(22) Setting Off

––– Somewhere outside Wiunlen...

Oslan and Riang sat down on the grass near the road that leads to Mysteriea City. Riang was counting the coins to make sure that it was the right amount.

"Riang, where do you think Owen went? Until now, he's still not here." Oslan was getting tired of waiting.

It was still early in the morning. Yesterday, the three of them finalized their plans and prepared to set off today. Owen told them to wait for him because he was going to settle something important.

They packed everything that they have and anything that would be important. Both Oslan and Riang bought rye bread, beef jerky and containers for water. They couldn't afford a good quality container for water, so they opted to use Nulmiap Trunks instead.

It's a type of tree that grows like bamboo which means that both have a hollow middle. But Nulmiap Trees aren't wooden. In fact, they're like banana trees, except Nulmiap grows in a hollow cylinder shape.

The two of them got Owen to chop some down so that they could store water inside them. And to prevent the Nulmiap jugs from being contaminated in any way, Owen stored four large Nulmiap water jugs in his inventory.

Riang didn't take her eyes off the coins as she replied. "2,800… 2,900… I don't know, don't ask me… 3,000."

Oslan sighed. He tapped his hands rhythmically on the linen sack with a string that was currently sitting atop his lap.

As the two of them waited, they both heard wooden wheels turning behind them.

*Creak…*

It was Owen who was pushing a four wheeled wagon.

Oslan was surprised. "Owen? You're finally here.. And, what's with that wagon?" Oslan stood up and carefully pulled the sack's string on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, I need your help with something." Owen waved his hand dismissively and beckoned for Oslan to come over.

Oslan obliged.

Owen pointed inside the wagon and said, "See that rope? Tie it around the handlebar in a loop."

He instructed Oslan to tie straps on the handlebar just like what Udehr did to his wagon back when he was working with them.

Riang subtly glanced at the two before finishing her count of the coins.

Oslan did as he was told and asked once again, "Where did you get this wagon? It looks high quality for some reason…"

"Just get on." Owen looked impatient.

Noticing his expression, Oslan swallowed his words and hopped inside.

Riang fixed the bundles of coins in her pockets, she then stood up and looked at Owen suspiciously.

"Why are you acting so strangely all of a sudden? Also, why is the wagon damaged in this area?" Riang pointed to a spot of the wagon where it looked like a part was chopped off.

"I'll explain later. Just get on the wagon so that we can leave." Owen inserted his arms into the rope, ready to move out any time. He wasn't in the mood to answer their questions.

"Okay, okay. You seem to be more eager to leave than I am." Riang suppressed her curiosity before hopping inside the wagon.

After seeing that they're all set, Owen began moving. The wheels of the wagon turned, making it a bit easier for Owen to move.

The [Wagon Master] perk is currently active.

Right now, the sun has yet to rise, so the road was still dark.

Inside the wagon, Riang leaned her back while sitting. "I can't believe I'm actually going to leave Wiunlen after two years… I'm going to miss this place."

"I feel the same way since I grew up here. But at the same time, exploring unknown places is also exciting." Oslan dropped off the sack next to him.

"This is just the start… The places that we'll be going to are dangerous." Riang had already been preparing herself mentally for the future.

Ignoring her somewhat pessimistic comment, Oslan began to let his mind wander. "I wonder what Mysteriea City is like. I heard that it's a huge city… What do you think the city has that Wiunlen doesn't?" began to imagine different things in her head.

"I don't know, more magical nonsense? Owen did say that they focus on soul energy quite a lot." Riang replied.

"Hey Owen." Oslan peeked his head over to look at Owen from the wagon.

"What's up?" Owen didn't turn his head around, but he still gave a response.

"What do you know about Mysteriea?"

"Depends on what you want to know."

Oslan began thinking. "Uhh, okay.. Do you think I can awaken the ability to use soul energy? What I meant is, can Mysteriea City give me the opportunity to use soul energy?"

"Yes, but you probably don't need it from there." Owen gave an answer that was a set-up for another question.

"What do you mean by that?" Oslan was obviously curious why Owen would say so.

"Before I tell you, I want you to tell me if you've ever been wounded before. This is important, so answer truthfully." Owen attached a sense of importance to the question.

Oslan figured that it was Owen's style of talking, so he went along with it.

"To be honest… I've only been wounded two times in my entire life." Oslan had other people point out his abnormality to avoid sustaining injuries. He mainly attributed it to dumb luck and didn't place much importance on it.

"Don't you find that strange?" Owen glanced back at him.

"I- I do… From what I'm getting, you know the reason why?" Oslan might be weak, but he wasn't dimwitted. He could follow the cues that Owen has been giving.

Oslan was ready to receive the answer. He listened carefully in order to avoid mishearing it.

Owen smiled, "Yes, I know the reason why. It's because you have the bloodline that belongs to a bull beastman."

Owen's words struck like lightning into Oslan's heart.

Because the different races in this world had such deep hatred for each other, they were extremely derogatory and discriminative towards anyone who wasn't the same as them. Therefore, it was rare for a half-blood of any race to appear because they will be ostracized by almost everyone.

This was the reason why Oslan found Owen's answer very improbable.

Riang felt the same way. She spoke up, "Owen, are you saying that Oslan is a half-blood?"

Knowing the consequences of being revealed to be a half-blood, Owen immediately denied it. "No, what I'm saying is that the ancestral beastman blood in Oslan's body is so deeply ingrained. Yes, he is human, but if this bloodline awakens, he'll experience the full strengthening traits of a beastman and still look the same. This was the reason why he is so weak, but he has an almost inextinguishable stamina and powerful durability."

"The bloodline only appeared in Oslan's body because it resurfaces every now and then in different generations. But because it's so thin, it needs something to awaken it completely."

"And the best part is that you can help him awaken that bloodline by using the Beisena Blood. Oslan will gain his rightful strength because of it." He added.

"Eh?" Riang was dumbstruck. She looked at her hands as if she was verifying if she received real info. "Beisena Blood? My bloodline?"

Oslan gathered his will to speak once again despite feeling as if he was electrocuted from the shock that Owen gave him. "How can Riang help me awaken it?"

"Easy… But first of all Riang, can you transfer your blood origin to Oslan?" Owen turned to Riang this time.

However, Riang didn't respond as expected. Instead she was hesitant as she posed her question, "Uhm… What is blood origin?"

"You don't know?" Owen showed a complicated expression.

"I really don't…" Riang shook her head.

"Oslan?" Owen asked him instead.

Oslan pointed to himself for a bit and also shook his head.

'Well that's troublesome…' Owen thought that Riang knew what blood origin was. He assumed that she did because Riang infused her blood origin to Oslan's dying body to save his life.

Turns out, she may have done so on impulse. She didn't know what she was doing at that moment. All she cared about was to save Oslan's life.

'How touching…' Owen groaned internally.

Thankfully, he knew how to explain it. He originally didn't want to do so because of how much of a pain it would be.

"Alright, listen up. The reason why you can regenerate those crystals in your blood is because of your blood origin. If I were to use an analogy to simplify it, the crystals produced would be a fingernail and your blood origin is the finger. If the finger is gone, you can obviously no longer regenerate your fingernail."

"Severe loss of blood origin can permanently damage it. But if it was transferred bit by bit to someone else like Oslan over here, your blood origin will weaken for a short period of time, but it can still recover to its peak eventually."

Owen decided to shorten the explanation because he didn't feel like running his mouth on the specifics.

"Huh.." Riang understood the main principles about blood origin, but it feels like it was forcefully crammed into her brain.

"So, are you willing to transfer a bit of your blood origin to Oslan?" Owen asked.

Oslan nervously looked at Riang. If she says yes, he wouldn't have to be so mediocre anymore. Just thinking about the prospects of gaining strength was tempting enough for him.

Riang didn't reject it at all. "Of course I'm willing, it's just that…" She then scratched her head in confusion. "I don't know how to."

"Don't worry, those with a special bloodline can acutely sense their blood origin by delving deep into the connection of their body and soul." This was a lore entry in the game and Owen was just recounting it.

He was no expert. He was just somebody who has information that is normally inaccessible to others.

"Let me try…" Riang closed her eyes and concentrated. She wanted to try and sense her blood origin.

When her consciousness dived into her soul, Riang could faintly sense a sea of red.

She was surrounded in a bloody pool of strange liquid. Riang's vision changed as if it was now able to see the blood red pool in person.

She swam around the viscous sea to try and find anything noteworthy.

Like a fish swimming in a swamp bumping into plants, Riang was hit by strands of coagulated blood.

She pushed through and swam deeper and deeper into the space between her bloodline and soul.

It didn't take long for her to sense the bright red light deep in the sea. By following it, she soon found a clump of thick red liquid that emitted a strong presence of light. When she tried to interact with it, the clump of red liquid felt like a part of her.

The thick, blood red liquid extended a tendril according to Riang's will.

'This is crazy... This must be the blood origin thay Owen is talking about.' Riang was astonished. She played around with her blood origin and made it churn and morph into different shapes.

And without her realizing, she accidentally sliced off a bit of the liquid making her feel very weak all of a sudden.

This jolted her back to her senses.

Riang opened her eyes with beads of sweat on her face. Her breathing hastened as she felt a wave of weakness assault her body.

This feeling quickly receded and Riang found her strength back.

Oslan noticed her weird reaction and asked her with concern, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so but…" Riang unconsciously glanced at her palm and saw a drop of blood that glowed with a red light. "Owen, I think I did it…"

"That fast?" Owen was surprised. He turned his head to take a look.

When he saw the drop of blood that she extracted into her palm, he rejoiced. "Yes, that's it. That's blood origin right there…"

Owen didn't have to take a closer look. Just from its ability to glow, he already knew that it was legit.

"Oslan, drink that drop of blood. It's not yet enough, but by repeated consumption of those drops every time Riang healed her blood origin, you'll eventually awaken your bloodline." Owen said encouragingly.

Owen knew that if Oslan managed to fully awaken his bloodline, he could gain the help of a powerful combatant by his side.

After hearing what he said, Riang grabbed Oslan's hand and tried to give him the drop of blood on her palm by shaking it off her. But because it was firmly sticking to her skin, it wouldn't move at all.

Seeing this, she tried to wipe it into his palm, but it surprisingly phased through his hand and directly entered his bloodstream instead.

Oslan felt a surge of strength from his palm slowly spread throughout his body. He felt a unique sense of warmth comforting him.

"Wow… I feel stronger just from that little bit." Oslan looked refreshed. He looked at his hands and clenched them before releasing.

"What do you mean little bit? Is that how you treat my blood origin?" Riang pouted with her arms crossed.

"N- no, I didn't mean it that way.. it's plenty, it's very plenty!" Oslan began to apologize profusely.

Riang smirked teasingly. "You're welcome.."

Oslan secretly sighed in exasperation.

Meanwhile, Owen watched the entire process with a nod of approval.

"Just a reminder Riang, check the state of your blood origin. If part of it is black as tar, that means it's permanently damaged. But if it's just darkened, it indicates that it can still heal." Owen also warned Riang to be careful.

Heeding his warning, Riang delved into her soul once again. And since it was the second time she did it, the process was a lot easier.

She saw the clump of liquid with a patch of dark red. She heaved a sigh of relief before reporting what she saw to Owen.

The journey went on smoothly.

They watched the sun slowly rise up. There was a mix of hesitation, eagerness and curiosity to the road ahead for them.

Owen pulled the wagon with his shoulders for fifteen minutes now. At this point, they couldn't see Wiunlen at all anymore.

What surrounded them from all sides are trees and foliage.

Riang and Oslan talked for a bit to pass the time. Owen occasionally replied to their questions but that's about it. He didn't become meddlesome because he isn't that crappy of a person.

"... You know, I've come to appreciate you Owen for bringing a wagon. Are you sure you aren't tired? I can switch with you if you want." Oslan laid down the wagon. Until now, both him and Riang didn't have to walk an inch because of Owen.

The effort Owen was putting just for their comfort was commendable. Oslan's perception of him even grew higher because of it.

"This is the fourth time you have offered to help. And like I said, no need.. I'm not tired yet." Owen replied once again.

"About the wagon, why don't you tell us how you got it in the first place? You seem to be very secretive when we asked you about it." Riang was staring at the cloudless sky as shadows of trees ran past her face.

"Oh.." Now that they're far enough from Wiunlen, Owen decided to reveal it now.

"Last night, I happened to see a bunch of parked wagons outside the main building of the Ichor Construction Guild branch. So, I chopped the insignia off the wood and hid the wagon somewhere." Owen partly admitted what he did.

Riang and Oslan quickly got up and looked at him with bewildered expressions.

"You stole this wagon??" Oslan was shocked.

"Yep." Owen didn't refute it at all.

Riang laid back down and said, "At least it takes us to the destination faster..."

Something still didn't sit right with Oslan. "I know but, isn't that wrong?" He laid back down as well after voicing his concern.

"What am I supposed to do then? Return it? The Ichor dude is rich, a missing wagon wouldn't hurt him." Owen didn't care at all.

"Good point, there's no use going back now… But that doesn't mean I'm fine with you going around stealing random stuff, do we have that clear?" Riang sounded firm with her statement.

"I'm no kleptomaniac." Owen replied.

"Sure… But what drove you to steal this to begin with?" Riang yawned as she stretched her back.

"Hmmmm…" Owen thought back to what he did approximately 7 hours ago.

— Last night…

Riang was laying down on her bed, trying to get some sleep. Oslan already went home to prepare for tomorrow.

After discussing the plan, they went ahead and bought supplies that they would need for the trip. It wasn't too long ago. Owen and Riang just got back from gathering Nulmiap trunks for their water supply.

Right now, all Riang wanted to do was sleep and grab all her stuff the moment she woke up.

As she tried to find a comfortable position, Riang suddenly heard the door open. She asked without lifting an eyelid, "Where are you going? It's already night time, what's there to do?"

"I can't sleep… I'm just going to go somewhere to clear my mind." Owen stopped on his way.

"Take the key in the top drawer… Just don't be noisy when you go back." Riang shifted her position to lay down on her side.

Owen raised his eyebrows. "You sure?"

"Mhm.. I trust you. After gathering water for us earlier, can't I express my thanks to you?"

"Sweet, alright I'll take it." Owen pulled the drawer and took the key before safely putting it into his inventory.

He left the room and locked it. Riang wasn't worried that she would be locked in because the door can only be opened from the inside even if it was locked. And if for some reason, the door can't be opened, she can blast it away with soul energy and get out.

Although that would be a last resort.

The moment Owen walked out, he already noticed how there were less people now that it's approaching midnight.

He wasn't planning to stay put in one place. Owen cannot rest for a long time if he wants to keep the [Fatigue-9] debuff to keep going.

Right now, all Owen did was check out the different parts of Wiunlen. He wasn't particularly looking for anything to happen. Even if nothing interesting occurred, that was enough for him as long as he can maintain his current state.

He found a cat though, so that's something.

*Hiisssss!*

Owen tried to pet it but the cat's hairs all stood up as it hissed at him before running away.

A few people who were still out passed by. Owen could see their name tags, but they weren't any special.

Except for one guy that had an orange colored name tag above his head. Owen quickly turned to get a better look just in case he saw wrongly.

[Luram Nwan - Level 8]

[Affiliation - Ichor Construction Guild, Illegal Courier]

[Skills - Unavailable] (You do not have the necessary detection skill/s to view the following information.)

'Illegal Courier???' Owen's mouth opened slightly. He almost blurted out what he saw. Thankfully, his self control was strong enough.

Now that Owen saw someone who is possibly a bad guy, he had to follow the guy named Luram.

Why?

Of course, to kill him!

Since Owen could only grow stronger through experience points, he was more willing to kill a criminal for them.

If that was his goal, why not kill normal people alongside it?

If Owen did that, there would be consequences if he got caught. When dealing with criminals though, depending on their crime, he might not be punished as heavily since the laws here are very different than those on Earth.

Owen unequipped his hauberk because it was too noisy. And by using the shadows, he remained hidden while following Luram from a distance.

But the more he followed him, the more familiar the place looked. Eventually, Owen realized that Luram was going to the warehouse.

Outside the warehouse were fourteen parked wagons tied to a chain. Other workers were also there, about to leave after finishing their work.

"... Luram, it's late. Are you still working?" A man with a deep voice asked when he spotted Luram carrying a wagon away. He wore a sleeveless linen coat and had black slicked hair.

Luram's body tensed. He pressed his teeth together as he hastily crafted an excuse. "Oh, uhh… I forgot to do something and I think I should fix it today."

"Can't you do that tomorrow?" The man had a slight mist of doubt in his mind.

"No, I think it'll be better if I do it today so that my worries would be lessened." Luram hastened his pace as he got farther away from them.

"If that's what you want to do…" The man didn't want to get embroiled in matters that didn't concern him, so he chose to stop thinking about Luram's objectives. It's not like he's the one getting in trouble if something happens.

In one of the corners of the street, Owen witnessed the entire conversation. And my god is he disappointed at Luram's inability to create a good lie.

He hastened his footsteps to catch up to Luram. Owen noticed that they were starting to leave the grounds that belonged to Wiunlen.

Luram changed his direction towards an intersection to get into a discreet alleyway. He was now out of Owen's line of sight. Owen didn't follow immediately because the angle that he would have to follow him would reveal himself.

It would only take one look back to see him.

Owen wasn't out of ideas yet. He simply climbed up a house and carefully walked on the rooftops to avoid making a sound. His back was slightly scrunched and each of his steps always started by using his heels to lessen the noise.

By observing from above, Owen was able to follow Luram while the latter remained unaware that he was being followed.

Eventually, Luram stopped in his tracks and said, "I'm here… we can start now."

Owen's eyes followed Luram's direction to see who he was talking to.

He didn't see anything or anyone until it moved.

It was an androgynous figure covered in a gold embroidered ritualistic white cloak with an emotionless porcelain mask under the hood. This person walked towards Luram. If the figure didn't move, Owen would've never sensed their presence because of how undetectable the figure seemed.

This person had an indescribable sense of danger around them that alarmed Owen greatly. His instincts made him lower his head and hide.

Owen clearly knew that he was weak, so it was natural that many things would be able to avoid his perception. But for someone to remain inconspicuous despite directly looking at them, it indicated that they were a realm above the observer.

[Iovoi - Level 87]

[Affiliation - Demon Baron Praest]

[Skills - Unavailable] (You do not have the necessary detection skill/s to view the following information.)

In God's good grace, the figure didn't seem to notice Owen at all.

"You made a wonderful decision Luram…" The figure's voice was a mix of both an old man and a young maiden. These two voices overlapped and echoed on top of each other.

Clapping their hands together, the figure in white lifted their finger, gesturing for Luram to follow.

"To fulfill the requirements of the ritual, a suitable offering is a must… Come, come. I do not wish to carry out something so vile."