PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Desmond expected many things when he came to the world where Nicolai belonged. Still, not even his wildest fantasies prepared him for what he found.

At first, everything seemed normal, nothing more than a gloomy forest full of withered trees. Desmond was used to being thrown into random deserted areas every time he arrived in a new world, so he didn’t find it strange.

The only thing worth noting was the strange shade of colors that dominated his environment. The ground was ash gray, while the withered trees were a macabre dark gray. A moonless purple sky decorated what Desmond could only assume was night.

A decadent and sinister feeling in the air made Desmond uncomfortable. Desmond could sense that something was profoundly wrong with this place, with his surroundings, as if an unholy presence was spreading through the air. The putrid, withered aroma emanating from the ground spoke volumes about what was wrong with the place.

Desmond had been to at least half a dozen worlds and a fair number of environments and had seen many unique things. But what he felt at that moment was different; it wasn’t just a different climate or geography. It felt somehow unnatural, artificial.

Desmond tried to put those thoughts out of his head since these had nothing to do with him, but a small part couldn’t help feeling an instinctive rejection of his surroundings. It took Desmond a moment to realize the reason for that rejection. It was precisely that unholy presence, more precisely, what that unholy presence had done to the Mana of the place.

There was something incredibly wrong with the Mana in the environment; it almost felt like it was rotten and contaminated. Desmond felt sick as his body naturally absorbed the Mana around him. It was like eating something bad but a dozen times worse.

A sudden pain in his chest warned Desmond that things were worse than they seemed. Once that noxious substance mixed with Mana reached his heart, it tried to corrupt Desmond’s elemental seeds, getting a strong rebuff instead.

.....

Desmond broke out in a cold sweat, immediately realizing how dangerous that had been. Things would be different without an elemental seed concentrating his purest Mana reserves. That noxious substance would have infected all the Mana in his body since he didn’t have the seed to defend it.

Not a minute had passed since Desmond had arrived in this new world. Yet, his safety had already been put at risk by nothing more than the atmosphere of the place. One could only assume how difficult things would be from there.

The elemental seeds fended off the noxious substance quite successfully. On the other hand, Desmond realized that to maintain said defenses, he would have to suppress his Mana usage to a minimum. For a common Elementalist, such a situation was no better than being crippled. It was quite fortunate that Desmond fell into that category.

“Thinking of it that way, this would explain the prerequisite of this quest, though that wouldn’t be enough to explain Nicolai’s blood.”

Desmond muttered to himself, the old habit always coming back when he was alone. It could be seen that Desmond frankly hated the silence.

Nicolai might be too arrogant and stupid to notice, but Desmond was another story. To put it bluntly, there was no way Nicolai could issue the association mission using himself as a reward. As such, logic dictated that someone else had to do it.

That was where things got weird. Since Nicolai couldn’t do it, and the mission didn’t come from a meddling Celestial either, there was only one suspect left. Or rather, a group of suspects, the same guys who destroyed Nicolai.

The reason was very simple. Given how cunning and powerful these beings were, there was no way Nicolai could have hidden under their noses while he pretended to be destroyed.

Nicolai thought his master plan to resurrect would never be seen by his enemies, but Desmond knew that was bullshit. Since those people found a way to seal someone as powerful as Lilith, there was no way for a stupid weakling like Nicolai to outsmart them.

Then a question arose, who issued the mission to the association, and why did they use Nicolai’s blood as a reward? Desmond had a theory. Since Nicolai’s blood was used to seal Lilith, his blood was the key to freeing her. Such an item could have infinite uses depending on the situation.

Desmond believed that the person who issued the quest actually did so, knowing that no one would take it. It makes sense due to the strangeness of it and all the unknowns surrounding the quest’s reward and prerequisite. After all, who would use his one chance at obtaining a bloodline to inject himself with some unknown mutant blood?

Only someone like Desmond, who had absolute trust in the Celestials who guided/manipulated him, would do such a thing. One might ask: why offer a mission that would never be taken? Well, for something like Nicolai’s blood, which could free the most powerful being in this world full of dark races, it was better to stay out of the hands of others.

Since there would always be risks in keeping blood somewhere in this world, it would be best to hide it outside of this world. Even if someone accepted the quest and used the blood as the party that issued it, that person would be notified about it. That would give them the upper hand when hunting down the new user of this blood.

At least, that was what Desmond believed. Frankly, there was a good chance that his assumptions were true, but there was also a good chance that he was utterly wrong. However, Desmond was sure of one thing; it was better to get out of that gloomy forest in case someone could detect his arrival.

Desmond had a little idea about the blood as he walked out of the woods. Letting the vampiric qualities fill his being made Desmond feel much more comfortable. That unholy essence in the air did not harm him when he fully released his bloodline. At that point, it had become obvious that Desmond would have to rely almost entirely on the powers that came with his bloodline to accomplish his new mission.

Desmond had been walking for about fifteen minutes when the lights became visible in the distance. Judging by the voices and the noise, Desmond realized he had reached a village. Only when Desmond came out of the forest he realized how wrong he was.

One can imagine the expression on Desmond’s face when he realized that the forest he had been in was just a park within a huge medieval-looking city. The architecture and general air of the place reminded Desmond of those old horror movies with monsters terrifying old Europe. It was almost unsightly how much solid rock they used to build the whole place. The entire area seemed to scream: old and gothic.

But Desmond’s attention was barely done registering the landscape when he saw some bustle a block away. Desmond walked over to blend in with the population and learn something about the place. Still, nothing prepared him for the grotesque spectacle that awaited him there.

The girl was barely twenty years old, with dark skin, gray hair, a beautiful body, and tempting curves. So far, everything was fine; she was just a gorgeous girl. The problem was what was happening to the girl. The poor girl didn’t even seem conscious yet as she was savagely raped by five men.

The smiles of the five men were full of lust and sadistic pleasure, contrasted with the girl’s body full of white liquid and bruises, painting a tragic scene. But that wasn’t what left Desmond speechless. No, what disturbed him was that the crowd was just laughing and pointing as if it was all a show.

But what really left a mark on Desmond was that when one of the five men was utterly exhausted after ejaculating inside the girl, someone from the crowd stepped forward to continue the abuse. Only then did Desmond realize that the public had gathered because they were waiting for their turn.

Resisting nausea and anger, Desmond backed away from the crowd and the sick spectacle that was taking place. A part of him wanted to end the whole show with a display of violence, but reason told him not to be reckless.

It was painfully obvious that the situation was taken for granted by the population. Desmond would stick out like a sore thumb if he intervened. Besides, while it was little consolation, the girl had long been broken, saving her was a hundred times more complicated than simply dishing out a beating. There was a good chance that the woman was still calling for death after being saved.

Then again, there was something about the whole thing that was making Desmond very uncomfortable. It was those dark thoughts again. Something in his blood pulsed with emotion at the sight of that cruelty. Almost as if it asked Desmond to be a part of it. The mere notion nauseated Desmond, and he was beginning to question his decision to acquire this bloodline; he certainly didn’t appreciate having these dark thoughts.

As Desmond thought about the matter, something changed in the crowd. From the whispers, Desmond heard that the woman being abused had died. A good part of the crowd left the place, no longer interested in the show. However, a small amount stayed in the area to continue abusing the still-hot corpse of the girl.

Something inside Desmond almost snapped when he saw that these people weren’t willing even to spare a dead body. And the dark thoughts inside him changed slightly. No longer motivated by lust, these thoughts pushed him to violence. In the end, Desmond still left the place without doing anything about it, but his heart felt heavier than ever.

If everyone in this world were like what he had just witnessed, then this mission would be challenging in more ways than one. Desmond then remembered the feeling he had when he first came into this world, that decadent and profane feeling. Only now Desmond understood a little why it was due. This was a world stained with blood, without a doubt.