I took to the backroads, to the west my home was gone, all I had before me was the unknown but I would face it on my terms. Being a Level eight Pyromancer gave me the only the basic Skills from the Pyromancer Skill Tree, and only one offensive Skill. Once I hit Level ten, all the branches of the Skill Tree would be unlocked and I would gain access to the more powerful and well-rounded Skills. I looked out over the Wild Lands, not much better name then the Dark Lands, but it was what the vast expanse of land was. Unclaimed, wild, and uncontrolled. Of the few kingdoms in existence, not one claimed them for themselves, just like back before the Empire moved into the area. 

Another gift from Balance were several tomes of history, relevant and unbiased, that covered everything from the Chaos War to the present time. The maps included helped me avoid most of the most densely populated areas of the Wild Lands. Much of it had changed, even from my time, but a few places were still present and I was going to avoid them at all costs. Which led me to find odd places such as the current place I was in. 

A burnt-out village with corpses everywhere, the small palisade wall had been breached in two places and the attackers had slaughtered anyone who resisted. Men, women, young, old, it didn't matter to the raiders. I quickly scouted out the burnt-out village and found no survivors and very little that hadn't been put to the torch. 

As quickly as I could, I gathered the bodies of the dead and pilled them all together before dousing them in oil and brush and setting it aflame." Why?" I looked over seeing a semi-human looking man standing there studying the flames as they consumed the dead. His skin was bone white and his ears were similar to mine, to long to be Human, to short to pass as an Elf. 

"The people that did this left them where they lay like trash. The deserved a proper burial, but a pyre will have to do." I told the man who nodded in approval. 

"What about the ones that did this?" the man pointedly asked me. 

I frowned and looked away, "I don't have the power to stop them. If they had the number to not only breach this village but to kill everyone within it, I can't stop them." I told him causing him to frown in disapproval. 

The man continued to frown and walked over to me then studied me before smiling, "This is your purpose. Justice for the dead, keep the balance and weigh the scales of justice for these people. You were once an Emperor, you know the dead want justice. Help them!! You, God of Blood, will do this! I, Charon conveyer of the Dead, charge you with hunting down and laying judgment on those that slaughtered these people." 

<<<>>>

Quest Alert: A Gods Judgement

Description: Charon, the Olympion in charge of conveying the dead to their finale judgment has charged you with tracking down the raiders of New Spring. Judge them for their actions and convey the price for slaughtering so many people.

Quest Class: Divine, Rare

Quest Difficulty: Hard

Success: Track down and lay judgment on the raiders by killing them or letting them go

Failure: Do not track down the raiders

Rewards: 5,000 Experience, 500 Divinity Experience, Unknown

Accept? Yes or No

<<<>>>

I sighed in frustration, "Look Charon, I am a Level eight nobody. Yes, I am a Pyromancer, yes these people deserve justice for what happened to them, but I am not strong enough to do it. I also don't have a way of tracking these guys." I told the Greek god causing him to brush away my concerns and pulled a lantern from his inventory and held it out towards me. Charon thrust his hand towards the burning bodies and a spark of green light jumped from them and swiftly moved to the lantern and inhabited it. 

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"It will lead you. The Spirits always know who did it and can find them. Will you do this?" Charon asked as I studied the ancient-looking lantern. 

I didn't decline or accept the Quest, "Why don't you do this?" I asked the older god.

"Ancient laws. I convey them to the afterlife, I cannot give them justice though. They scream for justice. Please help them.' Charon replied while offering the lantern again. I sighed and accepted both the lantern and the Quest. What can I say, I am a sucker for lost causes and hoped. 'If you succeed, keep the lantern. It will help you. Good luck cousin and bring them justice!" Charon stated before fading from sight. 

I looked down at the little green spark, "Well little one, looks like we are going to be working together. You guide me to where they are and I will deliver justice, you have my word." I told the little green spark earning a slight pulse of energy as a bright green arrow appearing on my HUD. I pulled up the Stats of the Lantern and snorted, I had at least one good piece of equipment now.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Armor Name: Soul Cage

Armor Type: Relic; Trinket

Class: Legendary

Base Defense: N/A

Primary Effects...

--- +20 Intelligence

--- +20 Wisdom

--- +10 Vitality

--- +5 Critical Hit Chance

--- +25% Critical Hit Damage

I quickly checked my inventory for supplies for a fight. I had a half dozen Health, six Stamina, and four Mana Potions rounded out my supplies. Enough for a fight or two or a maybe even Dungeon dive, but not enough for sustained combat. I was going to have to find a village or town after then to purchase more. 

I quickly took off at a jog following my little green spark and the arrow glowing on my HUD. How I was supposed to win against a large group of raiders, I had no idea. Three hours later trekking through woods and hills I found their camp. The sun was still up, so I decided to wait for now. I set an alarm for three hours and laid down in a nearby cave before falling asleep. 

The steady chirp of my alarm woke me, the bright moonlight overhead bathed everything in a white light that I could easily see in. There was little cloud cover so I was going to have to be as careful as I could. I quickly grabbed a quick bite to eat then activated Stealth before pushing off into the darkness. Stealth and surprise were my best allies tonight.

While the raiders might be arrogant enough to think no one would come after them, they still maintained a lookout of sentries patrolling around the camp. However, they didn't move in groups but in individual patrols. Stupid and idiotic. Anyone with even a little knowledge of military strategy and tactics would know to use paired sentries to increase the chance to get off a warning in case of infiltration. Such as how I was doing presently. The first sentry died of a broken neck after I had greatly weakened him by feeding on him. Three more times I feed and killed before finally making my way into the main camp. 

The sight of what was happening took away any doubt that I had made the right decision in killing the sentries and infiltrated the camp. They were forcing captives to fight each other and using others for other kinds of entertainment. From knife throwing competitions to more unsavory acts with other captives. The wood and metal in my hand groaned slightly as my hand clenched around it. I immediately stopped and eased my grip on m dagger, I would be a complete idiot to destroy my best weapon before a battle. I went back to studying the camp below. 

There were some remote areas where few of the captives and prisoners were. Those locations were my best bet to weaken them before I had to have an all-out fight. The dagger at my belt would be far quieter then the limited magic I could throw at the raiders. I pulled it and moved silently towards a group of tents and several lean-tos. Most were filled with individual men or women, all passed out from drinking too much. So it was easy to eliminate them and loot them as I pushed deeper into the camp. 

In the end, I managed to eliminate a dozen raiders within the camp without raising an alarm before I encountered my first captive. The Wood Elf woman had been abused but not badly enough to lose her will to fight. "Ahh, another bastard coming for a poke. Feel like a big man?" she asked with a sneer.

I chuckled and moved over to her as her sneer grew then changed to surprise as I cut her down and handed her a knife, "The tree line is to the west about twenty feet. There are no living raiders to the northwest and all the sentries are down for now. I would suggest you hurry." I told her before moving off and disappearing into Stealth before she could stop me. 

As I pushed deeper into the camp, the atrocities, and the number of victims grew. I saved those I could, but some of them were beyond any help I could give them, just husks of who they once had been. Any hesitation I had felt dissolved when I encountered those people. I had no idea how anyone could do this to someone else without feeling some empathy for their victims. Yet these raiders obviously felt nothing at all and I would give them the same mercy they showed their victims, none at all. With a grim determination, I let the inner monster out as I stole forward determined to kill all of them.