Chương 32

"I won't let you do it to me," the child whined piteously.

"I don't want to be a freak like you." Oliver stared at the werewolf boy, chained down to a table with one of his legs expanding and deflating with every breath he took in. The boy seen him arrive at the torture chamber and immediately launched into ranting and raving on sight. The ringing sound in his ears had subsided enough for Oliver to hear the boy's words, but the tinnitus remained as background noise. His Uncanny Sight helped Oliver confirm the boy's identity.

A young, ghostly wolf version overlaid the normal human body. The fact the skill worked both ways made it all the more useful to Oliver. His days of suspecting every passerby of harboring the curse of lycanthrope were behind him. Ignoring the child for now, Oliver stumbled over to the cupboard. They were locked, but Oliver thankfully had recently acquired a black key from Billy's corpse. It fit perfectly and unlocked the cabinet with a nice clunk.

He rummaged through for a minute, pushing aside acids and syringes until he found what he wanted.

"Thank fuck," he said after a quick Appraisal to be certain. Then he downed the healing potion. A warm rush eased the pain out of his body and he let out a sigh. It was a high grade potion too. A glance down at his leg showed only smooth skin through the bloody tear in his pant leg. His ears had likewise stopped ringing and his head no longer ached. He closed his eyes and spared a few seconds to simply enjoy the absence of pain spiking his every breath.

He returned back to reality and examined the cupboard more thoroughly. Sadly, that had been the only healing potion there. Usually torture chambers kept a few healing potions on hand just in case the torturer got a bit carried away. It had likely been the case here as well, however, it looked like Billy was a bit too gung-ho about his duties because there were several empty bottles strewn about in the cupboard that Oliver strongly suspected used to be full of healing potion.

Still, it wasn't a complete dud for loot. Oliver decided to snatch up some of the more potent and fast-acting acids from the cupboard and even grabbed a syringe of a particularly nasty looking poison.

"Nothing in here that could harm a vampire though," Oliver reflected. He would love to get his hands on something like a liquid fire potion. The one trader he'd ever met who'd sold them though had been found two days later drained of blood and chopped to pieces. For the next week, a bit of that trader had been found on every store vendor's stall in a ten mile radius. It was obviously meant to be a warning from the vampires to the traders not to deal in liquid fire.

Still, there was a secondary message buried in the action. Oliver had learned that they truly feared the stuff. Not that he'd ever had an opportunity since then to use the weapon.

"Do your worst!" the werewolf boy growled. He'd been repeating the challenge repeatedly since Oliver's unannounced entrance.

"I won't submit!"

"I'm not a vampire," Oliver said. He closed the cupboard and finally addressed the boy.

"Your sister wanted me to free you from the dungeon." The werewolf boy was in rough shape. Oliver finally fully took in the body's condition. The leg was the most obvious defect, as it inflated ballooned like a misplaced lung. But that was far from the only injury that marred him. One of the boy's eyes was black instead of white and burns covered more skin than not. At some places, the flesh all the way down to his bone had been seared off.

Still, even despite the extensive damage to the werewolf's body, Oliver felt zero guilt about drinking that healing potion without hesitation. He could carry the boy. The boy couldn't carry him. Though holding another person would sadly eliminate the use of his Shadow Slink skill. A massive inconvenience. Would it be worth the use of his final health potion? Oliver painstakingly considered. His one remaining potion could be the difference between life and death in his upcoming challenges.

Suddenly, it felt woefully inadequate for what he faced. He regretted not splurging his remaining funds on a couple of the potions back on The Beetle. What good were bullets and salt when you were too dead to use them? He ended up deciding to keep the potion in reserve. The question now was whether to push forward and keep searching the dungeons for a way deeper into the mountain in hopes of finding a path to the server, or retreat and regroup with Kiki outside.

On one hand, he'd already come so far and returning sounded like a nightmare. Especially if the castle's residents knew about the secret passageway and set up traps in it, a very real possibility. But, on the other hand, he'd managed to deal a bit of damage to the vampire's defenses by killing both Billy and the blood tree. Not to mention, achieved a decent amount of reconnaissance and information.

If they didn't find his human blood, the enemy would likely assume the damage was dealt by werewolves and that they'd gotten what they wanted by stealing the child back. If Oliver dragged the boy deeper into the mountain, that would put his quest reward at risk. Every fight from here that Oliver engaged in posed a massive risk to the boy's life. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. The quest reward might be just the edge he needed to face down the enemy on stronger footing.

It was a gamble, with pros and cons in both directions. Speed and confusion in his favor on one side, additional strength and information on the other.

"Hey Ben," Oliver said, not looking at his bag.

"I know you can hear me. Tell Kiki to make a distraction. I'm on my way out. I haven't located the server's position precisely, but I've uncovered some information that will help. I'll need time to read it to better understand what we're working with."

"Who are you—" the boy started to ask, only to get cut off by the abrupt sound of static from Oliver's pack.

"I still can't understand you," Oliver said to the bag.

"I'll assume you still heard me though." Oliver heaved the boy over a shoulder and started back the way he'd come from. Moans from the other cells trailed in his wake, begging for either freedom or pleading to be put out of their misery. The boy over his shoulder tensed in alarm as Oliver stepped over Billy's corpse. He only stopped once, in front of the sack of flesh that had helped cover his entrance into the dungeon. Oliver drew out his blunderbuss and fired a single silver bullet into Fredrick's lumpy head.

He'd made enough noise already that he doubted another gun shot would warrant any more pursers. He had to shush the werewolf boy on three separate occasions as he crept through the secret passageway. He was starting to wonder if the boy was purposefully attempting to sabotage him and get him killed. Even so, they did reach the cellar exit alive and seemingly without exposing their position. From there, he peeked his head into the dining hall and found it serenely silent.

Likely everyone was drawn out by the chaos outside or down to the dungeons below. He crossed the dining hall and stood by the window that he'd used as his entrance into the castle. The castle grounds appeared devoid of life beyond the usual plants. No movement caught his eye. Unfortunately, the wall that surrounded the grounds kept him from a clean exit. Unless he discovered a way to safely scale the wall, he'd need to return to the castle gate where the werewolves had fought to escape.

Without his stealth skill available to him, Oliver worried about trying to cross and exit the garden. He hoped that Kiki would manage enough of a distraction to slip by unnoticed, but there was no guarantee that it would be enough to drag all the eyes away.

"Could you survive if I threw you over that wall?" Oliver asked the boy. A normal mortal would probably die from the impact. Werewolves, however, were sturdier by nature, even while remaining in their human form. Just getting the boy off the grounds alive should be enough to trigger Oliver's quest reward. Later, he could circle back for the boy and make sure he was safe. The boy stuttered incoherently. A buzzing noise interrupted whatever insightful message the boy was struggling to get out.

He cowered behind Oliver as one of Ben's drones lowered on the other side of the window." Kiki is currently engaging with the foe,"Ben said, just barely loud enough to be heard through the glass." Please release your charge into my custody. I will ensure his safety. I will return for you shortly after completing your quest conditions." That was enough assurance for Oliver. He pried open the window and stuffed the boy beneath the drone. As he climbed out himself, Oliver watched as Ben flew off with the boy.

Then he hunkered down behind some nearby foliage to wait for Ben's return. In the distance, Oliver heard combat. The familiar noises of a [Neon Samurai] chopping down foes. At least Kiki was probably pleased about this turn of events. Quest Complete! Reward- 500 Mel Ring of the Lycanthrope The words flashed over his vision and the ring appeared in his open palm. Excellent, that meant Ben had successfully delivered the boy safely out of the reach of any vampires. Oliver grinned down at the ring.

The metal band was shaped in the image of a leaping wolf and ironically crafted from silver. The buzz of Ben's drone flying back covered up Kiki's battle noises. Oliver stood and stretched. He spotted the drone incoming. Then, as if in slow motion, Oliver watched as a projectile flew through the air. Oliver drew his blunderbuss on instinct, prepared to shoot the missile out of the air. Maybe, if the gun had already been in his hand, it might have been possible.

But the seconds required to draw the weapon cost him that opportunity. By the time Oliver raised his gun, Ben's drone exploded mid-air, raining shrapnel down on the garden right in front of him.

"Fuck," Oliver closed his eyes and took a deep breath, taking in his current predicament. The drone's explosion would pull in the attention of every vampire in the nearby radius. They'd be on him in seconds. He debated attempting to retreat back into the secret tunnels. But no, he'd have nowhere to go once he was in there. They'd be on his tail once again and he had no time to study the tome. Running away blind was too much of a risk.

"Ben," he said, hoping the damaged communication piece in his pack would still get the message to the [Technomancer].

"I'm disengaging. Retreating into my skill. Get back to me in eight hours." Oliver desperately hoped the cooldown was over from his use against the pirates. It would be cutting it close." Summon Sanctuary," he said, hand outreached. He was crouched in a bush only twenty meters away from the drone's explosion. He felt it activate. But it would take time. He needed to distract the vampires, buy himself a few precious minutes. While his sanctuary formed, Oliver activated his fairy ring.

The little creature of light appeared in his hand and silently giggled up at him. Oliver instructed it to run in the direction of the castle gate, to bring attention in that direction. He desperately hoped that would be enough. Its wings fluttered as it darted off. Every minute that passed added to Oliver's building anxiety. He heard shouts in the direction of the castle gate. His heart nearly fell out of his chest as a vampire darted past his location.

It didn't slow, thankfully not spotting him concealed in the foliage. Finally, to his great relief, his coffin took form in the garden soil. Without wasting another second, Oliver dove inside and slammed the lid down over his head. Only once sealed inside did the tension finally leave Oliver. For now, he was safe.