The air was thick with the stench of red that loomed over the scene of destruction. The blood mist was only in her mind, but it mattered little when it was suffocating. She closed her eyes and willed out the apparitions before her, but she knew this stench would haunt her forever. She could not get used to it, and she hoped she never would.

Rana opened her eyes. The scene returned to normal. Smoke simmered in the air and blood soaked the dirt. It was the result of burnt homes and dying bodies, the aftermath of a settlement that failed in its defense, and it was reality. Reality could be dealt with.

“Keep it in, newbie,” came a voice, jeering. “If your stomach can't handle it then just leave. The less people sharing the reward the better. If you do stay, try not to mess things up for the rest of us, ya hear? The worst part about open contracts is getting some truly worthless party members.”

His name was Liken. Him and another marked one named Kent, along with Rana and Emery, made up the party of four for their current contract. From what she gathered, it was him that decided to continue the assignment without waiting for Rana.

Liken was an independent warrior-class marked one. He was the shortest member of their party but definitely the strongest and most durable with heavy armor and shield. He wielded a two-handed ax using only one hand and had shown no signs of it being a burden. Ever since Emery brought her to their campsite, she was met with open hostility and the stout man took every opportunity to rattle her.

Kent, on the other hand, was part of a Guild. It was unusual someone belonging to a Guild came out all the way here, but it was not unheard of. He was quiet and never spoken a word since greeting her with his name. He was also a warrior-class marked one but was tall and lean compared to the other warrior of the party. He wielded a bastard sword and wore light armor, the equipment of someone favoring technique and speed over raw power.

Their party was not a balanced one, but it was far from being irredeemable. Her only concern was that Emery did not seem like a healer, and Rana herself could not use the light element, so their room for error was low. However, she did not care whether or not her party members lived, nor did she care about the contract itself. She was here for the Church agent. Not being able to complete a contract had its own inconveniences, but she was confident if it came down to her alone, she would still succeed.

Rana ignored the heckle from Liken and continued to investigate the destroyed settlement. To the untrained eye, or even the eyes of an experienced marked one, there was nothing note worthy. It was a normal scene of houses toppled and bodies mutilated, a truth of what humanity’s place was in a world filled with dangers. People were dead and the monsters who did it needed to be slain. However, there was something odd.

The scale was not appropriate given the lack of monsters prowling near. The three Crypt Poachers was not enough to inflict this amount of damage, let alone have enough time to chase after the ones who fled. An entire settlement was destroyed, and monsters should be roaming, converging to feast and destroy. Yet it was quiet. There was a possibility that a single powerful monster was responsible for the carnage, but then why was it not part of the chase, and where was it now? The culprit being a fiend could answer most of the oddities, but that posed another set of issues. The victim was a random settlement, and fiends did not commit to random acts.

“Any thoughts? Something just doesn’t seem right here,” asked a voice. Emery approached her from behind, kicking away broken pieces of wood and stone in his path. “It doesn’t match up with what we were told on the board and what we found out. The pack of roaming monsters should not suddenly be back in the woods, and for a fiend, this scene seems to a bit tame. I expected some foul magics to be in the air.”

“I’d say good riddance the settlers are dead,” said Liken with a heartily laugh. “I’m glad this assignment did not involve protecting the poor lot. I doubt they even have gold to pay us for our troubles. Who cares about all that? We find whoever was responsible and kill them. If it was something other than monsters, we simply bill the Guild and be done with it.”

“We should be wary,” interrupted Kent, clearly not liking Liken and his attitude. “If the news of a fiend is true, we have to be cautious. There are too many inconsistencies with the scene, and investigating the area could give us a clue of what we are dealing with.”

“Don’t tell me you’re a prissy dame like the newbie there,” goaded Liken as he stalked closer to Kent. The other warrior-class met his gaze, but the shorter one simply grinned, daring Kent to unsheathe his sword. “What else is there to do but beat it to a pulp, or is it an excuse to cower and flee?”

Liken wanted Kent to strike. If the laws of a century before still held, a marked one was permitted to kill another if they were stricken first. Rana was not worried about the tension between the two. If the two were stupid enough to come to blows, one of them would perish and the loss of neither hindered their assignment. To her, it simply reduced the suspect of who was the agent to two. She was also curious to see if the Church still had clout that made a marked one think twice about attacking another.

“Stop it, you two,” Emery said, his tone was clear that he expected them to follow. “I see your point, Liken, but what Kent said is true. I’d rather we go up against what did this knowing something more about it. Rana, you’re interested too, right?”

“It does not matter,” Rana said as she continued observing the settlement. There was something in the distance. “What we learn from the scene does not alter our goal. If it was monsters, we kill it. If it was a fiend, we kill it.”

“Now you’re talking,” cheered Liken. “I guess I pegged you wrong!”

Rana ignored the other three who were about to bicker and walked towards a collapsed hut. There was a hand covered in dry blood and char sticking out of the rubble, and there was mana surrounding it.

“It’s a quest,” Rana simply stated to the other three. They realized one of their party member was walking away from them and towards something and followed.

“We struck gold!” said Liken with a grin that presented all of his uneven teeth.

“This does not bode well,” Kent said while frowning.

“Interesting,” said Emery.

Quests were pleas, the final prayer of the dying. They were yearnings so strong, and emotions so intense, that whatever final wish they had pierced the System and entered the Codex. Their wish became a Quest, and whatever they offered in their last breath became Merits. Merits were rewards that allowed a marked one to use them and exchange boons in an Altar, such as Abilities without the need to awaken them. However, like every strong emotion, fulfilling its desires was blessed, but failing it would lead to being cursed.

“So who is going to claim it,” asked Liken, but it was clear he would fight all of them here to be the one to claim the Quest. The three then began discussing how they were going to approach the reward. Rana did not care for the reward. What mattered was that the Quest existed. Humanity dying at the hands of monsters was normal, a truth that many might not have realized yet, but it was one ingrained into their very being. Dying to a monster, no matter what they might’ve lost in the process, would not trigger the System’s interest. This meant there was something more that lead to the death in question. It certainly gave more credence to the existence of a fiend. Was it an exceptionally cruel fiend, or was it something else?

“We are wasting time!” complained Liken. He was unhappy the others did not side with him. It was only Kent that was openly against Liken, but Emery also made no moves to support a position. Liken wanted the reward, but Kent cared mostly about the information hidden in the Quest and was unwilling to trust Liken with it. The details of a Quest could only be seen by the one who claimed it after all.

It did not matter to Rana. She already knew what was in the Quest and the truth was coming together. She had little patience for dallying any longer.

“Liken, forfeit your contract reward and you can have the Quest,” Rana said to a stunned Liken. He did not expect her to support him, but his stupor was quickly replaced by glee. He thought she was stupid for giving up Merits for measly pellets. The remaining two agreed as well now that at least half of the party already decided on who to claim the Quest.

“Now that it's decided,” Emery said as he clapped his hand together. He gave Rana a belittling glance before continuing. “Let's go. We wasted enough time as it is. If there is a fiend, we have to stop them soon and hope whatever they are scheming does not come to fruition.”

Liken quickly agreed while Kent reluctantly grunted his compliance.

Rana stayed silent. It seemed like aside from the issue with the fiend, two of her party members had to die.