Salvos

Nice? Amanda cursed as she stormed out of the room. She was an assassin. A Harrowed Vindicator. Someone who’d been hired to kill high-value targets all the same, regardless of their background or history.

How was she nice? That was ridiculous. That girl— Salvos, or whatever her name is— was utterly stupid. Even Daniel recognized that Amanda was nothing more than a cold bastard of an assassin.

It annoyed her. Amanda didn’t know why she was so upset. Her lips twisted as she came to a halt right by the garden of the destroyed castle.

“Why am I even helping them?”

She sighed as she sat herself on a fallen stone column. Before her, she saw figures moving. The Vampire families were discussing. In talks. And they were preparing to leave for the Helbir Plains. It was going to be a large convoy. It wasn’t just the Norwood Family. The Merrysters were here too, and so were the Veridians.

The Crimsonfangs had notably already taken their leave. They weren’t going to accompany the Norwoods to the Veridian estates. However, they were going to discuss how they could offer their assistance.

It was an odd thing to see, really. Amanda had never thought the Greater Vampire Families would ever cooperate. Or work together to this extent.

Well, it wasn’t like she was very knowledgeable about their politics. Amanda only had a cursory idea of how the Vampires functioned. She mostly stuck to studying her targets, and the Harrowed Vindicators did not take hits on Vampires.

That was what her mentor had… forced onto her.

Amanda gritted her teeth as her memories flashed in her head. The shouting. The whips. The harsh training she’d been forced to endure. Why was she remembering them now?

“I am…”

She sighed as she got to her feet. Then she tensed. Footfalls approached her from behind, and she reached for her double-bladed dagger. A pink-haired woman appeared from down the hallway.

“You’re… Saffron Merryster?”

“Indeed. And you were Salvos’ friend?”

The assassin paused. She bit her lower lip.

“I am but an acquaintance who was roped into this mess, nothing more.”

“I see. Well, I appreciate your help regardless.”

Saffron smiled and gestured to the room where Salvos, Daniel, and the [Will O’ Wisp] were waiting.

“Is Salvos still in there? Or has she wandered off, chasing a walking rock or something as ridiculous as that?”

“Yeah, your friend is in there being her weird self.”

Amanda shrugged. Saffron sighed.

“What’d she do?”

The assassin raised a brow.

“What do you mean by that?”

“She must’ve done something to chase you out. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be out w

“I was just getting antsy, alright? Being in that small room was giving me claustrophobia. Seriously, when are we leaving?”

“At dawn, tomorrow. We’re just making sure all the lesser Vampire families are evacuated as well. It won’t be a long journey, don’t worry. And it’ll be quite easy too. The most dangerous part will only be when we pass the Motharis Mountain Range.”

Saffron spoke as she glanced over to the west. Past Amanda. The assassin blinked.

“Why the fuck would you pass through Motharis with a group of this size?”

“We won’t be passing through it. Our route brings us past it. It is concerning since there have been talks of an influx of monsters migrating out of the mountain range. But with Salvos there, I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

Well, that was fair. Even Amanda wouldn’t be troubled by the monsters that were known to lurked in that Platinum Ranked region. Still, she couldn’t help but find the logistics behind it ridiculous. Not that she was going to argue about it.

It didn’t matter to her if some bratty noble died. That was right— she didn’t care because she wasn’t a nice or even good person.

“Good. I just want to get this shit over with already.”

We left the next day. Amanda had been acting aloof ever since I teased her to the point of her getting annoyed about it. Not that I particularly cared. I found it fun, and she was being rude with her sarcastic quips.

I barely even knew her! I could tolerate Willy’s remarks because I knew he was doing it all in good fun. Amanda, on the other hand, seemed to be quite serious with her words. Or at least, her intentions differed.

Anyway, we left Norwood Keep in a long stream of carriages and wagons. The Norwood Family alone accounted for over a hundred family core members, and their entourages inflated that number to the thousands. There were also a few of the lesser families with us, but the rest were leaving on their own.

“Those are the Marins.”

Saffron pointed at a caravan towards the side. They had different emblems to the Norwoods, although they had a familiar set of root-like protrusions extending from their symbol.

“They’re a lesser Vampire family that is quite estranged to the Norwoods. They’re technically the Norwood’s thralls, but they act quite autonomously. Especially ever since Gannon became Patriarch.”

She continued listing out the various lesser Vampire families traveling with the convoy today. Although, I didn’t get why they were following. It wasn’t like they were in any danger— the Primeval Demon was mainly after one person.

Gannon Norwood.

He had with him the Greaves of Alexander, which he had stored away. Just like Crocus Merryster when I first met him, Gannon wasn’t willing to flaunt his family’s Treasure of Alexander around without due cause.

However, he was at least more flexible in that he agreed to use it if the situation arose.

And we were bringing it as far away from the Primeval Demon as possible. Of course, that didn’t ensure its safety. At any moment in time, Belzu could just descend from the sky and… well, kill almost everyone here, all on his own. Without my Grand Skills, I didn’t stand much of a chance against him.

I would’ve wanted to get even stronger than I was right now. But I knew that I couldn’t really just rush my way to Level 150.

I’d probably get myself killed at one point. I didn’t even have the Breastplate of Alexander as a fallback anymore. And there was still much I had to learn. Like, I didn’t even know Titles had Bonus Effects until recently.

If I got to Level 150 now, I’d be far weaker than if I got to Level 150 later. A mixture of experience and feats would’ve given me a better Subspecies and even a new Title or Class advancement. Still, I did want to at least reach Level 100 with my Class soon.

Regardless, we left Norwood Keep at the break of dawn. I flew alongside Willy over the long convoy as they made their way through the landscape below. We had an aerial view of everything that was closeby, which meant that we could see any threat that was coming nearby.

Daniel and Amanda stayed on the ground. Neither of them had any flight abilities. Although, they could probably jump very high if they tried at their levels.

Neither myself or Willy said much during our flight. I occasionally glanced over at him, trying to bug him about that [Archbishop] from the Den of Souls.

“So… who’s Thorsten, really?”

But, of course, the [Will O’ Wisp] refused to answer.

“No.”

I wasn’t really too interested in knowing. Just idle curiosity. If it seemed like he was getting aggravated by it, I wouldn’t pester him further.

“What do you think about Amanda?”

I finally asked, changing the subject. Willy flitted alongside me. As a ball of flame, he didn’t really have a face or a head. But I could tell he fractionally turned to face me.

“Think?”

“Yep! She’s a bit weird, right?”

“Assassin. Expected.”

“You’re saying that’s expected of assassins? What do you mean?”

He sighed as we followed the slow pace of the convoy.

“Illegal. Kidnap. Probably.”

“Um… can you talk in full sentences?”

“Assassin kidnap. Train young.”

“Huh.”

I tapped a finger on my chin.

“You’re saying that assassins usually kidnap each other and train them to succeed them, right?”

“Yes.”

“That makes sense.”

Humans were weirdly obsessed with having only their offspring be the ones to be their successors. I didn’t see why you couldn’t just pick up a random child off the street and do just that. Seriously, why did it matter that they were blood-related?

Willy and I continued flying idly by as the convoy exited from a forest. I spotted undulating hills in the distance. It was the familiar shape of the Motharis Mountain Range. I nudged Willy from the side as I pointed it out.

“Hey— I’ve been there once.”

“Ok.”

He spoke, unamused.

“I met a Fairy, you know? Also met Belzu for the first time there.”

That made the [Will O’ Wisp] pause. He stared at me.

“Really?”

“Yep… wait, what is that?”

I narrowed my eyes as I cast my gaze towards the mountains. I saw a wall of dust being kicked into the air. It was a column of brown that rose into the air. It shook the earth. I frowned as I tried to get a closer look. There were giant figures— with long trunks, thick tusks, and massive ears as the [Gatho Mammoths] had. But they were even bigger.

“[Goliath Oliphants]. Stampede. Dangerous. Strong monsters.”

Willy spoke in a low voice. I watched as the convoy below me began to spread out in a panic. I shook my head and pointed past them.

“What about those things chasing them?”

“Chasing?”

He paused. He looked where I was pointing— at the huge winged figures flying overhead of the [Goliath Oliphants]. He stared at it for a moment.

“[Lesser Wyverns].”

“And I take it they’re more dangerous than the [Goliath Oliphants]?”

“Yes.”

I beamed.

“Good. I was actually hoping to get into another fight. I can’t wait for my Class to level up.”