Chương 55: The Vason Estate

From the outside, the Vason estate actually looked surprisingly similar to the Pride and Prejudice manors Evan knew from movies. A gray stone building, three stories high. The floor plan resembled an H, with a main building and two side wings to the east and west. The roof was flat, but edged with crenellations that looked more decorative than protective. The building was surrounded by a large garden that probably used to be well-maintained, but was now wild and overgrown.

Smaller, winding paths all fed into a single, straight paved road, leading from the entry gate in the eight-foot-high wrought-iron fence to the building's main entrance. Crouched behind thick brushwork, the group studied the estate from afar. To Evan, it looked entirely peaceful. Abandoned, yes, but no sign that cruel human experiments were going on somewhere inside. Then he spotted the cart. The cart that the Beasts had used to transport their paralyzed victims.

They'd parked it haphazardly next to a side entrance to the east wing of the building. Evan leaned over to Jasper, keeping his voice low.

"Any traps or enemies? Any signs of the Beasts?" Jasper squinted his eyes in concentration. After a few more seconds, he slumped back with a sigh.

"I'm sorry, I can't use any of my perception skills. Everything behind that iron fence is just fog. There must be some kind of anti-spy wards still active, even after all these years."

"Still active or reactivated?" Evan asked.

"I don't know. But either way, we'll have to go in blind." Evan turned toward the group.

"Okay guys, check your gear. How many potions do we have?"

"With the ones Catriona brought with her, we have five health potions and three mana potions."

"We should distribute those between us," Oliver suggested.

"So we don't use all of them if we get separated, or if one of us dies or gets captured." Luca raised his eyebrows and pinched his lips.

"You're not inspiring optimism here, man."

"He's right though," Catriona said calmly.

"We have enough health potions so each one of us can get one. We need to think about how we're going to distribute the mana potions. I suggest Evan, Oliver, and I get one. The three of us are the damage dealers on our team. We'll probably use more mana during the upcoming fights than Jasper or Luca." Three small, bulbous bottles filled with a glowing golden fluid materialized in her palm. When she tried to hand one of them to Evan, he raised his hand to stop her.

"Thanks, but I don't need one. I have a pretty strong mana regeneration gift. I suggest we give the third one to Luca instead. We'll need lots of healing and, if our suspicions are correct, also some cleansing spells." Catriona studied him for a moment, looking intrigued.

"A mana regeneration gift? Those are very rare." Evan flashed her a grin.

"Bonus of being a world traveler. I'll give you all the details once we're done with this mess here. For now, just know I regenerate mana at a much faster rate than normal."

"Much, much faster," Oliver agreed.

"He's more or less a bottomless pit."

"I'll keep that in mind," Catriona said as she summoned the healing potions from her inventory and handed them out to the party. Evan took his and immediately stored it in his inventory.

"Everyone ready?" He looked into his teammates' faces. Jasper still looked uncertain, but the rest looked back determined. Evan took a deep breath and turned back toward the Vason Estate.

"Let's move." His friends immediately left their hiding spot behind the bushes and crossed the short distance between the edge of the forest and the iron fence surrounding the estate. Evan went last. He closed up to Jasper and held him back by the arm.

"Listen, Jasper, I know you didn't sign up for this. If you want out, this is your last chance. I have no idea what will happen once we're inside. None of us might survive this. I'm not angry if you choose to stay behind." Jasper slowed his steps, gazing at the dark silhouette of the manor. Evan could see how torn he felt. He knew Jasper didn't want to enter this building, didn't want to fight the Beasts, let alone the Professor.

His initially friendly demeanor had become more and more snappy the clearer it became this wasn't going to be one of his usual scouting missions, but for some reason he'd stuck with them.

"I won't tell the others you backed out, if that's what you're worried about. I'll make up an excuse. Make it look like it was my decision." Jasper pressed his lips together.

"I promised Alex—""To keep us safe? But will you really keep us safe in there? I have the highest respect for you, Jasper, and you do have a couple of skills that can come in handy during a fight, but you're not a fighter. You're not helping anyone if we need to keep an eye on you at all times." The rest of the team had almost reached the fence, but Jasper still stood frozen in place, eyes sweeping over the estate, then flicking back to Evan.

"Whatever you decide, you need to decide now. I'm going to say this one last time: if you want out, sit this one out. Only join us if your heart is truly in it." Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Jasper lowered his gaze, looking at the ground.

"I can't promise you that. As you said, I'm not a fighter. In fact, I'm realizing I might be a big fat coward." Evan put a hand on the other man's shoulder.

"It's not cowardly to accept your limitations. Go back and take cover, Jasper. And when Alex and her friends arrive, point them in the right direction, okay?" With a deep sigh, Jasper handed his healing potion to Evan.

"I hope you won't need this."

"So do I," Evan said, adding the second potion to his inventory. Then he turned around and started jogging before Jasper could say anything else. His friends were already scaling the fence, so he started sprinting to catch up with them. When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw Jasper walking away, heading back to their hiding spot behind the bushes.

"What took you so long?" Oliver asked. He'd already reached the top of the fence and leaned down, stretching out his hand to help Evan up.

"And where is Jasper going?" Luca asked, pulling himself up the fence with a surprisingly strong pull-up move.

"He's staying behind so he can tell Alexandra where to find us when she arrives." Luca opened his mouth as if he wanted to make a comment about Jasper backing out last minute, but then he closed it again and shrugged.

"Good idea," he said before jumping off the fence, shortly followed by Catriona, who looked a lot more graceful than Luca. Her little fox just slipped through the iron bars. Evan pushed off the ground and Oliver helped him up to the top of the fence. He let his gaze sweep over the garden surrounding the mansion one last time, looking for any signs of enemies or magical defenses. He spotted nothing. Just moss-covered statues, dried-out fountains, and hedges in dire need of a trim.

Oliver dropped off the other side of the fence, and Evan followed close behind. He landed on the sandy ground, half expecting some kind of alert to trigger, but nothing happened. Luca looked around.

"Alright, where are all those magical defenses I was promised? If this is just a stroll through a badly maintained park, I'm—" He never got to finish the sentence. A loud howl cut him off. Oliver smacked Luca in the back of his head.

"Man, you just had to say it, huh?" Evan whirled around, trying to locate the direction the sound came from. He spotted a pair of glowing green eyes between two bushy conifers. And that pair of eyes was coming at them fast. He heard barking and more howling. Suddenly their group was surrounded by at least half a dozen pairs of green, glowing eyes. Catriona, as an archer, had the best sight and probably the highest perception attribute too.

"Nightterror Hounds. A whole pack of them." Without exchanging many words, they moved into the formation they'd discussed on their track through the forest. Evan and Oliver in the front, Luca and Catriona in the back. The hounds were coming at them, paws drumming on the sandy ground. Evan could see them better now. They looked like oversized Dobermans, but with unnaturally glowing eyes, bigger teeth, and fur so black it seemed to swallow the moonlight.

They were close enough that he could see the spit flying from their bared teeth now. One of Catriona's arrows whizzed through the night. With her [Thorn Volley] ability, that one arrow split into four. Two of them found a target. One arrow hit a monster's flank. It slowed down, hobbling more than running now, but kept going. The other struck the hound right in the neck. It let out a gurgling whimper before stumbling and falling to the ground lifeless.

"Nice shot," Evan said. The early kill made him feel a whole lot better about their chances of surviving this mission. He used the few remaining seconds the hound pack needed to cross the distance to fling a [Comet Shot] at the monster in the lead. The ball of golden light hit the hound in the chest. It exploded in a rain of sparks, searing the two nearby monsters' fur. Evan's original target was killed on impact. Unfortunately, that was the last easy kill they got.

The remaining four hounds lunged at them, claws the size of fingers outstretched. Evan pulled out his sword and raised it in a parry just a split second before a hound crashed into him. He managed to deflect the monster's snapping jaws with his blade, but was thrown to the ground by its sheer weight. Unable to get his sword between his own body and the monster in time, he had to use his bare hands to push its ugly head away from his throat. His arms trembled under the strain.

Green-tinged, foaming spit ran down both his forearms as the animal struggled to overcome Evan's grasp and open its mouth. Oliver came to his aid, jumping into the hound feet first, kicking it off Evan's chest. The monster landed a few feet away, but was back on its legs quickly. Oliver had no time to finish it off because he was attacked from behind by two other hounds. Evan had to deal with it himself if he wanted to avoid being ripped to shreds.

He scrambled back up and rushed toward the hound, not allowing himself to be caught off guard again. The monster didn't hesitate either. It lunged at Evan just as he swung his sword in a sharp upward arc. His blade cut the beast's stomach open. Slick black intestines, accompanied by copious amounts of green goo, splattered onto the ground while the monster flew through the air. Evan heard the ping of the kill notification before the gutted Nightterror Hound hit the ground.

Some of the green ichor splashed toward him. He jumped backward, trying to avoid being soaked in monster slime, but he didn't have much time to find his bearings. Another hound was snapping at his sword arm. Evan used [Teleport], trying to get himself into a better position to swing at the monster, and… nothing happened. He didn't teleport. He didn't move an inch. Momentarily dumbfounded by his failure to use his skill, he didn't react fast enough, allowing the monster to bite down on his forearm.

Its teeth sank into Evan's flesh. Pain shot up his arm, making him grunt. Jaw clenched, he tried to wrangle his arm free, but the hound wouldn't let go. His health bar had taken a significant hit and, even more worrying, another ping alerted him of a status condition. Judging by the burning pain, Evan was pretty sure the hound's fangs were poisonous, even without pausing to check his status screen.

With renewed determination to get his arm out of the creature's jaw, he used his legs for leverage, kicking and shoving them against the hound's chest. Finally, he landed a strong kick right at its throat. It let go of him with a gurgling whimper, but only for a moment. The monster was already leaning back on its hind legs, preparing for another jump attack, so Evan did not waste any time.

His arm was in too much pain to properly lift his sword, so he collected his mana in his left hand and slung a [Comet Shot] at the hound just as it was about to launch off. The glowing projectile hit its target. The creature was thrown backward by the impact, and before it could collect itself, one of Catriona's arrows went right through its neck. Breathing heavily, Evan looked around. He was surrounded by seven Nightterror Hound corpses. Luca, standing a few feet away, lifted his arms in a celebratory pose.

"Woohoo! That was awesome, guys. Whoa, Evan… come over here real quick. Let me take a look at that arm." Evan jogged over, cradling his mangled arm close to his chest. He felt a little wobbly, and the pain radiating from the wound made him wince with every step. Oliver and Catriona gathered around him.

"Nightterror Hounds have a paralyzing poison," she said.

"Check your status."

"The wound is poisoned," Evan said.

"I already heard the notification, and it also just feels freaking awful." Catriona furrowed her brows in concern.

"Luca, you better cleanse this quickly. This poison can kill a man by paralyzing his lungs." The team healer bent over to inspect the bloody wound himself. The edges of the bite marks had developed a sickly greenish tint. Luca straightened his back and let out a long breath.

"Okay, Evan, let's hope my new cleansing skill is strong enough to deal with this."