The party was silent for a few seconds, Gyan was now visible once again.
"Yeah!"
"Easy!"
"Let's go!"
"Eat that!"
Without waiting another second, Alto strangely poked the thing with his sword.
{You have slain Baby Parasitic Worm}
{You have gained 400 XP!}
{Level Up}
{You have unlocked a new stat!}
'So it was still alive.. Wait! A baby parasitic worm?'
Not long after, they harvested two large crystals from the worm. The two of them were with more than the twenty baby ones they used.
It was still a great achievement. According to the Book of Sky Island Monsters for Incompetent No Good Lazy Idiots. It was the fourth weakest monster residing here. It was a name the Alto found quite strange.
The group entered the town with proud expressions on their faces. Something however, seemed off. There was a group of people gathered around one of the domelike homes.
Glaive and Trace both seemed worried. They quickly approached the scene. Trace was the one to ask. A local answered that someone was murdered in their home. The man turned to face Alto with a disgusted expression and turned away.
The group brought the crystal to the merchant together, their expressions seemed more solemn than before. They ended up splitting the coins into four separate shares; they seemed to have forgotten about Gyan's bigger share.
They ended up going their separate ways. Well Trace and Glaive went the same way.
After walking into the hotel, he came face to face with Hia.
"Did you have a big haul today?"
Alto hesitated for a few moments.
"Yeah, we ended up slaying a massive worm."
'Well not massive, it was only a baby after all.'
"That's cool..."
She gestured with a thumbs up.
"... did you hear about the murder?"
"Yeah, I happened to have walked by the crime scene."
"So you were outside when the murder happened?"
"Yes?"
She seemed much more snappy, but somehow not aggressive or accusing.
"Can your friends confirm that?"
"Yes, I was with them for the whole day."
"Ok.. good… just be more careful. With your time here."
"...I'll keep that in mind?"
It seemed obvious what she was implying. The blame would probably be blamed on the outsider. No one would want to believe that their friends or neighbors killed someone.
Alto gave her a wave and continued to his room. It was strangely dark inside. Much darker than usual. Lighting the torch chased away the shadows. Though not as much as it was supposed to.
The darkness seemed oppressing. Alto suddenly got a chill. Thinking that the place was haunted he tried to scare away any ghosts. A large sinister smile appeared on his face, as he turned to the farthest wall. With each word, he tilted his head sideways.
"I, see, you."
The room was silent for a few moments.
"Well, I wasn't expecting that."
Suddenly the darkness dissipated. A figure of a man could be seen near the wall. His face was still shrouded in darkness.
'Who the hell is this!'
Not knowing what to say, Alto continued strangely smiling at him. As if the expression was frozen on his face.
"You're going to die soon. They're going to kill you. Unless, you join me. You're an outsider so I know you're powerful, I however, don't understand why you're pretending to be weak? It's… strange. You can see me, yet you can barely slay a baby parasite."
"Join you?"
The strange figure hesitated for a few moments.
"I want you, to do a little something for me… You see, I need a little distraction. I want you to simply go around… killing people. It doesn't matter who, of course."
'Is he crazy?'
"And why would I ever do that?"
A large book suddenly flew towards Alto, he ended up catching it.
"This is the book they follow, page two twenty if you will."
Alto hesitantly opened the book, he was curious of whatever this man's point was.
'The man known as The Demon King, originated from a land called Earth, he wasn't the only one. Several other evil people with names such as Drowning Ocean, Endless Abyss, Mountain Slayer, and Inferno Fury. All originated from this land. It is believed to be cursed, what? Anyone who comes from this land shall become a tyrannical murderer. Who will bring nothing but ruin.'
Alto didn't know what to say, on one hand other people from Earth seemed to have somehow traveled here. On the other hand, they all seemed to be evil.
"You want me to kill people, based off, this book?"
"No, I want you to kill, in order to survive."
"You got it! When should I start killing people? I mean I was born from the cursed world! I'm totally going to go around killing people. Totally friend!"
This was of course a lie. Saying no to the man seemed like it would certainly lead to death. Alto had no intention of killing anyone.
The man hesitated, a strange red light could be seen flicking near his hand.
"...A lie, huh."
'Damnit!'
"All of it, just a lie. Ugh."
With that the man exited the room, before he left. He spoke once more.
"See you around, friend."
With that, he left the room. It was quiet for a few moments. The silence was broken by a loud scream heard just outside Alto's room.
'Hia!'
Alto quickly ran outside his room, expecting the worst. Instead what he saw was her sitting on top of a desk with some kind of rat creature near the ground.
'Thank god.'
{You have slain Parasitic Rodent}
{You have gained 12 XP!}
'Who was that guy anyway?'