บท 1: First Blood
Redmond was standing in his usual position, overseeing the city gate at night. Although the walls surrounded the entire city, only this spot was monitored, with only him. It was not like Redmond was a powerhouse that could protect the city, but it was that there was really no need to. The walls themselves were reinforced with magic and no beast below tier-2 can even scratch it. Even if by chance a tier 2 beast does appear and tear through these walls, what awaited inside it was only death.
This was a world of magic and skills, and Redmond transmigrated here from Earth three months ago. The original body died because the now Redmonds soul hijacked his body. Redmond had accepted his life and was now living as the previous body owner. The original Redmond had a unique job that no one else had. He has to guard the northern entrance which borders the mysterious jungle. It was named Azaros, and it had some air of weirdness around it.
No beast tide from Azaros ever came, but when one enters its depths, it will never return. The city was sure that no beast would come out of this side, but just to be sure they placed Redmond here because of a unique skill he possesses.
Skills in this world are the embodiment of the supernatural. When one activates a skill, it will never fail. Even if the laws of physics are violated, a skill will achieve its effect. Of course, each skill may have its limitations.
Currently, Redmond was paying no attention to his job and was staring into the air.
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Sacrifices : 0
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It was just a single line, and that was the only thing Redmond did not find in the memories of his past life. He ransacked his brain for answers and he does not understand what it means, does, or anything. Three months after transmigrating, he went through many ideas, like going near dead bodies or killing an ant. But the number never changed. Finally, he met a merchant in the city slums while searching for a traitor. He struck up a deal with the merchant who would get him a beast of tier-0, and the date for the meeting was tomorrow.
It was not like tier-0 beasts were rare in the city. It was just that circumstances had culminated in him making a shady deal. And Redmond did not feel even a bit sleepy, as he was excited about tomorrow, like a child waiting for a Christmas gift.
The next day, as soon as the sun had risen, Redmond left his post, handing over the overseeing job to a middle-aged man called George. When George saw how keen Redmond was to end his shift, he sneered in his mind, thinking how reckless the youth was. But alas, he could not berate him because Redmond was unique.
Redmond went to his house which was a small one-bedroom wooden structure and just a small yard. There were yellow daisies planted in that yard, and all of the flowers that bloomed were glistening with dew and their leaves were full of vitality, showing how much care they had been bestowed upon. As the daisies were basking in the sunlight, Redmond hastily changed into normal clothes from the leather armor and city guard uniform he was wearing.
Redmond was in a hurry to leave, and just took his short sword with him. Just as Redmond left, a refined young woman, in clothes that scream luxury came by his house, looking for him. When no one answered the door, she turned back, went to the yard, plucked some daisies, and left.
Redmond arrived at the corner of the city, where the slums were. People here were miserable to watch. He directly went to the meeting point giving no thought to the dire living conditions of the humans there. Although for a moment he had stopped when he saw a small kid, he steadied himself immediately.
When he finally reached the meeting point, he saw the merchant already standing there. This merchant was not wearing any luxurious clothes or was fat, on the contrary, he fared no better than the others in the slums. He also lost most of his teeth and had no hair, which would make any baby instantly cry on seeing his face.
"So you finally appeared. I was scared you would suddenly change your mind". The merchant, who was ecstatic about the arrival of his client, led Redmond down a small alley, and to a cage that was covered by a bright red cloth.
Redmond looked at the cloth and was confused by the choice of such a flashy color, as it would attract unwanted eyes. But nonetheless still interested in what was under it. Although he knew what was under it would be a tier-0 beast, he did not know what it was. He maybe thought it would be something like a normal wolf or maybe even a rabbit.
Although rabbits were cute and chummy in his previous life, the reality can't be farther away in this world. These rabbits were cunning monsters that lured their prey with their cuteness and feasted on the victims. One scary thing to note is that these rabbits were usually believed to be red in color. But in reality, it was the dried blood from their last victim.
The merchant finally took off the red cloth and what showed itself suddenly shocked Redmond. He was broken from his stupor by a haggard voice.
"I expect the payment in full first. hehe, those guards are too dumb, too dumb!"
While the merchant was feeling proud of himself, Redmond's facial expression turned to that of anger, as he rebutted the merchant. He expected a tier-0 beast. Not what was before him? What the merchant brought was not a beast of any sort but a small humanoid child! With green skin and pointed ears, he immediately recognized the race it belonged to.
Although Redmond was still feeling uneasy about the humanoid monster, a child nonetheless that he was going to try to sacrifice, he was actually scared. Because one can see in those small eyes that are still half closed, a red pupil.
The race of the child in the cage is a Goblin. Goblins had different classifications among themselves. Most of them were of the iron-goblin classification, and these were weaker than a human. Then there were high-goblins, who had muscular bodies and could take on 5 human adults of the same tier in strength alone.
And finally there existed a royalty among the goblins, the hob-goblins. These were thought to be the descendants of the real devil himself, and one characteristic no one would miss is their red pupils, that foresight their path, which would be filled with blood. A single hobgoblin could take on 30 humans of the same tier in strength alone. But this is not what makes them royalty, It is their bloodline and skills that make them a formidable foe.
Redmond was furious at the merchant, who did not even understand what he had done. The current city Redmond was in was called the VenerBlade. This was a city built by the noble house of WhiteBlade for its upper echelons to live in. It was somewhat remote since the nearest normal town was around a two-day journey on horseback. But they were not without neighbors.
They were in close proximity to a nearby settlement of goblins. Although goblins were green-skinned, that was the only main difference when compared to humans. The only difference may be in their ears, which were longer than humans and pointy. And of course, they held deep hostility towards the humans, who are too greedy and poached them of their lands.
And this merchant got a baby goblin, by god knows how and he got one with a royal bloodline at that. This meant nothing but war if the goblins find out. But what is done is done. Redmond contemplated what he needs to do and was trying to find a way out of this.
"Hurry up and do the deed. I guard I bribed will change shifts if you do not hurry up" the merchant said as he urged Redmond. Their agreement was that he would bring a tier-0 beast, Remond would kill it, and take the blood, inside it, and the merchant would dispose of the body somewhere in the forest. Redmond planned to do this since having a core of being is very dangerous in the VenerBlade city. He paid the merchant one gold coin before and would pay one gold coin after.
Redmond contemplated for a time and took out his shortsword. With a single slash, he killed the goblin child who was drugged to sleep by the merchant and took out a small cylindrical container, and drained the blood into it. The merchant was visibly disgusted by the act of the man before him. Although he was the one who brought a child, he still couldn't stomach someone draining the blood like that, showing he too was an amateur.
Redmond was calm during the entire process and after he collected the blood in the container, he closed it and put it back in a pocket, which was present in the underlining of the garment. He then paid the remaining gold coin and swiftly went back the way he came without even looking at the merchant another time.
The merchant then proceeded to cover up the cage and, put it on a carriage. The carriage was being drawn by a normal beast called a Lule, which was a descendant of the magical beast's white-haired horse. The lule was also white in color and was clean and majestic looking in contrast to the slums it was currently in.
The merchant then went to the northern border, where he had already bribed a guard for passage. Maybe due to his bad luck or his carelessness, George was the one checking the carriages this time and was especially drawn in by a bright red cloth. When George asked the merchant what was under the cloth, he visibly was nervous, raising suspicion.
The merchant tried to cook up a story about how the goods he was carrying were the gifts sent by the Gromer family, who had recently betrothed their third daughter to the second child of the FrostBlade family. Normally, George would never ask for any proof, since it may incur the wrath of the noble house. Also, he was going out and not in, so there was really nothing to worry about, and there seem to be no mana fluctuations from the carriage. But this time, he was sure something was wrong and asked for an insignia of the frost blade to verify his identity.
The merchant, who had not planned for this, easily broke down, and tried to make a run for it. Even if he maintained his calm and berated George, he would have been fine, but he was an amateur after all, blinded by a few gold coins. He was easily subdued by the tier-1 George, who was on his way to the FrostBlade family with the perpetrator and the goods since this matter concerned them.
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