Bait For The Hunt

After sleeping in the afternoon, Arlott was only able to wake up in the evening. 

The sun was in the west, on the verge of setting. It casted a gorgeous saffron glow over the world, letting the cooler breeze caress Arlott's cheeks. 

"Haah," Arlott took a deep breath and closed his eyes in satisfaction, "This is freedom." 

But then his eyes fell on Emily, who was still lying where he left her, but her eyes were wide open, glaring at him. 

"You felt this cool breeze too, Emily?" he asked.

Emily gritted her teeth and gently nodded her head, knowing she will need to suffer much worse if she doesn't reply. 

"Did it feel good?" he asked. 

Emily froze, she wanted to nod her head since the cool breeze indeed felt good on her skin, but she got the urge to shake her head, since she might get beaten less for that. 

She shook her head.

"How is that possible? It felt so good," Arlott tilted his head in confusion, "Is it… because your skin isn't open enough?"

"No… please… no…" Tears filled Emily's eyes the moment she heard Arlott's emotionless tone. 

She knew what was going to come, and she knew how much it hurts. 

"It's okay, I will make sure you enjoy the next breeze." Arlott leaned towards her and pulled out a knife from his pockets. 

"Feel it from every pore of your skin." He tore off the rags that covered her body, revealing the disgusting scars, cuts, scrapes and wounds on her body. There wasn't a single part of her body that wasn't brutally cut. 

He scoffed and kicked her on the floor, on the sand.

The sand stuck into her wounds, making them burn itch but she could not scratch it due to her hands being tied. 

Laying there and crying, Emily passed out. 

***

One hour later.

The metallic smell of blood lingered in the air as Arlott had finished cleaning off the sand from Emily's wounds, causing some blood to leak out. 

Her body felt cold and limp, as if on the verge of death. 

But of course, he couldn't let that happen. He redeemed a minor healing potion from his marketplace to save her life, which cost him 50 IP. 

It was ineffective in healing major wounds, but it was a potion made out of a Fairy's Blood and as such, its healing factor relied on the healing factor of one's blood. 

Since Arlott only caused flesh and bloody scars on Emily, the vial of minor healing potion was enough to keep her alive, as the potion had blood regenerative properties. 

"Thanks for the bait, Lady Zordian." Arlott fed the potion to Emily before collecting all her blood in a small ceramic dish.

It was his daily routine. Torturing her, and then using the blood as bait to hunt.

He could easily buy the readymade dinner from the marketplace, but it would cost him IP. And Arlott didn't want to waste any IP, except when it was to keep Emily alive. 

'Her life is more important than IP.' Arlott thought with a grin, 'How will I torment her once she is dead?' 

Arlott got up and carried his ceramic dish further into the jungle, placing it below a tree and then running away to hide in a bush. 

'Am I forgetting something…' He scratched his brain and then realized, 'Oh right, the system. Quest.'

Hearing his mind, a screen appeared again. 

[ A new quest has arrived! ] 

[ Rank: E 

Rest for the Wicked: Retribution is tiring to seek, as the chosen of the sloth, give up on your revenge. 

Live in the Paxley capital town without fighting for 3 days. 

Reward: +5 Magic, Skill 'Sleeping' Level Up. ] 

"Give up on the revenge?" Arlott scoffed dryly, "Me? Giving up on revenge? ME?!" 

"I LIVE FOR REVENGE, YOU SICK FUCK!" He raged in his mind, but outside, he was motionless and waiting to pounce at his enemies. 

Soon, a medium sized snake slithered towards the ceramic dish, using its parted tongue to lick at the blood. 

"Die!" Arlott flexed his arm and swung, making a small flying dagger spring out of his grasp and accurately stab the snake's head. 

'Weakling.' he scoffed, feeling his mood getting better when he saw the snake struggle a bit before going limp, motionless. 

The way it writhed in pain was strangely satisfying. 

A snake may be a little unsafe to eat, but luckily, Arlott had learnt the purify spell during his assassination coaching. It was a simple 2nd circle magic, that can reduce the effects or even neutralize most low-grade poisons. 

And since the snake didn't look that strong, it probably had a low-grade poison. 

Arlott sat on a tree stump and began to skin the snake, while focusing back at the quest that was still awaiting a response.

[ Accept / Reject ]

'The quest says I should give up on my revenge, but the requirement to complete the quest is to simply live in the capital city for 3 days without fighting.' he thought, 'I can easily do that. Sleeping for 3 days doesn't sound bad.' 

Truly, the effect of sloth was taking a toll on his mind. 

If it was in the past, Arlott wouldn't even have dreamt of such a thing, but now he was strictly planning to do it.

Regardless, the increase in 5 magic was too high to give up on.

According to Arlott's estimations, 15 in magic should be the approximate starting line for a 4th circle mage. 

Finally, he would be in the same league as Emily. 

'I guess there's no reason to go to the county anymore?' He inserted a stick through the snake's rear, which pierced all the way through and then came out of its head. 

After rodding the snake, he lit a fire and set the snake to sear slowly. 

In 15 minutes, the snake's scales had charred and hardened, but the meat inside had gotten tender. Surprisingly, it tasted quite sweet.

Eating the grilled snake with some soy paste, Arlott was satisfied. 

Time passed quickly and the moon hung high in the sky, distant howls echoed in the deserted forest, and Arlott laid back inside the tent after throwing Emily's body on the scorching firewood. 

It was no longer burning, which entailed no danger to Emily's life. But it was hot enough that it would keep her awake the whole night in pain. 

"Good night, Emily." he whispered and zipped up the tent, swiftly falling asleep.