Chương 66: 65. Blood Trail in the Sand

Pain felt in installments… I had never heard of the concept, but everything was possible in the Grand Arcana. Common merchants probably didn't have the option; otherwise, half the participants I knew would immediately have taken advantage of the offer. Faint sounds ventured into the chamber, amplified by the Listener. The sound of footsteps and a distinct lack of talking suggested that they had gone through a small adventure of their own. Once they walked in, I saw that I was right.

"Hey." Carl waved a hand with the enthusiasm of a grounded teenager. The corners of my mouth attempted to curve up in the semblance of a smile. As amusing as seeing him have a bad time, the remaining two attracted my attention. On the surface, it didn't seem that they had gained anything. Scorpion fluids weren't a good replacement for blood, so they couldn't feed his blood dagger. It wasn't something that they had gained that had me worried, though, but rather something they had lost.

Cathy no longer had the Paladin card in her possession. In turn, Marcus had lost his Magician. Obviously, they had swapped, taking one step closer to their potential. In my previous run, I never knew what cards Marcus had gathered. The Paladin was his, of course, but everything else remained a mystery. Unlike most of the other newbies, he never boasted about cards, rarely traded them, and took special care to perform only general attacks when possible.

Back then, he didn't have blood weapons, but he made up for it with strength, speed, and cold logic. It could be said that he had done pretty much what I had this run. Always playing an angle, aren't you? I wondered.

"There's nothing else," he said, walking up to me. I got the impression that he wasn't just talking about penta-scorpions. I got the hint and took out a plastic bottle from my backpack ring and tossed it to him. Glancing at Cathy, I took one out for her as well, but the woman only shook her head. Right, I thought. Diana had probably given her a few more spells, including the ability to create drinkable water.

"Thanks." Carl grabbed the bottle from my hand and greedily chugged it down. The thought of breaking his arm passed through my mind, but was quickly cast away. I had enough trouble as it was.

"Give me your hand," Cathy said. I gave her a confused look.

"Your wounded hand," she quickly corrected herself. Constantly remaining on guard, I complied. As she took hold, a green spell circle formed. It was a lot more intricate than the ones I had seen so far. Rather, one could say it was three circles, one within the other. I tried to use the Observer card to identify it, but nothing happened. This didn't seem like a card skill. Rather, it was a direct gift from her goddess. Strands of aether flowed out of the circle, connecting to my burnt flesh.

Looking at it was like watching a mini sewing press stitch me up in real time. The flesh healed, the wound closed… in a matter of seconds my hand looked like nothing had happened.

"Any more wounds?" she asked in a quiet voice. I shook my head.

"Okay." She released my hand and stepped away.

"You three, get some sleep," Eleonor said from a short distance away.

"We'll guard until it's time to go."

"There's no need for guards," Marcus said with his usual blank expression.

"We still can't go out before it's dark." The goth didn't take the bait.

"And we need to be rested." Little more was said. I made myself comfortable on the floor and pretended to be asleep. My mind dwelled on my family and the "outside" world. A week or two had passed since I had started the trials, although I couldn't be sure that the same amount of time had passed on Earth. Maybe they were still waiting for me to come back from the bathroom, or maybe my name was all over the news?

The former was a lot more preferable, but what really sent chills down my spine was the possibility that they had also been taken by the Grand Arcana. During my previous run, I had never given it much thought. Now that I was so far ahead in comparison, I had noticed the occasional anomaly. Among them, the Deep Sea Siren and Eleonor were the greatest. The goth girl clearly knew a lot more about the Grand Arcana before she had joined.

I could imagine her being part of a cult that sent people to the trials voluntarily. Yet, how did the siren know about Earth? The thought had kept bothering me, festering in the back of my mind even while I was fighting and striving to survive. Monsters weren't supposed to know anything about Earth. Sure, some of the trials contained recreations of our past, but that was only false mimicry done by the rule-masters.

"You're thinking too hard," a voice said. I looked up. Avon was there, sitting beside me among the scorpion carcasses, smoking his pipe.

"That was always your problem. Sometimes you just need to let things flow." He took a puff from his pipe and looked at me. I'm dreaming again, I thought.

"Congrats on the kills," he continued casually.

"A kill and a half in one day. That will raise eyebrows. Pity about the queen. You should have gotten that point."

"Should have," I replied without moving my lips. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. It was interesting why the pup wasn't here. Given that it was its job to protect me, I would have assumed it would have prevented anyone from invading my dreams… unless this was another natural dream. Somehow, I doubted it.

"You really should form a pact," Avon said.

"I know it's all fun and games now, but you'll reach a point at which there's no going forward."

"I didn't form a pact last time," I replied.

"Yeah, you keep telling me. And where did that get you?" He looked at me, the pipe motionless in his hand. There was no denying it; if I had formed a pact, I wouldn't have been betrayed. Then again, it was because I didn't have any pact that the Divine Page had been given to me.

"I'm not here to change your mind," Avon continued.

"I'm just telling you as a friend."

"You're not here," I said.

"You don't know me or what's in the trials."

"See," he tapped his pipe on the floor, dumping the warm ash.

"That's where you're wrong. I do know you. It's you who doesn't know yourself. You think hooking up with Sparta will give you the answers? It won't. You'll end up just like last time." What?

"Say that again!" I grabbed him by the collar.

"Come on, tell me that she betrayed me." Avon smiled. There wasn't an ounce of fear in his voice. He opened his mouth to say something…

"Greg," Eleonor said, shattering my surroundings. I was back on the chamber floor. There was no trace of Avon. Everyone else was already up and ready to go. Did something happen? I half-shrugged using one hand.

"It's time to go," Eleonor urged me. There were a lot of ways I could have responded. The savage part of me that remained from my previous run was itching to kill her just because she had interrupted my conversation with Avon. The more rational and pragmatic part made me nod. Slowly, I stood up. I didn't feel any immediate pain, yet I was hungry and thirsty. DARK SILVER BLADES have consumed RICHES. A message appeared before my eyes, telling me I wasn't the only one hungry. I pointed to the chamber exit.

Leaving the nest was a lot faster than getting into it. My blades could no longer be used as a compass, but Marcus and Eleonor seemed to have memorized the layout, taking us along the fastest path to the exit. The sight outside almost made me feel nostalgic. A calm wind could be felt in the air, gently caressing the dunes of blue sand as far as the eye could see. Thousands of stars covered the dark blue sky.

For a moment, one could almost admire the serene beauty surrounding us, yet by now everyone was fully aware that it was nothing more than a lie.

"Any creatures nearby?" Eleonor turned to me. I took the divine blades out of my inventory. There seemed to be a slight tug in the direction of the open desert again, though that didn't tell me much. Putting the weapons away, I then pointed forward. Without a word or a nod, the goth started walking. Everyone else followed.

"Shouldn't we be keeping a distance from one another?" Carl asked. Naturally, I had been chosen to act as the focus of his stupidity, possibly because a curse prevented me from talking back.

"If someone throws a grenade right now, we'll be all dead," the cockroach continued. No one will throw a grenade, you idiot. I sighed through my nose.

"Or a fireball," he added.

"Do you think there are dragons here?"

"Who knows?" Eleonor asked. She was probably the only person who was amused by his squirming. The question managed to earn us close to a minute of blessed silence before Carl's annoyance grew stronger than his fear yet again.

"Should we be walking rhythmically?" he asked this time.

"Won't that attract monsters?"

"This isn't Dune," Marcus replied, more bored than annoyed. Stop! Serp shouted in my mind. Instantly I did, looking in all directions. Seeing my reaction, the rest of the group followed my example. Cathy had even drawn her bow. What's wrong? I asked the serpent blade. I smell blood, it replied. Lots of it.

"What's the matter?" Marcus whispered. Show me, I summoned Serp. Everyone watched as I extended the blade forward, then slowly made their way behind me, assuming the wedge formation of the scorpion caves. Even Carl went to his place without any additional words. I hardened my bones, then went forward. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The desert remained vast and empty without even a cluster of rocks in view. After we went over the second dune, everything changed.

"Oh, shit!" Carl voiced what was on everyone's mind. Bloodied bodies were scattered along the sand. All of them were human, though it was difficult to tell who was who due to the condition of their corpses. Undoubtedly, they had fought something large and had lost. Every single person had been ripped apart, most of their limbs missing. I turned to Marcus and stretched the fingers of my left hand twice. Ten people—two groups.

That meant that some of the others had joined forces in their effort to hunt down the monsters and still failed.

"None of ours," Marcus said with absolute certainty.

"They're not significant," Eleonor stated. The message was clear—none of them were pact holders. That calmed things down a bit. Even before choosing the door, I knew that most of the participants would be cannon fodder. The only chance a five-trial newbie had was to stick to someone with strength and experience. Due to the group limits that had proved impossible. Most probably the groups had joined together the moment they had come across each other, suggesting that we were venturing into a safer zone.

If that were the case, though, what had caused all this?

"What killed them?" Cathy held her bow at the ready, two arrows set to be let loose. Weapons in hand, I ventured forward. There were no aether traces, so I was fairly confident that nothing was hiding beneath the sand. Just in case, I used earth spell circles to create blocks of stone beneath my feet as I walked. Whatever monster had done all this was definitely large. There didn't seem to be any obvious wounds on the remains; no slashes, no bite marks…

it was as if something had torn parts of them off without even trying. Most of all, I couldn't see any tracks. Beastmaster, I concentrated on the card. If it were a beast, it had long gone. There's a trail of blood beneath the sand, Serp said. I can follow it. Know anything that would hide its tracks? I asked. Do I look like an encyclopedia? the saber grumbled. Might be the way it walks. Not everything is planned. Some just do it. There was no longer any doubt in my mind.

We had stumbled on the carnage of a card holder, and I had a pretty good suspicion what Major Arcana it had.