Liam clenched his fists as he stared at the person in front of him. The cloaked Demon-kin looked to be staring at Liam with confusion as well. As they both stared at each other Liam took in more of the Demon-kin’s features. This person stood slightly taller than Liam and seemed to have a slender physique. They had emerald irises in their eyes and short raven black hair that barely showed from under the cloak. The person’s lips were thin, but also a bit feminine at the same time.

The skin of their face was a solid purple. The way the pointy ends of the horns barely poked out from the sides of their heads made Liam look at their forehead. Sure enough there were signs of the base of the horns right there. However, when he looked back at the horns he noticed something different. This person’s ears were shaped like a Demon-kins at all. He focused hard to see better inside the cloak and noticed they were shaped more like an elf’s ears.

That’s strange. Liam thought as he looked perplexed. He then stole a glance at the Demon-kin’s companions.

One was tall and bulky, about as tall as Artem, but shorter than Uncle Naro. The cloak barely covered their entire body. From what Liam was able to see from their hands, they had scales covering their skin. Another stood slightly shorter than Roman. Around the area where their ears would be, he was able to see slight protrusions. The last two members of the group were close to Liam’s height. The one that was slightly taller had a sword handle slightly sticking out of the cloak and looked like the cloak was slightly tight around the arms. The last member of this person’s group looked like their cloak was too loose. He wasn’t sure if it was because their physique was slim, or the cloak was just too big for them, but unlike how the others had their arms crossed or close to a weapon. This one just had their arms dangle by their side.

“Why do I sense something familiar on you?” the Demon-kin questioned. The Demon-kin’s voice sounded feminine, but also had a husky feel to it.

Liam’s eyes narrowed as he heard the question. If she’s really a demon-kin and is asking why she senses something familiar on me that could only mean one thing…She’s a follower of the Seven Immoral Vices. Liam glanced around to see how many people were around them. The group that this woman was with had stopped and were now standing behind her. They had curious expressions on their faces while the group Liam was with were standing behind him as well. There were other people walking around, going in and out of the building as well as the dungeons.

Liam didn’t want to cause a scene that could potentially get people harmed, but at the same time he didn’t want these people to escape and do something that would eventually cause harm. Not entirely sure what to do, Liam decided to take a gamble and ask as quietly as he could, “Which do you follow?”

The female Demon-kin’s eyes narrowed as she replied, “What did you just ask?”

Liam stared at her, not changing his demeanor at all as he repeated, “You heard me. Which do you follow?”

“I am not sure what you are asking, but I can feel it is laced with hostility. Tell me…why is that?” the woman asked as continued to stare down Liam. Liam was about to answer, but was stopped as the woman added, “Just know this. If you are one of those Vice Follower cunts then I will kill you where you stand.”

Liam saw the Demon-kin’s companions suddenly tense, looking like they were ready for a fight. Judging from the way the female’s eyes shifted, his companions probably did the same thing.

Liam felt his slowly churning anger suddenly disappear as confusion replaced it. The female Demon-kin noticed it as was filled with the same amount of confusion. Finally after a few seconds of silence Liam said, “Wait…aren’t you a follower of the Seven Immoral Vices?”

“No,” the female Demon-kin glowered. “I kill any of those fuckers whenever I come across them.” Her eyes suddenly narrowed as she stared at Liam and questioned, “Are you one of them.”

Liam let out a loud high pitch laugh. His laughter took everyone aback making not only the Demon-kin female both irritated and confused, but those around them confused as well. “Fuck no I’m not,” Liam finally said after calming his laughter down. “I am sorry. With what you said and seeing that you are a Demon-kin, I just thought that you were one of them.”

The Demon-kin woman frowned at what she had just heard as she stared at Liam. She looked annoyed as her mouth formed a half scowl showing a few sharp teeth hidden within. “How do you know that I am a Demon-kin?”

Liam pointed to the side of his head as he responded, “The horns.”

The woman placed a hand up to one of her horns and felt them. She then said with an annoyed tone, “God damn it. It slipped again.”

Liam raised a brow as he stared at her.

“It’s part of one of my racial benefits,” the woman explained. “I’m half Tiefling. I’m not used to the ability to hide it. the ability slips whenever I’m not focused on it, which is why I wear a hood. You’d be surprised how many people automatically assume you’re an Immoral Vice follower and try to attack you on sight.”

Liam winced at that comment. “Yeah. My bad on that. I guess you can say that my last few run ins with those guys have left a bad taste.”

The woman shook her head as she stated, “You know your own response made me believe you were one of them. What made you ask the question if you’re not one yourself?”

Liam looked around before lowering her voice and replied, “It’s just that I’ve had some followers try to attack me on sight.”

“Why would they attack you on sight?” the demon-kin woman questioned looking a bit suspicious.

“It might be due to something I have done to a few of their followers,” Liam said vaguely.

The Demon-kin woman raised a brow, still suspicious of him. “I feel like you’re not going to elaborate on that, are you?”

“Nope,” Liam smiled. “Anyways to answer your first question, I am not sure why you sense something on me.” His smile then vanished as a serious look replaced it. “But I can say I feel the same.”

“Hm…,” the woman responded as she stared at Liam for a while. “I find that strange, but if you aren’t a part of that Vice follower bullshit then I guess it doesn’t matter. Judging from your words I can assume you fight them too?”

Liam nodded. “You can say that.”

The woman shrugged as she said, “Good enough for me. I’m taking my leave now. I’ve got shit to do.”

The half Tiefling woman then turned around and started walking away with her group without a second thought. Liam watched as they headed for the Free Roam dungeon and disappeared. Not a second after that Uncle Naro appeared by Liam’s side and asked, “Someone you know?”

Liam turned his head to look at him and responded, “Nope. Never met them in my life.” He then saw a strange look on Uncle Naro’s face that he couldn’t comprehend. After a few seconds Uncle Naro finally said, “Might be for the best. You should stay away from them in the future as well.”

Slightly taken aback by his words, Liam asked, “Why is that?”

“Although it was faint, I could feel a nasty power off of them,” Uncle Naro stated. “I can’t be entirely sure what it is, but I feel like something very powerful is helping in hiding what that power is and if something powerful is going to such lengths to do that, then it could only spell trouble for those who try and get close.”

Liam stared at the man for a long moment before he finally turned and started walking away. “Come on, let’s go.”

Liam took one last at the dungeon portal before turning around and following the others.

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“Interesting, “ Eris muttered as she stared into the pool of liquid. Her stare wasn’t on her Champion, but rather on the half Tiefling girl that had walked over to the dungeon portal. “I didn’t expect you to run into one of them so soon.”

She shifted her attention back onto her champion and slightly chuckled. I don’t blame you for assuming this little girl was an Immoral Vice follower, Liam. However, you mustn’t think every Demon-kin is one of those cultists. Especially when it comes to half breed Demon-kins. That cult doesn’t allowed half breeds of any type into their ranks. Even if the followers of Lust mate with anything and everything they fancy.

Eris made a look of disgust at the thought. She tried hard not to gag as she shook her head and continued thinking, However, you should know exactly what she is. Eris realized something as she thought that. Or maybe you wouldn’t. I guess I never did tell you how to tell. She shrugged. Oh well. You’ll figure it out sooner or later. It’s not like she’s completely subtle with her power leaking out like that. Even that Bear-folk felt something off with her.

Eris brought a hand to her chin as she started thinking about something. She had remembered something the Bear-folk had said earlier that day. A smile slowly spread across her face as thoughts started running through her head. “Hm…I see. That could be the cause for those mysterious incidents going on. It certainly does fit one of the issues that has arisen. And if the cause of that is because of that one’s magic then the cause of the other will be due to their opposite’s magic which means…the other might appear soon as well since opposites attract.”

Eris’ smile turned into a playful one as other more fun thoughts filled her mind. She looked back at the liquid and watched her champion talking to an Adventurer’s Association member. “You truly are a magnet for trouble, aren’t you Liam? It looks like more fun will be heading your way my adorable little champion. I can’t wait to see what kind of chaos you can bring those two.”

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Liam and the others walked out from the Adventurer’s Association building, pockets slightly bigger, not by much, due to the rewards they received and the loot they decided not to keep. While upgrading their current equipment with loot they found in the dungeon was a good idea, Uncle Naro lectured them it was not a good idea to upgrade with just any item.

The current items the members had recently decided to keep like the boots Roman received and the necklace Artem kept from the Stoney Crab Beach was a good idea. The items they got from the other two dungeons weren’t that good at all. Instead Uncle Naro suggested that they waited till they reached a town with a better market or one that had a Crafter’s Association with better crafters there.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

After they were done with the Adventurer’s Association they made their way to a restaurant to grab some dinner. At first, Liam and the others thought Uncle Naro was going to make them dinner outside of the town like he had in the previous town they were at. Instead, he told them it was good to try local cuisines every now and then. Especially those who were interested in pursuing the higher levels in the Chef Craft.

His reasoning was it helped the chef get inspired when it came to recipes as well as it helped understand different spices and flavors that one never thought about before. While his advice to Artem sounded great, Liam believed the bear of a man wanted to eat others cooking and not wanted to cook himself. He was a food connoisseur after all.

They had spent some time eating and talking about what the plans for the next day were going to be. Uncle Naro stated they were going to get up early and try to get through the portal before a crowd formed to use the facility. He wanted them to get to the next island so they could get some more dungeon diving experience in as well as some practice he wanted them to do.

While they were tired from the day’s events, they each were slightly excited. After seeing Roman’s opportunity to gain a class evolution and Liam’s Battle Zen and discovery of using multiple Hand Type Spells, they were curious to see what they could experience or gain through their own efforts and fights. They wanted to evolve their classes and grow as well.

After some time enjoying the food and drinks, Uncle Naro told them all to go to bed. Like he had explained he wanted everyone to get as much rest as they could so they could get up early and not be exhausted when they arrived at the next island.

After arriving to the inn they were all staying at, Liam didn’t enter the building. Instead, he found a bench and decided to sit there and stare up at the stars. He did feel a bit tired and was wanting to lay down, but before that he wanted to get some thoughts in order. The thoughts he wanted to think about pertained to that cloaked group they had ran into when leaving the Dungeon Tower.

Before he could properly get them in order and think about them, he felt two presences sit down next to him on the bench. He let out a sigh before turning his gaze from the stars and onto the two people. It was Blair and Mercer.

“Everything alright?” Mercer asked, curious to know what was on his mind.

“Yes…no…maybe?” Liam responded. He really wasn’t sure.

“Does it have to do with that group?” Blair questioned.

“Yeah,” Liam replied as he looked down at the ground.

“What about them has your attention?” Mercer inquired. “Did that woman say something that’s bugging you?”

Liam nodded. “Yeah, but it also has something to do with what Uncle Naro had said as well.”

“I won’t lie. I was curious what she had said to you that had made you so tense at the beginning. For a moment I thought you were going to try and kill her,” Blair commented.

“What did she and Naro say? I wasn’t able to hear anything when you all talked so low,” Mercer asked.

“I thought she was a follower of the Seven Immoral Vices when I saw she was a Demon-kin,” Liam said as he looked at Blair. He turned to look at Mercer and added, “I didn’t really think that there was a possibility that just because she was a Demon-kin she wasn’t a follower. What had my hackles raised even more though was what she first said.”

“Which was?” Mercer asked as he stared at Liam.

“Why do I sense something familiar on you?” Liam responded.

Both Blair and Mercer were confused by this. Liam could understand why they were confused. He hadn’t really told them everything yet that pertained to his encounter with the Demon-kins that were followers of the Seven Immoral Vices. He guessed it was time he told them that.

“There is a reason as to why I had automatically assumed she was a follower of that damn cult,” Liam started. “It pertains to why those damn Demon-kins were so adamant on killing me whenever I came close to them.”

Blair glanced at Mercer who had glanced at her. Before Liam could continue they both looked around the area to make sure they were alone. When they couldn’t hear or see anyone close by, they nodded for Liam to continue.

“It has to do with what happened right before my class evolution came about. During our fight with the Lich on the sixth floor of the Black Tutorial Dungeon,” Liam said, pausing for a moment. He could feel their stares on him. “I don’t know when or where it had happened, but my Devour ability had been used and was devouring something majority of my time in the Tutorial Area. Right before my class evolution happened, I had received a notification that told me I received an ability called Hubris Aura.”

Mercer’s and Blair’s faces scrunched. They didn’t say anything, but instead waited for Liam to give more context. When he noticed they weren’t going to say anything, Liam continued, “It was later after we had left the Tutorial Area when I learned more about it. Hubris Aura belongs to a Focus Point called Pride from the Field of Sins.”

Blair’s and Mercer’s face showed even more confusion as they looked at each other and then back at Liam. They tried to process what he had just said but weren’t able to fully understand what he was getting at.

Liam let out a sigh before explaining, “The Field of Sins is what the followers and even the Seven Immoral Vices use. It’s a field only they can use, and they don’t like anyone that’s outside of their little cult having it.”

Mercer’s and Blair’s eyes slowly widened as they understood what he meant. However that was quickly replaced with even more confusion.

“Wait, how did you get it and how did they know you had it?” Mercer asked.

“I’ll answer the second question first,” Liam started back up. “When I received the ability I didn’t have the Field or the Focus Point, only the ability. And since I didn’t have the Field of Sins as well as the Focus Point Pride, they were able to sense the ability in me…on me…I’m not one hundred percent sure how it worked, but they just knew I had it and they went completely nuts. To the point they would lose all reasoning and wanted to kill me on sight.”

“Are you serious?” Mercer inquired as he stared at Liam.

“Are you saying any member of that cult can sense it on you and they try and kill you if they do?” Blair asked.

“I don’t think that’s the case anymore,” Liam started to say, but stopped as he felt a bit uncomfortable with this next part.

“Why do you say that?” Blair asked, suspicion laced in her words.

“When I received my Level two Gifts of Chaos, one of the things I received was the Field of Sins. And when I received the field it detected the Hubris Aura ability and automatically rooted the Focus Point Pride.”

“Are you serious?” Mercer asked. “You seriously have the Field of Sins unlocked and rooted in your Mystical Landscape?”

“Yeah,” Liam said as he stared at the ground. “And to make matters…worse…or interesting, depending on who you ask, it is connected to my Seed of Discord instead of my Seed of the Arcana.”

Blair let out a sigh before saying, “Why am I not surprised.”

Mercer and Liam looked at her, both confused as to what she meant. She caught this and explained, “Really? You both don’t see how it makes sense? I mean sure it doesn’t make sense that you have an ability, Field, and Focus Point only a cult like that would have, but for you to gain it and it connected to your Seed of Discord, it makes sense. Our Matron is the goddess of what again?”

“The Goddess of Cha…,” Liam started to say until it clicked. “Are you saying I received the Field and focus point because having it would be a form of creating…”

Blair nodded before Liam could finish his sentence. “Not only that, but she did mention that what you receive as a gift is random didn’t she? You don’t know what you’ll get until you get it. it fits her theme so well.”

Liam let out an annoyed sigh as he threw his head back and faced the stars. “Of course it would be her fault.”

“Can you really blame her though?” Mercer asked with slight amusement. “I mean, she is staying true to her nature.”

Liam shook his head at Mercer’s words.

“So you think they can’t tell anymore since you received the field and the Focus Point, but you haven’t said how you got it,” Mercer rounded back.

Liam was hesitant to answer this one. While it was one thing to talk about the Sins Ability, it was another on how he got it. After a few seconds had passed, Liam straightened his posture before looking at them and saying, “You both saw my Devour ability the other day right?”

Mercer and Blair nodded.

“Well, my Devour ability has a chance of…acquiring abilities, Fields of Study, Focus Points, and other things after its finished devouring Soul Orbs. I don’t know when I had used the ability in the Tutorial Area, but I had Devoured a creature called a Spirit of the Prideful Wraith. After my ability had finished processing it, that was when I received the ability.”

“Are you serious?” Mercer asked as he stared wide eyed at Liam. Even Blair looked to be shocked at what she had heard. Liam didn’t say anything. He only opted to nod as he waited for them to fully process what he had just explained.

After a few seconds had passed, Mercer broke the silence by asking, “Have you experimented with the ability? Wait, knowing you, you probably already have. How often have you successfully received something from devouring Spirit Orbs? Do you receive more abilities, fields, focus points or what? How many new abilities and Focus Points have you received through this cheat like ability?”

Liam was slightly taken aback by Mercer’s shotgun round of questioning. Blair let out a sigh before motioning Mercer to stop. Mercer noticed her hand moving and realized what he was doing.

With an embarrassed grin, Mercer apologized to Liam. “Sorry, my curiosity got the better of me there.”

Liam looked at both Mercer and Blair with slight confusion. He wasn’t sure what to think. He had thought they would look at him with horror, but instead they just looked at him like normal. “Huh. To be honest I thought you’d both have a different reaction to it.”

Blair shrugged before replying, “Maybe if I hadn’t seen you use the ability to swallow a Soul Orb so close to my face then maybe you would have…” She narrowed her eyes for a brief moment making Liam swiftly apologize for that. She gave him a slight smile at that, but then turned serious as she said, “How many people know about that ability and what its capable of?”

“What its capable of? You two and Eri,” Liam replied. “The others only know that it can help replenish my…resource.”

Blair and Mercer nodded at that. “Might be for the best. You can tell the others if you want, but you should probably keep all of its capabilities a secret for now. I assume you have told Naro?”

“You assume right,” Liam nodded. As much as he was growing fond of the man and trust was starting to form, he still couldn’t fully trust him. Not fully yet at least. Maybe one day he would, but for now that day wasn’t today.

“Okay so going back to the main issue at hand,” Mercer started back up. “After hearing all of this. I can assume the reason why you were so on guard and ready to kill at a moment’s notice is because of your experience with Demon-kin that follow that cult. Since she said that she felt something familiar on you, you thought she was talking about the Field of Sins ability right?”

“Yeah,” Liam replied.

“However, after talking with her though for that brief moment and finding out she hates anyone from that cult, it was revealed that that wasn’t what she was talking about right?” Mercer questioned.

“Yup,” Liam said.

“Then what was she talking about?” Mercer asked, just as confused as Liam had been after they left the Dungeon Tower.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Liam replied as he stared at him. “I have no idea what the hell she could mean by that. However, it gets even more confusing adding in Uncle Naro’s words.”

“What did he say?” Mercer asked.

“Wasn’t it something about feeling a nasty power off of that girl and how he thought something powerful was helping hide it? Also something about trouble for those who try and get close with someone who has someone powerful enough to try and hide it?” Blair asked, trying to repeat what the man had said.

Liam chuckled a bit. “Almost entirely word for word.”

“I swear I wish I had the type of hearing you both have. It would help with collecting information from random people so much better,” Mercer commented as he looked at them with slight envy.

“Don’t go saying that now. Sometimes it’s a curse than a blessing,” Liam stated.

Blair nodded in agreement.

“Going back on topic,” Mercer said with a slight chuckle. “I think he might be right on this. if she has some powerful ability that makes him concerned and if we add what she had asked you upon your first encounter, it might be safe to avoid her and her group until we can figure out what she meant by that.”

“I agree, but…,” Liam started. “It’s just so damn annoying not knowing what she meant.”

“I can agree with you there,” Mercer said. “Even I am starting to get annoyed not knowing.”

Liam shook his head with a mock taken aback expression. However, before he could make fun of Mercer, the three heard voices start to approach the area they were in. They turned to look for the sources and found people were slowly starting to make their way back to the inn. Some of the people looked to be completely drunk while others were sober and annoyed with their drunk counter parts.

“Looks like we might have to pick this conversation up another day,” Blair commented before she stood up and stretch. “Besides…I don’t know about you, but I am sore and tired from all that running around. Especially in that beach area.”

“Yeah that part sucked,” Liam and Mercer said in unison. They looked at each other right after that and after a brief moment of pause they burst out in laughter. Blair rolled her eyes before saying, “You guys are so funny. Come on. Let’s head to bed. He have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

“Fine,” Liam said as he slowly stood up. Before he followed the others inside, he took one last look at the stars and thought, As much as Uncle Naro was wary of the woman…I really didn’t feel anything bad from her…besides he intent to kill me if I was an Immoral Vice member. Liam chuckled at that thought. Not like I wouldn’t have done the same if she was one. Oh well.

Liam went straight into the building and fell asleep the moment he got into bed. His body ached and was sore. His mind was full of all the things he wanted to try as well as what he wanted to make. He was sleeping well and was having great dreams about stuff he wanted to do. However, all good things in his dream had to come to end. Liam’s end of his dreams caused him to jump awake as loud explosions thundered across the sky.

Liam rushed over to the window of the room to get a better look after screams and cries danced across the sky. What he saw shocked him so much, he didn’t have words for it. Buildings were on fire and people were fighting in the streets.

“What the hell happened while I was asleep?”