Chapter 17 & 18: A Family By Circumstance (Part I & Ii) (1/2)

Karnage : Enjoy! I won't be doing the rewrite again. I'll just finish this and write what I want afterward! ^^

Chapter 17 & 18 -

Sol looked at the corpse and begun examining it, he could see a faint trace of green aroma blowing off of it's body. It looked incredibly toxic, much much more so than the poison he had created. It didn't look like the work of human either, Sol quickly pulled out a vial from inside of his satchel and begun extracting the poison. The poison burned the floor as it dripped and made Sol wonder what sort of poison could do this and last this long, however  he was happy nontheless he acquired some.

He begun examining the corpse and first took it's runic ring holding it by a cloth, he used the Water Orb and thoroughly washed the ring before making personal contact with it. Now that he looked closer he could see the poison was splashed on the man's lower body and half of it had been eaten away and it was surely what killed him and not the dagger in his Dantian. Sol immediately began inspecting the man's runic ring.

Sol was pleasantly surprised to discover the man had a great amount of gold coins and could be considered quite wealthy. The ring also possessed quite a few odd things Sol didn't know about and seemed to be quite precious and valuable. There were also good things like C-grade beast leather armor, and a great heavy sword with a gem embedded in it's hilt that gave off a terrifying gleam.

Sol thought this man's bag set up was very erratic and didn't make sense, it even had women's clothing and jewelry. It possessed poisons and medicines of many types even some Sol didn't recognize and were variant plants. Being in his current predicament he was grateful for these supplies as they might save his life and quickly transferred all the goods over to his runic ring.

Sol's intuition told him this man was a thief of some sort and his collection was quite nice, luckily Sol found a note that had a list of all the items with descriptions and smiled. Sol took out the armor and found it to be strange. He also wondered why the man wouldn't use something as good as this, when he read the description he understood why.

C-Rank Cursed Dark Leather Armor -[Armor made from a Cursed C-Rank Beast, tough defense and durability. Cursed properties of this armor induces and incites madness on it's user by directly interfering with the user's Dantian. Not recommended for long usage. Able to take a bracelet form but madness effect increases]

Sol was pleasant to read this, only probably someone like him could use it. Naturally he immediately equipped it, The armor was dark red and completely made of leather. It suited Sol's golden-magma like hair and deep golden eyes completely and he was quite taken with it. The person who designed the armor had quite a bizarre fas.h.i.+on sense  but possessed great combat knowledge as well and designed the armor with an a.s.sa.s.sin type feel. Dressed in red, Sol looked b.a.s.t.a.r.dly das.h.i.+ng and would most certainly steal hearts.

The armor was quite easy to move in and it kept one's body scent inside, Sol tested it's range of movement and was pleased to know it didn't restrict one's movements at all. If it did restrict his movements then it would serve Sol no purpose and it would just be a flashy piece of equipment.

Sol took out the Heavy sword with the jeweled hilt from the runic ring and it instantly crashed to the floor sinking into the soft earth by it's edge! Sol could not hold it at all!

*Bang*

Mitra's voice sounded out instantly!

(Master! This sword is a good sword! It's definitely something good!) -Mitra

Sol gazed at the sword and it was quite heavy. Sol was sure he wasn't able to wield it as he was now. It gave off a cold gleam and a divine terrifying feel, there was also a deep sense of pride hidden within the sword that gave off an unyielding righteousness. It was about 130 cm long and was completely straight up until the edge of the blade which was crescent shaped and gave off an executioner's feel.

Sol quickly searched through the list to see the name of this sword.

Divine Executioner- [Holy relic of the Sun Temple, not much is known about this sword besides the fact that it was the most treasured artifact of the Sun Temple.

Rumors were spread and some people believed that this sword was in fact the sword that was wielded by the G.o.d Baldr Hyperion Cra.s.sius who slew the G.o.d Beast of Arlanvale in exchange for his life. However no one had awakened the sword ever since and no one could prove such and it was eventually forgotten in time becoming just a historical piece. The Faint traces of power in the sword still mesmerize people to this day]

Sol sensing light affinity with this blade subconsciously reached out and touched the hilt.

[IMPUDENT!] -???

Sol immediately let go of the hilt as this voice sounded out in his head and an image of two huge golden eyes stared at him viciously for a split second. The voice made Sol shudder as it sounded like a Divine G.o.d, much much different than the time he spoke with Mitra. Back then he only felt fear, but this time it was much more real and a dense killing intent flooded out!

[Your ugly face is impudent! Don't dare talk to master like that! Hmph! If I had my full form what could you possibly do! Hmph! One day master will subdue you too! Then you'll be number 2! Hmph! Only because your previous owner left you with a bit of power you can be this arrogant! Hmph! I wouldn't even put you in my eyes once I grow!] -Mitra

However the sword didn't respond to Mitra's provocation and immediately became dormant again.

(So it's a either a Sentient Weapon or an Intelligent weapon huh..Judging from this reaction it's probably incredibly powerful and definitely something high tier. However I won't be able to wield this anytime soon that's for sure, I think when I'm able to wield Mitra freely I'll try again...) -Sol

Sol laughed as he heard Mitra's voice in anger. He quickly stored back the sword and after skimming through a few materials for a few minutes he decided not to waste anymore time and decided to carry out the rest of his plan. Right before he was about close the runic ring, he saw a book that looked a bit old within the old man's runic ring. Sol gave it a glance and read the t.i.tle.

(Journal huh...It's best I find out just who you were) -Sol

Sol after giving a faint glance at the coc.o.o.ned beasts in the wall, sat down and begun reading.

**

[Journal of Madius Relias Solzen]

[...I am a thief by trade and profession, the best of the best there is...hehe I created this journal to record my notorious deeds and make sure that one day the world knows my origins] -Madius

Sol kept reading and reading and the more he read the more disgusted he felt, the man had killed and used quite a few people to achieve his goals. The money in this ring was soaked in the blood, Sol felt disgusted when he thought about where the money he received came from. Were it not for Sol's sense of survival he would already have tossed it away.

The last entries in the journal of the thief astonished Sol!

Apparently the man had stolen two eggs from a S-Rank or higher Dragon-Serpent Species, led it to a city and made it trample the city when it couldn't find the egg. What's more is the thief destroyed the egg in the city, enraging the beast and it gave no quarter destroying the city. The thing that disgusted Sol were this man's methods, even after the people in the city showed him a warm welcome and was even taken in by a n.o.ble.

When Sol read lower down it shocked him even more...

[The name of the n.o.ble family I used was called..Krauss. The head of the house was called Leowald Krauss, his wife was Irena Krauss and his daughter was Salira Krauss] -Madius

[!!!!!] -Sol

[Without a doubt, the Salira he's referring to is the 3rd Queen! The symbols and names can't be wrong!] -Sol

Sol started connecting the dots. When he read about how the man had used her family, Sol immediately understood.

[Could this be why she probes strangers so irrationally and without respect for others?] -Sol

Sol had a new understanding of the 3rd Queen, she would rather offend the few to save the majority. Sol himself thought if it happened to him, he would probably be much more untrusting than her. Sol then gave a sigh, packed up everything in his runic ring and immediately turned to leave.

(I should go have a word with her, after all some of the stuff this guy stole is her family heirlooms...I'm keeping the gold though) -Sol

(Hmm...It seems master has affinity for thieving!) -Mitra

Sol laughed at Mitra's comment and then looked at the book one more time and only now had he noticed it had a single page left and it was stained in blood, Sol began reading.

**

Madius's POV:

I finally escaped the city, I used the brilliant tactic which I had in mind and the S-Rank beast as sure as rain flooded the city. I thought I had bought myself enough time while escaping, I burned several Sour Pined Leaves in my escape which was more than I had thought would be needed but I absolutely had to escape no matter how expensive they are, they worked like a charm and repelled the beasts nearby.

(Seems these Sour Pined Leaves possess some kind of effect like the Fishtail tree) -Sol

Just when I thought I was safe I heard the terrible howls of the S-Rank beast and judging by the disturbance in the forest it's coming my way. I thought for sure I could escape! The creature is much too smart, I underestimated it! It knew from the beginning this was a plot but it still ground the city to dust! I already angered it, even if I drop the egg here it would definitely still come to kill me!

Before I knew it I was out of Sour Pined Leaves but that doesn't matter because the beasts of the forest are running away at full-scale and want absolutely nothing to do with me! It seems they can tell I offended it!  It's getting closer and closer....I found a Bloodmana Wasp hive and this is my last chance! I began running towards the Bloodmana Wasp hive, I took out a dagger and I smashed my own Dantian to bits. I knew for sure that this was life or death and I hate the fact that I stole this cursed egg!

I left the dagger in my chest because I absolutely can't afford to bleed out, luckily these Wasps are dumb and so long as I hide inside the hive near the entrance I should be fine.

(Seems this guy didn't know about the Guardian Wasps) -Sol

The S-Rank beast was absolutely terrifying! Somehow some of the Wasps can see me and are standing at the entrance of the hive!! Luckily for me I still possess a few Beast paralysis poison vials! I threw the both bottles at the two Wasps that could see me and ran past them, the S-Rank beast which was right behind me ignored both Wasps completely but it's body still destroyed it just by colliding!!

I made it into the hive....however, not before the S-Rank beast shot poison at me and poisoned my lower body...I'm hiding in the first part of the hive after I rolled the egg down the hive and it rolled all the way down the tunnel....The Wasps that can see me are just staring at me... They tried to attack me a few times but the poison burned their skins and now they're keeping their distance...It seems I can't even hope for a quick death..this poison is slowly eating away at me and I can't move....not even the Wasps dare touch me...

I can hear the S-Rank beast still gnawing and biting at the entrance, forcefully enlarging it...It's only a matter of time till it makes it's way into the hive....I can only hope that it follows the egg all the way down into the hive and meets the Queen Bloodmana Wasp.....Ahahahha.....those wretched beasts should just kill themselves, Ahahahahahaa.

Judging from the noise outside....I'd say it's using it's poison to forcefully enlarge the entrance....10 minutes have pa.s.sed...Ahh....It finally entered...It's looking at me...it's too big to enter the first part of the hive and it's just looking at me....Is...it..smiling at me? The Wasps dared not approach it...It went down the tunnel for it's egg and ignored me......Hah...So it knows I'm dead...I really wish..I never stole that wretched egg....those nice people that took care of me....I regret it all...

(The note ends here in a trail of blood...it seems this guy was responsible for the destruction of Salira's city. No wonder, No wonder) -Sol

End of POV.

**

After thinking he wasted too much time, Sol quickly put away the book and begun heading downwards deeper into the hive. He didn't want to mourn for that disgusting man and left him without a burial.

On the way down to the second pocket, he encountered a few more Wasps but they were either killed or crippled. Of the types he encountered, most were Guardians and a few Bloodmana Wasps with only two variant types which only deepened Sol's suspicion and not long after he came across the second pocket.

What bothered Sol was that one of the Variant Wasps had grown a half complete eye which was much better than the first one he encountered and made his suspicion even more real. Sol had to be careful with these guys now, what if he encountered one that had already developed both Intelligence and a Collective conscious? It would cause a terrible outcome! He decided here and now that he would disarm all variant Wasps as to avoid making a mistake.

When Sol had arrived at the second pocket, he peered inward and saw something strange. The second pocket only had a few regular Bloodmana Wasps, completely different to the first pocket that had quite a few Wasps. This one rather than have beasts, had coc.o.o.n like eggs all over the wall and all around the entire pocket, these Bloodmana Wasps were injecting the walls like the first pocket and some were moving the eggs closer to the walls.

(So..this is where you hold your young huh...) -Sol

Sol immediately dashed over to the entrance of the pocket and kept out of their range. One by one he shot arrows into their wings, when they fell he would chop off their arms and legs. Afterward he carefully placed an Explosive Fire Orb  in the middle of the eggs and quietly left the room leaving the buzzing Bloodmana Wasps.

(It seems the first room was where they group up and a security point of some sort. Hopefully other rooms won't be overly occupied and just like this one) -Sol

Sol then left and headed deeper downwards, he encountered more Guardian Wasps and Variant Wasps on the way and barely any normal Bloodmana Wasps. Sol noticed that the Wasps he encountered seemed slightly off, and seemed more vulnerable. When he observed closer, he noticed they were under the effects of the poison he created which surprised Sol greatly.

(I know that some fumes would have entered the lower levels...but for it to be this powerful...) -Sol

He dispatched them quietly and carefully, the lower he got the less Wasps he encountered which Sol found strange. Finally he encountered the third pocket, after confirming with Mitra that no patrols were coming Sol peered in.

(Oh...My G.o.d...) -Sol

When Sol looked in he was terrified, he saw many more coc.o.o.ns with beasts in them but what was even more terrifying was the amount of variants he saw guarding them.

(So many!!) -Sol

(Master...you should really back out while you can...this keeps looking all the more dangerous) -Mitra

Mitra nervously and anxiously warned Sol inside his mind.

(Not yet! I was just surprised by the number. I have much more poison I can use, What I'm worried about is that my suspicions are real. This is a new race of Wasp that will certainly cause great terror) -Sol

(Indeed master, the Wasps among other beasts have always kept secretive and are actually quite terrifying. Even mother warned me not to stray near a nest, I don't think it would be a problem for mother though. However master, this nest count seems different from what I remember...There should be more Wasps than this...) -Mitra

(You've been in a hive before?) -Sol

Sol was quite surprised.