Chapter 12: Spy Mission
"How did I freaking get a sword that literally seems to be most effective against ghosts right when I need it?" he said with a skeptical voice.
His gut told him it wasn’t a coincidence; hell, it can’t be a coincidence, but he also had no idea what was going on.
"This changes everything then," he said while staring at the sword in his hand.
Though he didn’t know too much about the grades of equipment, genes, and their differences, from the information he got about Boost two grades, he knew these swords weren’t too bad.
He had been worried about heading to the village again since he had no way of actually taking care of the ghost, but now that he had gotten a way, Morden came to a decision.
Having made his decision, he figured there would be no need to hold on and waste time any further, so he stood up and approached Layla, who was closer to the entrance, before opening his mouth to speak.
"I will be heading back to the village now, but I am only going there to scout," Morden said while he walked, not bothering to stop at all.
"Wait," Layla called out, finally getting Morden to stop in his tracks.
"What?" he asked.
"While you were at it, can you please help me check up on my parents?" she begged.
His shoulders fell upon hearing that request, a little bit at a loss as to what to say in such a situation, but he firmed up and hardened his gaze before responding.
"I can’t," he said before continuing his walk.
"But whyyyy?" Layla questioned loudly while she painfully stood up to her feet.
"Because they are dead, and why exactly did you think you are here?"
This time when he finished speaking, he didn’t wait till he heard Layla’s response; instead, he immediately activated a boost and sprung out of there as fast as possible.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa," he suddenly heard a loud scream that contained so much pain from the direction of the cave, but Morden didn’t stop, nor did he look back; he activated boost again, increasing his speed for a short boost.
He didn’t mind the vital energy cost; he just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.
And that thought was actually successful as Morden quickly got a safe distance from the cave area, and he couldn’t hear any of Layla’s shouts anymore.
While he ran towards the village, Morden couldn’t help but mutter out the words that had been on his mind since he had left the cave.
"Am I being cruel for not telling her she did it?" he said with uncertainty in his eyes.
When he had broken the news to her, he had wanted to add the statement that she had actually done it with her own hands, but something held him back.
"It’s better if she doesn’t know."
After that decision, even Morden couldn’t help but laugh at his own hypocrisy, but that still didn’t change his mind.
His run back to the village was much faster than the last time since he wasn’t carrying Layla, but it was also surprisingly more energy draining.
"Going against gravity is really a heavy task,"
In no time, he had arrived back at the village like a night thief, but the only thing he wants to steal now is some information.
The village was as deathly still as the last time he ran away from here; everyone was still fearfully hiding in their tents, and this actually played to Morden’s advantage since there was no one to block his path.
Maintaining as much vigilance as he could, Morden followed the path he knew and headed towards the house of the Mountain Lord (his target), but before that he had stopped to check Layla’s parents again.
And just as he had expected, the bodies still remained there, completely unchanged.
"It seems he doesn’t need the bodies," Morden concluded.
One step at a time, he inched closer to the Mountain Lord house that was slightly different from the others, not just in appearance but in activity level.
Everyone else’s houses were completely quiet, like there were no humans in them at all, but the Mountain Lord house, on the other hand, was even worse.
Instead of the usual quietness you hear from the empty buildings that Morden had been hearing, the Mountain Lord’s house was so quiet it was unnatural and weary.
All the signs were there, blaring at Morden and telling him to turn around and leave, but he ignored them all, and in the blink of an eye, he was already beside the throne that was constructed very close to the house.
As he passed by the throne, his eyes suddenly caught sight of a small source of light from a dark corner of the house not too far away.
And from the direction, it was staring straight at him.
Morden tried all he could to remain calm, but he still couldn’t stop all the drops of sweat flowing straight off his back.
He got closer to those eyes, step by step, all while hoping it wouldn’t charge straight at him the next instant.
"Meeeeooowwwww," a small cat meow suddenly sounded before being followed by a white cat strolling out of the corner to be illuminated by the moon.
Seeing that it was just a cat, Morden’s elevated heart rate slowly subsided until he actually fully calmed down.
"That was close," he muttered while cleaning off the sweat on his forehead.
He had already completely ignored the white cat now and was inching closer to the house, and strangely, the cat didn’t make a single sound further nor disturb Morden in any way.
But the closer he got to the building, the louder it actually got inside; the earlier death stillness he heard before was nowhere to be found. Now it was so active it was also buzzing.
Standing right beside the house, Morden scanned everywhere, searching for a window or an opening so he could check what was inside, and he didn’t actually have to search for too long.
To his far left was a window, and from it, Morden could see a dim light peeking out.
Arriving at the window, Morden raised his head to peek inside, and what he saw caused him to immediately freeze while his mind also completely blanked.