Chapter 102

As I slipped into the basement —which was thankfully empty other than a magically-reinforced cage, currently empty— the first thing I noticed was the suppressive aura of magic that somehow wanted me to throw up. There was a sense of wrongness in the air, one I had never felt before, not even I was facing against the necromancers.

Somehow, whatever was the source, it managed to feel more disgusting than the combined aura of an army of necromancers.

My first suspect was the cage and the unusual magical runes that surrounded it. But, as I walked closer toward the cage, I realized it wasn’t the source. Like the wards that covered the building, the runic structure of the ward was completely unfamiliar yet complete in a way that suggested a great body of supporting research and practice. But despite the mystery it contained, it wasn’t the source of my discomfort.

No, the source was radiating from upstairs.

I was rather glad for my great agility as I silently walked toward the stairs that led to the upstairs, doing my best to hide my presence. Luckily, the door to the upstairs was open, allowing me to peek inside.T/his chapter is updated by nov(ê(l)biin.co/m

Inside, I noticed three people, sitting silently around a table with faces of stone. One of them had a staff leaning against himself, while the other two were dressed like ordinary peasants —but my eyes were sharp enough to identify an impressive number of hidden weapons under their clothes. They looked ready to act. On the table lay another gem, driving the crazed monsters to attack the town.

However, I was more interested in the passive aura that was spreading out of them that made me queasy rather than their selection of the weapon.

They were dangerous, dangerous enough to trigger my instincts to the limit.

Almost an hour passed in silence as I watched them, trusting my instincts about the danger they represented. I was sure that they represented the danger against Titania, and I decided to wait until they decided to act, allowing me to ambush them. The way they were dressed suggested that the mage would stay behind.

Then, my prediction turned to be true as the assassin-looking types suddenly stood up without talking and walked toward the door. Watching the way they moved, I was glad that I didn’t try to attack them, because the grace they displayed suggested that they had a significantly high stat spread. I was lucky that I didn’t attack them. Not because I was afraid of failing to take them down, but I was sure that I couldn’t take them down without making a huge commotion, especially if the mage had the opportunity to trigger the wards.

Luckily, the assassins have left using the main door, leaving the mage alone.

I used the shadows of the room to close into the mage, grabbing a dagger reverse. The mage stayed focused on the wards, until I was behind him. The closer I got, the more disgusted I was getting. Something was wrong with the mage, though I didn’t know what.

Then, without a warning, I slammed the dagger to his temple, trying to deal a blow that would take him down without killing him.

Unfortunately, after slamming, the response I received was not the one I was looking for. He stumbled a bit, then a flare of magic started to gather. His Constitution was much stronger than I had been expecting, especially for a mage. I slammed the dagger again, this time hard enough to slam him against the wall, and he responded with a flood of arcana magic missiles, traveling toward me in a scary manner.

I erected a shield to block it as I dashed forward once more, still determined to take him down without killing.

[-195 Mana]

Despite the hurried manner he let out of his magic, the resulting spells were much stronger than I had been expecting. His physical stats were strong, but his magical stats were much stronger. Not to the point of eclipsing me, but the simple fact that they were comparable carried many dangerous implications.

So, I used my speed to the limit, arriving in front of him before he could finish casting his next spell, and slammed my dagger to his heart, stretching my magic to the limit as I did so. The blow itself was strong enough to kill The impact of the blow slammed him against the wall, a spray of blood spilling from his wound, while a second one spilled out of his mouth, suggesting a deadly blow.

I jumped forward as I raised my weapon again, ready to lash out. “Don’t make a move, and you might just live,” I said. I put my hand on his body, flooding his body with biomancy energy, but not the healing kind. Instead, I was forcing his body to stop, preventing him from reacting, barely conscious.

[-912 Mana]

He collapsed. Then, I used my mana to slip inside his soul space, curious about his exact strength.

Only to meet with the most disgusting sight I had ever witnessed.

Soul space was an abstract concept, therefore hard to explain in terms of physical terms, but the easiest way to describe my target was food. A soul space was supposed to be like a lean steak, whole, pristine, colored with occasional marbling of skills and achievement that nonetheless looked natural.

Strength: 41 Charisma: 53

Precision: 35 Perception: 37

Agility: 35 Manipulation: 40

Speed: 34 Intelligence: 44

Endurance: 34 Wisdom: 46

HP: 5370 / 5370 Mana: 4213 / 6600 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [97/100]

Master Arcana [97/100]

Expert Speech [70/75]

Advanced Craft [50/50]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (1/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia - Level 21/25]

[Helga - Level 17/21]