"What's the purpose of your arrival to Kamalesh?"

"Caravan, if it hasn't left already."

The older guard makes a gesture to guard in front to let me in.

"You're lucky, you still have a few more days."

The guard steps aside, and I proceed through the massive stone gates. The people here dress much lighter than I'm used to. Even though it's rather cool right now , the local weather is so desert-like that the people don't even have the concept of winter clothing. As I enter the city my nose is assaulted by a range of smells, from sewers and rot to sweet spices. The most apparent difference from the north is that many races gather here, from dwarves and elves, to lizardmen and catshi. They're aren't as prevalent as humans but they're still there. Discrimination still exists, but not on the level that some other kingdoms have. At the very least, they're not killed on sight here.

I walk towards the city center to find a merchant. My wolf armour is rare here and not many have even seen it, nearly none would use it, but it's an interesting show piece for the rich. I find a decent looking merchant and after a bit of bargaining, I exchange my wolf armour for fourteen silver coins, and a few pieces of local clothing. Metal armour would only hinder my movements here, and leather is nearly useless. After a short talk he pointed me in the direction of the Adventurer's Guild Hall. I would prefer to be hired as a guard for the caravan, I could pay "contribution" to become a part of the caravan, but then I would need my own horse, or camel, or I could find an independent transporter who's part of the caravan. In the end all that matters is that I get to the other side of the Dead Desert. I don't have that much money left, and who knows when my purse will get fatter.

It's an easily recognizable symbol, a big round circle with a scroll on it, it's hard to mix up with anything else. As I enter the building the atmosphere that seems to be universal across guild halls greets me. A few drunks, lazy and noisy bums drinking, several suspicious guys sitting in the corners trying to gather info, a wall with requests, and a cute girl at the counter with two guards behind her. Looking through the requests I find the caravan escort quest is still available. I turn and head towards the counter, as I approach the guards visibly tense looking at me, with time those who have seen death too much get the ability to "feel" if someone is dangerous. At least the guards here are competent, the girl smiles at me with a professional stretched smile.

"Hello, how may I help you?"

"Good morning, is the caravan escort quest still open?"

"Yes, the caravan will leave in three days, there is no limit to the number of open positions. Would you like to take the quest? If so, could I see your guild card?"

"I don't have one."

"I'm terribly sorry but this quest requires a D rank guild card at the least."

She looks confused, all adventurers have some kind of card, and the fact that I don't makes me more suspicious. I do have my other card, but restoring it will cause even more questions and issues for me.

"Can I get a guild card? I just finished my military service in the north."

"Oh, of course." She relaxed a bit, and looked for a paper on her left side. "It'll be five silver to register. Can you fill out the form yourself? Or do you want me to do it for you?"

"I can fill it out myself, thanks."

She passes it to me together with a pencil. I look through and fill out what I believe will be enough. I always hated learning new languages, but I had to with my job. There are languages with horrible alphabets, and even worse grammar laws. I finish and hand it back with the coins, the payments a bit too much but I say nothing. She looks through the paper, as she does he eyes widen a bit.

"Umm, excuse me, but we would like to do a small...check."

She goes into the back room and returns with a purple stone. The guards tense up even more. I quickly recognize it, as I have used it many, many times. I take the stone in my hand and hold in front of them. The stone doesn't light up while I am holding it.

"I'm not a necromancer, see."

"I'm really sorry if we've offended you, but, umm, there is a problem with necromancers in this region." She says while bowing, "And, umm, you don't really look like you're twenty-eight." She finishes while looking at me with an apologetic face.

It's well known that those who practice the dark arts have their vitality sucked out, but that is only true for the inexperienced and unskilled ones. Additionally that's why they look much older than they are and bony. The bristle on my face in combination with the scar, and the fact that half of my hair is already grey makes me look much older. Life never was soft on me.

"Not a problem, can I have the card please?"

After several magic, and enchantment processes are placed on the copper card she hands over the mana infused card.

"Here it is. You'll start from F rank. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Are there any quests that can quickly boost me to D rank?"

"Well, if you're really skilled there's an open season on blue scorpions. Nasty, disgusting little things, they're getting too close to the city. If you join a party and hunt a dozen scorpions, plus several other quests, you may be able to make it in time for the caravan. For every confirmed kill you'll get about ten copper coins."

I take the scorpion hunt quest, which requires I take their stingers as proof, they're located to the west of the city. The receptionist tries to warn me again of the danger, but I quickly leave, my time is limited.

As soon as I get out of the building I freeze at the sight which I was dreading ever since I set foot here. A dark-skinned bald man following a rickshaw with a fat man inside it, holds a chain connected to several naked, and dirty children with shackles on their necks. A sadly normal procession here. One of the main reasons attacking someone is public isn't allowed here, is because if someone broke a law they could be sold into slavery as payment for their offense, even death sentences can be replaced with lifelong slavery. The money goes to the government, and damaged goods are worth less.

My blood boils as thoughts of giving the whole city a blood cleanse run circles through my mind. My hand reaches for the grip of my sword.

[DO NOT HURRY.]

[They deserve much more, much much more. Make their entire existence as painful as you can.]

It takes a lot of willpower to unclench my hand from the grip. I head west, out of the city. I need to cool down, the way I am right now I wouldn't be able to do anything. I need to direct my anger somewhere, anywhere.

...

I eat in the busy inn thinking of my next steps. I got the D class "upgrade" for my card after bringing one-hundred and seventy-three stingers. The receptionist tried to be polite and helpful, but it was apparent that she was uncomfortable in my presence. Perhaps it was the issue of how I looked, the number of stingers, or the fact that I was covered in the internal juices of the scorpions. I haven't seen a mirror for years, honestly, I'm not even sure what will be reflected in it, or who will look back at me. I may have overdone it with the scorpions, they did nothing wrong, they weren't responsible for what humans in this region do. I spent my anger on ones not deserving of it. They are simple animals, they kill only to survive, or when they're in danger.

My superiors in the Legion knew about my anger issues, and they understood the triggers for them. That was the main reason they usually sent me after the dark churches and the worst that the world can give. I took it too personally, and because of that I had a much higher chance of success than anyone else. Or to be more specific, I was one of the ones who completed all those mission, and was "lucky" enough to survive. During that time at least I built up some resistances to plenty of dangerous items, like poisons.

During my "cleaning" sessions, I believe I've found a very disturbing issue, which is why I'm so tense right now. There's no proof, at least officially, but I can't leave this issue alone. I've already taken the quest for the caravan escort and spoke with the leader of the caravan, Jitak. He has given me the okay, and will pay ten silver coins when we reach Tomalesh, right in the center of the Desert Alliance. From there I will need to find a way to travel south-east. So that's one problem dealt with.

But there's a much bigger problem still left unresolved, and there are only two night left to solve it.

"What the fuck do they mean everything is under control?! Three slave houses were slaughtered!"

"Shush. control your voice. They're currently looking into it."

"Looking into what?! Which kind of fucking demon is going around massacring citizens?!"

"Calm down you retarded elf, your kind always were pussies."

"Fuck you you half-cut shit! Did your beard grow into your brain? Or has the drinking finally turned your brain to mush? Someone ripped them-"

"Shut up you cunts!"

The short discussion was finished by a purple-skinned ogre. Everyone around was silent, trying to gather as much info as they could. The information, and rumors were scarce, so even this outburst was valuable. Multiple groups inside the inn continued to discuss the events in hushed tones.

Citizens my ass, blood-drinking slave-selling scum was what they were.

[You let the nobles go, but killed the slave traders. Who says the traders were more deserving of death than the nobles? Maybe they treated the slaves better than their family did. What if their life would improve as slaves? Who said those nobles you spared wouldn't do more evil later on?]

The slaves were mutilated and malnourished.

[You think you saved those "slaves"? They will tell their NEW master who did it, while returning to the fate that was decided for them by life itself, maybe you made it worse? And to top it all off, soon, the hunt will start, but this time, YOU will be the hunted.]

Not attempting to change their fate would be wrong.

[ Is this how you're trying to justify the murder, the deaths, your actions? How pathetic you are. You did a good thing saving those sweet, innocent little slaves. Let me praise you! Our righteous saviour! What would we ever do without you? Maybe you even deserve a medal! Ha. Or maybe forgiveness? What do you think?]

Do nothing? Let the world solve itself? Let it GO? IS THIS YOUR SOLUTION? HOPING FOR BETTER WHILE SLOWLY DROWNING IN THIS HELL? Maybe we are in hell, maybe everyone here DESERVES this damnation. Perhaps this is punishment for what we have done, maybe we all deserve to die. But that doesn't mean we can't attempt to change it. I will. I refuse to be one of them, even if the whole world is against me. Even if they all reject me and what I stand for.

Even if I am wrong.

I will change it, if the only thing waiting at the end of this path is defeat and death, so be it. But I will not stand for this.

[So be it. We have walked this path for too long to turn around now. There is no place for regret in our actions. Let the blood flow.]

Blood.

During the "cleaning" in one of the slave house's rooms I found a golden, gem-encrusted goblet. The reek of blood coming from it was undeniable, I could smell it even from the other side of the room. Necromancers are easy to find with a deathstone, but blood mages, they're a totally different story. Most can hide for decades until someone notices a large amount of dark energy, or when too many people go missing. War is a favourite place for them, no one will care about a dozen missing people when thousands are dead.

Blood is the universal currency of magic, blood is where the biggest amount of mana is located. Drinking blood will give you a temporary boost in many magic aspects. it's easier to enchant items or create curses when using blood as a direct source of mana. A universal source of energy, only if you forget where it come from. But the important word is temporary. You need fresh blood, as the mana quickly dissipates from it. it's one of the biggest reasons for ritualistic sacrifices. If I had a seeker with me, the task would be much easier. But unlike them I can neither feel nor see the ambient mana.

Thinking about it, I decide to pursue the worst possible case. I really want my theory to be wrong, it would be the best,...for everyone. But the gold goblet had to come from somewhere. I didn't take it, so they shouldn't know that I know what they are. An enchanted item used in rituals, I may not feel the mana, but I can recognize the engraved enchantments, the ones I've seen far too many times.

...

The moons are in a new stage, the shadows are darker, almost as if they suck in the light around them. Creepy, unsettling would be good words. Still, the guards stand, protecting the place with their lives. It would be much easier to kill them and be done with it, but the only reason I'm here is because of a gut instinct. There is no proof. A slave house master couldn't work alone. They always have a superior. I started at "cleaning" the slave houses, now I'm attempting to infiltrate the stronghold of the Emir of Kamalesh.

The one good thing about not having any mana affinity, is that I don't produce any ambient mana. Nearly every living thing produces ambient mana. Many enchanted devices can give you a lot of info just by the ambient mana around. Traps, tracking devices, alarms systems, and many, many more. Some of the skilled assassins can suppress this body "function", but I don't need to, as the function never worked anyways.

I would like to avoid killing anyone, yet. I just want to find some sold evidence to debunk my theory, because if I'm right, then things are much worse than I expected. Blood mages in a position of power is enough to start a crusade.

Infiltration was easy, not as easy as leaving the northern stronghold, but still. Nothing a rope and strong hands can't do, as it seems they are heavily dependent on mana detecting devices. My destination right now, is some kind of basement. Blood rituals take too much space, and require a place with constant dark. Plus the screams shouldn't be heard, as it will cause some issue at some point. The fact that there are no guards patrolling inside makes this easy, but it's also worrying. It seems they have something to hide.

After about an hour of lurking around, hiding from the occasional maid, I found a door that was suspiciously out of place. Locked of course, but that's not an issue, I've learned a few skills to solve such dilemmas.

Taking a risk and opening the door, I find a relatively long stairway, at least a hundred meters. After which a long corridor leading to a thick metal door with multiple key holes, opening that took a bit longer. As I opened it total darkness greeted me, I took a torch from the wall and went inside. After ten steps into the room the door slammed shut. After which the sound of multiple locks turning could be heard, a few torches lit up, enough to show what was inside the room.

I fully understood this was a trap, the powerful curses being cast onto me proved that. They know I was coming, and they prepared for it. I could hear the sound of metal boots clanking against stone, there were many, and they were approaching. But it didn't matter, I could already see the room in all its "glory". Stacked hills of bones of children, an enormous container in the center of the room, filled with blood, small body parts floating in it. On the right a table filled with cooked meat. And I know exactly where it came from.

At the back stood a statue of an owl and bull standing side-by-side.

I was wrong, they're not blood mages, they're much worse.

A tall, pretty woman, and a shorter handsome man lead the a group of nicely dressed and relatively young looking people entering the room. At least a hundred Enforcers and Mages followed them, with roughly a dozen scantly clad terrified toddlers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight, we have a small surprise for you! Additional to the feast that I have prepared in honour of my lovely wife's birthday, there's a bathtub for all of us in the center, we have also caught a spy, sent by the Caliphate. Worry not, he has already been immobilized by the curses. After the feast we can have some fun, thankfully his body seems quite sturdy. Of course my sweetheart gets the first piece. But worry not, everyone will get a turn."

Some started to feast, some undressing for the bath, other sat on couches and began violating the toddlers in every way imaginable, while the toddlers screamed and begged. Some of the nobles continued to chat, as if they events were totally normal. The lead lady started to walk towards me with a small satisfied grin on her face, a tiny dagger in her hand.

I was wrong, I should've slaughtered the city the moment I entered.

I turn my body towards them, unsheathing my sword. A panicked and confused expression settled on everyone's faces.

If I had acted earlier some of the children could have lived.

But it's too late.

I let my mana flow, rampaging through me.

Even if this body is destroyed, these creatures will not survive, they should not be allowed to exist, nor will they.

Today Zeron, God of Blood, shall feast.