Tristan couldn't help but continue walking in the direction of the wind that had brought him the smell of blood. The fact that the smell was coming from the same direction as where he'd been told to go to find the piper's domain also made him confident in his decision to track down the source of the smell.

His skill as a ranger made tracking the smell easier. So he walked briskly, heading in that direction, his bowstring drawn taut by the arrow that was loaded, just waiting to be released in any direction he so wished.

Dried leaves crunched underneath his boots asd he trudged through the forest, as his eyes scanned the area for threats. His senses stretched out in all directions in anticipation of any attack, but none came.

Regardless of how quiet the forest was, he didn't let his guard down, even as he reached the walls of the stronghold, which he suspected was the source of the smell of blood.

If Tristan were to hazard a guess, he'd say that the stronghold that he was currently staring at was most likely the piper's domain that he'd been searching for. Be that as it may, he wasn't going to risk going into the stronghold immediately, mainly because of the pungent stench of blood wafting from it.

For his own sake, Tristan climbed a nearby tree to get a glimpse of the insides of the stronghold, and it was worse than he'd imagined. Dead bodies lay strewn about, some dismembered and others crushed by what had to be an enormous force. It was a gruesome sight to behold, and Tristan couldn't help but wonder what sort of monster had ravaged the stronghold.

I guess that explains the lack of guards outside the stronghold. Tristan mused as he dropped down from the tree.

His brief time up in the tree had been enough for him to scout the open area of the stronghold. From what he'd seen, he could tell that whatever had attacked the stronghold had been massively overpowered to have wreaked that much havoc without being killed. At least that was his own thought on the matter because he didn't believe that the two other people having the discussion within the stronghold were the ones who'd done that much damage.

His perception was high enough that he could pick out the only two figures that were still alive in the open area of the stronghold. Tristan hadn't even seen a splotch of blood on either of them, and that was enough to rule either of them as the killer.

Killers or not, Tristan still had to keep his guard up as he approached the stronghold. Something in his gut told him to inspect the place, even though most of its inhabitants now lay strewn across the floor, their blood seeping back into the earth.

It was possible that he could find the clues he was looking for, or maybe he would be able to find his next mission, which would be putting down whatever had murdered these people. It wasn't like he cared for them; heck, he would've killed them all by himself. These people had held ties with the cult of Kabash, and that was enough to mark them as shooting targets for him, but he'd been late to the party.

I wonder how many levels I'd get for taking down whatever monster did this?

It'd have to be a lot, and a hunt like that was something Tristan knew he'd relish doing because he'd been without purpose since the apocalypse had begun, and sidequests like these—that he gave himself—were the only way he could keep himself sane.

It'd been the same thing over and over again since the apocalypse started. All he did was kill, eat, and sleep, then repeat the cycle the next day. The system had made it clear that it was the only way that he was going to survive, and so he'd done that, but it'd begun to feel stale. He no longer needed a reason to live, and that was why he was so dedicated when it came to finding the cult of Kabash.

After witnessing children getting sacrificed to that demon, he felt so much fury that he himself had been surprised. He hadn't known that he could feel such things because he'd been dead on the inside for so long. He hadn't really experienced any emotion like that so long that he knew he had to chase this feeling, and the only way he could do that was by finding that demon. Kabash.

At least with this thread to pull, he'd found a sort of purpose, some sort of divine calling, and he wouldn't stop until the demon was lying on the ground dead, with one of his barrows lodged in its brain.

Tristan pushed his thoughts to the side as he finally crossed the gates of the stronghold and walked into the open area. He placed his bow and arrows by his side, but they were ready for quick fire. Being a sharpshooter made Tristan confident in his ability to take down any foe within a fraction of a second, so he didn't have any fear of being attacked by the two other people alive in the open area of the piper's domain.

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He couldn't help but wrinkle his nose as he walked closer to the pair. The smell of all the blood that pooled around the various corpses that seemed to have been strewn about by some kind of explosion that scorched the earth in the open area was beyond powerful; it was almost choking him. Tristan could also smell something else in the air; a brief intake of air revealed what it was. Fear.

These people had died terrified, there's no doubt about it.

Tristan grimaced, then turned his attention to the two survivors. They'd noticed his entrance and were now staring at him, with their weapons drawn, but he continued to walk towards the pair unfazed. There was no doubt he could kill them both before they could release any attacks of their own.

[Name: Pirlo Vox

Moniker: N/A

Archetype: Rogue

Level: 29]

[Name: Daniel Perez

Moniker: N/A

Archetype: Ranger

Level: 18]

A quick use of his analyze skill confirmed his thoughts. Neither of them was going to be a threat to him. So he kept his bow at his side, making sure to look them in the eyes as he closed the distance.

The rogue and the ranger seemed to stare right back at him, and he could see the hesitation in their eyes as they considered whether they should attack or not. Luckily for the pair, they made the right decision not to attack him because Tristan knew that he was a lot faster than they were, and if he got any indication that they were about to attack him, they'd both be recipients of an arrow to the brain.

"Who are you?" Pirlo asked.

Tristan stared at the rogue, trying to decide if it was worth his time to answer. Judging by his looks and stature, he guessed that the rogue was a teenager just like him. It was possible that Tristan was older than him, but he wasn't too sure, and he didn't really care for such things because he'd seen cold-blooded killers of all ages during the tutorial. Besides, if age, stature, and weight hadn't hampered those in the tutorial tower from securing their lives, then it sure as hell wouldn't matter now.

"Didn't you hear him?" Daniel said. "Who are you and what do you want here?"

Tristan still refused to speak. He wanted to gauge their reactions, and he wasn't surprised by what he saw—they'd both become fidgety. The rogue and ranger had tightened their grips on their weapons. Of course, if it came down to an attack, the bow at his side would take them out faster than they could blink, so he didn't feel the least bit threatened by their actions. "As for who I am, you can call me Tristan," he said, totally disregarding the second question before asking one of his own. "Did a monster come through here?"

"What do you care?" the rogue said.

A question for a question. Unsurprising.

"I care because I'm here looking for the owner of this stronghold."

"Why?"

Tristan's eyes narrowed slightly for just a moment before returning to normal. He suppressed his irritation at the way the rogue answered his questions with a question of his own. Tristan couldn't remember the last time he'd even had a civil conversation like this, and this brief back and forth had reminded him about why he preferred to torture people for information he needed.

"Because I believe that whoever owns this stronghold could have crucial information that would aid me in my search for the cult of Kabash." He'd only held back from doing the same here because it seemed like it'd be easier to catch bees with honey than with shit, but talking with these two idiots was making him rethink that strategy. Tristan had to actively restrain himself from killing the two idiots on the spot.

Tristan quietly watched as the pair shared a look before returning their gaze to him.

"I'm afraid that you're a little too late for your meet and greet, " Pirlo said as he pointed a finger towards a particular corpse. "There's the lady of this stronghold."

Tristan turned his gaze to the corpse, his eyes taking in the details. By the looks of things, the lady's neck had been snapped, and he could clearly see the prints of whoever had broken her neck, burned onto her skin.

The print on the blackened patch on the lady's neck conflicted with his earlier assessment of this being a monster attack, which made Tristan all the more curious about what had actually happened here. "Do you know what did this?"

"Nathan did," Daniel replied, then added. "He's a friend of ours."

One person did this? What a monster. Tristan couldn't help the involuntary grunt of approval that rumbled in his throat. The fact that one person could take on and decimate an entire stronghold was undoubtedly impressive. He wondered if the person who'd done this much damage to the stronghold had even survived, because he himself couldn't imagine killing this many people without getting badly injured.

Tristan was tempted to ask about their friend's whereabouts, but refrained from doing so because he'd come here for something else. "Do any of you know where I can find the cult of Kabash or the demon itself?"

Since the lady of the stronghold was dead, he was left with no other source of information than the two idiots before him.

The pair looked at him in confusion for a moment before he received a reply from the ranger. "We haven't heard of any cult, but we did see a demon appear briefly."

Tristan's lips twitched subtly at the words of the ranger. Neither of them had any information that could help him, and he was only wasting his time by staying to question them. He considered leaving, but he had to do something before doing that.

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