“Aethos? And how do you know I had one?” Callum repeated.

  “Only people who experience an Aethos would ask about it in the first place,” Nicholas replied.

  “I see,”

  In truth, Callum doesn’t understand shit.

  His confusion was evident. He didn’t know anything about it. After all, he had been revived not even a week ago. However, Nicholas seemed surprised at his cluelessness.

  It looks like everyone on this planet knows about it. But being a creature from another universe, Callum didn’t get an instruction manual about how this Aethos works. He doesn’t have that trusty blue status screen he could call upon. Unless there’s some type of ritual everyone has to go through to access it.

  “You don’t know anything about it?”

  “Not a clue. Like I told you, I don’t remember anything,” Callum replied.

  At that, Nicholas's eyes lit up, his excuse having been bought to explain his ignorance.

  “Well, an Aethos is mostly known as a class selection. At least, according to everyone,” Nicholas said as they continued their journey.

  “The scholars from the West said an Aethos is a crystalization of one's path,” He further elaborated.

  Callum resumed asking Nicholas about this Aethos, learning a lot about how this world works as time elapsed.

  From what he’d gathered, an Aethos occurs when an individual meets a certain threshold in their experience. It could be a feat worthy of praise, an epiphany about themselves, surviving a fatal wound, or any number of other experiences. An Aethos provides power, giving the person a way to improve themselves in their chosen path.

  Furthermore, an Aethos could happen again. However, this time, the person needs a push to advance their class.

  While Callum processed the information, he also asked why he doesn’t feel much different after choosing a class, to which Nicholas replied:

  “Like I said, an Aethos is a crystalization of your path. It doesn’t give you an immediate boost to your power when you’ve picked a class. Not unless you’ve had multiple experiences with Aethos. It only allows you to improve yourself. Though, it does have some benefits.

  “For one, anything related to your chosen class would be learned faster. So, let’s say you’ve picked a hunter. Other people who don’t have the class would probably spend months learning how to shoot an arrow, but choosing the hunter class would shorten that time to at least a week.

  “Another benefit is your proficiency. A mage might find it easier to manipulate magic than those who don’t have the class. In my case, I use my stealth and agility the most when I’m hunting. Though, anything beyond the hunter class would take more effort to learn. At least, this is what I know,”

  “Is it okay to tell other people your class?” Callum asked, having just been given information about Nicholas’ own class.

  “When you’re just starting? Definitely. Most people share their class, especially if you’re trying to find a job. But, that doesn’t mean that everyone shares it. Some classes out there are rare and sometimes seen as evil. You won’t see anyone sharing their thief class unless they're trying to join the thieves' guild,”

  A Guild, huh?

  Callum thought to himself.

  Knowing that there are guilds in this world made Callum excited. After all, when you think of a guild in a fantasy setting, the adventurer’s guild is the first that comes to mind. There might even be a mage guild which he could go to. The sights alone would be worth the visit. He just hoped he could find a better way to hide his undead features, maybe a helmet would suffice.

  “However,” Nicholas added, breaking Callum out of his reverie.

  “It’s advised to keep your classes a secret when you’ve had multiple instances of Aethos,” Nicholas warned.

  “Classes?” Callum asked.

  Callum did think he might be able to choose another class from his first selection, remembering how people who played Dungeons and Dragons could multiclass. He always went for a mix when creating his character, only this time, the character would be himself.

  “Yep, you can choose another class from your first Aethos,” Nicholas answered.

  “I even heard a guy who chose every starting class. But most of the time, people just go with two classes,” Nicholas added.

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because experiencing an Aethos is rare,” Nicholas replied.

  As Nicholas continued to explain why choosing every starting class was a bad idea, Callum started realizing how lucky he was to get an Aethos. From what he learned, each Aethos gives some benefits, like how a character in D&D gets something new when leveling up their class. However, the feat required to get one gets harder with each instance.

  Ultimately, a person might have multiple mediocre classes instead of one strong class. And without having enough power to surpass their feat to get another Aethos, they would be stuck having those classes forever.

  The last recorded number of Aethos a person could experience was nine, the person in question being the Hero of Man. Hearing about heroes, Callum thought about their power. He’d watched dozens of shows about heroes and villains, and he knew that those people were monstrous.

  He could already see it, people who could raze the earth with a snap of their fingers, killing those weak enough to withstand them.

  The thought alone made Callum shiver, noting to himself to avoid those people at all costs. At least, until he was strong enough on his own.

  Callum continued talking with Nicholas, asking more questions about the world and him. At first, Nicholas was hesitant to talk about themselves. However, when Callum talked about his experiences so far, Nicholas started to open up to him.

  He discovered Nicholas and Sabrina’s age, noting that Nicholas was only two years away until he could drink legally in the States. However, it surprised Callum to know that people at the age of thirteen could already drink and marry.

  He looked at Sabrina, worried about her future, which earned him a kick to the shin from his brother.

  “There’s no way Sabrina would marry an old geezer. Especially not you,” Nicholas whispered.

  “I didn’t even consider it for one second. And I think she’s too young to start marrying other people anyways,” Callum whispered back while Sabrina was oblivious to their conversation.

  They continued sharing stories, about how Sabrina was born when Nicholas killed his first quarry at the age of eleven, or how he got his first Aethos. Sabrina even joined them, sharing fables that her mother told her about. One fable, which Callum took note of, was Little Red Riding Hood. However, instead of a wolf, the monster that ate the girl’s grandmother was a shapeshifter. Looks like there’s another thing that Callum needs to be wary of.

  During their conversation, they came upon the bridge that led them towards Lynn. It took them three breaks to get here, yet seeing it made Callum more curious about the world he was thrown into. Though, it might be more apt to say that he was stabbed into it.

  The bridge appeared ancient, its stone was cracked and covered in moss. Yet, even though it looked weathered, the bridge stood tall. A testament to its strength and the architect’s genius.

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  Callum asked about it, to which Nicholas replied how it had been there since his parents were born. Though, he did enjoy the scary stories that came about it, at the expense of spooking the little Sarbina.

  They decided that resting on that bridge was a bad idea, for little Sabrina’s sake.

  They continued their journey, trees growing thin until Callum could only see plains around him. Seeing the knee-tall grass beside the dirt road, he was curious. He crouched near one, feeling how soft the vegetation was under his fingertips. Small hairs made it possible, and learning that it wasn’t an irritant, Callum laid down on it.

  He sighed, closing his eyes as he basked under the radiant sun. The spring winds only added to his satisfaction, and the air smelled fresh even under his face wrap.

  “C’mon, we just took a break just an hour ago,” Nicholas said from the side, smiling as he watched Callum stretch and yawn from where he lay.

  “There’s no need to rush. If what you said was true, then we could still make it to Lynn before the sun sets,” Callum reassured as he beckoned the two over.

  Sabrina was the first to accept his invitation, running towards him with her little legs. Callum produced an exaggerated ‘oof!’ as she landed on him with the force of an enthusiastic, pint-sized meteor, laughing as he tickled the girl in retaliation. It didn’t even hurt him, his body is much too sturdy for a rowdy child to injure.

  Nicholas followed, chuckling under his breath while he watched Callum give his sister a piggyback ride. He made some vroom noises, telling Sabrina to spread her ‘wings’ like an eagle.

  “Now don’t get too excited. We still have to walk a few more hours until we reach the town,” Nicholas reminded them, only getting a drawn-out ‘Aaaaaawwwww’ from both.

  Nicholas could only roll his eyes as both children protested, smiling as he gave Callum a playful punch on the shoulder. His worries for the future were put to the back of his mind as he joined them both in the plains.

  ***

  “What do you think happened to this place?” someone asked.

  “I don’t know. But from the looks of it, something bad,”

  What lay before the group of adventurers was a barren wasteland. The grass beneath their boots was blackened and dry, and the air reeked of death and decay.

  Orgham and his party called The Giant’s Bane had been tasked by the Adventurer’s Guild to investigate this area of Halsin. Beasts had been acting erratic for the past few days, making traveling a challenge to traders and merchants. Though it hasn’t come to a point of a beast tide yet, people have reported concerning sightings of wolves and blood bears. It’s like the local wildlife had been displaced by something more dangerous, and the landscape before them only confirmed their worries.

  “Kelsa, make a detailed report of the whole area, leave nothing out. We’ll keep traveling until we reach the village,”

  “You mean the one those maniacs destroyed?” Kelsa said in anger.

  Though she wasn’t part of the settlement, Kelsa still felt furious at the Silver Swords’ actions. They are a group of murderers, only set in their supposed duty to cleanse the world from vampires. Even the thought alone made her blood boil, gripping her staff tightly as she looked at her leader with fire in her eyes

  Orgham nodded, matching her demeanor as he shouted orders to his comrades. He’d already heard accounts of the Silver Swords killing anyone who affiliated themselves with vampires, whether they be innocent or not. He’s seen what they could do, and the injustices they committed in the name of their mission made them wanted criminals known throughout the world. Many have tried to capture them, even outright kill them. However, after The Blinding, their elusiveness only grew more troublesome.

  As they walked, Kelsa jotted down notes on a piece of parchment, occasionally waving her staff to get a feel of the atmospheric mana. She chanted spells, testing and experimenting as she analyzed her surroundings with magic. It wasn’t until they got to the very center of this wasteland did she felt something different, her face creasing in thought as she muttered under her breath.

  “Interesting,”

  “Catch something?” Aldrin asked, notching an arrow on his bow as his eyes scanned around.

  “Yeah. I’ve been noting down the level of mana in this place, and this area feels desolate,”

  “I think we can see that already. There’s nothing here but dead grass,” Elise commented on the side, a large mace on her beefy shoulder. She shook off some of the dry vegetation from her boots, her face showing distaste.

  “No. What I meant is that this place doesn’t have mana at all,” Kelsa shared.

  “Explain,” Orgham ordered.

  Kelsa stood up from where she crouched, explaining her findings to the group.

  “Every part of this region has mana, even if it’s just a minuscule amount. That’s also true for the rest of the world,” Kelsa said as she started pacing around them.

  “But this spot particularly doesn’t have any, not even a smidge. I’ve felt the level of mana starting to diminish as we began to get to the epicenter of what caused this, then, I just felt nothing. It’s like this part of the world is a blind spot, and it’s not possible unless something is siphoning it for power.” She added, yet her face showed frustration.

  “But that’s also not possible. I would have gotten a whiff of the flow of mana, even if it’s underground,”

  “Okay, bragging much?” Elise said to the side.

  “You don’t get it. Just look,” Kelsa said in annoyance as she produced a spell.

  It started as a small lick of fire, growing until it was as big as a soccer ball. When she was finished chanting, she hurled it in the air. However, after leaving her staff, the ball of flames immediately diminished in size, turning into a speck that vanished in the air before it could hit the ground.

  The group of adventurers watched the whole thing, yet all of them showed confused looks, their eyes questioning Kelsa at what she was trying to convey.

  “So~magic doesn’t work?” Aldrin hedged a guess, earning a grumble from the party’s mage.

  “No, magic still works, but the local mana that was supposed to keep it functioning isn’t there, which kills the spell almost instantly,” Kelsa stated.

  “In short, it’s bad,” Orgham concluded.

  Kelsa sighed as she looked at Orgham in the eyes. She was about to say something bitter but thought better of it.

  “Yes, it’s bad,”

  “Then, we continue our journey until we finish a thorough investigation. Aldrin, keep those eyes open and see if you can find anything interesting. Even if it’s small, it might tell us something about what made this,” He said, motioning his hand to the desolate wasteland around them.

  Aldrin nodded, his eyes slightly glowing as he used his class skill.

  With the discovery, the group started walking again, their destination the wrecked village just a few hours away from this mess. When it seemed like everyone was preoccupied, Orgham caught Kelsa’s attention, motioning with his head for her to get closer. Kelsa obliged, strolling towards Orgham until she was within earshot.

  “What do you think really happened?” He asked, eyes forward yet tentative.

  Kelsa thought about her answer, double-checking her notes as she analyzed her findings.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s like this place was sucked dry until nothing was left. I mean, look around us, there’s no sign of life for miles,” She replied.

  “I probably have to share my findings with my mentor, see if she can make any sense of it,”

  “That’s for the best,”

  The sun was starting to reach the horizon when the party of adventurers came upon the reported village. They noted its destruction, faces serious as they walked inside to make a detailed statement they could hand back to the guild.

  “Monsters,” Odahlia, their party’s healer, muttered under her breath.

  They’ve expected this, having had surviving villagers give their accounts of what had happened. Yet, seeing it with their own eyes still left them feeling disgusted at the people who did this.

  “There’re no bodies,” Aldrin commented, eyes darting around in search of the dead.

  Orgham nodded, having noticed the lack of bodies or body parts that would have been present in an attack like this.

  “We’ll keep searching until we find something,” He said.

  “I don’t think you’ll have to,” Kelsa replied.

  She beckoned them, her eyes set on the back of what he could only assume was the chieftain’s abode. He walked towards it, following Kelsa until he saw where the dead had been put to rest.

  “This is…”

  “Yeah,”

  Both Elise and Aldrin were at a loss for words.

  What lay before them were hundreds of stones neatly placed in a row.

  “Who could have done this?” Kelsa asked.

  The work alone would have taken weeks just to finish, at least five days with the help of dozens. She couldn’t imagine a single person able to do this. Unless they used magic, no one would be able to do it alone.

  Odahlia was the first to act, walking through the cemetery until she’d reached the center. The rest of the party followed, heads swiveling as they counted the number of stones laid here.

  She reached for her pendant, holding the symbol of her faith as she prayed for the dead. The group followed her example, hoping that the souls of the villagers could find their peace. They stayed there for minutes, helping Odahlia cleanse the surroundings to make sure the dead stayed dead. With the number of people buried here, it wouldn’t be a surprise if one of them came back as a revenant. After all, places of tragedy like what had happened to this village are steeped with negative energy.

  Finishing their prayer, they continued their journey after noting the fatalities the Silver Sword had caused. They walked in silence, the mood heavy after seeing the number of people who had died. The only thing on their minds now was getting this quest done, ales in hand until they momentarily forget the village’s devastation.

  They followed the river upstream, watching its waters while the wind filled the silence. That was until Aldrin found something.

  “What is it?” Orgham asked.

  “Someone’s been here,” Aldrin answered, walking towards an abandoned campfire far into the woods.

  The group followed him, weapons ready for any potential attackers.

  Aldrin kneeled beside the dead campfire, his hands searching through the ashes and suds that had built up in its place.

  “Some of the ashes had been washed away by the storm, but I’d say it’s been here for about a day or two, give or take,” Aldrin remarked as he rummaged through the suds of the cold campfire, finding a burnt piece of cloth hidden beneath it.

  “Looks like we found a lead. Kelsa, if you would,” Orgham requested.

  The mage kneeled beside Aldrin who handed her the piece of cloth. Yet, when it touched her fingertips, her breath caught on her throat.

  “You okay?” Aldrin asked.

  Kelsa quickly looked at Orgham, eyes wide as she came to a realization.

  “I think I just found a clue about what happened to that place,”