The Regressed Heir of Ravencrest

Chapter 52: The Calm Beofre the Hunt

Adrian carefully broke the golden seal.

The parchment unfolded on its own.

Only a handful of lines had been written in elegant golden script.

Adrian,

When the Imperial Summons reaches you, activate this token with your aura. We shall speak then.

— Cassian Solaris

Adrian’s brows drew together.

Token?

Before the thought could fully form, the golden script began to shimmer. The words dissolved one after another into countless golden motes of light. Moments later, the parchment itself followed, disintegrating silently until nothing remained in Adrian’s hands.

The golden motes drifted through the air before converging before him.

Light condensed.

A palm-sized token slowly emerged from the fading radiance. It was forged from an unfamiliar golden metal, its surface engraved with an intricate dragon crest surrounding ancient runes. The runes shimmered beneath the surface before gradually disappearing, leaving the token looking no different from an ordinary piece of metal.

Adrian reached out and caught it. The moment his fingers touched its surface, a faint warmth spread through his palm before vanishing completely.

Did the Mage Saint create a new artifact?

The thought lingered in Adrian’s mind. The current Mage Saint stood at the pinnacle of magical craftsmanship. If anyone in the Empire could create an artifact capable of transforming from a simple letter into a sealed object, it would be him. Yet something about the token felt different. He couldn’t sense any mana fluctuations, nor could he identify the material from which it had been forged.

He studied it in silence for a few moments before carefully placing it inside his spatial ring.

Whatever lay ahead... the Emperor had already made his own preparations.

Back in the present.

Ethan woke up in his room and put on his training clothes before making his way to the training ground and began with his daily routine. He started with running a few laps followed by push-ups, sit-ups, squats, before drawing the Eternal Sovereign Blade. The black blade sliced cleanly through the air as he practiced the basic sword movements and finished with the first three forms of the Northern Heaven War Art. By the time he finished, a few drops of sweat ran down his forehead.

"That felt good..."

Just as he was sheathing the Eternal Sovereign Blade the familiar golden screen appeared before him.

----

[Blood Essence Acquired]

Snowclaw Bear Essence — 216

Ironhound Essence — 120

Ironfang Essence — 12

Total Essence Acquired — 348

Total Blood Essence Stored — 359

----

Finally...

"It seems the more monsters I kill, the longer it takes to refine the Blood Essence. I should try to increase its grade if possible." Ethan thought as he made his way back to his room.

He quickly showered and put on his clothes and leather armor. He was on his way to the Adventurer Guild when he noticed the streets were busier than usual, with a lot of hunters making their way toward the inner fortress.

By the time he arrived, mercenaries and hunters had gathered surrounded the mission board.

The guild hall buzzed with far more activity than usual. Mercenaries pushed through the crowd while veteran hunters argued over newly posted requests. Guild employees hurried between counters carrying stacks of documents, replacing old notices with fresh emergency commissions almost as quickly as they were accepted.

The smell of steel, leather, and ale still lingered throughout the hall, but the usual laughter was nowhere to be heard. Tense whispers filled the space instead, groups clustering together and exchanging rumors in lowered voices. Even experienced hunters who normally boasted openly about their exploits wore unusually serious expressions, their eyes repeatedly drifting toward the mission board. Whatever had been posted overnight had unsettled people who didn’t unsettle easily.

Hmm...

"This is unusual. Is there anything new today?" Ethan thought as he expanded his senses without slowing his pace.

"T-The Four Great Evils — aren’t they usually active in the south and the west? Why are they here now?" A hunter with a frail build and a hoarse voice said.

"Who cares? If we find even a trace of them, the bounty alone will keep us drinking for months. And if we get their heads we can drink all year round and still won’t have to worry." Another hunter with a bald head and a scar running down his face said with a grin hanging at his lips.

"Yeah...yeah — before you take their heads they’ll bury you six feet under the ground or use you for their experiments." A female hunter of the same group said mockingly.

"Ahh... why do you always pick on only me?" He grimaced.

"As if you would understand." She said sarcastically.

Ethan immediately pieced together several possibilities.

Did anything happen recently?

The Four Great Evils shouldn’t have appeared this early...

Something must have happened to force them into the open.

His thoughts immediately drifted to the black mist hidden within Ice Valley.

Corrupted energy...

If the corrupted energy was involved... then the Emperor would almost certainly have dispatched the Sword Saint to Ravenhold.

The Sword Saint would have investigated Ice Valley and found out the corrupted energy was related to them.

But what exactly had he discovered?

The sudden appearance of the Four Great Evils couldn’t be a coincidence... yet Ethan couldn’t find the missing link connecting the two.

He quickly analysed a few cases of what might have happened but without solid information he couldn’t reach a definitive conclusion.

It seems the only way to know is by asking Uncle Marcus or Evelyn, but they won’t give me an answer even if I ask. If I secretly sneak into Uncle’s office... maybe I can find something, but he will certainly find out even if I use the Night Sovereign Art, and just getting into the inner fortress will give me a headache.

What should I do? He ran his fingers through his hair, thinking through the possibilities.

At a time like this I wish those money-obsessed bastards were here... he thought of the Veiled Hand, an organisation which handles information, notoriously known for its leader who is obsessed with money.

For now let’s see if there are any missions which will earn me War Merit. Ethan put aside his thoughts and waited until the mission board was clear.

He found a few C-rank missions related to scouting and a few miscellaneous ones.

At last his eyes settled upon one.

[Mission — C Rank]

Location: Villages surrounding the Maple River, outer district

Description: Unusual activity has been reported near the villages surrounding the Maple River, accompanied by an increasing number of disappearances.

Objective: Investigate the source of the threat and eliminate it.

Reward: 20 Gold (Reward may increase depending on the information obtained and the threat assessment.)

For now let’s take this mission — we can eliminate any monsters we find along the way. Ethan pulled the posting from the board and took it to the clerk. She processed the details quickly and slid the stamped card back across the counter without a word.

Near Greenwich Village, beside the Maple River.

The village had long since fallen silent.

Collapsed homes still smouldered while the metallic scent of blood lingered heavily in the air. Bodies lay scattered across the streets, their expressions forever frozen in terror. Even the birds that normally circled above the river had abandoned the area, leaving behind an eerie silence broken only by the gentle flow of water.

"Heh... It’s been a long time since I came out... and my first mission is already this entertaining."

A cruel laugh escaped the black-robed man.

The symbol of Eclipse rested proudly upon his robes, while grotesque stitches ran across his flesh as though several different bodies had been crudely sewn together. Beast-like claws extended from his fingers, and beneath tangled hair, reptilian eyes surveyed the massacre with unmistakable satisfaction.

The man raised a skull-shaped artifact and began chanting.

A strange magic circle formed beneath it, crimson mist flowing outward in slow, deliberate tendrils. The mist engulfed the corpses. In the next instant, every drop of blood was drawn from their bodies, leaving behind nothing but pale, shrivelled husks.

The crimson mist surged back toward the skull-shaped artifact, disappearing into its hollow eye sockets. The artifact pulsed once — then again — as though something within had been nourished.

The grotesque man lowered it slowly, a twisted smile spreading across his stitched face.

"Still not enough..."

His reptilian eyes swept across the silent village.

"So little..."

He clicked his tongue in disappointment before nudging one of the shrivelled corpses with the tip of his boot.

"After all that screaming... this is all you had to offer?"

His grotesque fingers tightened around the skull-shaped artifact as faint crimson veins spread across its surface before disappearing once more.

"It seems I’ll need far more sacrifices before the ritual can truly begin."

A distorted chuckle escaped his lips as he turned his gaze toward the distant forests beyond the village.

"There should be another settlement nearby..."

Without another glance at the lifeless bodies scattered behind him, the black-robed figure disappeared slowly into the trees, leaving behind nothing but silence and the lingering scent of blood.