Alex stood at the corner of the street. Around the side was the inn that he and the Archer had visited. He checked the time as he heard the sounds of footsteps around the corner.

“You are late,” said Alex plainly.

“I would consider myself perfectly on time considering that we did not set an exact time of arrival and you can’t prove me wrong,” answered the Archer.

Around the corner the two men entered the area and Alex was able to get his first look at Brutus. The man was taller than Alex by a little and wider too. Alex would have though him a fighter had he note heard the man walk almost silently to meet him. Only with enhanced senses and echolocation did he detect the man from a distance. On his belt were a few knives like Alex’s own.

“I’m Alex.”

“Brutus.” Said the man.

“Great. Now that the introductions are taken care of. Let’s get out of here.”

“In such a rush are we?” asked Alex.

“Actually, we are,” answered the Archer. “There has been a change of plans. There has been a second murder. We will go there now. Brutus will pick up the scent and then we will visit the housing areas. The scent there will be much clearer and hopefully should be easier to track as a result.”

“What happened? Who died?” asked Alex.

“We will find out soon,” said Brutus. “It happened sometime last night. The investigators should be able to give us the rundown of information we need. They are in charge of examining the body and speaking with any witnesses or persons of interest. If anyone saw Adrian then they will find out.”

The trio walked in silence most of the way. The streets were quiet. They didn't take many of the main roads and few people were up so early and if they were they had already left with the rising of the gate.

As they approached the crime scene, they could see people gathered and hear the low murmur of voices. The investigators were already there, huddled together, discussing the grim situation. A body lay on the ground, covered with a brown tarp. The sight was chilling, and Alex felt a shiver run down his spine. Seeing the body even under a tarp made the feeling of a serial killer in the city feel more real.

The Archer led the way, approaching the investigators with a grim expression. "We're here to help," he said, introducing Alex and Brutus. The investigators looked at them warily but nodded, recognizing the urgency of the situation.

One of them, a middle-aged man with a grizzled beard, stepped forward. "The victim is a local shop owner for a guild, found dead in his home. Just like the previous victim, he was drained of blood. No signs of a struggle, no signs of forced entry. It's as if the killer was invited in."

Alex frowned, trying to make sense of the information. "Any witnesses? Did anyone see anything unusual?"

The investigator shook his head. "Nothing. It's as if the killer is a ghost. But we did find this." He held up a small, silver ring. "It was clutched in the victim's hand. We don't know yet whether it belonged to the shopkeeper or the killer."

"So, he had not been collecting people's items to sell or he accidentally left this behind which speaks of an incompetence I don't think he has," said Alex.

Brutus stepped forward, taking the ring carefully. He sniffed it, his eyes narrowing. "There's a scent here," he said, his voice low. "It's faint, but it's there. It's the same scent from the first murder scene."

The Archer nodded; his face grim. "Then it's confirmed. We're dealing with Adrian. We need to find him before he strikes again."

“Which guild was the man a part of?” asked Brutus.

“The Shadowcrafters. He was middle-ranked in their guild. High enough in their ranks to earn some points sitting at the guild’s stall but not high enough to take on one of the guild’s more interesting tasks or missions,” answered the investigator.

“Who are the Shadowcrafters?” asked Alex. “I’m not very familiar with them.”

“A guild focused on crafting and rogues. They are known for their ability to create intricate traps and gear that can hide a climber’s presence from enemies. Anything a Ranger path climber might need they can supply.”

“Any items taken from the shop itself?” asked the Archer.

“We are currently taking an inventory of the items in the shop. Trying to mark what was sold and hasn’t been updated in the listings. I will have to get back to you on that later today.”

“So, to your knowledge, nothing is obviously gone at the moment?” asked the Archer.

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“Nothing in the safe was taken and nothing big is missing that would be more obvious when we stepped into the shop. If there is anything else that might have been taken it has currently been overlooked.”

“Thanks for the information. And I would like to get the list at the end of the day.”

“You’ve got it.”

As they left the crime scene, Alex couldn't shake off the feeling of unease. The killer was elusive, leaving no trace behind except for the drained bodies of his victims. He kept himself focused forward and did not look back at the fallen victim.

“He took it without grabbing anything?” asked Alex with some skepticism as they walked away from the scene. “Then he is not murdering for money and wealth. This leads us back to the possible feelings of power or superiority which may have led him to kill.”

“Men do things for many different reasons. Killing for reasons other than money is more common than you would think,” said Brutus.

“How is the tracking going? We are only a little bit away from the first block of housing that we marked off,” said Alex.

“I don’t smell much of him at the moment. Too much interference. We will keep going until I find a stronger scent.”

“Don’t be surprised if we don’t find where he has been in the first try, second, or even today. We have over a dozen possible areas to search, and they are located all over the city,” said the Archer.

“It is annoying we can’t narrow it down further,” said Alex.

“We can hope that he has moved around a bit making it easier for us to track him down if he has multiple safe houses and stashes,” said the Archer.

“That makes it seem a bit better I guess,” said Alex.

“Don’t worry,” said Brutus with a smile, “I will do all the hard work. All you have to do is make sure that he can’t run away. And stake his heart for good measure.”

That made Alex laugh a little. “We are still on the track of mind that Adrian is a vampire then.”

“It is possible that he is no longer human. There is a lot of different magic in the Tower, and it may be possible that he was given a strange sub-path or race change that made him have vampire tendencies,” said the Archer.

“But aren’t in most stories of vampires they don’t have to feed often. Maybe monthly if they don’t have to heal or exhaust themselves,” said Alex.

“It isn’t a perfect analogy, but the Tower doesn’t need to follow the norms of our stories or legends either. It is just convenient that they largely have.”

The trio started to circle the first set of housing and Brutus flexed his powers. He wandered the street from side to side in search of Adrian. Alex did something similar. With his mana sense, he searched for signs of people and living things beyond the walls of the houses. Underneath the cracks of the doors, he sent his pulses of echolocation. He did not feel anything larger than a rat ping off his senses nor did Brutus get a whiff of anything resembling Adrian.

"Seems like a dead end here," Brutus finally admitted, his nose wrinkling in frustration. "No scent of Adrian or any unusual activity."

"Let's move on to the next area then," Alex suggested, his own senses confirming Brutus' findings. "We have a lot of ground to cover."

As they moved on to the next block, the Archer spoke up, "Remember, we're not just looking for Adrian. We're also looking for signs of his victims. Any unusual activity or disturbances could be a clue. Even if we only find homeless climbers hiding out in the empty housing it will get us closer to Adrian. They will know what areas are 'taken' and which are empty or off-limits."

"Good point," Brutus agreed. "We'll keep that in mind."

The next few blocks proved to be just as fruitless as the first. Despite their best efforts, they found no trace of Adrian or any signs of his victims. They checked off locations and circled buildings multiple times until lunchtime came and went.

As the day wore on, their search continued. They combed through the city, block by block. Each time they walked through a new area the Archer would sigh and then pull out the marked-up map and put a new black ‘X’ on the area they were at.

“What section of the city are we on now?” asked Alex feeling a bit bored and annoyed at the same time.

“Sector 9 of 12. I told you before that this was going to take some time and that it was unlikely to be successful the first time,” said the Archer.

“Do you smell anything stronger? Are we closer at least? Even superficially,” said Alex to Brutus.

“There has been no significant change in the smell throughout the area. Some areas I have circled for longer because Adrian seemed to have passed through there a bit but none of the spots were where he stayed long term or has had a significant presence in.”

“Well, I wish it would go by faster,” said Alex.

“Well, my skill isn’t like a magical scent trail. At least not at its current level. There isn’t some quest marker I can see floating in the air for me to watch for and follow,” responded Brutus.

“Could Adrian be masking his scent making it harder for us to find him?”

“Maybe. I can still sense him with my skills so it wouldn’t be a very strong power or something more passive as a part of his arsenal,” answered Brutus. “It is promising that he at least has some scents that we can follow.”

Just as they were about to give up, sudden alertness took over Brutus. His eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. He swiftly turned his gaze to a towering structure in the distance, a four-story building that seemed to stand out from the rest.

"There!" he said, pointing towards the structure. "I think I found something."

Alex, eager and alert, stretched out his senses. He could feel a subtle energy emanating from the building. It was faint, but there. He quickly made his way toward the building, his comrades following closely behind.

Upon reaching the entrance, he noticed the door was locked. Without a moment's hesitation, he used his strength to break it open, revealing a dark and deserted interior. They cautiously moved in, alert for any signs of danger.

As they navigated the dim-lit stairwell, Alex sensed a familiar energy from above. It was Adrian. The energy was stronger, no longer just a faint trace. His heart pounded in his chest. He hastened up the stairs, two steps at a time. He raced ahead of the others.

As he reached the top, he emerged onto the roof under the open sky. Standing there, with the view of the entire city beneath him, was Adrian. His face held a defiant smirk. He was unarmed but still felt deadly. Alex wished he could strike the man down with lighting, but the weather was not interested in his demands.

"So, you are the ones after me. You are not worth my time," said Adrian menacingly.

Alex sprinted forward and Adrian ran. Adrian jumped between the roofs and Alex followed. Their feet skidded off the tiled roofs. Alex pushed himself to go faster and get close enough that he could activate his powers. He jumped again between buildings when he felt a force pull him backward. His hands landed on the edge of the roof for a moment and then he fell.

“Not again!” Alex yelled as he fell off the edge of the roof and to the stone ground below.