A Ghost Woman

Rama lowered his head. He could see that half of the Specter Behemoth's face had already been destroyed by his blows. Immediately, he felt concerned.

'Have I killed him?' Then he shook his head. 'No. If he were dead, I would have received another notice.'

Rama slapped the Specter Behemoth in the barbarian form. "Can you hear me?"

"Grhh..." the barbarian growled weakly. From the look in his eyes, Rama could tell he still wanted to fight, but because he was no longer capable, he could only glare with anger.

Rama nodded in satisfaction as he saw the barbarian looking at him with fiery, angry eyes. That meant he was still conscious.

"Tell me, who made you like this?" Rama asked. And then, he remembered what the fat Specter Behemoth had said in the cave. "Tell me everything you know about the essence."

"GRRRHH!!!" The barbarian only growled and hissed at Rama. He raised his head as if to bite Rama's face, but the distance was too far.

*PLAKK!*

So Rama slapped him again, snapping his head to the side. Then he grabbed the barbarian's face. "Tell me!"

But the barbarian didn't care about his question. He continued to stare at Rama furiously, even though he knew he could no longer do anything to fight back.

"Shit! I'm not good at things like this," Rama gritted his teeth, frustrated with himself. 'If I beat him any harder than this, he'll surely die.'

Rama turned and stared at the barbarian for a moment. He had to get answers quickly, or he would run out of Mana before he could kill this Specter Behemoth. And that could be dangerous.

"He won't talk."

Suddenly, a voice came from beside him, making Clyde whip his head around in surprise. The voice came from another Ghost. However, the Ghost didn't seem hostile. Instead, she emitted an aura of peace.

She was a woman with long hair. Her misty form somehow seemed brighter, as if the mist forming her body emitted a faint light.

"Who are you?" Despite her appearance and peaceful approach, Rama remained cautious. She was a Ghost, after all, a Supernatural.

"I am his master," the Ghost woman said. "You don't need to worry. I don't mean to harm you. I will answer your questions. Please, release him. He won't be of any use to you if you want answers."

Rama initially didn't trust the Ghost woman. However, he eventually released the barbarian after the Ghost woman promised not to attack him.

Rama descended from the barbarian's body. And indeed, the barbarian didn't attack him again, although he still stared at him with angry eyes.

"Now, tell me what you know," Rama said.

"There was someone... I don't know if he's a human or not," the Ghost woman said. "He came and placed something here. Something like a dark purple liquid. They were both just unlucky to ingest the liquid."

Rama frowned upon hearing the Ghost woman's explanation. There was actually someone behind all of this.

When Rama looked at the Ghost woman again, she looked sad when she glanced at the dying barbarian. Somehow, that made Rama feel guilty.

"They attacked us. So we had no choice," Rama said.

The Ghost woman looked at him and smiled faintly. "It's fine. I understand your situation."

"You don't look like an ordinary Ghost. You're not hostile towards us," Rama said.

But the Ghost woman just smiled. Rama thought she looked beautiful, even though she was made of mist. In her life before, she must have been much more beautiful than this.

"You have your answers now. You can leave this place, right?" the Ghost woman said.

Rama nodded. "I guess so."

< Main Quest: Investigate the Appearance of the Specter Behemoth (II) >

< Description: You have successfully discovered the origin of the Specter Behemoth's appearance. Most likely, the Specter Behemoth you encountered in the mine was also the work of the unknown figure. >

< Main Quest Completed! >

< Reward: 350 XP >

< You Leveled Up! >

Rama smiled. He had leveled up and received clues about what to do next. Although the Main Quest seemed to be unfinished.

'There's this unknown figure who has the ability to manipulate Ghosts. If he or she isn't stopped... Then maybe he or she will influence other Supernaturals and create even more dangerous threats.'

The Ghost woman waved her hand at the barbarian, sending a thin white light that instantly healed the parts of his body that had been destroyed.

Rama blinked. 'A Ghost can heal another Ghost?!' He turned to the Ghost woman with a puzzled look. The Ghost woman just smiled back at him.

"I hope you don't mind this and won't tell anyone about it. We are not disturbing anyone here and hiding as best we can. So, there should be no reason to make this a problem, right?" the Ghost woman said with a smile.

However, Rama could sense a hint of threat in her voice. She seemed to be saying that if Rama dared to think about exposing what she had done to the barbarian, she could threaten his life.

And somehow, Rama had a feeling that it was true. His instincts told him not to mess with the Ghost woman.

Rama nodded. "I won't tell anyone about you."

The Ghost woman also nodded with a satisfied smile. She and the barbarian walked deeper into the complex of this ancient ruin and then disappeared along with the mist that originated from their side.

Rama sighed. The problem here was resolved, and now it was time to go back and deal with the new problem.

As he walked toward Alysia, who was unconscious, Rama thought, 'I think I should report this to the Hunter's Guild. It seems like this problem will be too big for me to handle alone. Besides, I'll definitely look suspicious if I investigate this on my own.'

The unknown figure must be involved in something big or with some big shots if he could create something to manipulate Ghosts into becoming Specter Behemoths. So Rama thought he couldn't investigate this on his own if another Main Quest with the same goal appeared.

Rama saw no serious injuries outside of Alysia's body. She was probably unconscious because her head had hit some rocks. After shaking her body a little, Alysia was able to open her eyes.

"Can you hear me?" Rama asked.

Alysia's gaze immediately turned elsewhere to look for the barbarian. When she didn't find him, she asked, "What happened to that Supernatural?"

"I killed it," Rama said.

~~~