“Whoa…
so many dead bodies,” a petite, dark-haired girl said playfully,
squatting nearby poking at the scattered bones.
“Lady
Vivy, we are here to investigate,” said a tall, bearded man in
light gray armor and a blue cape. His hair was swept back, and he
carried a peculiar spear in hand.
“I
know that much, Drek.” She pouted
Behind
Drek stood three others.
“Did
that border bastard really send us here?” spat a tall woman with
long brown hair. She wore dark, chunky armor that looked like it had
seen its fair share of battles.
“Miss
Thalia, please don’t insult Mr. Stain,” said a male priest in
black and white robes, his tone calm.
“What
do you know about that bastard, eh, Wez?” Thalia shot back, resting
her war hammer on the loose sand with a thud.
“Nathan,
is this the location?” Vivy asked, her expression playful.
“Yes,
Lady Vivy,” confirmed Nathan, the tracer, holding a stone
apparatus.
“Alright.”
Vivy began skipping across the battlefield carefree, despite the grim
scene. Drek followed closely behind like a silent bodyguard.
Bones
of slaves and bone-eaters poked out of the sand, the remnants of the
conflict. An acidic stench lingered in the air, and the desert
scavengers had picked away at all the remaining rotting flesh.
“Didn’t
Stain say one slave was missing?” Vivy asked, tilting her head as
she surveyed the scene.
“Yes,
Lady Vivy,” Drek responded. “And he mentioned signs of a second
Elder bone-eater.”
“Hmm…”
Vivy hummed thoughtfully, crouching to examine the remains of the
Elder bone-eater with her gloved hand.
“Stain
suspects foul play—someone else’s involvement,” Drek explained.
Vivy
poked her finger into the sand and unearthed something next to a
slave’s
corpse. Her fingers brushed against a thin frame.
Her
emerald eyes scanned the area around the body. Near the corpse, she
noticed skull fragments—some crushed beyond recognition, while
others remained intact.
From
the damage, Vivy deduced that the Elder bone-eater had crushed the
slave’s
head. On the slave’s wrist was a shackle with a chain attached, the
other shackle at the end of the chain broken cleanly, as if sliced.
Running
her fingers along the metal links, she noticed a faint purple soot
clinging to her glove. A smirk spread across her face.
<i>I
see</i><i>…
that’s the case,</i>
she thought, her expression turning amused.
Straightening
up, Vivy brushed off her gloves and walked back to the group.
Thalia
and Wez were bickering loudly, while Nathan stood to the side,
clutching the stone device awkwardly as he tried to focus.
“Nathan,
do you sense any beings nearby?” Vivy asked with a bright smile.
Startled,
Nathan quickly checked the glowing runes on his device.
“No
signs of life in the vicinity, Lady Vivy.”
“I
see,” Vivy said, clasping her hands together. The sound echoed
sharply across the desert, snapping everyone’s attention toward
her.
Thalia
and Wez ceased their argument and turned to face Vivy, while Nathan
shifted uncomfortably.
“I’ve
made some important findings,” Vivy announced with a toothy grin.
“This isn’t just a case of single interference.”
Her
grin widened as she raised two fingers.
“There
are <i>two</i>
interferences.”This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“Two?”
Thalia asked, narrowing her eyes. “How?”
“Let’s
start with the location,” Vivy said, gesturing toward Thalia.
“Don’t you find it odd that there are monsters on this path?”
“Yes,
but cases like this, though rare, have happened in the past,” Wez
chimed in.
“But
these bone-eaters aren’t from here,” Vivy explained, a smile
playing on her lips. “They’re from the west. Their bones are a
bit longer.”
“Huh?”
Nathan looked puzzled. “Longer bones? I don’t see any
difference.”
“Of
course you don’t,” Vivy said, turning to him with a playful
expression. “Most wouldn’t notice. But the bone-eaters from the
west of the Sands of Zaras’th have noticeably longer arm and leg
bones.”
“Why
is that?” Thalia looked skeptical.
“It’s
likely because they fight more beasts in the west. Their bodies adapt
to the harsher environment,” Vivy explained.
Drek
frowned “So,
Lady Vivy, are you saying someone brought two Elder bone-eaters from
the west to attack the Squire?”
“Exactly,
Drek,” Vivy said with a nod. “I’ve also detected faint traces
of magic on the bone-eaters.”
“What
about the other interference?” Thalia asked, shifting her weight
uncomfortably.
Vivy’s
smile vanished, her expression growing serious. “That’s a much
bigger problem,” she said.
“What
do you mean?” Wez asked cautiously.
“I
don’t know who killed the second Elder bone-eater,” Vivy
admitted.
“Killed?”
“Yes.
The second Elder bone-eater wasn’t just defeated. It was killed and
reduced to ashes,” Vivy said grimly.
Wez
studied her carefully. “You
seem to have some idea, Lady Vivy.”
“I’m
not... too sure,” Vivy said hesitantly. “But it’s clear we’ll
need more time to track them.”
Drek
asked, “Should
we call for knights from the estate, Lady Vivy?”
“Yes,
and tell them to bring the Chains of Submission,” Vivy said firmly.
Everyone’s
eyes widened at her request. The Chains of Submission were a powerful
relic belonging to Vivy’s noble family, passed down to the family
heir since the Mythical Era.
“Chains
of Submission? Are you saying the threat is at that level?” Thalia
asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.
“Yes,”
Vivy admitted without hesitation.
She
called Nathan and Wez aside, lowering her voice. “There
is a slave missing. I need you both to track him down.”
“Track?
Using the Slave Seal?” Wez asked.
“Yes,”
Vivy confirmed, before turning to Nathan. “Nathan, can you look
into something right now?”
“Of
course, as you command, Lady Vivy,” Nathan said with a nod.
She
handed him her glove, which had faint traces of purple soot on it.
Vivy could sense magical energy emanating from the soot but lacked
the skill to identify or trace it. Nathan, however, specialized in
such tasks.
Taking
the glove, Nathan placed it on his stone device and activated the
glowing glyphs. The device emitted a faint hum, but suddenly, Nathan
shivered violently. His face contorted in pain as the device slipped
from his grasp, landing softly in the loose sand.
“What
happened?” Vivy asked, her voice sharp with concern.
“Barriers!”
Nathan gasped, clutching his head. “Damn it! My head is spinning!”
Wez
stepped forward, clutching the long blue gemstone on his bracelet.
“By
the grace of Lord Zaras’th, grant me the power to heal this man’s
pain and relieve him of his suffering.”
A
soothing light-blue aura enveloped Nathan, and moments later, his
pained expression relaxed.
Nathan
finally stabilized and stood, still wincing from the aftereffects.
“What
did you see?” Vivy asked, her concern evident.
“Multiple
barriers—anti-tracking ones,” Nathan explained, rubbing his
temple.
“Barriers?
So someone who came here set them up?”
“Yes,
Lady Vivy. And these aren’t your standard barriers,” Nathan
sighed. “They’re complex.”
Gears
turned in Vivy’s
mind.
“Can
you examine the barrier again, Nathan?” she asked after a pause.
“Wez will cast healing magic on you continuously.”
Nathan
hesitated but eventually nodded, seeing her serious gaze. “Yes,
my lady.”
Wez
also nodded thoughtfully, gripping the blue gemstone on his bracelet.
Divine
magic was fundamentally different from ordinary magic.
It
was a miracle bestowed upon priests through unwavering devotion to
their deity. Unlike regular magic, it didn’t
consume mana but instead drained a significant amount of stamina,
especially when cast repeatedly.
Divine
magic was primarily used for healing and cleansing. It needed a medium to cast, which was different for
different deities. For Wez, the medium of divine magic was the
gemstone on his bracelet.
Once
Nathan was ready, he glanced at Wez and gave a nod.
Wez
murmured a brief prayer, casting his healing magic. A warm, blue aura
enveloped Nathan, bolstering him. With a focused expression, Nathan
activated his stone device, its runes glowing faintly as he began
inspecting the barrier.
He
began to inspect the source of the magic energy from the glove. It
was promptly blocked by the complex barrier. Sweat dripped down his
face as he concentrated, his breathing growing ragged from the
exhaustion of analyzing the barrier’s
outer layers.
After
what felt like an eternity, Nathan’s
knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the sand.
The
stone device rolled toward Vivy, who had been waiting patiently for
her answer.
She
picked it up, her sharp gaze fixed on Nathan as he struggled to catch
his breath.
“Lady
Vivy, the barrier isn’t just complex—it’s in an ancient
language,” Nathan huffed between heavy breaths.
“Ancient?”
Vivy’s brows furrowed.
“The
barrier is constructed using Biyin glyphs,” Nathan explained. “I
have no idea who created it, but it’s the work of a master.”
“Moreover,
there are three layers.”
<i>Biyin,
eh?</i>
Vivy thought, a spark of recognition lit up in her mind. <i>I
think I have an idea.</i>
“Can
you decipher and break the barrier?” she asked.
Nathan
glanced down at his stone device. “Maybe,
but I’d need better equipment and a significant amount of time.”
“How
much time are we talking about?” Vivy asked, her eyes narrowing.
“At
least a month,” Nathan admitted reluctantly.
Vivy
nodded. “Alright,
get to the bottom of this quickly.”