Way of the Knights

Chapter 158 - Not Humans

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"Third rule. Weapons are allowed but we will be ones providing you with that, we will be giving you blunt and wooden weapons that you may use throughout the competition."

"Fourth Rule. Once somebody admitted defeat, the opponent isn't allowed to attack the defeated enemy anymore. If we saw that any of you did, that would considered as a foul move and your qualifications might be revoked."

"Fifth and final rule. Don't try to cheat. No matter what you do, we'll eventually find out anyway and when we do, then we'll deal with you using legal laws. So don't bother trying."

"I've already said my piece. Those who qualify, stay. We'll begin the registration right away. The event will take place tomorrow. All the participants should show up in this place early."

As soon as Loisa explained this, she sat down on the table in front of her and started the registration.

Those who didn't qualify for the competition willingly left the line which made it somewhat shorter. Needless to say, there are some stubborn people who tried their luck only to be found out. Apparently, there is someone beside Loisa who could analyze one's bone structure, allowing him to guess their ages correctly. Every participant has to get checked or else they won't be registered. This is also where those stubborn people were revealed and thanks to that, they could only go home with their heads low in shame.

Raven's registration went out smoothly, after confirming his age, he was then asked about his general details like his name, his background and stuff, well no one forced anyone to reveal anything they aren't comfortable about, some even used aliases and it worked so Raven did as well. He gave them his nickname, but for the background details he left it blank.

He was also asked what kind of weapon did he wanted, he asked for some bracers and moved along.

After he got registered, he met with Elyion who was chewing on some candies by the time he was back. They talked for a while and went onto some places before going back to the inn.

However, something happened on their way back that made Raven incredibly wary.

It was a feeling that made his heart sank, his pupils constricted sharply and alarms of danger kept on echoing in his ears.

As Raven was getting used to the feeling of Tremorsense being constantly active, analyzing the feed that he was getting back from it was done subconsciously. Typically, he would instantly realize something wrong as soon as it happened but for the first time, he failed to realize something.

As soon as he got back on his room, his face immediately paled in horror. Cold sweat dripped down on his face as he clutched his chest tightly.

'The Innkeeper, he isn't human…' Raven yelled inwardly, 'He's something else entirely! And I actually failed to recognize it during the first time I went in here! He always had this typical business attitude so I never placed any thoughts on him.'

'I wonder if he realized that I figured out something?' Raven furrowed his brows in thought, 'I made sure to not react like I did, didn't I? If it weren't for us having any eye contact, I would never realize it.'

'His system was just like that of a human, that's why my tremorsense subconsciously treated him like one, but when I walked pass him earlier my tremorsense swept over him clearly and that's when I realized that none of his organs were functioning!'

'His heart was like a stone, it wasn't beating and was just hanging there on his chest. His blood flow is similarly frozen and his brain is dried up.'

'He's no different that a moving corpse! I noticed it too late! Yet strangely, he doesn't smell like a corpse at all. What sorcery is this?'

The mental feed that Tremorsense sends back to him was just a black and white canvas. Things that aren't touched or penetrated by Tremorsense all appeared black, while those that did were white. Because Tremorsense followed the nature of vibration, it ripples towards things which allowed him to get a frame by frame image in his subconscious mind, which creates a comparison due to the changes.

Human heartbeats are captured by Tremorsense, it swelling and deflation is printed in his subconscious mind clearly, as well as other functioning organs and muscles. However due to the sheer amount of humans surrounding him, keeping close track of things can get a little taxing, which is why he only pays attention to things in a subconscious level.

The Innkeeper's heart never showed any signs of beating during the times when he was scanned by Raven's Tremorsense. The first instinctual thought should be that he died but no, the Innkeeper was somehow 'alive', he even greeted them personally when they got back before doing other errands. It was also that time when Raven noticed this, which made him recall all the times when he was in range of his tremorsense and eventually finding out that he had always been like that.

And to think that, he of all people, failed to notice it. Just the thought alone made him restless.

'What if I hadn't discovered that Jadestones give me vital energy? Then I wouldn't make any breakthroughs, I wouldn't also learn Tremorsense and I would've never realized this. I might have died without knowing how.'

Raven spent time in meditation. He replayed his memories of today and summoned the images caught by his tremorsense to see if there are other like the Innkeeper.

Imagine his surprise when he found out that there are actually at least ten people who fit the description.

Some of them were a part of common folk while the rest…

'One of them I think was a meat vendor, according to what Elyion told me his goods were rather sought after by many people. Who could've imagined that this local meat supplier was actually a walking and talking corpse.'

'Another one was an old lady who sells liquor. Her store was pretty popular too but Elyion had no idea why since he's a minor and wasn't allowed entrance in the store. But since she sells alcohol, then her customers are the abled adults of this city. Which makes me wonder what kind of ingredients she places on her liquors that made her customers crave for it.'

'Another one is a merchant who sells toys for kids. Elyion told me that he bought some things from him before and that he appeared to be like a kind grandfather to any youngsters he encountered. I should take a look at the toy Elyion bought, maybe it contains clues.'

'The last person is what scares me the most.' Raven unconsciously bit his thumb as he remembered this. 'It's the same guy who was running around and telling people about this event.'

The first time Raven realized this, he felt his mind rocked and a deep sense of foreboding rose in his heart.

'My attention was caught by him for a long time, yet I never sensed a thing.' Raven's thoughts trailed off.

'Someone who was running around and telling people to gather into one place because a big event was bound to happen, yet the same person was actually not human. He even referred others as Brothers and Sisters. This should be the reason why I find this whole thing shady, yet I just went ahead and participated. How funny.'

Raven clicked his tongue in sheer disappointment.

'I won't be surprised to know if that Loisa was the same as him. After all, it seems that most people who were turned into that, has an important role in this city or this event.'

Raven scratched his head in irritation. 'Just what the hell is up with this place? First a meet a beast that wants to become a human so bad to the point that he's practically worshipping them. Then despite not having any cultivation system, all sorts of strange phenomena could be found here.'

'Beasts that could assimilate a full human appearance during red moon, a mysterious person whom the whole city look up to, a tall ass tower which could be used to observe heavenly bodies. I don't even know if everything I see here are real or illusions that created by the crown.'

Raven felt like pulling all of his hair due to stress, nevertheless he knows that stressing over things that he doesn't have any control over is just a wasted effort.

'No point in stressing out so much.' Raven sighed and lied down on his bed, 'Since I managed to get myself into this whole mess, then I'll deal with it however I see fit.'

'When I was transferred into this place and received the challenge, I thought I just have to go around killing some things. Never have I imagined that I'll be sent in a civilization that I don't even know if it truly existed or not.'

'Nevertheless, the contents of the challenge didn't change. It's still asking me to defeat or kill enemies. In the end, it all boils down to battle isn't it.'

'If it's asking for battle, then battle I shall.'