He saw a back...the back of a tall Rath'een...taller than any other Rath'een he had seen so far. The rat-like monster had pallid skin with bones tied to its tail. It kept coughing periodically as it stirred something in a large black cauldron, a gouged eyeball twiddling in one of its hands. This...different Rath'een wore a dirtied white shirt with brown shorts and a tattered red cloak. As the Rath'een moved about, John was able to see a couple of green bottles hanging on its belt.

"I've been expecting you."

"What? You can speak? No, wait...you've been expecting me?" John blurted out in surprise and confusion. Who was this Rath'een and why was it waiting for him? No...wait. The things in this room...could it be this Rath'een was the warlock?! "You're the warlock!"

"Hahaha, you are right! I am the Rath'een Warlock! I-!" A series of coughing and hacking erupted from within the Rath'een Warlock and a mouthful of blood leaked out of its covered mouth. "Damn it! This sickness...this corruption...bah!"

"What do you want? Why are you attacking our village?"

"Well, there's no reason I'll tell you the big boss's plans. However, I, on the other hand, did come here with an objective."

"What? What could we possibly have that you want?"

"Your Temple...your Temple has the means to end my corruption!"

"Our Temple! You don't mean...the Greater Elixir of Vitality!"

"Haha, no...not something as weak as that. I'm referring to the Divine Elixir of Vitality. There's only one of its kind in the entire Glenfort...and I want it!"

"No! I cannot allow you to do that."

"Why? Can't you even grant me that one wish? I thought you humans were supposed to be compassionate. Could it be because of my race? You humans are also known to be racists."

"That's not it. If you had approached us peacefully and asked for healing, we would have helped but instead, you launched an attack on us. Do you think we'd let you go?"

"If I approached your village unarmed, can you guarantee that the patrol guards won't attack me upon sight? Can you?!"

"T-That...no I-I can't."

"No, you can't! Enough talking, go and die!"

The Corrupted Rath'een Warlock threw the eyeball at John, hoping to distract him and charged towards the young Shadow Walker. However, it seemed that John was thinking the same despicable strategy as he threw the torch at the Rath'een. The torch scraped past the warlock, igniting its cloak on fire. The warlock dropped to the ground and rolled around, trying to put out the fire. In the meantime, John had lathered a good layer of neurotoxin on his dagger and pounced on the enemy. Seeing the incoming dagger, the Corrupted Rath'een Warlock rolled to the side and only suffered a small scrape. Nevertheless, some of the poison entered the Rath'een through the wound. But it seemed that the Corrupted Rath'een Warlock had some poison resistance and the attack proved ineffective.

John thrust out his sword and pierced one of the warlock's legs, essentially disabling the warlock. The Corrupted Rath'een Warlock grunted in pain and raised its hand towards John. Bluish white mana gathered around its hand and after accumulating to a certain extent, the Corrupted Rath'een Warlock fired the magic spell at John. This ice-type magic was known as Frostbite. Not only did it slow the young Shadow Walker down, it had also dealt sixteen points worth of ice damage. Because John could not find the time to cure the Frostbite, it would continue to damage him over time. The young Shadow Walker gritted through the freezing cold and unleashed a sword and dagger combo. However, due to the slow debuff, his sword attack missed. Luckily, he decided to throw his dagger which managed to penetrate the warlock in its shoulder. As if it couldn't feel any pain, the Rath'een Warlock grabbed the dagger and pulled it out of its shoulder. Then, it nonchalantly tossed the dagger over its shoulder, far away from John.

Next, the Corrupted Rath'een Warlock quickly gathered more ice mana into its hands and fired it at John. The blast of coldness and icicles smashed into him, wounds formed and blood froze. John was knocked back by the force of the attack and barreled into a stone table. That attack just did a whole sixty points of damage! Not to mention the collateral damage.... Anyways, John scrambled to his feet and almost tripped due to a wave of dizziness surging to his head. As he stabilized himself, he glanced over at the rat monster. It seemed that the monster was preparing for another Cold Blast spell. John fumbled forward and tried to stop the completion of the spell, but it seemed that he wouldn't be able to make it in time. With no other choice left, he jumped forward and hurled the sword into the warlock's chest. Once the Piercing Strike connected, John rolled away from the warlock and picked up his dagger. He hastily lathered on a layer of neurotoxin and lunged at the Corrupted Rath'een Warlock.

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"Kuuaaa!" The Rath'een shrieked as the Neurotoxin Stab penetrated its back.

Once the attack landed, John extracted both his weapons and rolled to the side, setting some distance away from the rat monster. He glanced at the monster and noticed that it had curled on its side, unmoving. Is it dead? He was about to check when a wave of ice damage spurted out, causing him to wince in pain and lightheadedness. He shook himself a bit and felt some relief as the pain subsided. He walked towards the Rath'een and pierced it with his sword. Turned out the Rath'een was still alive as it roared in pain and fury, one of its claws scratching towards him. John swiped with his dagger and knocked the paw away. Suddenly, a bluish white glow shot towards him, sending him flying back once more. More wounds appeared on his body. Luckily, the Cold Blast froze his blood, preventing him from bleeding out profusely.

Ignoring the tearing-like pain, John lumbered forward and unleashed another fierce Piercing Strike, nailing the tenacious bastard into the ground. Another wave of ice damage assailed him, causing him to waver. But he gritted through the dizziness and attacked with another Neurotoxin Stab. As he extracted both of his weapons, yet another wave of ice damage overwhelmed him. He grabbed his head as his eyes glazed over. A Cold Blast bombarded against him, flipping him a couple of times in the air. Not even giving him a chance to regroup, yet another wave of ice damage washed over him. His head was in a confused state...his body won't listen to him...and that bastard was still alive. John stabbed his sword into his leg, unleashing a surge of pain over him. Thankfully, the pain overwhelmed the coldness and he was able to regain some sense of alertness. He glanced at the Corrupted Rath'een Warlock. It was still alive...barely. That last Cold Blast must have used all of its remaining mana.

The young Shadow Walker walked towards the warlock, each step felt as if a hundred pounds were tied to his legs. Slowly but surely, he arrived in front of the warlock. It glanced up towards him and muttered, "Kill me. End my misery."

John raised his sword up and swung it into the Rath'een's head.

THUNK!

The sword embedded in the Rath'een's head but somehow it was still alive. So, the young warrior slashed out with his dagger. The dagger penetrated through the eye and dug its way into the brain. Then, John pulled out the sword and held it above the rat-like monster's neck, making sure the width of the sword lined up with the width of the neck. With one last strike, he pierced the neck and beheaded the Corrupted Rath'een Warlock. Finally, the bastard was dead. But, he was on the verge of dying as well. Or so he thought. As he tried to focus on his health to see exactly how much he had left, he realized that he had leveled up! He was now level three! With this increase in level, his health had also increased, barely getting him out of the red. John sighed a deep sigh of relief, knowing that he won't be dying anytime soon. Suddenly, sounds came from the doorway. John glanced in the direction and silently prayed. Please don't be a Rath'een! And the gods above must have answered his prayers. The source of the sounds were Daedalus and the others! They had fought their way through a hundred Rath'eens and made their way here. When they saw the beheaded warlock, they cheered. Daedalus rushed over to John and checked his injuries. He reached in his pouch and fed the young Shadow Walker a potion. He apologized to John and said that he only had a Cleansing Potion left. John waved his hand and told Daedalus not to worry about it. Soon, John's body warmed up and the debuffs were removed. Daedalus then bandaged the injuries and held John up.

"Excellet work, John! When I saw that you had been separated from the rest of us, I had expected the worst. It seemed that my fears were unfounded! Congratulations John on defeating the warlock. You've done well!" Daedalus praised.

"We found a treasure chest over here, come and get your share." An adventurer called out as a couple of them carried a large treasure chest towards the center.

Daedalus walked forward and opened the chest. There were a large amount of silver coins inside. He quickly divided the money and gave each adventurer a share. Next, he handed a pouch containing 1066 pieces of silver to John.

"Here, you deserved it." Daedalus replied before helping John walk. "Come, let's get out of here. We need to get you to the Temple and heal those wounds."

Along the way to the exit, Daedalus continued his conversation with John, "Unfortunately, the Rath'een will only return in greater numbers, and our baron, Lord Vander, has taken most of his soldiers with him on an ill-timed hunting trip to the north. If we're going to stop these attacks, we'll need to do it ourselves."

"How will we do that?" John asked after a few seconds of thought.

"The only way we're going to stop those Rath'een from entering our village is to bring their tunnels right down over their heads. Majerio can make us an explosive, but he needs some spider silk from the Fallow Fields in the Glenfort Plains to make the fuse. Once you've healed up, go to the Fallow Fields and find some spider silk. As soon as you find some spider silk, go see Majerio in his shop and he'll tell you what to do next."

"You mean I can go outside?"

"Of course. You've proven yourself to be capable. After all, you were able to defeat that Rath'een Warlock. Not many able warriors can do that, especially if they were by themselves. You can say you're now a full-fledged adventurer!"

"Don't worry! I won't let you down!"

"That's good. Hey, there's the exit!"

..........

Once they were out, John had regained some of his body functions and was able to walk by himself. He bid Daedalus and the others farewell as the group went their separate ways to prepare for the many battles to come. John, on the other hand, decided to travel to the Glenfort Temple in order to heal his body and wash away his fatigue. Upon arriving, he was greeted by Allegra.

"Welcome John. How are you? Oh, you're injured! Come, let me heal you."

John kneeled before the priestess who placed her hands over his head. A warm and bright light washed over him, clearing away his fatigue and healing his wounds. After a couple of minutes, the light dimmed to a stop. Allegra wiped her brow of sweat and held out her hand, a happy smile playing on her lips that betrayed her intentions. John reached into his bag and pulled out a pouch of silver coins. He handed it to the priestess whose smile beamed a bit brighter. John got up from his kneeling position and prepared to leave when he felt his sleeve being tugged. The young Shadow Walker turned around and saw Allegra standing beside him, an uncertain look on her face.

"Is there something you need?" John raised the question as he lifted an eyebrow towards her.

"I need your help. Please, will you hear me out?" Allegra gave her best puppy eyes.

"What is it? If it's within my capabilities, I will definitely help you out."

"Thank you for hearing me out, John. Glenfort is dreadfully short on kindhearted Shadow Walkers as of late." The priestess bowed in gratitude, "Recently, some goblins have stolen a shipment of materials we required in order to concoct our elixirs. They were last spotted making camp along the river outside of town. Do you think you can help me get those materials back?"

"What were the materials that were stolen?"

Allegra brought out two shards of varying appearance and held them up for John to see. "This one here is a crystal shard and this one is a raw diamond. The items that were stolen were three crystal shards and one raw diamond."

"What? Four items?" John asked incredulously as he examined the items. Each one was roughly the size of a small melon.

"Don't underestimate these four items. Just these four can allow us to make tens of elixirs."

"Really? I-I see."

"Please help me get those back."

"No problem, leave it to me."