4 Mission (2)

Uncle John was a middle-aged man with a grey beard. Although he was not very muscular, it was very clear that he had fought through wars. His face, especially, was covered with burn marks. Obviously, he had encountered other acolytes on the battlefield before.

James had prepared two Northern Stallions. In the whole Dalian Kingdoms, you could not find better horses. They were strong, resistant to the cold, and their stamina was very high. They could ride days and nights, and even possessed low night vision, allowing them to move during the darkest nights.

"Drake, I know this is your first mission, but promise me something", John said with a heavy voice, "If we encounter the necromancer, you must not fight him"

Drake titled his head. He expected this. After all, Uncle John most likely lied about having to select a companion. The Lord had tasked him with an investigation mission, but most likely never talked about it. Uncle John wanted to nurture Drake. In the whole family, there was no one as loyal as John. In fact, the reason why he held pretty high status in spite of having such a low bloodline purity lied in his achievements and will to make the Moonfall Household rise.

Drake, in his opinion, was an extremely talented lad. Others might not notice, but knights spent decades refining their body and their swordsmanship. Just because some humans could reach the relam of knights after decades of training did not mean that it was easy. Sure, there were no requirements such as awakening a bloodline or awakening magic.

However, it's not like everyone could become a knight, not to mention becoming one without a mentor. Yet, Drake did. To John, it was proof that Drake was extremely talented, even more so that people gave him credit for. As a man who had participated in the last two Dalian Wars, he knew better than the Lord himself how strong a knight could be. It wasn't wrong to say that Drake was already stronger than some of the beginner acolytes in the family, even those from the older generations.

He merely lacked experience.

"You must let me deal with him, if I judge that I am strong enough to overpower him. Our mission does not entail taking care of him. We are only meant to investigate and send a proper hunting acolyte if he proves to be too strong for us to deal with him. That's why we must act with secrecy and discretion", he explained.

Drake nodded, although he had no plans of hiding when the battle emerged. Most would fear battles, but Drake was bloodthirsty. It was a downside of possessing high demonic raven bloodline purity. The higher it was, the more vulnerable to instincts he would become. Training and meidtating proved to be an effective method to restrain these instincts, but the sheer thought of hunting made his blood boil with excitation.

As they started to ride, Drake revealed a deep smile unknowingly.

John was not dupe. He already knew the secrets underlying the demonic raven bloodline, and as part of the Moonfall family, he had studied this phenomenon in the past. However, he gave up after failing to find any cure after decades of wasted resources. The series of experimental failure in the Ivory Tower's laboratories caused him to give up on research altogether, and focus on growing his mastery of magic instead.

Still, he faced severe reprimands by some Elders and failed to receive the necessary support to reach the intermediate acolyte realm, even though he was more dedicated than others in his pursuit of strength. His motive was noble, however, for all his actions were chosen based on how much they would benefit the Household.

'I knew his bloodline purity was rather high...but these eyes...This scarlet colour...It's not normal', he observed keenly.

The [Demonic Raven Vision] spell had a side effect: turning the eyes of the users into a deep red colour permanently. The more Drake used it, the deeper the scarlet colour would corrupt his eyes. There was no real change other than that, but it was visible to the naked eyes. Fortunately, few awakened an eye-related innate spell in the family, causing the [Demonic Raven Vision] to fall under the rare category of spells.

Of course, just because it was rare, it wasn't especially stronger than other spells. However, it did have one advantage: few knew what to expect from it.

As they moved through the night, the two stopped talking, instead focusing on their surroundings. After all, the Moonfall Fief was a hostile territory for humans. The cold alone made it impossible for merchants to travel during the night. Villages needed to be built with strong foundations, otherwise they would be wiped out during tempests.

The weather alone was a difficult barrier for humans to settle in this territory. However, it was not the only danger. Tribes of barbarians, which were closer to monkeys than humans, also lived in the mountains. Unlike humans, they did not wear clothes, but instead skins of beasts. They would live in caves. They did not possess the ability to speak, but they knew how to communicate with hand signs and grunts.

Barbarians were said to have been isolated in the mountains for thousands of years. They were said to be criminals who had been exiled after commiting an atrocious sin. Over the years, they degenerated into sub-humans.

Of course, this was the official story. Drake knew that people tended to demonize those who were different. The barbarians were probably uneducated folks who still lived in primitive tribes. They might not speak, but Drake did not believe them to be fundamentally different to humans. It was genetically unplausible to say the least.

Still, barbarians were ferocious, strong and dangerous, which is why he would not dare lower his guard in the middle of the night while crossing the mountain ranges.

At some point, Drake stopped his horses, causing John to stop in confusion.

"Did something happen?", John asked, unaware of the danger

Drake was smiling, as if he was breathing unhindered for the first time of his life.

Charging forward, Drake unsheathed his sword and cut through a pile of snow. As the sun started to rise, scarlet blood tainted the pure white snow in a red colour. A barbarian warrior had been hiding, waiting to ambush the two travelers.

[You have dealt a critical blow. Lifeform is confirmed dead]

[Warning! 6 more Lifeforms are hiding in a 50-meters-radius area]