Now that he was inside the pseudo-void territory, Langa looked around to take stock of his surroundings.

It was dark all around him, darker than it was beyond the veil. It was still daytime after all, yet he could barely see the light of the sun in the sky. The air itself felt somewhat eery, as if it were alive, and would swallow him whole when he walked through it. In the shallow light of the red sun, the forested valley glowed red, and Langa, spear in hand, moved silently through the grass, hiding in the shadows. He did not have any stealth or sneaking skills, so he had to be very consciously careful. Well, he was used to tip toeing around his brother-in-law, so he knew how to stay hidden. Yikes, that was depressing. How ironic was it that he would be thinking about that as a beneficial skill?

[The Onslaught of the Dark Void is watching you.]

Fuck, Chaos gave him the creeps, especially after how awful it had been for him when he had been stuck in the Void during the tutorial. He had no idea why a great being like that would be watching him, but Langa just wanted him to look away from him. Logically, he knew that it was not the god's fault that he had been trapped in the Void, but maestrils were creations of Chaos, and they had been responsible for his predicament. He supposed he could just be watching him because he was in a pseudo-void territory, but he doubted that The Dark Void had so much time on his hands that he would watch every mortal that entered a pseudo-void territory. The reason why he had Chaos' attention did not matter, all Langa knew was that he did not want the attention of this god.

Deciding that keeping him out of his sight would keep him out of his mind, Langa ignored Chaos and walked on. To his left, he could see a path leading somewhere deeper into the forest, and to his right, there was another path towards what looked to be a small village in the distance. He headed towards the village.

As Langa rounded a bend in the road, the village gate came into view. A beautiful wooden wall was erected around the village, but the gate hung ajar, one side broken. A few goblinkin, clad in mismatched armour and wielding crude weapons, milled around the entrance, chatting and laughing together, their eyes not scanning the road for intruders. It may have seemed reckless, but Langa understood that, with a void veil, the likelihood of anyone breaking in was close to zero.

It would be easy to take them out and enter the village, but Langa thought it best to assess the situation first since he was so unprepared. He knew he couldn't just walk through the gate. The NPCs would spot him immediately, and any attempt to fight his way in would likely end in a loud commotion. He needed to find another way in, a way that would allow him to slip past the guards unnoticed.

Langa moved off the main road, skirting the edge of the village, as he searched for an alternate entry point. As he crept through the forest, he spotted a narrow, overgrown path that led to the back of the village. It was a barely visible, muddy pathway, hidden by tall grass. He scanned the path for any signs of traps or patrols. Satisfied that it was safe, he moved forward.

The path led him to a section of the village's wooden palisade, which looked as if it hadn’t finished being built and had been left like this for years. The wood was rotting, and he examined the wall until he found a small gap where the wood had crumbled away, just wide enough for him to squeeze through.

He took a deep breath and slipped through the gap, his lean body fitting just barely. As he emerged on the other side, he paused to listen for any sounds of alarm. The village remained silent, thankfully, there didn’t seem to be a magical barrier protecting it. No wonder it had been easy for a low-tier voident to take this place over. The security in this village was atrocious.

[The high-tier constellation: Swiftfoot Anitari, observes your easy breaking and entering and wonders if you were a robber or thief in your previous world.]

“No, I wasn’t,” Langa said in outrage. What an unfounded accusation!

Now inside the village, he moved cautiously, sticking close to the walls of the buildings towards the centre. The village square came into view and there were mostly goblinkin in this village, and at first, Langa was worried he would stand out. However, he saw a couple of birdkin, humans and elves mixed in with the villagers.

He had expected to see a neglected village whose houses crumbled from disrepair, and the streets to be cracked and overgrown with weeds, however, everything was still standing and looked clean and well-kept. He continued to move through the village, his eyes and ears alert to any signs of the red NPCs’ presence. He needed to gather more information, to understand the full extent of the Accari Crows’ grip on the village. Only then could he formulate a plan to take down Grion Fidser.

He made sure to keep his head down and stick either behind other people or in dark corners as he observed the situation in front of him. At first glance, everything seemed normal. Villagers moved about their daily routines—shopkeepers attending their stalls, children playing in the square, and workers bustling about with their tasks. But as Langa walked deeper into the village, he felt something was wrong.

These people were entirely too downtrodden. He saw a blacksmith lifelessly hammering away at his forge, the vendors sat about sullenly advertising their goods without smiles; and most of all, the children clung to their families and weren’t happily playing together. There was also the strange fact that most of the people he could see were either really young or really old. There was no one his age around here.

He was good at observing people, so he caught the way the villagers glanced over their shoulders, the nervous murmurs exchanged in hushed tones, and the presence of red-named NPCs walking around and watching the people carefully.

It wasn’t a stretch to think they were Accari Crows. He entertained the idea of subduing one of them and making them reveal Grion Fidser’s location, but he didn’t think it was a good idea since they walked around in packs.

A loud noise drew his attention to the other side of the street, and he went that way. This area seemed to be largely residential, and he did not like it when he saw the reason for the noise. A group of red owlkin NPCs, level 7 to 9, had gathered around a young boy who lay in a heap on the ground.

The young goblinkin’s face was covered in blood and bruises, and his body was shaking.

An owlkin looked down at him."You thought you could steal from us?" he spat. "If you want food, you work for it! Get to the mines!"

An old goblinkin, frail and grey-haired, stepped forward, his hands raised in supplication. "Please, he’s just a boy," the elder pleaded. "Please have mercy. He’s too young to work, and he was only trying to feed his family."

The red NPC huffed and delivered a kick to the boy's ribs, eliciting a cry. "Next time, the punishment will be worse. We’ll tell the boss to remove you from the safe list," he warned, his eyes cold. "Then you’ll suffer all the effects of the pseudo-void territory before you die. Remember that, all of you."

As much as Langa wanted to help, there were too many of the Accari Crows here. It wouldn’t do for him to reveal himself before he knew where Grion Fidser was.

So he swallowed his disdain at seeing a child get hurt and watched as the red NPCs turned and walked away, their laughter echoing through the square. Most of the villagers who had been watching quickly retreated inside the safety of their homes. The street was left silent, the only sound being the boy's pained breaths.

Langa waited until the red NPCs were out of sight, then got out of his hiding place. Everyone was gone except the boy and old man who had spoken up, and he watched Langa warily as he approached the boy slowly.

The boy raised his arms. “I’m sorry,” he said, frightened, when he reached him. "Please don't hurt me."

"Easy now. I'm not going to hurt you," Langa said gently, kneeling beside him. "I'm here to help, okay? What's your name?"

The boy looked up at him with pain-filled eyes, too weak to speak. "Reygon," he whispered. It may have seemed unnecessary to make him talk in this state, but familiarity bred trust.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Okay, Reygon. You need to treat your wounds before they get infected," he said, wondering if they had bacteria in this world. "There must be a clinic or something near here."

Langa carefully lifted him, supporting his weight as the elder hurried over to assist. "Thank you," the elder said, his voice full of gratitude. "I can help him. Come, follow me. We need to get him to safety first. Those fools might come back for more."

They led the boy to a small, humble hut at the edge of the village, whose inside was filled with the scent of strange herbs. The elder motioned for Langa to lay the boy on a makeshift bed, then set about gathering supplies to treat his wounds.

Langa watched as the elder worked with both ease and urgency, cleaning the boy's injuries and applying ointment to them. He wondered if he should give him one of his health potions but decided against it. He had no idea how his fight with Fidser would go. The boy winced as his wounds were cleaned but remained silent, his eyes squeezed shut against the pain.

When the elder had done all he could, he turned to Langa, "You’re not from around here, are you, young man?" he said, though it was more a statement than a question.

"What gave it away?" Langa asked, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He didn’t stick out per se, but this was a small village where everyone probably knew each other.

The old man gave him a weary smile. "Your willingness to help, for one. Unfortunately, people are ruled by fear around here. So, who are you? And why aren’t you affected by the void territory?"

Langa leaned against the wall, unsure how much he should reveal. He decided to go with the truth for now. "My name is Langa. I’m here for Grion Fidser’s bounty. But it’s clear there’s more going on here than I was told,” he said. “What I’m doing will benefit your village, so I need to know everything about the situation with the red NPCs and the Accari Crows."

The elder sighed deeply, his shoulders sagging wearily. He looked like he was ready to drop from exhaustion alone.

"The Accari Crows took over our village a few weeks ago. For a while, no one knew something was wrong. We don’t have a teleportation wheel, and this village isn’t large enough for the Federation Police to be stationed here. Even worse, the gang uses the void veil to cut us off from using our comcers.”

That sort of lined up with what Jandri had told him. He gestured for the old man to continue. “Once it was known that they were here, they started making demands of the Federation. They hold us hostage to keep the Federation Police away. No adventurers come to this place because they fear the effects of the pseudovoid territory. The only ones who can help us are probably the Guardians.”

“Are…are you a Guardian, mister?” the boy asked, looking at Langa with hope in his eyes.

First of all, Langa didn’t think he was old enough to be called a mister. But he ignored it for now, since the kid was hurt. Second, he did not like it when people had expectations of him. In this case, though, he felt he could live up to the boy's expectations. “Something like that. So, where can I find Fidser?”

“I don’t know, he never comes to the village because of his alignment. The workers say he’s always by the mines," he said.

"Mine?" Langa asked, remembering that Jandri said the voident found a skill book in a mine.

"Yes," the old man nodded solemnly. "They force our able-bodied villagers to work in the mines, extracting lucent stones for their own gain. They have a catch-and-drop system where the Federation sends money and they send the lucent stones. Those of us who can’t work, like the young and the old, are left to fend for themselves with barely any food or resources. At least if there is someone in the family who can work, they can get food for their whole family."

He glanced at the boy, who was now lying on the small bed, watching the two of them, his face pale but more peaceful. "Reygon tried to steal food because his family was starving. The red NPCs are ruthless; they punish any disobedience harshly."

Langa nodded, his mind racing with the information. "And the leader of this little gang? He is a voident, right?"

"Yes. There are two voidents that I've seen. The one they call Fidser, and another one," the elder replied, his voice fearful. "He has a tight grip on his men. They follow him without question. The ironic thing is, they've been here for months. We knew that a merchant group had discovered a mine near our village, and were busy working on it. Once work started, they even employed some of our people. Yes, they were red NPCs, but they did not hurt anyone. They paid taxes to the Federation and we traded very well with them, not knowing they were Accari Crows. Things changed a couple of weeks ago when Fidser revealed himself and put a void veil over our village. To this day, I don't know what happened to cause the change."

"I see." Langa’s eyes hardened. He must have felt the pressure after stealing whatever it was from his bosses and wanted to use the villagers to make money quickly from the mine. "Thank you for the information. I will do what I can to help you guys. Where is the mine from here?"

"You go out of the village and follow the main path through the forest. There are two roads, one leads to a haunted cave and the other to the mine," Reygon said quietly. "If you hurry, you may be able to catch the Accari Crows taking the villagers into the mine or bringing the lucent stones back here."

"Okay, thanks," he said, satisfied.

"If you’re here to stop them, you must be careful. This gang is dangerous, well-armed, and rumoured to be connected." The elder placed a hand on Langa’s arm, his grip surprisingly strong. "Please, be careful. I would hate for you to lose your life in a futile battle. I don’t know how much longer we can take this.”

Langa nodded, "I will be fine. And I promise, I won’t let them continue to terrorise this village. Call the Federation Police as soon as the void veil goes down."

He had a couple of rations left over in his inventory, and he gave them to the boy. "Eat this for now. You can get real food once I take down Fidser."

Reygon accepted it, but before Langa had to endure a tearful bout of annoying gratitude, he turned to leave.

"Thank you for the food. And please don't die," Reygon called after him. Langa raised a hand and waved without turning back.

*

Langa followed the road Reygon had been talking about until he reached the mine.

He headed towards the mine entrance but stopped upon realising that the mine was heavily guarded, with red NPCs stationed at every entrance and all over the perimeter. Langa observed from a distance, noting the shifts of the guards and the layout of the area. If he knew for sure that Fidser was in there, he could use his exploding orbs to create chaos while he took him down.

He slipped closer to two guards, careful to remain unseen. He needed to find a way to disrupt the red NPCs' operations, and break their hold on the village. As he crouched behind a large rock, he overheard a conversation between two red NPCs.

"Fidser says we need to increase the output," one of them grumbled. "The boss isn't happy with the current haul."

"Yeah, well, good luck getting these villagers to work any harder," the other replied. "They look ready to drop like flies."

Langa's mind raced. If Fidser was feeling the pressure, it meant Jandri was right, he was planning to desert the Accari Crows and flee.

He followed them at a safe distance until they reached a hidden entrance at the base of a hill, where a mine shaft descended into the earth. A group of goblinkin emerged from the shaft, their bodies covered in dirt and sweat, their faces exhausted. The red NPCs herded them back into the village, with harsh voices.

He did not have any time to waste, so he stealthily walked inside the forest, avoiding the path so he would not be spotted. He hurried until he was far ahead of them. This was a small group that he could take on while they were on the road between the mine and the village, where no one could see them. If the NPCs were on their way here, he needed to lie in wait for them.

The red NPCs were two hawkkin and a goblinkin, and they ranged from level 7 to 8. They were yelling at some goblinkin, kicking them about. It was a little strange that he had seen so many Accari Crows, but they weren’t voidents. He’d have to subdue them and call the Federation Police as soon as he captured the voident.

It was probably better for him to try his luck against these fools than to go straight for Grion Fidser with no idea of his strength. They would make a great first practice for him since it would be his first time fighting against other mortals.

He crept closer to the path from the bushes and watched as the three red NPCs barked orders at the five young goblinkin children as they hauled two heavy-looking bags. There was also an older goblinkin man walking with them, carrying one more bag. The goblinkin looked weary and fatigued, and, as they were walking ahead of the two red hawkkin and goblinkin, Langa decided to take a chance and activate the Exploding Ice Orb behind the red mortals. It was time for his first real battle against other mortals.

Calculating the distance and how accurately he could throw the exploding orb, Langa realised that no matter how good his aim was, there was no guarantee that only the red NPCs would be caught in the explosion. The impact could reach the captive goblinkin, but they would not be as hurt as their oppressors.

He removed the Exploding Ice Orb from his inventory and held it in his hand as he watched the little entourage make their way towards the village.

[The high-tier constellation: Koridius The Fish Who Sings To the Ocean, stifles a laugh.]

Langa paused at that message. He’d felt that he was being watched the whole time on his way here, but none of the deities had revealed themselves. Even during the fight between Di Etta’s team and the popobawa, there were plenty of eyes on them, especially after he used his attribute to save her. From what he’d read in the Relgtes last night, it cost karma for deities to send messages to players, and he was sure that they would rather not waste their precious karma at the moment. So, why did this constellation want him to know that he was stifling his laughter?

Well, he could not comprehend the mind of a deity, and if he waited any longer, the red NPCs would be too far away for him to reach. So he took the Exploding Ice Orb, and infused it with his mana. He felt almost 50 mana start to drain into the orb, and the water inside it swirled in a circle. It felt different from what he'd done with the lucent crystals on the carriage. Back then, the glyphs had sort of guided his mana, meaning that all he had to do was keep infusing it with mana to keep the air steady. This time, however, the glyphs on the orb did not light up; instead, a prompt appeared in front of him.

[Warning!! You have 100% lightning affinity, 0% water affinity and 0% water resistance! Lightning and water disciplines have an inverse relationship! More damage will be dealt on impact, however, infusing lightning discipline mana into a water discipline weapon will result in 100% backlash damage to you.

Continue: Y/N?]

[Disable affinity and resistance notifications: Y/N?]

Fucking hell.