Siderius squatted down and examined the bed closely. The scent of uncontrollable intercourse was still there, laying a thick musk in the room.
He took a piece of clothing belonging to Nora and sniffed it. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ noⅴelfire.net
"Woah. Woah. Woah. That is a bit much, tough guy. You can go to a brothel in Scalize later if you really need it." Jonah said.
"I don’t think he did it for that reason." Quinlan said.
"No foul scent. Her body wasn’t decomposing yet." Siderius said. Then he turned toward Quinlan. "You said these clothes had a lingering warmth when you got in here, right?"
"Interesting. Nora isn’t a ghoul, that is for sure. But she’s probably not human either.
Warmth shouldn’t stick that long on clothes. Unless they were made of unique material.
Bas and her probably disappeared long before you were attacked."
Siderius lifted the entire mattress up. Under the bed frame was a dark circle of five-winged stars.
"Dear god... What is it?" Jonah said.
Siderius pulled the bed frame away and then examined the circle closer. He sniffed it as well.
The hunter dropped a little salt onto the circle. The salt didn’t react but the magic circle lit up immediately. A fire of pure red.
Siderius then soaked his hand with a bit of salt water then drew a small seal on his left palm.
"Reveal yourself!" He clenched the left palm into a fist then struck at the magic circle.
The circle burned to ash then disappeared completely. However, a new symbol had appeared on top of the seal in Siderius’ palm.
This was a miniature version of Body Complex, a Salt Seal used to reveal aspects of magical circles on one’s body.
"An illusion spell. Your bodyguard was under its influence." Siderius said.
"Illusion? It can’t be. Bas’ spirit is very strong. He wouldn’t be affected by a spell ."
"This is a physical illusion not a mental one. It will give your eyes, ears and skin false information. You wouldn’t be able to tell a difference unless you were trained properly."
Siderius then took out a piece of paper. This time he used sulfur to draw a sulfur seal on it.
"However. To apply this illusion, a connection to the soul is still needed. If I am able to get a hold of this link, we can locate your bodyguard."
Siderius did several sign sequences with his hands. The sulfur seal lit up in orange.
In the room, a thin strand of orange ran from the bed to the outside corridor, leading to some unknown place.
Bas held the nun’s hips by his hands and thrust with conviction. He didn’t know she got that much in her.
The woman really made him go all out on endurance.
Suddenly, the pink light in his eyes was extinguished. And Bas looked under him.
That was no longer a beautiful woman that moaned to his every move but a body of rotten pig that smelled horrible.
Bas immediately pulled out and kicked the pig away.
Bas couldn’t hold it in and vomited. Everything he had eaten came out of the drain. There were some bugs and even human fingers mixed in the mess.
That caused Bas to throw up even more. His stomach was cleaned out. He didn’t even stop when there was nothing left and kept gagging for a while.
Bas’ face lost all of its color and he was finally able to see his current state.
A naked man that was chained to the neck. The shackle connected to a bolt on the ground.
There were thousands of questions going on in his mind. But those weren’t important at the moment. He needed to get out of there and find Quinlan.
If Quinlan died, his coins would go with him. That was a fact Bas couldn’t accept.
Bas pulled the chain, trying to rip it off.
The bodyguard collected himself and breathed in deep.
"I will never stop hearing about this if Quinlan finds out." Bas mumbled.
His fingers lit up a white color and dug into the iron. The shackle broke away like paper.
Bas looked around to find a piece of weapon. There weren’t any, only a wooden torch laid on the table beside the pig corpse.
Bas took it then kicked the pig down the floor. He stomped on it repeatedly, releasing his rage.
"You ugly bastard! How dare you trick me!"
The pig turned into a pile of bloody mess. Bas took a piece of curtain and wrapped it around his waist.
The bodyguard then rushed away, venturing into the deep end of the corridor.
Siderius and the pair followed the thin orange strand to the dormitory.
The dormitory connected directly with the guest house via a tight hallway that was only wide enough for one person.
The thin strand suddenly flickered, which caught Siderius’ intention.
He touched the soul strand gently, feeling the rage that was connected to it before it completely disappeared.
"Did something happen to Bas?!" Quinlan said.
Siderius shook his head. "Your bodyguard is alive. He broke away from the spell.
Once the magic circle disappeared, the spell lost most of its potency and granted him a chance to break free."
But because the connection was gone, they couldn’t find Bas’s location anymore. They only knew that he was somewhere inside the dormitory.
"Stay behind me." Siderius said.
The trio continued walking in the tight corridor. Siderius took out his bow and rubbed slagpaste onto the arrows’ tips for more fire power. He scraped one arrow on the silver bracer, lighting it up and using it as a light source.
He treaded carefully with an arrow resting on the bow, burning at the tip.
They quickly entered the dormitory. The corridor opened to a vast hall with a high ceiling.
Siderius pulled the bowstring in a sudden, causing Quinlan and Jonah to jerk back in fear.
At the opposite side of them, a ghoul hid itself in the dark corner of the room. It could evade the eyes of Quinlan and Jonah, but it wasn’t able to hide from Siderius’ dark eyes.
The attack was so sudden that the ghoul didn’t have any time to dodge the arrow.
The fiery obsidian tip went inside its chest but only for a little bit. Siderius’ shot was less precise than his previous one and the skin of the ghoul had successfully protected it.
He aimed for its eyes, the weakness that wouldn’t be able to withstand the arrow. But the skin on its chest was thick enough to stop an obsidian arrow from a hundred-pound bow.
"Tch." Siderius clicked his tongue in disappointment. If he had an iron tip, the arrow would probably pierce the creature’s skin.
He put away his bow and arrows then grabbed a handful of the Sticky Projectiles.
As Siderius threw the projectiles to the surrounding, soaking the ground with the flammable slagpaste, more ghouls jumped in from the windows, shattering the glass into pieces.
There were at least six or seven ghouls. A dangerous amount that might pose a deathly threat.
"Raise your weapons! Even if you don’t know how to fight, fight for your life!" Siderius screamed.
Quinlan clenched his short sword tightly. He’s clearly trembling from fear.
Jonah, on the other hand, stood still.
"What are you doing, Jonah? Ready your stick!" Quinlan said.
He was trying to approach Jonah but Siderius suddenly pulled him aside and slashed at the courier.
Jonah growled at Siderius. He stumbled back a few steps.
His neck was sliced but blood didn’t splash out like it’s supposed to do. Jonah’s skin became pale and his eyes glowed yellow.
"You ate human flesh, didn’t you?" Siderius squinted his eyes.