Kade finally started to relax when both he and Kylie returned to the tunnel, the Gnoll Sorcerer was busy and didn’t see through the Stealth; he had actually been terrified at that time.

 

He hadn’t anticipated that a Sorcerer could even be born among the Gnolls, let-alone that it had been among the group that attacked his territory. Kade began to wonder what kind of secret his territory could hold that would draw people like the Twin Snake Cult, someone high-ranked in Rivershore City…or an incredibly rare Gnoll mutation.

 

Gnolls weren’t like the Kobolds, which had the blood of a Divine Beast, the World-Devouring Wolf Fenrir, flowing through their veins; allowing them to give birth to atavisms such as Sorcerers. So, it was incredibly rare for a Gnoll to Rank-up enough to leave behind a bloodline strong enough for a Sorcerers to be born.

 

Kade hadn’t encountered Gnoll Sorcerers, who weren’t Players, in the game.

 

But, Feinan was full of extraordinary things. Kade hadn’t experienced everything available in the game; a real world would have so much more.

 

Since the pack of Gnolls had a 2^nd Rank Sorcerer leading them, their danger-level went up. Kade would have to take it out before they had a chance to win.

 

After all, most Sorcerers, who weren’t descended from Demonic or Draconic bloodlines, mostly specialized in supporting its allies. But because Sorcerers were related to bloodlines, and most of those bloodlines contained support Skills, they were considered a second-rate Class among a lot of Players.

 

However, after the Great Calamity, because like a few other Magic Classes, it was unrelated to the Font of Magic--they became much stronger; stronger still after the Demons of the Lower Plane, the Angels from the Higher Plane, and the Dragons which had been exiled to the Void, all returned. The Seals had been broken, even the Numan managed to find their way back.

 

After the Great Calamity, Sorcerers, Warlocks and Witches, and certain Clerics, benefited the most of the Magic-Type Melee Classes.

 

Kade remembered that in the surroundings of the Rocky Mountain to the southwest, a group of Sorcerers, who had been exiled by the Wizards, successfully established a large country after the Great Calamity.

 

Even though the country only managed to stand for around 3 years--if it wasn’t for a few Gods hadn’t allied to take it down--it might have united most of the entire South of the continent.

 

The leaders of the country were in fact three Awakened Sorcerers with an Angelic Bloodlines.

 

A lot of Players really liked the ‘Three Sisters of Fate’, mostly because they were incredibly beautiful, as well as powerful; they also had some of the most fun Quest-lines in the mid-game.

 

This Gnoll Sorcerer that Kade had seen naturally couldn’t compare with any of the Three Sisters of Fate, or even an Awakened Sorcerer, but Kade couldn’t underestimate it.

 

He also noticed that the Gnoll Sorcerer had constantly kept the Sorcerer’s Eye Skill deployed, which meant that it was very alert. This also demonstrated that the Gnoll Sorcerer had quite a lot of Magic Power. Sorcerer’s Eye used both Magic and Mental Strength, but the Gnoll could keep it up, demonstrating that his bloodline was quite strong.

 

This kind of guy was difficult for Stealth users, so Kylie and Monae, even if they were at full power, would struggle. If Kade was a Thief, Rogue, or even Ranger--he wouldn’t be any use in combat. Luckily, he was a Fighter.

 

The Fighter’s advantage was that it didn’t rely on Stealth.

 

As soon as he entered the safety of the tunnel, Kade slumped down against the wall, Kylie sitting across from him. She had used both her Stealth, and Detect Life, Skills a lot--she was exhausted. In an hour, she had recovered and Kade decided to continue.

 

When he passed by the fork again, he suddenly heard a faint voice coming from behind the boulder. It was singing something, but the voice was very soft--and if not for his enhance hearing, and the fact that the path was basically silent, he wouldn’t have been able to hear it.

 

Kade’s heart started racing, he quickly approached and stuck his ear against the stone.

 

The voice became clear. It was singing in a very old language.

 

After listening for a few seconds, he realized that this was the language of the Alv people--a race that had long died out; but they were the origin of the Wizards. The Wizard God Lance was the last known Alv in existence.

 

In general, many places in Feinan had descendants of the Alv. During significant occasions, such as funerals or ancient rites, there would be Elders in charge of praying in the Alven language--but, the average person wouldn’t be able to speak or understand that ancient language.

 

But Kade had memories of being taught by his father, learning most of the common languages such as the Trade Language, Elven, and even Alven for ceremonial purposes.

 

In the game, only a small number of Players had checked out the Nobility Classes, but Kade never had much interest in it. As a result, he didn’t know what secrets it was hiding.

 

But this time, he was in the body of a Noble, and was finally able to experience the hidden benefits.

 

Listening carefully, Kade found out that the voice was female and singing only four sentences:

 

“With a red apple, and a black book, the Devil plays tonight.”

 

“Hating the reports of evil escaping justice’s eye, the god of a perfect world will make it all right.”

 

“Dressed in a suit and hearing the bells, a genius will die on the rooftop for what he believes--all he can do is keep putting up a fight.”

 

“The girl in love is used, but she cares not, for her god is always right--More evil men must die to cause the spreading of the light.”

 

***

Kade found the voice to be strangely scary and the more he listened, the more disturbed he felt. The four lines seemed to echo in his mind, but also made him feel sad.

 

Kylie was sitting against the wall with her small hands covering her pointed ears, she was trembling.

 

Kade forced himself away from the stone; just now, the voice managed to scare the usually brave Kade, even more than when he first met Vanessa.

 

Thinking that it may be a Fear Skill, Kade checked his Log frowned when he didn’t find and Fear or Wisdom Checks. Furthermore, the was wearing Vanessa’s Gift, which increased his Fear Resistance by 10%.

 

Low-level Fear Magics wouldn’t usually work on him. But, this fear seemed to come from his Soul itself. If it wasn’t a Fear Skill, the voice might have been causing some kind of Bloodline Resonance.

 

Kade shook his head, stepping away from the stone. He knew that whatever was behind it, required him to have much more power; he was still too weak.

 

Focusing, he helped Kylie up, and continued.

 

***

They quickly went back out of the secret passage and returned to the farmhouse, inside of which, the panicking and still tied-up Lola was sitting by the side of the bed.

 

“What are you going to do now?” Lola was scared, she had sat there for hours and was pretty sure that the masked man wasn’t going to let her escape.

 

Her face was pale as she looked up at him, her slim shoulders trembled.

 

When he approached, she shut her eyes and trembled, her breathing changing into small whimpers.

 

“What’s wrong with you?” Kade asked her in a baffled tone.

 

“Ah?” Lola carefully opened her eyes, “You, won’t hurt me?”

 

“Of course I won’t, just get ready--you will be joining me when we leave this dangerous place.” Kade spoke in a soft tone.

 

***

Kylie’s Stealth was large enough that if the three of them stayed very close together, there was no problem sneaking past the Gnolls.

 

Lola was shocked when she finally saw Kylie, a beautiful female Elf--who was a 2^nd Rank Phantom Assassin. Kade didn’t mention that Kylie was currently weakened.

 

When Kade checked, Lola didn’t have a Combat Class, and a low-rank Nobility General-Class. So, not only was she weak, she also slowed the other two down.

 

Three days later, when Lola stood once more in front of Rivershore City, she was overjoyed. She had gone through some difficult times with the filthy Gnolls when they broke into the Dungeons of White River Valley; the killed her male bodyguards and she had to whatever the Gnolls wanted in order to keep her life.

 

Lola felt euphoric to have survived, tears gathered in her large eyes as she thanked Kade over and over, with true sincerity--even if the guy before her eyes seemed to be extremely fierce, he didn’t do anything bad to her.

 

Still wearing his mask, Kade seemed to hesitate for a few moments, before speaking, “You come from Jewel Bay, correct?”

 

“Huh?” Lola let out an unintentional noise of surprise.

 

“I know that you aren’t the daughter of a Chamber of Commerce, but your father is an official. I also know that you ran away and work as a swindler; of course I don’t know your reasoning behind why you wish to do this, but I had a job for you.” Kade took out a bag, “There is some money inside, enough for you to make a round trip to Jewel Bay and back. There will also be some left over, you can use it to hire some manpower to protect you or to bribe a few people.”

 

He paused, “I need you to do something for me.”

 

Lola was shocked, “You know that much about me?”

 

She looked at him with suspicion, “Did the Lord of the White River Valley tell you? Are you one of his men?”

 

Kade didn’t bother to explain, “Almost.”

 

“Why do you trust me with this?” Lola looked at the bag in her hand, mixed feelings filled her heart.

 

“I have the feeling that you are still trying to find out who you are and what you want to do, so I am giving you a chance.”

 

Even Kade was unsure why he was doing this.

Author's Note:

If anyone is curious about the song, it's a reference to

Spoiler

Death Note. Ryuk is the devil; the god of a perfect world is what Light believes himself to be; the hearing bells and dying genius is L; the girl in love, who is just being used is Misa (one of the best characters...so cute, and a little dumb).

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-- It's not exactly subtle.