Chương 76: Scouting

Jonas did exactly as I instructed. Step by agonizing step, we made our way through the corridor, which spanned roughly twenty meters. With every step, I carefully marked the tiles we crossed with a piece of charcoal, preparing for the possibility of an emergency retreat. At the end of this passageway lay another corridor. As we rounded the corner, faint sounds began echoing from the distance. I signaled Jonas to stay put and crept closer on my own to expand my field of vision.

Currently, combining long-range vision and x-ray vision simultaneously limited my maximum range to about thirty meters, and operating at full capacity drained a massive amount of mana. If I utilized long-range vision alone, however, I could see clearly up to a hundred meters, provided there were no physical obstructions. I needed to conserve my mana for emergencies, so I had no choice but to close the distance to get a better vantage point.

What I saw was remarkably familiar: a circular prison system facing toward a central hub. The only difference was that there was no sun-drenched skylight here. And behind those iron bars were no mana slaves; they were fully turned ghouls. There had to be at least thirty ghouls here. Some cells stood empty, while others were crammed with two of the creatures. The locks on these cells weren't the sturdy iron padlocks typically used, but rather a simple sliding latch mechanism.

Anyone with a modicum of intelligence—something these ghouls had entirely lost—could easily slide them open. No living person was in sight, but there was a doorway situated on my left-hand side. I wanted to slip across to the other side, but the moment I stepped into the ghouls' line of sight, they whipped into a frenzy. I immediately ducked back behind the wall, holding my breath as I listened. A few seconds later, someone stepped out from the doorway on the left.

In truth, I only recognized the figure as a living human thanks to the x-ray capability of my left eye, because the attire they wore was profoundly bizarre. The man was clad in a sweeping robe that trailed from his head all the way to the floor, emblazoned with a prominent reddish-purple pattern on the front. His face was concealed by a metallic mask with an exceptionally thick nose bridge, and his gloves fit snugly against his skin. In short, not a single patch of flesh was left exposed to the elements.

Upon closer inspection, the nose section of the mask was stuffed with a packed mixture of soil and some kind of herbs. It appeared to be a crude anti-Miasma hazmat suit they had fashioned. Based on my knowledge, a garment like this could indeed stave off Miasma contamination for a short period. The robed man looked more irritated than suspicious as he confronted the wildly howling ghouls. He was carrying a bucket filled with fresh meat and used a pair of tongs to toss chunks into the cages one by one.

The ghouls lunged at the meat, quieting down slightly. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Given the current setup, I wouldn't be able to infiltrate any deeper on my own. I slipped back to Jonas's position and gestured to him that we were backtracking out the way we came. When we finally exited the ruined church, I noticed the rain had intensified again. Nathan and Mantir were sheltering from the downpour beneath a thick bush.

Seeing us emerge, Nathan asked, "What's inside?" I detailed everything I had just witnessed to the three of them. Every single one of them looked as though they were about to throw up from sheer horror.

"I need you to come with me, Nathan." Nathan instinctively recoiled, jumping backward in a manner that was completely OOC. I suppose when faced with actual, mortal peril, very few people can maintain a detached, aloof facade. He shook his head vigorously.

"No way in hell." I glanced at the two soldiers standing beside us, then looked back at him, hoping his skill would clue him in on what I was implying. Angrily, Nathan waved his hand, signaling me to step over to a spot where the other two couldn't overhear us.

"You want me to use my skills?" I nodded.

"I need to go deeper inside to determine exactly what they're plotting. We'll disguise ourselves. They wear heavy hoods, so our faces won't be exposed, but if someone strikes up a conversation, I need to be able to field it."

"I don't want to."

"If you don't do it, this entire trip was pointless."

"Do you have any idea what happens when I use these skills? They can alter my own thoughts and emotions! Whenever I use them, it feels like my very mind doesn't belong to me anymore. I hate it!" Each word seemed to grind out from between Nathan's teeth. Hissing with frustration, he continued:"I don't want to be a hero. I just want to escape this nightmare as soon as possible. We can just take that trail and find help from the outside. That's it." I crossed my arms, weighing my options.

During the battle earlier, when he used telepathy to warn me of danger, the thought had briefly crossed my mind to convince him to join the Hero party. But Nathan clearly despised his power to the point of rejecting human connection and intimacy altogether, which was a major red flag for a permanent teammate. If that was the case, I had to pivot my approach.

"I know of a material that can suppress the use of mana-based skills. If you help me this time, I'll find a way to get it for you." What I had in mind was the specific alloy used to forge the shackles for the Church's mana slaves. I just needed to dig into where the Church sourced it. Nathan stared at me in silence. With his innate skill, he could easily deduce that I wasn't lying to him. I threw in one final assurance, which also happened to be entirely true:"I definitely won't let you die down there."

If things went south, I would simply reset from the most recent Holy Prayer Day. I had absolutely no desire to be drained of my blood again, but if a redo was inevitable, I needed to gather as much intelligence as possible to ensure a smoother run on the next loop. That was also the primary reason I chose not to gamble on that mountain trail. There was a high probability it was guarded further down.

Even in the best-case scenario, it would lead to some remote, desolate area, and it would take us days to navigate back to a populated settlement. We would survive, but the people trapped back in Grasiva certainly wouldn't. Whether Lealia wished to become a Hero or not, I couldn't bring myself to let that kindhearted girl suffer a grim fate when things could still turn out better.

Alternatively, even if I returned to Grasiva and tried to evacuate everyone via that trail, the cultists housing the ghouls below would inevitably notice and intercept us. In this treacherous mountain terrain, a mere ten ghouls could butcher an endless number of defenseless civilians. Therefore, the optimal course of action I could devise right now was to figure out what those robed fanatics were plotting underground, and stop it if possible.

And if we hit a worst-case scenario, I could reset with a complete data set to map out a flawless strategy for the next run. To pull that off, I needed Nathan's compliance.