บท 205: The Lost Civilization (II)
Snow had six other swords to master. Each one deadly on its own, plus she wasn't in any hurry to have a seventh one anytime soon. Looking at Mike's pitiable worn-out sword, he needed a new weapon more than her.
"Are you sure?" Mike looked at the sword and back at her. His hand wrapped around it tightly, and his body shook with excitement. "You know this could be super expensive or powerful."
"It's fine." Snow held up her hand. He was reluctantly shoving it back to her but stopped halfway when she didn't want it. "There are probably other treasures worth collecting, and I already have enough words."
"You do?" Mike asked.
"Yes." Snow didn't want to repeat it any more than necessary. She didn't want to be swayed by the treasured sword before her.
"Thanks." Mike beamed, "You can't ask for it back."
"Don't worry, I won't."
"Good." Mike put away the sword.
Snow continued to look through the countless treasures that they had obtained. She collected all the gold coins and even found a few rings that she thought could be used. There was one that was old and rusty, engraved into a stone of a snake creature. At first, she thought to throw it away, but she kept it stored away. Other than that, there were no other treasures inside the room worth mentioning but the sword itself.
Eventually, the room was empty. Everyone continued on their search, scoring through the homes. At which least two out of five houses had coffins in the middle of the room.
Snow found it weird that they would use the coffin as a dining table, but she wondered if that was the case at all. She didn't know what kind of civilization lived underground.
Most of the coffins were filled with gold coins, small pieces of artwork, and trinkets that could be worth something. A few magical artifacts that they split amongst the group.
There were no more items to score through in each room. Mr. Rogers was sitting on top of the last available coffin table cross-legged, which everyone had come over too.
With his eyes closed, Mr. Rogers was quietly meditating.
Red, who was next to Snow, leaned over. Her hand raised up to her mouth, trying to cover it. "Is that normal?" She whispered?
"No." Snow, too, felt it odd for Mr. Rogers to be sitting on top of the dead. "Maybe, he is communicating with the dead?"
"Possibly, but I never knew that vampires can commune with spirits."
"Well, they are supernatural creatures."
"True." Red shrugged her shoulder. "They do classify under the category of the undead. I wonder if he could hear us." She whispered.
Mr. Rogers finally spoke up. "I can hear you quite well." He opened his red eyes slowly, staring at her with hungry eyes that made anyone restless. Getting up, he brushed off the dust on his clothes and spoke more elegantly. "I found where we need to go."
"Great!" Red said with enthusiasm to cover up from being embarrassed by Red. "Let's go~" She turned around and pointed to a random location.
"It's not that way, Ms. Red." Mr. Rogers' deep voice crackled through.
"Ah...hah…." Red pouted. Her shoulder shook, and the base of her ear turned even redder.
A nasty grin that told Snow that Mr. Rogers was enjoying his little charades. He slipped off from the stone table gracefully and turned towards the stone table. With a gentle bow that fit his character, he said, "Don't worry. You won't be forgotten." His pale hand tapped against the stone a few times as if he was talking to the dead.
"Are you…." Red couldn't finish her words; she uncomfortably shifted, looking at him with wide eyes.
"Something like that." A cunning, sly laughter erupted out of his throat, which made Red even more uncomfortable.
Red scolded, "You liar!" She stormed off out of the room.
Snow wasn't sure what exactly happened, but the deep laughter from Mr. Rogers was all she needed to know that he was probably joking around.
Mr. Rogers wiped his tears. His serious expression was back. He stood up straight, pulling against his shirt.
"Well, Ms. Snow, shall we?"
Snow nodded. Both of them headed out the door, where Mike was trying to calm down the pouting Red. Red was throwing around a few low level spells out of frustration.
"You know, teasing her like that is not going to score some points with her." Snow bluntly said that tripped up Mr. Rogers.
Mr. Rogers looked at her funny, dumbstruck words.
"Or am I wrong?" Snow was a bit confident in her people skills when others that weren't herself were interested in another. She was a blockhead when it came to relationships at times, but she was spot on other times.
"It's not like that, Ms. Snow." Mr. Rogers smoothly spoke out, which sounded a bit rough.
Snow checked for any strange peculiarities of his facial expression but found nothing out of the ordinary. Even though she had been with him for the past twenty-four hours and learned quite a bit about him, the amount of control he had when it came to showing off his thoughts were exemplary.
"Then what is it like?" Snow couldn't help but ask. There was a history behind the two. Mr. Rogers didn't just carry anyone, mainly because he was a high ranking vampire. They were known for the stickler behaviors when it came to how they perceive others. But Mr. Rogers didn't seem to fall completely into that category when it came to Red.
"She is my main blood donor."
Struck by lightning, Snow should have known such obvious answers. How could she have forgotten easily that this was one of the wealthiest vampires in the whole country? The amount of blood and favor he had accumulated throughout his lifetime was extraordinary. But to hear that Red was his blood donor threw her off.
"Wait, when?"
"Since five years ago, when she had joined the Red Flower Nation company. It was just one night when I saved her from being devoured by my enemies."
"So, you became a gallant shining knight to save Red." Snow said smugly. "I'm impressed."
"It doesn't happen often, I assure you."
"Then, why?"
"Because her blood is exquisite. The amount of magical energy tied into her blood is the finest I have ever tasted." Mr. Rogers was getting excited. "There hasn't been many powerful sources of blood in over two centuries." He smacked his lips.
Snow should have known. Vampires were vampires to the core. Blood was their key driving factor.
"Plus, she is a virgin. Virgin blood and high density in magical energy taste the sweetest." Mr. Rogers teeth were showing; his tongue was licking it from side-to-side. "I can not let such good food go to waste."
"I should have expected such an answer." Snow sighed, shaking her head.
"But do not worry, Ms. Snow. I can tell that your blood would even be sweeter." Mr. Rogers smacked his lips, making Snow very uncomfortable. A blood pervert. That was how Snow saw Mr. Rogers. Even with the high-class aroma around him, she wanted to step far away from him when he was thirsty.
Snow took a moment to stare at Mr. Rogers before she turned away, leaving out the door. Mr. Rogers was stalking her for a moment. With hurried steps, she went over to Mike and Red, who was, for some reason, starting a heated debate.
With a quick hand, Snow slinked her arms around Mike. She pulled him forward, trying to steer away from the hungry gaze of Mr. Rogers.
"Snow?" Mike called out, startled by Snow's sudden brash action.
"Just play along with me." Snow hissed low. She wanted to get away from Mr. Roger's gaze.
"Who?"
"The blood per-" Snow stopped herself from speaking those words. She had forgotten just that quickly that Mr. Rogers had a fair hearing.
"The blood who?"
"Nevermind, let's just hurry up and find Dairen and Rodney."
"Okay?" Mike tilted his head, but he didn't ask for more answers.
Snow walked a bit faster, picking up the pace. They exited the room, but Snow stopped. She realized that she didn't know where she was going.
Mr. Rogers' voice laughed from behind, realizing that Mr. Rogers was probably enjoying her reactions. He finally came forward and said, "I was wondering when you were going to stop."
Snow didn't reply back. No, she just didn't want to entertain Mr. Rogers.
"Now, if you will follow me." Mr. Rogers led the team. This time, he turned back and went to the other directions that they have traveled from.
Their destination was long with winding tunnels. Often, Snow was sure she would have gotten lost with the amount of turns they had to go through. Sometimes, they had to climb over rocky terrains that took some efforts to scale through.
Eventually, for the next three days, they moved endlessly through the tunnel with pockets of rest. The endless Hellhounds wouldn't let them go; they had to fight their way through in some rooms.
"We've been going in circles for three days," Red whined. "Are you sure you know where we are going?"
"Yes, it's not like he will sit still as well," said Mr. Rogers. He had his hand on the wall, listening in to the vibration that no one could hear but himself.
"You said that the last time."
"And I meant it." Mr. Rogers pushed himself away. "He should be on the other side after we get out of this room."
They went forward, and just like that, they came out from the tunnel. Snow stepped forward towards the edge of the cliff. Her eyes became wide. They were overlooking a swarm of undead fighting against a horde of Hellhounds.
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