Nero shivered slightly,
"There should be a map that can show me the way to the closest city. However, the journey might be..."
Although these parts of the Thorne Empire were relatively safe, that was just in relation to the more dangerous world.
In reality, it was still a death sentence to try to roam the wilderness alone.
Especially when one possessed just a sword and what could only be considered as the bare minimum amount of training required for protection.
But he had no choice.
Abominations were drawn to the scent of blood and decay.
The Grey Swarm loved to eat human viscera and skin so they had left most of the corpses intact. Just very mutilated.
There were many other dangers waiting for their turn to feast.
With that in mind, Nero quickly made a decision.
He stood up from the bench and began jogging back to the church.
As he made his way through the town, he traveled through his own thoughts into the past.
He had not loved this town.
He had not hated it either.
After the death of his parents, he had not experienced much change in his life besides needing to work for himself to be able to eat.
The townsfolk had not treated him differently either. Mostly because those who had lost their parents and children in the same incident like him were a dime a dozen.
He had worked at odd jobs for a few years before he had been recruited into the town’s guard by Peter.
As he neared the gates of the church, seeing the corpses of the guards sprawled out in such a disgraceful manner stirred up something in him.
A silent night wind traced around his form.
A look of resolve flashed in his eyes as he set down the things he carried.
***
It took him a few hours to dig holes and bury all the guards that had been killed there.
Stooping down in front of Peter’s grave, Nero recalled what he knew of the stern, yet kind man.
He froze.
He had known Peter for a rather long time. And yet, he had not known a lot about him.
He sighed then rose to his feet.
Picking up the top half of the armor he had pulled off, he lugged it into the desecrated church.
The doors lay on the ground right in front of the building.
The pews were in ruins and the roof was utterly destroyed, most of it reduced to splinters.
The broken altar was still covered in the ried blood of the Priest.
Staring at the altar, Nero couldn’t help but think to himself.
Regardless of how pious and devoted the Priest was, he had still died a wasteful death, killed by an Abomination no greater than a maggot.
He sighed.
It truly was a shame.
He tore his eyes away and took a step forward. Then another step.
He was headed for the inner sanctum.
The inner sanctum contained not only the church’s most prized possessions, but also its treasury. Further down would lead to the cellar where its food reserves were kept.
However, Nero’s destination was not the cellar.
It was the small room where the Priest slept.
Besides the Priest himself, no one had the right to enter into the inner sanctum. However, when he was much younger, he had once found work at the church to help the priest in cleaning out the place.
Thanks to that, he was not only familiar with the layout, he also knew where a very specific item was kept.
Praying to the bleak heavens that it would still be there, Nero breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled out the yellowing parchment.
It was a map of the Thorne Empire that was a few years old.
Laying it on the worn table, he placed a couple of paperweights at its edges before glancing through it.
Over the years, a few towns and even a city or two had been attacked by the Abominations that prowled the world.
However, very few of them actually did fall. Because of that, there was little difference between the map and what Nero imagined the Empire looked like right now.
He nodded as his eyes drank in every detail without any regard for his dark it was.
Suddenly, Nero froze.
The room was dark. A step away from pitch black.
If so, why could he see with so much clarity?
The confusion lingered for only a moment.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts;
"It will indeed take a month or so to reach Nlightwyrm by foot."
His brows furrowed,
"Perhaps I should still try to see if the other towns weren’t hit by this disaster. If I can do that, I will be able to reach the capital much easier." He muttered to himself.
After thinking for a bit, Nero pulled the map off the table and folded it before putting it away and into his satchel.
’One step after the other.’
Before leaving the inner sanctum, Nero headed down to the cellar.
The Priest was by no means rich, but compared to the rest of the townsfolk...
Seeing the stores of dried meats stringed up before him, Nero couldn’t help but say a silent prayer for the deceased priest as thanks.
Taking a few of them would surely be of help to him on his journey.
Making his way back up from the cellar, he paused and slowly walked into the treasury room.
Besides a few scrolls and a small chest containing a few gold coins with most of them being silver and bronze, there was not much else in the room.
This was a clear indication that the town truly had been in a bad place.
As he was looking around, something suddenly caught his eye.
There was a sword resting on a nearby shelf.
Nero’s brows furrowed as he moved closer to inspect it.
"This is..."
The scabbard was plain-looking. However, with a single touch, he could tell that it was made from quality materials.
The pommel and the guard were also not lined with jewels and beautiful patterns.
Instead, it looked like a weapon created for maximum functionality.
Swallowing a gulp, he placed his hand on the the hilt and drew the blade.
***
{Congratulations, Heretic. You have received the Relic, Silver Blade}.
***
A yell of horror erupted from Nero’s throat as he threw the weapon aside.
Shooting to his feet, he drew his own blade and spun around,
"Who said that?!"