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.