at Witzlarn." [Jody]


    Jody glanced at me as if asking for my input. Sheis probably isn''t in a joking mood right now...


    "Y-yeah, maybe you want t-to take a stroll back to the c-city Spen... cer..." [Angelica]


    Jody smiles as she hunched by Spencer whispering something into his ear.


    "I-I''M SORRY!! C-COME LET''S USE THE P-PATH ON T-THE F-FAR RIGHT!" [Spencer]


    Spencer walks in a robotic fashion as he points towards the path.


    "Spencer, get in the wagon." [Angelica]


    He doesn''t even hear me as we pass.


    "Err... Jody?" [Angelica]


    "Mmn?" [Jody]


    She looks my way while still maintaining her smile as if saying "is there a problem?" I rest my case and ignored Spencer who was slowly being left behind...