Chapter 64: [Strange Occurrences!]
[Adrian's POV!]
[Gift: Cartography! (Growth Type)
Grade: Mortal Grade-5
Experience till next Grade: 60.00%( Map 500 Kilometers in Area)
Effect:
-Allows the user to make a detailed Map of everything that he has captured with the skill [Mapping!]
-The user can now create a hologram to show the Map to others.
-Unlocked Skills: [Mapping!] [Perfect Measurement!] [Eidetic Memory!] ]
Other than that now I can present it outside to others, there were no functional changes in any of the skills or the Gift itself. Though looking at the map, I saw that it was once again redefined. In a way, it was a real time map now, with the plants, and monsters roaming within the forest.
It was still looking animated though. Except that it was still extremely precise that I couldn't differentiate between the real thing and what was on the map unless I really focused.
'Well. Not exactly what I needed but, it's still better than nothing,' I thought as I then looked around the forest.
As I was hunting, I was leaving behind destruction everywhere I went. So, the previous dense forest no longer existed as only rubbles of broken trees and rocks were present in front of me. But I couldn't really focus on that as something else was on my mind right now.
"That Vampire is still not here," I mumbled as I saw that about 5 hours had passed, leaving barely 7 hours till the quest was over. Yet, that guy still hasn't arrived.
Honestly, I should be happy about it since I now have more time to gain GM points, but for some reason his absence was making me more uneasy as time passed.
[GM Points: 7.3 Million!]
'Should I use it, or save it for the time he appears in front of me?' I thought as I then looked through my system. I have many skills that I can upgrade to B-Grade right now, or perhaps I could spend it on my items? I am going to fight a peak B-Grade monster after all.
But in the end, I sighed as I decided to save it until I found that guy. Till then, I should just keep collecting more GM Points, maybe I could map the entire forest around the city?
'I can start from the wall area?' I thought as I still haven't moved near the boundary of the city. The reason was simply because the number of monsters were lesser there.
I then gave it a moment of thought. And then…
"I guess, we can do that," I found that idea to be fine. I stretched and began running towards the city again. This time with a new goal, that is to map at least 10 kilometers around the city without missing a single place.
[Twin Guns: Laser Mode -> Rapid Fire!]
Moving towards the city, I continued killing those monsters. Since their numbers were far less, I don't think I need to destroy the forest anymore. Hmmm… I kinda feel bad for the forest that was destroyed.
'I wonder if I should create an elemental skill that allows me to control everything? The way that kid was controlling the forest was kind of cool,' I pondered about it while I kept shooting those monsters while moving towards the city gate.
Took about 10 minutes before I reached the point where I could map the wall and beyond. And what I found was kind of surprising to be honest. I mean, I should be already expecting this from a fantasy setting, but still…
The walls were lit up bright with various symbols all over them. The symbols even stretched to the ground covering about 10 meters ahead of the walls. As for their function, those vampirelings stepped upon those walls before turning to ashes.
'So this is how they were protecting themselves from those monsters, huh? Pretty neat,' I thought as I looked at those symbols. I mean, the calming energy coming from the symbols was fascinating, but I was more interested in the symbols themselves.
Maybe I could learn to recreate those symbols? It certainly didn't seem impossible.
'Anyways. Let's circle around the wall first,' I thought as I began running around the city walls while keeping an eye on the map. There were two things that I was checking on the map.
First was to see if that Vampire Baron appeared. While it may be really hard to find him among the horde of monsters, there was no harm in checking out on the map. The other thing that I was observing on the map was the inner aspect of the city.
'Seems like a medieval fantasy setting,' I thought as I looked at the marbled houses and shops. For some reason there were no NPCs or players visible on the map. Perhaps they were deeper into the city because of the vampires? Could be possible.
Killing those vampirelings, I kept running around the city wall. And as time passed, I found it a bit creepy that not even a single guard was present on the city walls. I mean I did pass a gate but even that was empty with not even a single NPC guarding the city.
'Do they trust the symbol lights that much, or are they that scared of the vampires? Or was there something else going on?' I narrowed my eyes at the map as I kept focusing on the city, hoping to find at least one NPC in there.
'If I think outside the box then… The quest was to stop and not to kill the Baron Vampire…'
I then began questioning things from various angles. What if the Vampires were the good guys? Strange questions started popping up in my mind as I kept moving.
Though…
'Should I indulge in these thoughts or not?' I pondered as a single wrong analysis would make things go completely south. I must be really careful with how I take this entire situation.
I then stopped moving as I just stood there for a while, clearing my thoughts with a deep breath. Closing my eyes, I gave it a few moments before the answer appeared right in front of me.
"So the only one who can answer my questions is the Baron Vampire, huh? Hopefully he has intelligence or else…" I then shook my head before focusing on the map again. And once again I began running as I kept checking for the Baron Vampire while keeping an eye on the city.
…
[Evelin's POV!]
We were taken to the castles where the King of this city explained the situation to us.
If I were to brief it, we, the players, were called by the sacrifice of 3 Saintesses to prevent the Vampires from taking over the last human city. The entire world has lost against the vampires, with them being present everywhere now.
And now, according to that king, we are supposed to prevent the destruction of what's left of humanity, kill all the vampires and make humanity the most dominant species again.
"This seems like a load of bullshit," Levi spoke as he stood by the balcony, observing the forest in the distance. Currently, we were in a room provided by the king. Since the castle was mostly empty, a single room was assigned to 4 players each.
"So what should we do?" Avida asked, as she stretched without much concern. The task of thinking was mostly for Levi and me, since we are the one who would guide the group in this task.
"Firstly, let's find out more about the people of this castle. Levi, can I leave that task to you?" I asked as I looked at him, I was going to do a bit of searching within the castle. In ways that these royals and nobles probably won't appreciate.
"I can. Though something feels ominous about the scenario itself," Levi seemed a little tense making me close my eyes for a moment before speaking," take Invar with you then. Avida, try and see if you find something odd in the market. Observe the people."
All of them nodded before they began leaving the room. And while they took the door, I used the skill [Camouflage!]. It was a skill that allowed me to mix myself with the surroundings.
[Blink!]
And as for my second skill, [Blink!], it allowed me to teleport about 5 meters ahead of me. It was one of the skills that I got from my [Gift: Nightwatcher!].
Choosing the direction, I then teleported from one balcony to another, until I reached an open area.
It was a huge balcony that was connected with the main hall. If I remember correctly, the throne room was just across the hall and beyond that was the prince's chamber.
'All right. Let's start from there,' I thought as I ran through the darker areas of the hall, avoiding the guards placed around the hall. My eyes looked at the 50 guards in the hall, as I masked my breath as low as possible.
'Too many guards,' I saw them from the corner of my eyes before I reached the edge of the hall. Though before I could even see the door of the prince's room, I found the other hall was filled with another dozen of those guards.
'Just what are you guys hiding?' I questioned before taking a step back and then running back to the balcony area. Since the way through the main gate was blocked, let's try and see if we can get through the balcony.
[Blink!]
[Blink!]
[Blink!]
[Blink!]
[Blink!]
Using [Blink!] five times at once, I exhausted all the amount I could use for now. Should take about 5 more minutes before I could use another one. Though, at the very least, I was on the third floor now.
'Should I go from inside? Hmmm… nope. Let's keep tracing the outer wall until we reach prince's balcony,' I decided as I waited for another 30 minutes to store 5 more [Blink!] and then began jumping from one balcony to another. Where there were no balconies, I used [Blink] to reach there.
And after some effort of saving and using [Blink!], I was finally able to reach the balcony of the prince. Unsurprisingly, there were two more guards inside the room. Though…
"Please control yourself, prince! We cannot lose you! We have already lost the king, we can't lose you as well! We finally have the heroes to support us! Please do not give up your humanity, now of all the times," that king, who commanded us before, was now panicking as he used some form of chain skill to bind and control the prince.
As for the prince, he was wriggling in pain, as he growled like an animal. Even though I was standing quite far from him, I could feel the bloodlust coming out of that prince. He struggled to break the chains as I wondered what was going on.
And then suddenly, that prince stopped his movements, before his eyes turned towards me. His deep red eyes were bleeding in black color. He looked at me, with a crazy frantic look as I finally realized…
The prince has turned into a Vampire.