Mystical Journey

They took care of a stranger, a man that had never met before but was found passed out on the road, and they were two young girls to boot.

This was undeniably an unbelievable thing under any circumstances, but it did indeed happen.

Perhaps Arisa sensed something wrong as soon as she laid eyes on that man, her sympathy was triggered like never before. Or perhaps Isaros was absolutely confident in her own abilities, and did not care at all what intentions that thin homeless man might have, she just planned to bring him home, toss him something to eat, and let him rest for one night in a windless corner under her roof, that would already be the biggest good she could do for him.

But regardless, the two of them did indeed bring this person back.

It was exceedingly strange.

By the time Isaros came back to her senses, she was sitting in her kitchen, with her little sister, watching that man gulp down his food while sprawled on the table.

"Looks like the poor guy was starving…" Arisa said to her older sister quietly, the two sisters were sitting side by side, both rather speechless.

"What is going on here?" Isaros glanced at her little sister, she had no idea why she allowed this filthy tramp into her house, and then let him eat at the table like he belonged here.

"Thank you very much for your kindness." The tramp lowered his head to show his gratitude, smiling slightly, the air about him feeling nothing like a man of the streets, but more like a well-bred English gentleman.

"My name is Perseus, I sincerely apologize for disturbing your lives, I’ll leave straight away." The tramp politely stated that he would leave immediately.

"Mr Perseus, you’re not a tramp, are you?" But Arisa was beginning to feel interested in this well-mannered man. At sixteen years old, her curiosity was at its peak, she felt that this man must have some unknown story behind him, and was instantly even more curious about him.

"Can you tell us about your past? Your mannerisms mean that you were once a very well-bred person, right?"

Isaros wanted to speak but held back, she got the feeling that this person was not very normal.

"I’m very sorry, some natural-born characteristic of mine attracted you two, it was my mistake, and it’s also our… our race’s self-defense ability…" Perseus smiled bitterly, "I am currently in a very troublesome situation, the best method is for me to leave right now, otherwise I might cause you a lot of trouble."

"My Big Sis is really strong!" Arisa had seen how strong her sister could be, catching a blade with her bare hands was nothing, she had even faced down guns many times before, Isaros was in fact an elite fighter who had undergone White Phoenix’s training regimes. She was herself a prodigy to start with, so those with average abilities could not hope to match her, even with guns.

"Don’t say that. There are many others stronger than me. Even Uncle Thomas’ son, Garen, is stronger than me." She heard that Garen was training in combat every day as well, the last time she went to him for sparring, she was indeed no match for him, just in terms of fighting, Garen was strong enough to be a professional.

"But you are strong, Big Sis." Arisa widened her eyes.

"I think I should go now." Perseus stood up suddenly, and only then did the two of them notice his heavy British accent.

Perseus wore a torn-up grey shirt, his jeans and shoes were both covered in a layer of grey-black, and the original white beneath it could just barely be seen.

He quickly walked up to the kitchen window, holding up a tiny corner of the curtain to peep outside. There was the faint sound of a car engine approaching.

"They’re coming."

"Is someone after you? Mr Perseus." Isaros could tell that his anxiety was real, "Do you want us to call the cops? The head officer in town is also a good friend of ours."

"It doesn’t matter if the police come…" Perseus smiled bitterly, "There’s no more time, I’ll be off now, thank you for your dinner."

He quickly walked to the window on the other side of the kitchen, raising the curtains with a whoosh, then he jumped lightly, and instantly flew out of the window, vanishing from sight.

Behind him, the sisters thought that their eyes were playing tricks on them, Arisa rubbed her eyes, and still could not see any trace of Perseus.

"Don’t dwell on it." Isaros had experienced a lot in life, and now she quickly calmed down, remembering those rumored supernatural phenomena. Alarms rang in her heart.

She walked over and quickly closed the window, drawing the curtains.

"Go wash up and sleep, just pretend we’ve never seen this Mr Perseus."

Arisa had been on the run with her sister for many years, so she knew when things were serious, and presently she nodded obediently without asking any more questions.

The two sisters washed up with their respective thoughts, then they went back to their rooms and went to sleep wordlessly. But that Mr Perseus’ figure was always wandering in their thoughts.

******************

"Raffaele, there are Blood Breeds in town again."

In an underground room in town, two young women were standing behind Raffaele, watching her as she went through some documents at her desk. The candlelight flickered, constantly emitting a pale golden halo of light, this light was just enough to cover the three of them, no more and no less. It formed a strange spherical space.

"Which side are they from?" Raffaele picked up a document and asked casually.

"There are some from the light party and the secret party." A black woman with many braids lowered her head and replied.

"Are they the ones after Scarlet Moon?" Raffaele frowned, and immediately found it troublesome. "Grandma told me that the battle between the two sides is at its peak now, we can’t interfere carelessly.

"Then do we allow those Blood Breeds to just wreak havoc in our town?" That goes against our rules." The other white woman said grudgingly. Her older brother had been sucked dry by the Blood Breed’s secret party, so after she became a witch, she harbored an unprecedented hatred towards the Blood Breed’s secret party. She had always been one of those who supported taking a hard stance against the Blood Breed’s secret party.

"This is not a small matter." Raffaele tilted her face, her long golden hair shining in the candlelight. "As long as there is one Blood Breed with Scarlet Moon’s blood, the Death Apostle Scarlet Moon will not die, so they will need to exterminate all the Blood Breeds with the Death Apostle’s blood before they can truly eliminate Scarlet Moon. On that front, there is no way the secret party will back down, especially now that they have been greatly strengthened with two Death Apostles."

"They won’t compromise, so if we reject them, it might incite a war. This is something I can decide, as a leader of one territory."

Raffaele stopped.

"Inform them of our rules, as long as they don’t cause widespread destruction, we will tolerate them. Otherwise, in order to survive, we will begin this war, that is our bottom line."

"Understood."

The two women left the circle of light and the underground room, wearing different expressions.

Raffaele turned her head around, looking into the darkness ahead.

"Grandma."

It was pitch black there, but a pale old woman in a metal wheelchair slowly appeared from the shadows.

She sat in a wheelchair, her face full of wrinkles like tree bark, but those eyes alone were extremely young, like the eyes of a teenage girl, pure and clean, as blue as the ocean.

"Your decision was correct." The old woman nodded, "We must not be swept into the Blood Breeds’ internal conflict, this is an unnatural storm, an unprecedented maelstrom, and it might very well decide the way of the world from now on. Before the Lion Mother makes her intention clear, we must make sure not to cross any boundaries."

"What does the Lion Mother intend?" Raffaele asked.

"All the leaders have yet to reach the old dame. The prophecy tells her that we have to wait a little longer." The old woman replied softly. "Before you become an upper level witch, don’t be hasty. Your talent is the strongest of any I’ve ever seen, you also have the most hope of reaching the upper level."

Raffaele nodded quietly.

These territory leaders, especially those in charge of border territories, were mostly middle level witches, this meant they were as powerful as middle level Blood Breeds. That sounded weak, but in truth that was extremely common, and they were actually stronger than average.

The Blood Breeds that tended to fight with them were mostly vampires, it did not matter to the Blood Breeds how many of these cannon fodders were created, they used very, very little in the way of resources. But true Blood Breeds were a lot rarer. They were strong, noble, and due to their meager numbers, they lived easy and luxurious lives, so they would not easily reveal themselves. Most of them had assimilated with the humans, living the high life.

They had long lives, great power, and most of them were officials in high positions, with high statuses. None of them would want to give up such comfortable lives, which was also why there were many more Blood Breeds in the light party than the secret party. Who would give up their peaceful lives, and run into one of violence and killing?

So ninety percent of the ones who were active outside were all vampires, and occasionally there would be a lower level Blood Breed to control their promises and the conflicts with the witches.

Under these circumstances, a middle level witch was already a very powerful presence.

Most witches could only reach the level of disciple, and the better ones could reach the lower level, this meant they were capable of fighting lower level Blood Breeds. This already meant that they had unnatural power.

Such witches were one in a hundred, they were already part of the core fighting force. And the powerful magical tool that had controlled the Grano witches were idolized and worshipped by the witches in other territories. The title of Sun’s Will was not just for show, she had won it through tried and true battles and tests.

"I understand." Raffaele nodded.

The old woman nodded, satisfied, and once more disappeared into the darkness.

Only Raffaele was left, deep in thought.

************************

America, the state of Faya,

The next morning, 11:22 am

In a large white state bus headed to Grano.

Everyone in the bus was groggy and sleepy, most of them were napping under the warm sunlight.

Garen sat in his seat, watching the plains, roads, cars, and the occasional traveler on a bike all whisk past his window.

After he got off the plane, he immediately got onto the bus, and after a few transits, he finally boarded this large tourist bus, full of people all going to Grano, although it was slower than usual, he did not have to transit anymore, so it was a lot less stressful.

He was still holding that ancient scroll in his hand, but his thoughts were elsewhere.