“Jittol? That’s…”

‘The city other than the capital that had the honor of receiving The Hero’s visit.’

Ackster looked at the ruins and let his eyes sharpen their focus further. It was destroyed.

When The Hero visited Jittol, the city had been flourishing enough to make The Hero suspicious, so he conducted an investigation and concluded that it was just one of the rare exceptions to the trashiness of humans. Moreover, there hadn’t been a single mention of the city recently being razed to the ground.

Granted, The Hero’s stop at Jittol had come a couple of years down the line. But the degree of destruction currently plaguing the city was beyond what Ackster thought was restorable and forgettable within such a time frame.

“What happened?”

Wilma had been curious about what Ackster was about to say, and she had patiently waited for him to continue while he was deep in thought. So, she couldn’t help but feel it was a shame that he didn’t say what was on his mind. But it didn’t come as a surprise.

Ackster had never been talkative, and it had only gotten worse.

“It’s a long and short story.”

“...”

Ackster glanced at Wilma, wondering why she was beating around the bush.

“Well, it is pretty short, actually.”

“...”

Wilma chuckled out of embarrassment. She had intended to delay her answer like this. It had just happened as she gathered her thoughts. What a blunder for someone who is usually calm and composed.

“So, a couple of months ago…”

Wilma began with hesitation. She needed to give a timeline for Ackster to understand. But she remembered the last time she had mentioned the passing of time to Ackster. Fortunately, he didn’t seem bothered.

“...A group of people appeared and relentlessly started murdering and sacrificing everyone and everything they could get their hands on. They were too quick and brutally efficient, so when people finally noticed how serious things were, there wasn’t much ordinary people could do. Currently, there are four S-rank threat-level individuals at the helm, along with too many to count mindless slaves. You know that ant queen you defeated?”

“Mmm.”

“That one was technically S-rank in threat-level, but only because of the potential danger it posed. These four are like that since they each control a slew of slaves, ranging from ordinary humans to strong adventures in strength, in addition to their own S-rank strength.”

Ackster had gotten a bad feeling from the beginning of Wilma’s explanation, and it had only grown as she mentioned there were four of them. He didn’t even know where this uncanny feeling came from.

“You don’t happen to have any details?”

Ackster noticed how Wilma hadn’t said anything about what the group was called, their names, or their specific crimes.

Wilma nodded.

“The four call themselves Blood Moon Avatars or Avatars of the Blood Moon.”

‘Shit.’

Although it felt like it was half an eternity ago, those two words rang through Ackster’s mind like a church bell.

‘So this is my fault then?’

He looked out over the ruined landscape below the balloon with a grim face.

“We’ve managed to get their names as well. They are—”

“Hansel, Moira, Nash, and Limm.”

Wilma looked at Ackster, surprised.

“Y-yeah. How’d you know?”

“I’ve met them.”

Ackster’s gaze didn’t move from the ground as his face darkened even further while thinking about what could have happened for this to happen instead of the original story, where they hadn’t made an appearance, at least not one of this scale.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Since Ackster didn’t tell her anything, even after she gently tried to pry information out of him, Wilma could only stop asking and let Ackster brood in peace.

‘The turning point has to be Karandiel’s Fall.’

Ackster quickly identified at what point his actions had changed the timeline. The only opportunity that he could see was when he had fought with Hansel and the others over Karandiel.

Of course, it could be something like a butterfly effect from something else. But considering how deeply involved with the Crimson Edge he had gotten, and how he had most likely sowed quite a deep grudge back then, it had to be related to it.

However, was that enough to cause them to go on a rampage and decimate western Lill? Why hadn’t they done that in the original story?

‘Maybe they couldn’t.’

Ackster thought back to the scene around the golden barrier that had protected Karandiel as she fell to the mortal realm. Ackster hadn’t been the only one to fight against the Crimson Edge, even if he had spearheaded it. But he thought about what would have happened if he hadn’t been there.

The Crimson Edge would have wanted to monopolize whatever was inside the golden dome. Naturally, they weren’t the only ones. It was just that the other adventurers in the area weren’t powerful enough to oppose them.

But if there was someone powerful enough to do just that, and who would be very keen on getting their hands on a potential divine treasure?

‘Willow.’

Willow hadn’t revealed much of her strength during the actual fighting, possibly because she wanted to know what Ackster was capable of. But afterward, she had revealed quite a bit of what she could do. Ackster also discovered that she was an elf fighting to become the spokesperson of the Forest of Eternity.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

She both wanted whatever was inside the golden dome and had the power to take it. Willow also had the Friends of the Forest skill, which would help her determine Hansel’s and the others’ true nature to some degree. She would be able to tell that they were rotten eggs.

When he thought back to it, Willow definitely seemed sharp enough to know to kill enemies. She was probably also more experienced than Ackster.

Without Ackster’s involvement, Willow would have fought and killed the Crimson Edge adventurer group, forever removing the threat of the Blood Moon. Then, she would have picked up Karandiel, realized she was a fallen angel without power, and probably been disappointed. Even if Karandiel could regain her powers, it would be too slow for it to make an impact. Beings from the divine realm were also a grey area in terms of whether they could help in the spokesperson selection.

‘In short, it’s my fault.’

Ackster was pretty sure he managed to get a somewhat accurate picture of what would have happened if he hadn’t gotten involved.

‘If I had just…’

If Ackster had just taken the opportunity to end Hansel then and there, western Lill wouldn’t have gone under. His decision to spare one life had cost thousands, tens of thousands, lives, if not more.

It weighed on his heart like an anchor.

Wilma could tell that Ackster was just brooding over the bloody disaster that had struck Lill, even if he had gone alarmingly quiet. But she couldn’t help but worry, considering what had happened the last time he fell silent at a piece of shocking news.

For Wilma, that hadn’t been long, but she had noticed how changed Ackster was. While he had grown and seemingly matured, there was no guarantee he was stable yet. It would be bad if he relapsed or something similar happened again.

“So, I managed to force a direction out of you before…”

“Yeah?”

Ackster was surprised. He knew best exactly what kind of state he had been in when he was trapped inside the grey, muddy, dull world. That Wilma got an answer out of him was pretty impressive.

‘Maybe that was the familiar scent?’

“Yeah. South. Anything specific, or do you just want to sightsee?”

Wilma knew Ackster was headed south for something specific. He craved it enough that his body answered for him while he was losing his consciousness. But it didn’t hurt to give him a way out.

“Something specific.”

Ackster didn’t take the way out, but he also didn’t give a clear answer.

“Got it. By the way, since we’re already headed south, have you had time to get an inventory for your Nomi?”

Ackster raised an eyebrow and looked at Wilma. When was he supposed to have the time for that? He shook his head.

“Right, you weren’t A-rank before… that happened. But you are now, right? There’s a habitat on the way if you want to get your inventory before you deal with your business down south.”

‘That reminds me…’

Ackster hadn’t checked or had time to check his Nominus card in quite a while.

“Wait a sec.”

Ackster fished around inside his clothes until he eventually found his card. With a mix of emotions swirling in the depths of his eye, he read its contents.

[Name: –]

[Profession: (Adventurer)]

[Stats:

[Strength: B(A)]

[Agility: B(A)]

[Fortitude: B(A)]

[Mana: –]

[Spirit: A]

[Stamina: A]

[Skills:

[Strong Body]

[Pain Tolerance: A]

[Poison Resistance: E]

[Keen Senses: B]

[Iron Stomach: C]]

[Strike: A]

[Iron Skin: C]

[Survivalist: E]

[Iron Fists: C]

[Iron Will: A]

[Clear Mind: B]

[Battlesight: B]

[Limit Breaker: E]

[Resilience: C]

[Monster Muncher: E]

[Iron Wall: D]

[Guardian: C]

[Block: D]

[Steel-Boned: E]

[Stubborn Well-Being: F]

[Superficial Martial Arts: E]

[Curse Resistance: G]

[Feather-footed: C]

[Darksight: G]

“Ah.”

There were a lot of changes, even if there weren’t a lot of new skills. But the thing that stood out the most to Ackster was Curse Resistance.

‘Of fucking course.’

The dull, grey world of endless mud and torment of boringness wasn’t solely due to his mind collapsing from the shock of what had happened to him. However, the growth in Iron Will and Clear Mind were clear indicators that his mind had been working hard and had reaped the benefits when he got his mind back.

But it was a curse that had really put him on the spot.

‘I’m such a fucking idiot.’

Ackster couldn’t help but blame himself. He knew full well how, where, and when he had gotten the curse.

The Alchemist was infamous for boobytrapping their Alchemaze. It wasn’t just mechanical traps like tripwires, push tiles, or whatever. There were also more nefarious ones, like curses attached to handles and other traps. So, when an intruder grabbed the handle or activated a trap, they would also be beset by a curse.

Like the greedy and careless fool he was, Ackster had happily yanked the torch holder in an attempt to open the Alchemaze. But instead of entering the Alchemaze, a curse entered him and lay dormant until an opportunity came by. That moment came almost instantly, and the curse didn’t hesitate to take Ackster down.

Ackster willingly threw himself through ridiculous trials of pain and consumed poison like it was nectar just to get even slightly stronger. There was no way a single piece of information could render him catatonic and cripple his mind, even if he was carrying boatloads of stress due to the aforementioned measures he took to prevent his inevitable death in less than ten years.

Two months was a long time, especially when he could have spent time trying to save his life instead of wandering about in complete darkness. But compared to ten years, two months was only a fraction of the time. It was a loss that stung, but not to the point of making Ackster feel so useless he would rather give up.

That, he would never do.

“I should be A-rank.”

Ackster waved his stump around.

“This is just putting down my stats a little.”

Wilma just smiled and dispelled Ackster’s worry.

“That doesn’t matter. As long you have the stats, even if they’re temporarily hindered, it’s more than fine.”

Wilma hesitated.

“I was going to say that your profession also being A-rank would work, but it won’t, will it?”

Ackster slowly shook his head.

“No. I still don’t have a proper profession.”

“Well, that’s fine. As long as a majority of your stats are A-rank, you won’t be rejected.”

“Good. Let’s go to that habitat then.”

“I just realized but information about inventories and habitats is usually restricted. Of course, a lot of non-A-ranks know about it. I was just curious. Don’t mind me. Just rambling by now.”

Wilma cleared her throat awkwardly under Ackster’s surprisingly heavy gaze. She had completely ruined the mysterious, dependable but not trustworthy, and powerful vibes that she had displayed toward Ackster so far.

“Can you please forget that?”

“Sure.”

Ackster stopped looking at Wilma and turned to look at the view again, sinking into his thoughts and wondering about the recorded information on his Nomi.

Curse Resistance wasn’t the only thing he had gotten. He had also gotten Darksight, which Ackster thought was a little more mysterious than it first seemed. Feather-Footed had taken Soft Footsteps’ and Sprints’ places.

All in all, it wasn’t a complete waste of two months, especially since a lot of his skills had ranked up, even if the total number of skills hadn’t increased that much. But Ackster would have preferred if he hadn’t been stuck underground for so long.

As he thought about it, he realized he had really been quite foolish. Mauve the curse was a good thing.

He massaged his temple.

As he massaged his left temple with his left hand, something else massaged his right temple with soft, mushy tentacles.

‘Ah. That’s the familiar scent.’