Since this unfamiliar world had something called Mana, which enabled people to use it to conjure magic spells or whatever it was called.
Damien had a feeling that his hint should be related to the Mana. Maybe the hint appeared because he had the Mana to do so.
However, he made a contract with Karl, and in return, Karl became eligible to construct the mana core.
With the basic understanding of mana, Damien had a theory that the Shadow Contract had extracted too much of his mana, prompting him to be unable to utilize them again for hints.
"It would have been nice if this is some kind of MMOs." Damien sighed softly.
MMOs were video games where players typically had everything at their disposal to check their status. It was very convenient and allowed them to know whether their health or mana was running low.
This particular genre of game was extremely popular, and Damien had played them occasionally. Except, he wasn't some kind of expert like the professional. He was just average with the basic knowledge.
Either way, it didn't matter whether he was average or not. Without the hint appearing, Damien could only proceed cautiously. He squinted his eyes, hoping to narrow the scope and search for the tiny details.
Tiny details were often missed, but also the most crucial in advancing the investigation.
To investigate or follow a trail, the most important trait required was patience. Only when a person was patient could they notice the details that most people often failed to detect.
Thus, Damien took his time to search around the area. He made sure to check everything, not missing a single thing.
'Hmm, the moss here is a bit disorientated.' Finally, Damien spotted a few abnormalities. There was moss covered around the wall here, but some of them seemed to have been shifted.
As he narrowed his eyes and inspected carefully, Damien noticed some scratch marks. The scratch mark wasn't very visible, most likely because the culprit didn't use too much strength.
With that discovery, Damien wondered why there were scratch marks here.
His doubt was soon answered when he suddenly felt the murky water level rising. It nearly covered up to his legs.
Thankfully, his outfit seemed to be enchanted with some type of magic. It prevented him from actually having any murky water invade the inside of his outfit and drench him.
Nevertheless, this scene alone enlightened Damien as to why there were some scratch marks on the moss.
If it was truly a cat, then with this water level, it would be impossible for them to continue their journey. In other words, they were forced to leap upward and kick on the moss to propel themselves in another direction.
By that logic, more moss would have some visible scratch marks.
'Could it be a morphing spell or a shapeshifter?' Damien pondered.
Although both appeared to be the same, there was a difference.
Shapeshifter was an ability that enabled the caster to change their physical form at will.
However, morphing was different. It required them to acquire the DNA of the target in order to morph into them, whether it was an animal or human.
In hindsight, shapeshifters had no limitation as opposed to morphing.
Damien would prefer to deal with the culprit who had the morphing ability type as opposed to a shapeshifter.
He leaned more on the possibility of the culprit having a morphing ability, given that they must have morphed into a cat and forced to take the trouble in fleeing through the sewer.
If the culprit was a shapeshifter, then it would have been way easier to simply transform into another human to flee.
With that in theory, one thing still didn't make sense to him.
Why did the culprit return to the crime scene and attempt to throw suspicion on him?
Was there even a need to take such a risk? Or could it be that they had no choice but to take such a risk?
Either way, Damien was determined to track him down and get an answer for it. The answer was linked to his survival, given that some might be targeting him or the original Seventh TI.
Speaking of the original, Damien saw his reflection through the murky water and was baffled by the facial appearance. The face remained the same and even his physiques didn't change at all.
It was completely unimaginable to believe he was occupying someone else body.
"Ugh, just what kind of situation is this?" Damien murmured and felt exhausted. Amidst his exhaustion from overthinking, his ears suddenly perked up.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Although very faint, Damien heard some splashing noise from afar.
A few seconds later, the splashing sound started to increase in volume.
'At my left.' Concerned, Damien turned to the left and tried to detect who it was. Some might have wanted him to flee, but based on the sound, Damien determined that whatever it was, their speed had only increased exponentially.
He wouldn't be able to flee far before getting caught by the unknown being.
After all, the murky water level had yet to subside, meaning the water itself would hinder his movement speed. The water might not affect his clothes, but it did affect him and impede his actions.
As his vision focused up, and the unknown being had advanced further, Damien finally got a clear look at them.
Indeed, it wasn't a human. Rather, it was a creature of some reptile—large and twisted, its body slick and glistening with the filth of the murky water.
"A monster in the sewer. How creative." Damien muttered, his face turned solemn.
He remained in position as he analyzed the monster's detail and form.
The creature's skin was mottled with patches of pale gray and sickly green colored. It had a monstrous form, with its veins pulsing in a dark and poisonous energy.
Additionally, the creature's limbs were long for its size. They were covered in some sharp claws that constantly dripped a viscous liquid that smelled like decay.
'This should have been the decaying smell that Karl mentioned about his colleague.' Damien deduced, feeling slightly affected by the stench.
...
A few seconds went by, and the monster finally spotted Damien. They halted their movement and stood just a little bit over 10 meters away from him.
Composed, Damien didn't even flinch a bit. He glanced at the monster's face and was rather stunned by the appearance.
Their head was disturbingly flat, their eyes sunken and bulbous, glowing with a malevolent red hue. The monster stared at Damien deeply. Their set of fanged, gaping jaws opened wide. It then let out a guttural growl, its tongue flicking out like a serpent's.
Any normal person would have panicked by now, but Damien didn't show signs of panic. He kept a poker face and seemed uninterested in the monster's action.
"If you roar again, then I don't mind slicing you," Damien said. His eyes narrowed and consumed with killing intent.
Shuddered, the reptile-like monster turned wary. The lack of reaction, followed by a sudden killing intent caused them to wonder if this was a prey or predator.
However, the monster was unwilling to let the opportunity go. Their body twisted, and their movements were fluid yet jerky as they proceeded to lash out their barbed tail, splashing the murky water.
The sign was a declaration of war.
After all, its action was intended to splash Damien with the murky water, only to end up in failure. The murky water couldn't even penetrate the passive barrier from the outfit he was wearing.
"Have you seen a cat passed by?" Ignoring the action, Damien instead questioned the monster.
Although he didn't know why, he had a strong feeling the monster had intelligence and could comprehend his words.
Sure enough, the reptile-like monster growled in response and swung its barbed tail toward Damien.
As his eyes tracked the barbed tail movement, he exhaled through his nose, sighing at its decision.
'Monster really wishes to get a beating before complying. It's just like the behavior of humans.' He thought. Since the monster clearly had no intention of responding based on the attack, Damien realized he needed to make a move again.
As the barbed tail hurtled toward him, he sidestepped effortlessly, his movements swift and precise. The tail struck the murky water where he had been standing, sending a ripple through the filth.
Without wasting a second, Damien surged forward. He extended his hand outward, materializing the power of Shadow.
The connection between him and the Shadow was quite fascinating, to say the least. Although both couldn't communicate properly with each other, their connection seemed unshakable—even if it could be temporary.
With the power of Shadow, a large hand colored in hues of blue, purple, and darkness appeared from within Damien.
Alarmed by the gloomy appearance of a large shadow's hand, the monster reacted instantly. It twisted its body unnaturally, its elongated limbs flexing as it attempted to counterattack. Offense was the best defense!
It ignored the crisis of the glooming shadow's hand and instead, lashed out their own clawed hand, aiming to rake across Damien's chest.
Unfortunately, Damien wasn't naive enough to leave an opening. Another Shadow's hand appeared and deflected it with a sharp parry, sending sparks flying as the hand met claw.
The creature hissed in frustration, its glowing red eyes narrowing. Then, its throat expanded unexpectedly before spewing a thick, corrosive liquid straight at Damien.
'A long-range attack?' Baffled, Damien didn't anticipate the reptile monster was capable of doing so.
He barely tilted his head to avoid the spray. After dodging, his eyes darted to the spot where it landed. The acidic substance sizzled upon contact with the stone walls, eating through the grime and brick-like molten metal.
"Toxic spit, huh?" Damien muttered, feeling that the monster was quite sneaky. They had such a move all along but didn't reveal it and chose to go close-combat mode.
It was clearly saving it for a good opportunity to strike unexpectedly, only to end up failing due to his swift reaction.
The distance between the two increased once again, and the monster's eyes glared ferociously at Damien. Without a doubt, it was dissatisfied by its missed attack.
Meanwhile, Damien stretched his neck and smirked.
"You should really stop focusing too much on me." He said and snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, from the shadow of the monster, emerged a large hand.
The monster barely had any time to react. The massive shadowy hand, wreathed in an eerie mix of blue, purple, and black, descended with crushing force. The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the murky water, splashing filth in every direction.
A guttural, strangled screech tore from the creature's throat as it struggled beneath the oppressive weight. Its elongated limbs flailed around, its claws scraping against the stone floor in a desperate attempt to break free.
Yet, no matter how it twisted and thrashed, the Shadow's grip was firm and held it down tightly.
Suppressed and unable to break free, the monster was soon graced with the desolate-looking Damien.
"Now, are you willing to inform me who sent you over here?" Damien questioned. "I refused to believe there is something as coincidentally encountering a ferocious monster rushing toward my direction."
Others might have been distracted by the monster's appearance and fought with their all to confront them. However, he remained focused and was positive that the monster's objective from the start was him.
Despite not making much movement or sound, the monster was able to detect and locate his position. As if he would believe it was a coincidence, especially when it failed to detect his Shadow latching onto his.
The monster's awareness was clearly on the low-end, which meant it had to be directed or controlled by someone else.
As for how they did it?
Damien had no clue. He was not some god who could discern a situation at first glance. If so, then he would have already long found a way to escape or explain his sudden transportation to a whole new world.
A few seconds later, the monster let out another feral roar, its sunken red eyes glowing with primal fury. Then, its body convulsed violently. A grotesque series of cracks and pops echoed through the sewer as its form began to change once more.
"Hoh, is this the so-called second phase of a boss fighting?" Amused, Damien applaud its resilience.