C22: A Circle

For the past 2 hours, Jamie and Andy were crushing each core they found. So far, they have only managed to find 16 cores and already, they have fought hordes of rats one after another. The city's sewer system was long of course, and considering the distance they've traveled, they've come really far from "Sewer Juice."

"Jesus man, still nothing. What should we do now? I don't think rat king or something is in here," Jamie sighed.

"No… he's definitely in here alright! That last core we destroyed was a little fresh. He must be nearby now," said the cat, sitting down on the side pavement of the sewer. These parts of the sewer weren't flooded like back in the village.

Jamie gazed around as he flashed his light on the walls. There were various kinds of bugs crawling up and down the walls. Spiders, cockroaches, and some other disgusting creatures he identified as [Kulocks].

Andy was searching his mind for a solution and nothing came to his mind.

"Ha… only if we had a map of the damn sewer system at least," the cat sighed, waving his tail side to side.

Jamie heard this and wondered for a second. "A map of the sewer system, eh? The government may have –" Jamie suddenly had an idea in his head. "Ha! This is a government mission! We can ask the Guards for access to the map of the sewer systems, right?"

Andy narrowed his eyes. "Ha! Genius… we just have to call Goldick!"

Andy quickly grabbed his phone and rang Goldick's cell phone.

****

Sophia Goldick was standing outside the pub, gazing at the sky.

'Ha… you're right mother. Men are worthless pieces of shit. I thought being a Knight would change me for good, but – nothing has changed! Everything is still fucked and all the same, Mom… I hope you were here, but you aren't.'

The skies were darkening and surely, there was rain heading to town. She sighed and leaned against the doorway, gazing at the skies.

Suddenly, her phone started to ring. "Eh, who's calling me right ame?"

She grabbed her phone and gazed at the screen and saw the name [Prolly Ded now].

"Holy shit – the cat's still alive!"

She quickly picked up the phone.

"Guys – are you still alive?"

[Yeah, surprise! Now… First thing's first, when we come out of this damned place, I need more than 50 gold coins, me and the human too! Nothing less, and –]

"You guys are alive, surely, they'll award you 100 gold coins and name you heroes of Downwood if you stop this madness! So tell me… where the hell are you and what are those bastard Woodland Rats doing to the damn sewer system?"

[They are using acidic vomit to burn out the pipelines of the whole city, but we have... Possibly cleared the whole wave of rats in the village area. Now we're heading towards the main city I think.]

"Woah Woah – main city? The Castle?? No way… the princess is in danger! We can't let her get captured or murdered!"

[Indeed, we can't. So, will you please give me access to the map of the city's pipelines? We can check where we are using that!]

"Huh? Oh – ok! Sending access right now!" Sophia quickly went to the royal sites and sent additional access links to the two of them.

[Thank you for the help!] – Beep!

They hung up the phone.

////

"Hmm… A rain is surely near, Rib!"

Eric patted his horse as he rode him into the woods. Finally, he saw a board reading [Lorkey's Exotic and Rare Potions – Call this number before you enter!]

"Huh?"

He rang the witch and she answered. "Hey – can you open the field now? I'm the Vampire who came to your place yesterday if you remember."

[Of course! It's open... Come inside.]

"Thank you."

Eric rode the horse forth and entered through the barrier. Just as he entered through the barrier, the grass was shorter than before. And there was a clear paved path leading to the smoke that was rising from a chimney not so far.

"Hmmm… a land this large to herself? Her grandma must've been a rich witch."

The Vampire rode towards the house with his hood drawn up to protect his face from the sunlight. His white hair was dangling down from his shoulders, right above his scarred chest.

He tied his horse Rib to the fence gate and jumped over the fence to the garden of the witch's house.

As he walked to the door, the witch opened the door.

"Evening, Mrs. Lorkey," Eric said.

"Evening, Mr. Glacier. And if you please, come in," she said, inviting him into the house. Eric entered and stared around the place for a second. One could never trust a witch, at least Vampires; that was a theory he had within him since he was a kid.

Once when his dad was a child, a witch invited his brother into her house, and his brother disappeared the day after. They say the witch has enslaved the vampire with a curse or killed him for exotic ingredients, but the mystery was never solved. Only his father knew that she had taken him in, and ever since that day, his father disgusted witches.

However, this witch was obviously different.

But… There was something really weird hanging on the walls. A fang of a deadly Wingcoster was hanging on the wall like decoration! What was this madness? This monster hunted Vampires for fun.

"Good God! Why is that fang hanging on the damn wall?" Eric cried out.

Claire overheard this while she was stepping down the stairs, and she approached him. "Umm… are you frightened of it? It's just something that I have liked since I was 17. My first kill was a Wingcoster. I was hunting that thing for a whole week in the woods, and ever since, I keep it as a trophy to remember my accomplishments!"

Eric turned around and gulped. "Frightened? Why wouldn't I be? Those deadly fangs could poison us to death in over a minute or two!"

Melloni giggled. "Now guys, we're all ok. No one is intending to kill you – Mr. Glacier."

Eric sighed and sat down on the chair, the one furthest from the fang.

"What do you guys do for a living though? Is making potions enough?"

Melloni smiled. "If you're the best potion maker around here, you can. And my sister works too, and none of us are married. So, we help each other out."

Eric gazed at the two sisters. It was truly remarkable that the two weren't married yet, considering their beauty.

Then, he gazed at Claire who went and sat on the chair closest to the Wingcoster fang.

"You? What do you do?"

She sat cross-legged and answered, "Demon Slaying, part-time."

Eric coughed and cleared his throat upon hearing this. "I see." He gazed up and down.

"There are a couple of demons around the town these days, and murders. You guys will be brimming with the business once more if this case about the Demon King is true. I wanted to ask, how can one join that Demon hunting guild they were speaking of in town? Does that truly exist?"

"The guild? Of course, it is true. I'm an old member of it. Been with them for six years you know," she answered.

"Ahem… is it a problem if I join?"

Claire shook her head. "No. Not at all!"

Eric smiled at her. "I guess I'll be joining in on the weekend then."

"Yep! It's done! Mr. Glacier. Finally!" the older sister cried out as she poured a full bottle of the mixture into a bottle.

It was a light blue potion that was giving off some magical aroma.

"Thank you. Here's the money," Eric handed her a pouch of 19 golden coins for the potion.

"Good Day to you, Mr. Glacier!"

"You too!"

"May your curse be lifted!" Melloni called out as he walked back to his horse.

Eric was shocked to hear that she knew exactly what he needed it for. But he didn't turn around. He simply walked back to his horse without a word more and untied the horse.

And this is when he got a notification from the Wooden Board!

"Eh? 100 Gold coins for anyone who is willing to lose their life for the sake of the city's water system? And… the princess."

"Not like I care about that bitch, but — 100 Gold coins it is!"

- - - Author's Note: THE DISCORD SERVER IS OPEN GUYS. Link in comments and the synopsis.