Raindrops wet the ground as Valthar approached the edge of the city.

  Through the streets he walked by priests could be seen rushing around.

  They talked to people, knocked on doors and walked inside houses.

  They were clearly searching for someone or something, yet Valthar had walked uninterrupted.

  Thanks to his weak appearance and miniscule mana signature, priests dismissed him even from a distance.

  However, glance by glance Valthar felt his heart speed up and sweat gather on his back.

  ‘Why am I nervous?’

  He frowned.

  He had walked these streets before and though he was a black mage, he wasn’t a demon worshiper.

  In practice he was the most innocent passerby of all! A man who already went through the Church’s purification ritual.

  Yet his mind was alert and his heart troubled.

  As if they were there just to stop him from…

  ‘What am I even trying to do?’ He questioned, but didn’t stop his steps.

  As if by magic he reached the treeline without any interference.

  He let out a relieved sigh and closed his eyes.

  He shouldn’t have known what to do from here and yet his body moved as if guided towards a goal.

  His life sense spread out slowly, at first nothing special appeared, but soon a few hundred meters away something caught his attention.

  A human near death was close by.

  And though their life force pulsed weakly, their desire to live was so strong that it almost overwhelmed Valthar.

  Cane in hand he hurried over the muddy terrain, only to stop a few seconds later.

  In between him and the dying human, a dozen or so bodies could be seen laid down on the ground.

  Men and women, from 20’s to 40’s, their profiles varied a lot.

  Still two items seemed to connect all of the dead in Valthar’s mind.

  First each of the bodies had a corresponding black dagger on them, be it on their hands or near their bodies.

  And secondly, on at least half of the bodies a red ring could be seen shining under the rain.

  He remembered the talk from the tall and short man.

  A ring that could grant power, a dozen false duplicates spread around to distract the nobles hunting for it… or at least that's what the duo thieves had thought.

  For when Valthar’s looked at the rings through his life sense his heart grew cold on his chest.

  The rings were not normal and each of them actually held a lot of life force…

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  Enough to be comparable to what a living person normally held…

  A suspicion grew in the back of his mind.

  His eyes scanned the bodies fast, till he found exactly what he expected.

  On the muddy ground he recognised two bodies from a distance, the two men he had encountered in his outing a few days ago.

  “A demon worshiper…” Valthar whispered with a deep frown.

  He remembered hearing someone had given these people the rings not long ago and in his mind, only a demon would do such barbarities for no reason.

  Yet that explanation sounded farfetched once you considered a high level priest had passed by Emberheart not long ago.

  Few were the demons that dared to fight against the Church so directly.

  “I lack too much information to know the truth.” He shook his head and circled around the bodies.

  Not for a second he dared to fumble around with the life energy inside the rings.

  Even if it was enough to save him months of life force collection, everyone knew demons were too insidious to even risk contact.

  Be it poor or rich, noble or commoner, the Church made sure everyone knew about their dangerous ways.

  …

  As Valthar approached the dying person low moans of pain reached his ears.

  ‘A woman and she looks familiar.’

  Somewhat tall and lean, with brown hair and conspicuously red shining eyes, his mind struggled for a moment trying to recall where he had seen her.

  Then it hit him, this was the woman who booted him out of the forest many days ago.

  ‘Had her eyes always shone with this red light?’ He didn’t need a good memory to guess they didn’t.

  “Finally you’re here…” She said weakly with a mix of pain and relief. “Please, save me already, I don't wanna die.”

  Her words startled Valthar for a moment, she sounded not only sure of his arrival, but as if his ability to help her was guaranteed, when even Valthar himself wasn’t that confident on it.

  ‘I wasn't seeing things last night… that was a demon.’ Valthar concluded as the memory of Marco's eyes shining with red light surfaced in his mind.

  His heart skipped a beat as he took a step back.

  With a frown he willed his life sense to shrink in size and scanned her as deeply as he could.

  She felt human, dense bones, strong muscles and ignoring a few old wounds her body felt extremely healthy.

  ‘Meelee fighter or really into exercise.’ Valthar tagged in his mind, after all bones like hers weren’t built in a week or two, but through years of consistent overload.

  On the other hand, the feedback he got about her life force was deeply worrying.

  She was barely alive, with her life force already so thin her organs had started to shut down.

  The cause caught Valthar's attention a moment later.

  A red ring that hung around her neck like a pendant.

  Like a beast it clawed at her life force, in a ravenous struggle to absorb it, yet something beyond Valthar's sense seemed to keep it at bay for now…

  Just enough so the woman wouldn't immediately die.

  With his mana veins burned Valthar couldn't determine if what kept her alive was elemental or demonic mana.

  Even then he wouldn't blink twice before betting every single coin he had that this miraculous survival was demonic in nature.

  ‘If a demon wants her to live should I even save this woman?’ Valthar asked himself, deeply conflicted.

  “I’m afraid… help me… please…” Another plea escaped her lips, now filled with despair and doubt.

  Valthar stared in silence, hand tightening around his cane.

  The situation felt obvious to his mind.

  Demons are entities known for being both deadly and insidious.

  This woman was a stranger.

  Going by the black dagger she owned, she was related to an organization that was at best shady and at worst straight up criminal.

  If she died here, it wouldn't be his fault.

  For Valthar to walk away here was the obvious and most logically correct decision he could take.

  He knew that very clearly and yet… an emotion gnawed at his heart.

  A question that made his feet step closer instead of away.

  ‘If I actualy walked away here, what would be the difference between me and the fuckers from the caravan who reported me to the church?’ Valthar bit his lip.

  ‘I shouldn’t do this.’ He thought to himself as he kneeled beside her.

  "This is so stupid.” He cussed, before he closed his eyes and commanded the life force on the red ring to flow back into her body.