Chapter 112 - Silent Death

"Diane, Diane," the door to the break room opened. Melisa had rushed inside, her face filled with sweat and breathing erratic, "have you seen a ghost?" Diane calmly placed her cup. "I-I its t-that new adventurer," her breathing grew smoother. "You mean the so-called king?" she asked to which Melisa nodded. "What about him?" Diane stood, "h-he's o-out to search for the dark-guild." Her reaction remained static; she didn't flinch in the least. "Is that so," she walked to the door, "-have you sent him to his death then?" she said in a tone meant to hurt. "It wasn't my fault," the usual soft and calm tone raised in pitch; Melisa raised her voice for the first time. "Now this is a surprise, what's the matter?" Diane's interest peaked.

"I just want you to take me seriously, he did, in fact, ran to hunt down the culprit," she spoke with sincerity. "Fine," Diane turned around and placed her hands onto the shy girl's shoulder. "I'll put in a quest for him; give me the details and the address. I'll notify the guild master concerning the reward." A smile resurfaced, "Thanks Diane," her heartfelt at ease.

In said matter, a quest was placed onto the notification board. [Search and Rescue – Tier 5] the ranking had to be high for the dark-guilds were unpredictable. Despite trying to help the new adventurer, namely Staxius, Melisa's fear turned for the worst. The realization about where the quest and how long it would take to get there sunk in. The train was available but it was way too late to use said mean of transport. Normally it would take around five to six hours, but with Void; the journey cut to four hours. Though it didn't matter now, the car was in overdrive, it practically cut the journey down to one and a half-hour.

"M-master, are you sure it's wise to rush and aid someone you don't even know?" Avon spoke while inside the car, he helped in keeping the car stable and not go out of control. "Honestly, I don't know. I've got some pent-up frustration I need to let out and what better way than to stain my hand with blood. I haven't killed anyone in a while; I sort of liked that lifestyle – resolve everything with democracy and speech. However, it's not my style, deep down, the bloodl.u.s.t and killing intent will never disappear," he sighed, "-do you know how hard it is for me? I have to hold back every time I fight. Every single time, I can't use a slight bit of my power, and if I were to go all out; massacre would soon follow. That's my curse, our curse. Even with Eira being my daughter, when we sparred earlier – I heard it. The voice, the call, the screams, the real me trying to cloud my judgment and accidentally kill anyone who dared point any sort of weapon at me."

A perpetual battle, Staxius knew deep down he wasn't cut out for living a normal life. Bloodshed was where he thrived, the death of others, that was who he was. The time spent in the company of Xula and inhabitants of Arda help shape who he was. Instead of going rampant, he chose to keep the bloodl.u.s.t in check. It was voluntary, no one forced him to do so. In order to become stronger, he had to limit himself and tame the beast that fueled his strength. That was how Staxius turned from a merciless killer to a slightly merciful but still a killer. The comfort he felt when that lady spoke to him; the love and compassion he sensed – it made him joyful. He didn't know that she had been going through such a rough time. Deep down, he wanted to see his mother and sister again. His own flesh and blood; he wanted to see them and say, "mother, I've become someone who has the power to change the fate of the people surrounding me. The power to turn this reality into something better and greater. A reality where you and father never had to part ways; a reality where my sister and I could playfully grow together. A reality where war wasn't a threat – but it was all a fantasy. All but wishful thinking, the reality was far darker than anything of that nature."

The thought of kids being sold into slavery and prostitution. The mother getting killed, he didn't want to let her die in vain. She still owed him, and he was one to always take what he deserved. The car drove, it gained speed throughout the journey and they soon arrived. That family wasn't the only one in a similar predicament, many others were pulled apart due to the dark-guilds. Sadly, their organization remained hidden and secretive for none knew how they operated. Town-square came in sight, rather than going north to where the academy was situated. He headed further to the south-west; the address was a quiet little place within the residential district.

The sheer size of the non-noble's home put the many mansion to shame. The people were, in fact, rich and lived peacefully. "Master, the house is to the left after we pass this mansion." As he progressively went further inside, the quality of the homes lowered. They became more common and less flashy, till he arrived at where the lady supposedly lived. 'is this where she resides?' before coming close, Staxius stopped. He got out as to not make noise and raise suspicion. He had no clue if the gang had attacked or not. He slowly walked till her house came into view. Tonight, was a moonless night, thus the darkness made all unseeable.

The moment of truth came, he closed his eyes. The aura of people around began to shine, he could tell who was who. Then came time to check on the lady's house. What he saw next could not be accurately put into words. He was too late, the house crawled with red-auras; auras filled with killing intent. In the middle, three slightly dim light shone, and on the top floor, one of a lady who drew her last breath. She laid on the bed surrounded with more red auras than down below; the gang had already made their move. Her aura, one bright and gentle slowly faded, without a noise made, Staxius vanished. 'check the glove compartment, I've hidden away a healing scroll.' The quality, Epic. An experiment to see if he could raise the Rare scroll he made into higher quality.

*BANG,* the door broke open, the blade unleashed its death and fury. One by one, in a matter of seconds, heads rolled to fill the whole bottom floor. Upstairs, the aura hanged by a thread, Avon managed to get the scroll; he used speed enhancement to get inside. "WHAT IS HAPPE…" the hooded soldiers didn't know what was going on. All they heard were slash and liquid as well as heavy balls falling onto the floor. From the ground floor, he rushed inside the bedroom and *Slash,* it all painted in red. Avon arrived just milliseconds before her lifeforce fully drained. The scroll activated in time; his eyes remained closed. A few stray auras sneaked around the house but he chose to leave them be. They were cowards and less powerful; more like watchmen. "Follow the guard," he asked Avon who promptly attached himself to one of the guards running away. Reason being he saw blood and figures getting dismembered at neck-breaking speeds.

'The smell of iron, how nostalgic,' he turned around and placed his foot onto one of the heads. He treated it as if it were a ball. At last, he opened his eyes to see the one who reminded him of his mother in a pitiful state. "I apologize for entering without saying a word," he mumbled, her eyes were slightly opened. "i-its y-you isn't it?" fatigue caught up to her. "Yes, it's me." He added and walked out of the dimly lit room. 'Cleaning is going to be a mess,' he tiptoed around the corpses he left. The hallways once of a brown and black color were smothered with the blood of many. The daughters were inside the kitchen, he didn't have time to pay attention to them for their mother was on the brink of death. He could not imagine what they saw, a figure and a flash of light that was accompanied by muted screams. They saw skulls rush out each time one of their heads fell.

Nonchalantly, he arrived in the kitchen. The sight of blood became common at this point and so did the heads. "Are you guys ok?" the daughters came into view, "p-please d-don't hurt u-us," the eldest yelled. She saw his sword doused in blood, "oh, sorry about that," he swung in such a manner that the blade cleaned itself. *tap,* he sheathed the weapon and hid it with an illusion spell. "Don't worry about being hurt," he smiled, the aura changed from lethal to friendly and approachable. He smiled, the youngest tried to cry when he went closer. "Don't worry, here look," he took a pen and made it disappear, in their eyes, he had done something unbelievable. Then he used his index finger to conjure up a fireball and made it change shape and size, their guard lowered. "W-who a-are you m-mister?" the eldest asked, she stood in front of her siblings. "I'm a friend of your mothers," it took some time and mind games but they believed him.

Seeing all the blood around them, the siblings were left on edge. They didn't quite see the full horror of a dead body, but it was close. Staxius had to walk on a tiny thread; a single glimpse could traumatize them forever. "G-girls?" the lady despite her fatigue stumbled her way down the stairs. "Mother," they tried to rush towards her voice but Staxius moved faster. He picked their mother and took her to the kitchen. "Honestly, you should not be moving about; don't you realize the state of this house?" he added softly, the kids rushed into her arms. "w-why are you h-here?" she asked, "isn't it obvious? I'm here for my homecooked meal," he pulled out his tongue. Never mind the fact that he just killed about twenty people in less than a minute; he joked.

"Just who are you?" her face turned gloomy, she had her suspicion and for good reason. "Listen, I don't care if you don't trust me. I'll explain everything later, but you seriously need to move to somewhere else. Maybe a hotel to stay overnight, this place is far too dangerous for your kids to move about. And not to mention the mess I made," he turned and stared at the corpses he left. "I wish that was easier said than done," she referred to not having enough coins. "Don't think of this as a debt, but rather a favor. I'm going to cast some magic; you best take your girls and head to the closest hotel. Don't worry about the price; I'll pay for I'm responsible for this mess." His voice turned from friendly to serious. "I can't possibly accept," she was unwilling to trust him. "Listen," his voice raised, "do you want your kids to be traumatized for the rest of their lives? I care not if you don't trust me," he threw over ten gold coins, "just take the kids and leave," he was desperate to get them out. "I trust you, I've told you before, I know these things. I was just checking if you were actually a good person; my doubts have been cleared. No need to worry, I've got some relatives living close by, just cast the spell or whatever." She rose and Staxius used illusion magic to make all the blood and death vanish, "thank you so much," she ran next door.

'So, her relatives are her neighbors.' He finally took a good look at his clothes; they were covered with stains. 'Lovely, I just wasted a perfectly good shirt,' he chuckled. 'time to investigate the extent of the damage I've caused.' One after the other, he checked each dead body for clues linking them to the dark-guild. Nothing was found, not until something crossed his mind. A name he hadn't heard in ages; Sten Parcyvell – the ex-ruler of Dorchester.