The Murklin System: Rise of the Dark Hero

Chapter 4

"Did you hear that?" Commander Gideon asked.

No one spoke. Gideon and Kento listened to the quiet night and heard crickets chirping.

"Nothing," answered Kento. "It must be your imagination. You should try to sleep sometimes, commander."

"Should I?" He chuckled.

The small town of Fract was quiet as the dead. It only had approximately five hundred people, and was declining. No one dared to come here aside from its residence, and no one could leave even if they wanted to.

It looked like a ghost town at this time of the day. Even the people living here were afraid to go out after dusk. No one dared to seduce the lurkers of the night.

The commander and his sergeant couldn't sleep that night. They wanted to investigate more about the so-called animal attacks happening in Fract. They were at a dead-end. Even the other squad declined to take the case.

But according to Gideon, there was still something they hadn't done yet. Something no mortal would dare.

And yet, they did.

The recent attack took place at the East side of Fract near the woods. Good move. This way, the attacker could easily hide in this isolated place without being noticed. No mortals cared about the people here anyway.

Gideon was no different. He didn't like the Vad Tribe, no, he hated them. The reason? Who needs it? Every mortal loathed them.

But if the commander wanted to solve this case, he needed to do everything possible, even if he had to go to this filthy place. If he wanted to get to the bottom of these attacks, he would endure anything.

"Just to be sure," said Gideon, "let's split up. I'll go here. You go there towards the center of the town. We meet here again in an hour."

Kento sighed in disbelief, but didn't utter a word.

Gideon's eyebrows shot up. "Is that disapproval I heard?"

"It's your imagination." Kento turned around towards the capital without waiting for his commander's words, but he heard him laugh.

Gideon went to the noise he heard a while. Kento told him it must be his imagination, but his gut feeling was telling him that it wasn't. If he could take pride in something he possessed, it would be his instinct. This hadn't failed him ever.

He halted when the road came to a stop. The beat-up houses also stopped here, and he could see nothing in view for at least a mile away aside from the long stretch of dried farm. He looked back where he came from, and saw no other paths.

He crouched and inspected the dirty road. They were faint, but he could see some footprints leading straight towards the farm, and it was suspiciously long strides, like the owner was in a hurry or had unusually long legs.

"I told Kento we would meet in an hour," he whispered under his breath. Instead of wasting time thinking, he chose to continue walking alone. He still had time. It wouldn't hurt him to check.

After walking for a long time, Gideon decided that it was time to stop. There was nothing in the vicinity, not even animals that could console him. He thought it was another dead-end. A total waste of his time.

He was about to turn around when he heard another noise. This time, it was clearer. It was definitely the voice of a man, screaming. Gideon had heard a lot of screaming voices before, but this one was not screaming for help. He was screaming in agony.

Gideon was fast on his feet. He got to the house situated in the middle of nowhere. He didn't have the time to question why it was the only house there, nor had the chance to look around. He went straight inside the house, uninvited.