"So, how have you been, Master?" I turned to my side, finding Elora walking up to me.

With her white hair and red eyes, she carried an eerie appearance that caught my Soattention.

I sighed, "I've been-" but before I could finish my sentence, she abruptly placed her lips onto mine. I felt her tongue intrude into my mouth, which repulsed me.

I lightly pushed her away, spitting and wiping my mouth with my sleeve. Meanwhile, she laid two fingers on her lips, savoring the kiss.

"Aww, can't I just have one, Master?" She asked, getting close with a smirk on her face.

"Not a chance, Eva," I replied, making my stance clear. Her smirk disappeared, and she crossed her arms.

Then, she slightly pushed up her chest. "Master, you're quite rude. It's hurting my feelings," she said, attempting a fake pout.

Seemingly attempting to seduce me, I considered that it might have worked if I didn't know she was a twisted person.

Reflecting on the situation, I remembered that she started this peculiar kiss greeting when I was just 8 years old.

She then sat next to me. "So, what do you want, Elora? I'm meeting people," I remarked.

She looked away, pouting. "It's just the two of us, you can just use Eva," she suggested.

"Okay, Eva, what do you want?" I inquired.

"I found some interesting people. They were after me. Did you know anything about that?" she said, now looking at me.

"I did. I didn't see a reason to tell you since I knew you could handle it," I replied, maintaining eye contact.

She leaned in, her hand moving to my thigh, slowly reaching for something of mine. "Can we?" she suggested.

I stopped her, grabbing her hand. "Just stop, Eva," I said, annoyed.

"Your so mean," she pouted, expressing a hint of displeasure at my refusal.

"..."

"Why act so disgusted in me?"

I looked away without saying anything.

"Again with the cold shoulder? Why act so disgusted. You and I know there's barely anything different between me and you, because you and I are the same," she leaned back, retracting her hand.

She looked at the snow on the ground. "Well, it doesn't matter. I took care of them." I knew she was more than capable of handling such situations, which is why I refrained from interfering.

"So, what did you do to them?" I asked.

"Sold them to slavery," she said nonchalantly. Right, I momentarily forgot she had a ruthless and malevolent side.

"..."

"Made sure they were sold off as sex slaves. I think one got bought by some hideous noble kid," she grinned. She was practically bragging about it, and though it felt disgusting to hear, I kept a calm expression.

"I did keep one just in case I got hungry," she said, sounding almost like a child bragging about a twisted accomplishment. The disturbing nonchalance in her tone left me unsettled.

She got up, turned her head to look at me, and said, "Well, I'll be going now." She walked off, leaving only silence in her wake. The encounter with Elora, or rather, Eva, had left a lingering unease in the air.

She is such a twisted bitch.

***

Rosalind

I and Liz walked to meet up with Art. "It's so cold," Liz said, shivering. As we walked, I had my hand out, creating something with my divine blessing - a power I hadn't given a specific name.

Let me think... how about I call it Alloy? Yeah, that'll be the name for my divine blessing.

I figured out I can program it to do things. I was able to create "Identify," so I can check the stats like adventure rank, gender, age, race, and elemental style.

But that's all I could figure out, so I mainly just create armor and a weapon for myself.

I wish I was some overpower main character.

Stolen novel; please report.

I retracted my Alloy back to my spine. As we walked, we finally found Art; he was sitting, seemingly waiting for us.

I saw he was with someone - it was Aria, someone we all knew. They were talking about something and laughing. I looked at Liz, who was pouting.

Someone's jealous haha.

Aria had ash hair and silver eyes. She sat elegantly next to Art. I guessed they were catching up, but then I noticed something odd - why was Art's hair different?

We walked up to them, Aria looked at me and got up and gave me a smile "it's been a while Rose".

"It has been Aria" after I said that she looked at Liz.

We walked up to them. Aria looked at me, got up, and gave me a smile. "It's been a while, Rose."

"It has been, Aria." After I said that, she looked at Liz.

"Elizabeth, it's great to see you," she used Elizabeth instead of Liz, claiming it was more beautiful, just to stay as Elizabeth.

I looked at Art. "Your hair's different," I said curiously.

"Yeah, I know. Apparently, it has something to do with my father," he replied.

"Anything else?" I asked.

"No. I asked Lilith, but she said my father never told her anything."

We talked for a bit, and then Aria bowed and left. "Art, we have a quest," I said while I smacked him on the head lightly with the quest sheet. He stood up. "What did you pick?"

I had a smug look and said proudly, "A goblin slaying quest."

"Oh yeah, another adventurer will be joining us," I said. "Who?" Art asked. "Some knight. She's very skilled with her nose." He just gave me a puzzled look.

Both Liz and I sat next to Art, waiting for the knight. As we waited, I looked at the snow and noticed three sets of footprints. One was Art's, the other was Aria's, but the third one was a mystery to me.

***

The knight arrived, walking up to us. "So these are the people you talked about, Rose?"

"Yes," I nodded in confirmation.

I introduced her to Art and Liz. "I'm Elizabeth, and and im a mage," Liz said.

"I'm Artorian, and I'm a swordsman," Art added. They both gave a bow.

***

Artorian

The knight looked at me as if she knew me. I wondered if I had seen her before. She then removed her helmet. "I'm Aurora, a swordswoman." It struck me that she was the wolf beast-folk I had encountered a month ago. She had black hair and red eyes, just like before. Her ears were fluffy, distinctive features of her beast-men heritage.

I glanced over to see Rose looking nervous as soon as Aurora lifted her helmet off. She stared at her ears. No one else seemed to notice, but I could see Rose breathing heavily, clearly feeling scared. Did she not know her race, and why is she scared?

We started heading to where the quest was located, planning to meet someone who could provide us with more information about the quest.

I glanced back at Rose again to see that she had calmed down. "Boy," I looked at Aurora, who was calling for me. I started walking at her pace.

"That girl."

"What girl?" I asked.

"Don't play dumb with me. You know I'm who im talking about, the wolf."

"you mean Luna?" She nodded. Even if they aren't direct offspring, wolf beast-folk can be protective over of children in their own species. So that's my guess on why she is asking.

"She's alright."

"What about the hemovorian?"

"She's also alright."

She then asked one final question, "Do they know about the hemovorian?" She glanced at Liz and Rose, I shook my head. "They don't."

We stopped at a small house, smoke coming from the chimney. Outside the yerd, there was a demon waiting for us. He had one horn in the middle, green skin, and the signature black sclera with red pupils.

I looked closer and noticed a goblin picking weeds on the ground. I examined both the demon's and the goblin's hands and saw rings. The goblin was his wife.

"Why would he ask for someone to exterminate goblins, knowing his wife is a goblin?" Rose leaned in to ask me.

"The goblins are most likely ferrell goblins," Aurora said. Rose then took out her journal and started writing.

The demon walked up to us. "Thank you for coming," he said kindly.

He then gave us more information about the goblins. Now we found out they were in the final stage of being cursed, which meant they were most likely deformed goblins. He wanted them gone so his wife would be safe.

He gave us a location on where the goblins would be, and I led the way to a cave. "Boy, have you heard?"

"Heard about what?" I asked.

"Other worlders have been coming in with mana, which means they'll be now viewed as more than bunnies," Aurora said.

"Good for—" Before I could finish my sentence, we heard a loud screech. I peeked from the bushes to see one of the goblins. Their arms dragged on the ground, their head upside down, the skin decaying, and they had no jaw—blood kept dripping. I heard Liz gulped nervous. "Well have to wait later when the sun begins to shine" Aurora said, we all nodded our heads.

As we waited for the sun to rise, Rose started a conversation with Aurora. "Ma'am, do you happen to know anything about curses?"

"Curses? Why do you ask?"

"I just wanna know how they work," Rose said.

"They are given by the God of Chaos—"

"No, I know about that, but how do they work?" Aurora sighed before saying, "It's impossible to know if a person has one until it's too late. They can't be cured, only rejected." Rose tilted her head before asking, "Rejected?"

She nodded, "Yes, you can either reject or embrace the curse."

"What happens if you embrace the curse?"

"You'll lose your mind. It may give you more power, but it comes at a cost. If you reject the curse, there's not really a difference. You can still lose your mind, but only when you use its power."

"And if you do neither?" Rose asked. Aurora peeked over the bushes to see the goblins.

"You become like them."

"Monsters and animals can't know they are cursed, so they neither accept nor reject, and they become disfigured," as Aurora kept talking, Rose continued to write.

About twenty minutes later, Elizabeth started asking Aurora, "Ma'am, how do you know if a boy likes you?" Aurora kept quiet. Did she not know?

"Do you not have any experience with men?" I asked. "I do," she kept her voice quiet but a bit loud. "Really?"

"Yes, really. I had many lovers."

"You say that but couldn't answer Elizabeth's question?" "Shut up."

Her face was close to mine, she smelled nice, and the more I looked at her, the more I could see she was cute.

Her face got red from embarrassment, she looked away gritting her teeth. She backed up and stayed quiet, sitting on the grass like before. "So you don't?" Elizabeth ask, she shook her head.

***

The sun rose up, our formation was me and Aurora in the front, while Rose and Elizabeth were at range. Elizabeth would switch between being a ranged attacker and a healer.

There were two deformed Goblins, roughly the same size as me, in front of us. They screeched, running towards us, each step staining the snow with blood. I took out one while Aurora dealt with the other. The remaining goblin swung at Aurora but was hit in the head by a stone ball from Elizabeth.

Rose shot an arrow at the goblin's head. As we entered the cave, she transformed her bow into a short sword, and we switched positions. I drew my short sword while Elizabeth and Aurora maintained their roles.

We heard cries, Rose went to check it out, and we followed her. As we approached, we found a group of children huddled together, scared and in tears.

Rose's eyes widened in shock as she observed Aurora. "What- what are they doing here?" she stammered.

Aurora calmly explained, "Isn't it obvious? They've kidnapped these children for their seeds, intending to use them for reproduction." Rose's face twisted in disgust, her features betraying a mixture of horror and nausea.

Aurora calmly stated, "Any female species can't reproduce with a goblin, but a male can. Lucky for us, they can't feel pleasure."

Concern etched on her face, Rose inquired, "What if they do kidnap a female?" She shuddered as Aurora responded, "They'll be used for their next meal." Rose quickly covered her mouth, holding back the urge to vomit at the gruesome revelation.

As the children were safely escorted out of the cave by Aurora, Rose, and Elizabeth, I remained behind, vigilant and watchful within the shadows of the cavern.

Amidst the escort, I remained behind, engaged in a relentless battle against the remaining goblins. An hour later, my body was drenched in the dark crimson of my hard-fought victories.

Breathing heavily, I pressed on, blade clenched tightly, searching for any lingering threats within the shadows of the aftermath.

Wiping the blood from my eye, I surveyed the aftermath, surrounded by the lifeless bodies of the defeated goblins.

I glanced at a wooden plank on the wall and swiftly moved it aside, revealing what lay behind. Behind the wooden plank, my eyes met a trove of scrolls, potions, and a sprawling magic circle. A curious book rested on the nearby table, beckoning me to explore its secrets.

Flipping through the pages, I discovered a grim revelation. The book detailed the art of cursing and commanding, revealing that the vile perpetrator had been exploiting goblins, cursing them to carry out heinous acts like kidnapping children. The twisted secrets within the pages unraveled the darkness of their malevolent schemes. This sick fuck was using goblins to kidnap children.

"They follow the Chaos God," I muttered to myself, a solemn realization. Pulling out my lighter, I set the cursed book ablaze, watching as the flames consumed its malevolent contents. With a determined stride, I left the cave behind, leaving the shadows of that dark magic smoldering in my wake.

I felt a presence watching me, I knew who it was. "Eva, come out now!'" After my call, Eva emerged from the shadows. "Was I too obvious, Master?" she inquired, leaning in for a kiss. However, I grabbed her collar, firm in purpose. "I don't have time; I have a task for you."

"What may I be of service to you?" she asked, tilting her head. "I need some people taken care of; use the goblins to find clues," I instructed, releasing her before walking away.

Pausing, I added, "And bring Malachi." Eva smirked, "My, my, do you want them to suffer? I wonder what they did to upset you."