Chapter 220: The Other Side

"What exactly are you people doing out here at your levels?" Drake asked, plunging a small dagger into the deer's chest.

"We were just hunting like normal…" the man said, touching his arm gingerly as he wrapped it, "Normally there are only a few monsters here and there. Never at this level though, this area usually has levels 10 to 13. I don't know what happened."

"Hmmm," Drake hummed, "Well something happened to push this many over here…" he pondered for a moment, then realized what it was, or who it was.

No… I really hope it's not… He thought. Did I… or the establishment of the town push the stronger monsters away from it? Making them go closer to the towns that normally have weaker monsters? I must have thrown the ecosystems out of whack… Damn it.

Drake regretted what had happened even if it was inevitable and unknowingly done.

"How often has your party come out to this area? What city are you stationed in?" Drake asked.

The man finished wrapping his arm, looking grimly at his two dead party members with a heavy sigh. His eyes went to Sah Ul's back who was standing a little further away keeping watch.

"At least once a day since we came back from the tutorials. We aren't exactly affiliated with any town right now at least not a system-sanctioned town…" he muttered with some obvious discontent, "Damned scavengers just keep us there."

Drake raised a brow, "Oh how do they do that? Why don't you just go to a system-sanctioned town?"

The man looked at Drake incredulously, "Don't you know? Where the hell are you stationed?"

"ReUnite, the town a further past the forest and into the plains," Drake answered casually.

"What?" the man said surprised, his companions also taking in a sharp breath at Drake's answer, "How did you manage to get that far into the forest? There are monsters over level 20," but he shook his head seeing Sah Ul' again.

"Nevermind, looks like you got lucky and found that woman. She's the first person I've seen over level 20… I don't know how you managed to get her to help you but stay away from the cities. There's no protection from the exploitation of others, the centers there don't care what other people do. They put up 'protection taxes' and 'handling fees' keeping us poor. But they know we just can't leave…"

Drake motioned for the man to continue, handing him another potion.

"The system-sanctioned cities or at least the closest ones have monsters we wouldn't be able to get past. You would need a large company of people or a specialized class that would let you move covertly past the higher-level monsters. Even if you could get to a city, most of them don't let new people in!"

That doesn't sound right… My town has had many people come and go. Even Mikhail is proof of that. His party is somewhat above the average level and skill but even still they were able to get to ReUnite without a problem. No, there has to be something else going on here… Drake thought.

"Is there anything else?" Drake asked.

"Not really… Like I said, it's pretty dismal in the non-sanctioned towns, and with the centers leaving in less than a year it's only going to get worse… We're basically stranded waiting for someone to come get us," the man said deprecatingly.

Then it clicked for Drake.

I see. I'm not surprised that it turned out this way but them not being able to leave is something I didn't expect. But now that I hear him say it. It makes sense. Someone or something is keeping them isolated and desperate. I can't think of why other than to weaken the population…? I would have to look into it more to know but I just don't have time… Drake thought, his eyes looking over the four survivors and how ragged they were from obvious battles.

"These people that are taking fees from you, who are they," Drake asked.

"I-i don't know… They just show up and extort us whenever we come back to town."

"Don't your identification skills work on them?"

"N-no, nothing shows up when we do."

Drake's lips thinned not enjoying the dead end he was about to hit.

"Ok, what about what they look like, anything distinctive?"

"Distinctive? Like what? They look like anyone else, I mean they're a little pale compared to everyone but who isn't malnourished or got some kind of problem nowadays with all this shit going on… And where the hell is the government in all of this?! We got word that someone from Capitol Hill is trying to put the states back together. Ah….! Everything is so messed up!" the man groaned into his open palms, beginning to break down from Drake's series of questions.

"Pale…?" Drake parroted, his grip on his dagger tightening until it snapped in his hand, "How, pale?" he asked sternly.

"I-I don't know, ghostly?!" the man hurriedly answered scurrying backward to his teammates.

"Patriarch?" Sah Ul' asked, suddenly behind him.

Drake realized he was leaking out his aura, his body humming with power and oppressive air.

He took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, I know who these people are now. Tell me which direction the city you came from is. Please," Drake asked solemnly, his disguise and bow disappearing into his inventory one by one.

The man pointed a shaky hand in a direction, "A few hours that way by foot, but it's dangerous to go by yourself…"

"It won't be a problem," Drake said softly, his hair shimmering to a bright yellow, "Stay with them Sah Ul', I'll be back quickly. I have a cockroach to squash."

"But, Patriarch…" Sah Ul' tried to protest but her mouth snapped shut as she saw his face.

Drake's expression was dire, the most serious and angry she had ever seen. Her hair stood on end and her body shivered despite the lack of aura coming from him.

"I can't save everyone but the least I can do is keep the people we saved alive. Stay with them just until I come back, it won't take long."

Drake knew exactly who the people who were manipulating this town and possibly others were. And he wouldn't stand for it. He didn't have time to help every town right now, but his list of priorities just found one more item.

Vampires…. Adam! Drake seethed.

—------------------------------

Linda Daywell found her target quickly. Her class specialized in agility and stealth after all. Traveling through monster-infested areas was child's play. And it was hard to miss the man as he stood out like a sore thumb.

The reports didn't accurately describe him but the company and clear leadership role he had were obvious.

Drake Wallen kept surprisingly strong company. Linda wasn't sure if the woman who followed him around like a puppy dog was his bodyguard or possibly a keeper, but Linda wasn't able to confirm. Sometimes he was subservient to the woman, allowing her to even go as far as threatening him, to sometimes ordering her around as if she was a child he was scolding.

Their difference in level was also no indication like the reports had indicated, he was level 14, but the woman he kept as company was well above that at 22.

"Another monster…" Linda scoffed from her position on a tree branch.

For a day she had observed him from outside the influence of the town, not giving her a large pool to go off of, but enough to know his position in the town. There were other anomalies within the town.

She had noticed that adventurer parties, as they were called, entered and left as they pleased. But she had been given a report that cities were limited to their immediate area due to strong monsters which conflicted with that information.

Linda herself had made it to the town with relative ease, but it may be from her ability to conceal herself from the local monster life, as well as traveling alone.

Regardless, she tracked Drake Wallen closely until he moved from the town with the woman, who was from another species they had heard of. A race of Orc they had scarcely seen in certain slave camps throughout the states.

For the day as they traveled, Linda kept her distance, keeping to her training as always. Checking each box meticulously never making a mistake as she shadowed her target.

But her further observance of the target only served to give more conflicting information. Drake Wallen was stated to be a mage and close-range fighter, but now he held a bow.

Even further he fired elemental arrows, which was a first for Linda. She had never heard of someone having such a wide set of elemental affinity mixed with a class. Even the mages the government knew of could use two, or three different elements at any given time. And those who had the ability to multicast could at most use ten spells at once.

But this man, this man was using more than twenty. He was firing four different elements, even higher elements as the mages' called them or deviant magic, at once.

"He is obviously hiding something. But he shouldn't know I'm here… I've had myself concealed since I left the White House… And there's something off with his mana pool, how is he able to sustain such duration with his arrows at such a low level…? What?! His level changed? His name is different?!" Linda exclaimed in a hushed voice.

Does he have an item or skill to change his status? She thought.

"He's letting the Orc woman do most of the heavy lifting for the fights but… If he has a way to change his status I won't be able to gauge anything for certain without fighting him. Can I win? Should I even try?" she thought aloud in a hushed tone, continuing to follow the pair as they rushed off in another direction.

Linda observed further as the pair stopped, coming upon a massive herd of Mana Deer. And once again Linda was surprised at the speed at which Drake Wallen moved.

"Even if he has high dexterity that shouldn't be possible! His massive mana pool and speed of that degree? He's faster than I am! Is he even trying to hide his abilities?! Is he an idiot?!" she cursed, unsure if Drake was simply messing with her.

"No, he can't know I'm here, my concealment is perfect unless…"

Suddenly Linda's blood ran cold, her teeth clattering while she tried to force her head up to look at Drake.

The man abruptly put out such a vicious force it took Linda by surprise, but even if she had braced for it she was unsure if she could put up any defense. Her body and every hair on her body bristled.

"T-this… T-this isn't, shouldn't be possible. Even above level 20, there shouldn't be aura like this possible!" Linda cursed, suddenly forced from her invisibility.

[Concealment of the Ward has been forcibly removed]

[You are now under the influence of the Asuran's Prideful Aura]

[Concealment of the Ward is unusable for the next hour]

"W-what?!" Linda panicked looking at the notifications before her head snapped upwards.

And for a moment their eyes met.

Linda was looking back at the man she was supposed to be observing, Drake Wallen, his eyes flashing with power and an expression that could kill.

[You have been Marked]

[You are now under the influence of the skill: Apex]

[You are now under the influence of the skill: Asuran Battle Instincts: Weak Point]

Linda's voice caught in her throat as she kneeled on the branch instinctively, her head unable to break their eye contact in fear of offending this person more than she already had by following him.

Her mouth quivered as the seconds stretched to what felt like hours until suddenly he was gone, the oppressive pressure and threat vanishing with him.

But Linda didn't move. Her body had suddenly felt like it aged years in seconds. The flashing yellow and blue, eyes of the man burned deep into her psyche. She subconsciously understood what he was saying through his gaze.

He could kill me whenever he wanted.

He knew all along.

There wouldn't be a second time.

Linda took in a breath finally. Appreciating the air that filled her lungs, the fact she could still do such a simple thing.

"I think I'm going to quit…."