Epic Of The Demonic Sage

Lucius rummaged around in the chest of the dead man for about five minutes, when he finally found something. It was a small sphere that was stuck between the upper ribs and lungs and was hidden in the mashed up flesh of organs.

He pulled out the sphere, letting more blood splatter from the open wound. But once Lucius wiped the blood away from the sphere, he could see what it was.

"Impossible! A Rune Crystal!" Kiana gasped.

"Not just that… it is a rune crystal that belongs to this man and contains his gift." Lucius spoke.

Kiana was surprised how Lucius knew this.

"My gift… it seems to be able to sense other gifts as well. That was the reason why I found this to be strange, my gift suddenly acted up." Lucius replied.

Hearing this, Kiana's eyes lit up and the image of Lucius's gift went up by another notch in her eyes.

"I see… your gift is truly profound." Kiana couldn't help but say.

"Mmmhmm… though this is definitely quite peculiar." Lucius spoke.

"Yeah. How can there be a rune crystal inside a human? They can only be found within rune beasts." Kiana questioned.

"I don't know for sure. This may be related to this man's secret, perhaps. Or even something else. We will need to investigate more." Lucius replied.

"Alright. I guess we should go and see what the man was doing quickly then." Kiana spoke.

"Indeed, let's go." Lucius said before taking a look at Doyle. "Seems like he is done eating as well." He added.

"Come here Doyle, carry us on your back." Lucius order.

"Eng!" Doyle grunted in response and walked towards Lucius before turning around and kneeling on the ground.

"Come on," Lucius gestured to Kiana.

The two of them then climbed onto Doyle's back and he held them with his hands, ensure that the sharp claws did not hurt them. With the firm grip of the Lost, the two of them were snugly stuck to the back of the creature.

"Well then, take us to where you found this man." Lucius ordered.

"HNG!" Doyle grunted before breaking into a sprint.

Lucius and Kiana felt the inertia hit them at the start and it took a few seconds for them to adjust to the momentum. Doyle was running at nearly the same speed as a horse and was even more agile due to being bipedal.

He weaved through trees and bushes with ease, as if a true animal. Though a Lost might be far more than just that. 

Kiana couldn't even speak due to the strong wind hitting her face, and Lucius had to squint his eyes as well. But after about a minute, they had adapted to the speed and felt a bit more comfortable.

"It takes a while getting used to." Lucius spoke, coming closer to Kiana's ear.

"IT DOES!" Kiana said out loud, unable to adjust the amplitude of her voice for now.

The two of them just waited to reach their destination and kept looking around for anything that seemed suspicious or different. Lucius himself could not spot anything particular at this speed and only saw the trees pass by at a great speed.

Plus, the darkness was not helping him much either. The two of them traveled on the back of Doyle for about fifteen minutes before they finally reached their destination. It was evident that Doyle's speed was reduced by a bit due to carrying the two of them, but it didn't matter to them for now as their purpose was fulfilled anyway.

Doyle let the two of them down from his back and they stretched their bodies.

"This is actually more comfortable than a horse." Kiana said while feeling her waist that did not feel strained at all.

"Indeed. Since we were sitting with our weight onto Doyle's back, our waists had no stress like it does while riding on a horse." Lucius agreed.

Once there, they took a look around. The area they were in was well lit due to being on a small hill with little to no trees. 

"There!" Kiana pointed.

Lucius looked in the direction and saw a few objects lying around. The first object was a wooden bow, and a quiver filled with arrows. The second was a bag that seemed to have some food and water packed in it. Other than that, there was also a blanket that seemed to be torn.

"Huh… this seems strange," Lucius muttered.

He picked up the bow and found it to be relatively normal bow, something that could be bought in any weapon shop. But when he took a look at the quiver with the arrows, he realized that they were the same as the one that had hit Doyle.

"This definitely belongs to that man. But what was he doing out here?" Lucius questioned.

Kiana was also looking around the area and soon spotted something.

"Asher! Come quick!" Kiana called out.

Lucius hurried towards her and saw her pointing in the southern direction. It was dark currently, thus it was a bit hard to see, but he could tell that there was a building there. There were lamps and torches flickering in the darkness once Lucius's eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"What is that building?" Lucius asked, unable to recognize.

"That is the military outpost of the kingdom. It is also where the Count often comes to do his work." Kiana answered.

"Military outpost?…" After hearing that, Lucius got an idea of what that man must have been doing here.

"Seems like we have a spy on our hand… or maybe even an assassin." Lucius said.

"Could he be targeting someone in the outpost?" Kiana questioned.

"I'm very sure he was." Lucius said before pointing to the food and blanket.

"He was here with preparation. That food is enough to last him for at least a week while he can replenish that water skin at the nearby stream. That blanket, on the other hand… it's a camouflage tool." Lucius explained.