Chương 508: Chaper 477: Reunion

It took some time for Thalion to hunt down the groups of vampires heading toward Eric's domain, and without the Hunter of All title, it wouldn't have been possible at all. Now he wanted to visit his friends and have a quick talk—but there were a few problems. First, he was now close enough to see Eric's base, and it already looked massive. Thirty-meter-tall walls made of enchanted wood surrounded a vast area, with watchtowers placed at regular intervals.

From the walls, a translucent dome extended outward, ensuring that no one could sneak in except through the gates. Maybe tunneling underneath was possible—but even if it was, Thalion didn't want to waste that much time. Regular patrols moved around the base, which was likely where his friends were staying. With Eagly, he might have been able to slip through one of the gates quickly—but right now, he didn't have a form suited for sneaking into a city. The next issue were his clothes.

They were far too unique and high-quality—no guard would believe he belonged here. Then there was the question of identification. He had no idea how they even verified their own people. The trees around the base had been cleared in a wide radius, making it impossible for him to get close and observe the gates unnoticed. There was also no spatial ring or amulet that would let him change outfits on the fly. Leaving behind his red robe wasn't an option either.

He tried rubbing dirt onto it—but the robe had a self-cleaning function, removing everything within minutes. Under normal circumstances, he would've loved that feature. Right now, it was just screwing him over. Another problem: his human form didn't have a sheath for his sword. Letting it float beside him constantly wasn't exactly subtle, and his chances of entering unnoticed like that were close to zero.

He had considered leaving it outside and letting it teleport to him once the distance became too great—which should technically work—but for now, he was still in the experimental phase. There were many people coming and going, carrying massive backpacks. Thalion assumed they were gathering materials. For a moment, the idea of knocking them out and stealing their gear crossed his mind—but he decided against it and chose to simply ask them instead.

He made sure his robe was covered in leaves and dirt, stuffed his mask into one of his pockets, and left Saryana hovering high in a tree crown where no one would notice it. Initially, he had wanted to bury the sword—but that hadn't been acceptable to it. The gatherers turned out to be surprisingly friendly and gave him plenty of information. The only downside was that they were a bit too friendly, dragging him along before he had time to think things through properly.

In fact, before he could ask more about what registration involved, they were already standing in front of the gate, with a guard eyeing him from head to toe.

"Human, level 91? Alright. Since you're no real threat, you can follow one of my lieutenants. He'll explain what's expected of you if you want to stay." The guard's voice was rough, but Thalion was just glad this was somehow working. There were still a few questions—but apparently not important enough to delay him. Probably because of his relatively low level, while the guards were around level one hundred forty.

After giving the name Tamion —which, in hindsight, probably wasn't the best choice—he followed the guard inside. He had to admit, the builders had done a great job. The houses were large and well-constructed, and he liked the overall layout of the city. Now he just needed to get away from the guard. They had mentioned registering him with blood, which would allow them to track him if anything happened. That was absolutely not going to happen.

His blood was definitely not something they were going to store in a vial. So, after putting some distance between them and the gate, Thalion made his move. He tapped the guard on the shoulder. When the young man turned around, Thalion hit him with Gaze of the Blooded Templar. He was careful not to kill him—but it was still risky, since it caused his eyes to glow red again.

In Ratgul's domain, he had learned to suppress his passive skills, but Sight of the Blooded Templar and Gaze of the Blooded Templar both made his eyes burn like crimson embers—which wasn't exactly ideal when trying to sneak into a stronghold. Still, no one seemed to notice anything unusual as the guard dropped to his knees. Thalion caught him before he hit the ground.

Next, he put on a small act—calling for a healer and asking if the guard was alright—while secretly absorbing the blood that had left the man's body when he activated the skill. The guard was still conscious but unable to move, which was good enough for Thalion. He wouldn't need much time. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

After a few citizens pointed him in a direction, Thalion carried the guard through several streets before dumping him in a side alley when no one was watching. The guard wore a helmet, which hopefully made it look like he had simply drunk too much. So far, things had gone very well. The problem appeared a few streets later, when his sword suddenly reappeared in his hand and his robe almost finished cleaning itself again. Not ideal.

He asked a smith if he knew Lucan or any of his friends, and thankfully, after a short conversation, the man gave him directions. It seemed his buddies had made quite the career. With most of Eric's elite dying in the system event, they had shot straight to the top and were now the number one party—aside from Eric himself—when it came to eliminating beasts that preyed on humans. The only issue was that they lived close to the center, where all the workshops and restaurants were located.

The deeper Thalion moved into the massive stronghold, the more guards and soldiers he encountered. Earlier, most people had worn self-made armor or simple robes—but now those became rarer, making Thalion stand out more and more. His golden skin didn't help either. Still, none of the guards stopped him. After what felt like an annoyingly long walk, he finally arrived at the house where his friends lived. They had an entire wooden mansion to themselves—definitely more than enough space.

Activating his sight, Thalion could see and feel their blood inside the building. Only four were present—but that was enough. He knocked on the door. He really needed to get off the street. He doubted many people even tried sneaking into this stronghold, which was probably why security wasn't tighter. No response. He knocked again. Still nothing. On the third try, he knocked hard enough that the entire door vibrated.

"We don't need any new group members. Leave us alone. God, I can't stand people constantly getting on my nerves," a loud male voice shouted from inside. Thalion blinked, slightly at a loss for words—and instead of answering, he knocked again with the same force. This time, he heard footsteps. The door swung open, revealing a drunk Kaldrek.

"Hey, didn't you hear what I said? This is my happy hour. Do you know how many happy hours I have per week? I bet you have no idea… Huh… do I know you from somewhere? Those glowing red eyes look kinda familiar…" Normally, Thalion would've found this hilarious—but he could feel, through his blood sense, that a few people had already stopped on the street behind him. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Kaldrek to recognize him. His eyes widened as realization hit.

"Ohhh… ohhhh… hohoho, it's so good to see you again! Hey, look—Th—" Thalion quickly covered Kaldrek's mouth and shoved him inside, closing the door behind them. He noticed a few runes on the walls and door—probably meant for sound isolation. Since he had already heard Kaldrek shouting from outside, Thalion didn't want to risk it and pushed him further inside. They entered a massive living room filled with multiple couches and a bar. In the middle sat Kargul, Evelyn, and Lucan. The rest of the house seemed empty.

On a low table in front of them stood a ridiculous amount of food, all of it smelling incredible. There was something like potato salad—but not the cold supermarket version. This was the good stuff: warm, with butter and broth. A platter of grilled meat sat beside it. Kargul alone was holding a massive leg, biting into it as Thalion entered.

"Good to see you all. Mind if I join the happy hour?" Thalion asked with a grin. He could really use something like this. In here, he should also be safe—even if someone found the guard. No one would think to search the house of the strongest party in the city for an intruder. Evelyn immediately ran over and hugged him, while Lucan and Kargul simply gestured for him to sit down—both already pretty hammered. Thalion didn't hesitate. He grabbed a chunk of meat and filled a bowl with that beautiful potato salad.

"Is it just me, or what the fuck happened to your skin?" Kaldrek asked loudly as he dropped onto the couch beside him.

"Just a side effect of the evolution…" Thalion began, but Kaldrek didn't seem to be listening.

"In general, I think it's good that you and Eric get along nicely. He did ask a few weird questions after the treasure hunt, you know?"

"Yeah… I actually snuck in here. Me meeting Eric probably isn't a good idea right now," Thalion replied. The fact that Kaldrek was just rolling with it like this wasn't something he remembered. No wonder Maike was against him drinking alcohol.

"What happened in the system event? Eric isn't talking about it, and since we kinda snuck in without telling him, we didn't want to push too hard. The last time—" Evelyn tried to ask, but Kaldrek cut her off mid-sentence.

"Now I get it. This is your camouflage so Eric doesn't notice you when you meet him." The stupid grin on his face actually made Thalion laugh. Evelyn, on the other hand, didn't look amused and immediately cast a healing spell.

"Hey, no, Evelyn. Bad girl. I've got another hour before Maike gets back. Please, you can't take that from me," Kaldrek protested. It was the first time Thalion had seen someone argue against being healed. Evelyn proved exactly why she was such a good healer—because a few seconds later, a completely sober Kaldrek sat beside Thalion.

"Come on, Evelyn. I worked really hard to get to that point," Kaldrek complained, slumping back into the couch.

"Hey, Thalion… if Eric doesn't like you, why did you sneak in to talk to us? Please don't tell me something big is happening. I'm already overworked with the beasts and the elves."

"No, nothing new like that," Thalion said, shoveling meat and potatoes into his mouth.

"I mostly came to tell you that under no circumstances should you participate in the third system event. Also, the second one will likely be some kind of escape room—you'll need to check the first room for clues. But honestly, better skip that one too if you can."

"Ah, you don't need to warn us about that. We wouldn't have joined anyway. Last time was already a close call. By the way, how do you even know—and how did it turn out? Eric isn't saying anything, and he gets pissed every time someone mentions it," Kaldrek muttered, grabbing another mug of beer.

"Yeah, tell us what happened in the last stage," Kargul roared so loudly the wood around them vibrated.

"Here, take a look for yourselves. Did you know you can share this? Maybe someone in integrated space will even hire you to watch over a trial participant." With that, Thalion showed them the top leaderboard.

"Holy shit… one billion points?!?" Kaldrek muttered, staring at the rankings.

"Ha, no wonder Eric was so pissed. A lot of Chosen are gonna be furious about this. And yeah, we got the message too. We actually finished in the top eight hundred—which is a pretty big deal. Josh and Jack are already making bets on who'll be the better master," Evelyn chuckled. Yeah… that sounded exactly like those two.

"What did you get for placing in the top eight hundred?" Thalion asked curiously.

"I got a skill that makes me even stronger and toughens my skin," Kargul said, biting off another chunk from the leg in his hand.

"We all got to choose from an almost endless selection of skills based on our points. Combined with all the levels we gained, it was definitely worth it," Kaldrek added.

"By the way, Lucan—you've been quiet the whole time. Did you build a new bomb?" Thalion asked the old smith, genuinely curious. Lucan was the only one at level one hundred seventy-six—the highest in the group.

"Hm… I made a few good ones, but right now I'm more into chainsaws. Maybe I'll combine the two later. Exploding chainsaws sound like something… beautiful," Lucan said with conviction—which was honestly impressive for a drunk man. Exploding chainsaws. Yeah… that sounded exactly like Lucan. Then Thalion heard footsteps, and the door opened. With his blood sense, he could feel two lifeforms—but they clearly weren't guards.

"I swear, I hate that they already built the teleportation circle. Now those idiots can just pop in anytime. Oh—hey, Thalion. What are you doing here?" Josh said, walking in with Jack behind him.