Night Watch

"Scan", Arthur muttered

[William Wolf - Level 5 Acolyte. Status - Asleep]

[Evangeline Falister - Level 3 Acolyte. Status - Asleep]

[John Bellford - Level 3 Acolyte. Status - Asleep]

[Karl Yale - Level 6 Acolyte. Status - Injured]

Moving slowly, Arthur took out his gourd of water. Taking out a small box out of his pouch, he stealthily poured its content in the gourd. It was a luminescent blue powder.

[Azur Flower Grinded Seed - Toxins

Highly toxic powder that can be used to strengten one's body.

Warning: To someone with vitality lower than 3, it might decrease the consumer's health]

Arthur moved slowly towards Karl. Even though his condition was stabilized thanks to Evangeline, he had lost an arm and was in a highly weakened state.

[Karl – Level 6 Beginner Rank Acolyte

HP - 2 / 10 (20)

Attributes:

Strength – 1 (2) | Agility – 0 (1) | Vitality – 1 (2) | Magic Power – 6

Spell – Earth Spear [Low Grade – Rank 0], Petrification Eye [Low-Grade - Rank 0], Earth Shield [Low-grade - Rank 0]

As Arthur approached, he could see Karl's eyes. Although he was suspicious of Arthur, his gaze became much kinder as the young body refinement proposed him water.

"Thank you, Arthur", Karl muttered as he accepted Arthur's gourd, gulping its content without care.

[You have successfully inflicted [Intoxicated] Ailment to Karl Yale]

"I wanted...I wanted to apologize, Karl", Arthur muttered, "I should have listened to you and we should have taken the usual path towards the mountains rather than trying to cross the plains"

'I suppose he is just an experienced lad', Karl thought, 'His leadership mistake caused me to lose an arm, but I suppose he did save us all with his strength...'

"Don't mention it...What is done is done, and there is nothing we can do about that. We don't know what we might have encountered if we had taken the usual path. With the orc's brazen movements, they might have made traps for us, and you were right in saying that. Nobody died, right?", Karl laughed.

Arthur nodded and took the gourd back, "Try to get a good night's rest. We will have to move tomorrow, since the scent of blood will attract beasts. I hope you will recover enough to be carried"

Karl laughed: "I have survived the last faction wars in the tower. I will surely live through these injuries, haha!"

Arthur shook his head inwardly. However, his successful poisoning was hidden behind a 'sad, apologetic' facial expression. Still, Arthur turned his back to Karl and continued his night's watch.

A few hours later, Arthur received a notification that made him smile.

[You have successfully killed [Level 6 Acolyte - Karl Yale]. You have earned 90 EXP]

[Your actions were deemed incredibly wicked]

[Your skill [Cruelty] has been activated]

[You have earned an additional 50 EXP]

'Now, I only have to make sure that John conveniently dies in the Orc Attack...', Arthur thought, 'Still, 140 EXP for a murder...I never thought that the [Cruelty] skill would come in handy so soon. I might as well work for the Old Diana more often judging from the returns'

Just to make sure, he scanned his subordinates.

[William Wolf - Level 5 Acolyte. Status - Asleep]

[Evangeline Falister - Level 3 Acolyte. Status - Fear]

[John Bellford - Level 3 Acolyte. Status - Asleep]

[Karl Yale - Level 6 Acolyte. Status - Dead]

'Damn it...This damned woman woke up and probably understood what I did...', Arthur cursed inwardly.

Killing her was not an option either, since he planned on killing John already. If he returned alone, then Dorian's trust in him would greatly decrease. Losing one or two acolytes in a high-risk mission was plausible, but losing more would be suspicious, especially after he had displayed enough strength to overpower a famous Knight.