CHAPTER 59: BECOMING AN EXORCIST

Kaelyn stepped out from the overgrowth.

She stared at the scorched ground ahead, two blackened spots that looked like traces left behind—from something burning violently. It was still fresh. Even from several yards away, faint wisps of smoke still curled upward, a stark, undeniable sigh that whatever happened hadn’t even been a full minute past.

But there was nothing around.

Her thoughts first went straight to Ghosts fighting over something.

"But these intricate lines," Kaelyn uttered, staring at the drawn shapes smudged within the charred areas before her. "It’s too tidy for a Ghost to make it. Since there is nothing stronger than a silver-rank Ghost in this forest, there shouldn’t be any Ghosts intelligent enough to do this."

As Kaelyn was inspecting the lines, she heard the sound of rustling from behind.

It was far at first, but the sound quickly approached her.

Something was coming straight at her.

Kaelyn drew her katana and immediately cleaved it to her behind, stopping only when she saw a familiar face. "Deklan?!" She gasped, eyes widening when she saw Deklan’s smiling face. "Are you crazy? I’m armed, and you tried to sneak on me?"

Her katana stopped an inch away from Deklan’s neck.

Had she not reacted fast enough, she would’ve decapitated Deklan right there.

"I wasn’t sneaking around, though," Deklan pushed the katana down. "I called you multiple times."

"R-Really?"

"Yes. You seemed to be in your own world."

Kaelyn sighed and sheathed her katana.

It seemed she was too focused on inspecting the blackened ground that she was dissociated from her surroundings. She rose to her feet and turned towards him, "What are you doing here? I thought you were only retrieving your hunt."

"I saw another Ghost I wanted to hunt, so I chased after it. But then I heard a painful shriek—and ended up coming here," Deklan answered with a shrug. Then, he raised his brow, "What about you? Why are you here? Are you following me?"

"Err..." Kaelyn cleared her throat and walked away. "If you’re done, then let’s go back."

Deklan smiled teasingly but didn’t say a single word, only following her from behind.

He glanced over his shoulder and spotted Pumple materializing again—immediately throwing himself across the ritual lines, smudging the drawing with its body in frantic sweeps. The scorched patches aren’t a problem, but the formation itself couldn’t be left intact.

It wasn’t something simple, so he asked Pumple to clean it up so that nobody stumbled over it.

Man, that was close... Fortunately, I managed to avoid her.

Just earlier, when the ritual ended, Deklan was incredibly drained and exhausted.

But he managed to drag himself away from the ritual circle and ordered Pumple to clean it up, knowing that his scream definitely reached Kaelyn, and she would be closing in any moment. And exactly as he predicted, she arrived a few minutes later.

Drawn by the guttural scream.

Deklan hid in the shadows, downing potions to recover his stamina.

It was the reason why it took him some time to ’arrive’ and meet her, feigning ignorance.

I was lucky enough that she didn’t check my mana right now.

Deklan looked down at his body, noticing the mana inside his body was chaotic.

Had Kaelyn looked at him with the intention to inspect him, then she would’ve noticed instantly that there was something wrong with him. Unlike earlier, the mana inside him has gotten more robust, aggressive, and certainly different compared to when they met earlier.

"Still, what the fuck even is this...?" Deklan muttered, staring at the notifications in front of him.

[Congratulations, host, you have awakened your Mana Vein and become an Exorcist!]

[All stats have been increased appropriately!]

[Become an Exorcist achievement has been completed!]

[Obtained 100 Spooky Dollars]

[Strongest Mana Vein achievement has been completed!]

[Obtained 2,000 Spooky Dollars and 1x S-grade Spellcraft]

...

[Cursed Mana Vein]

Grade: SS

Description: All spells the host developed will naturally be turned to their forbidden counterpart!

...

Deklan had wanted nothing less than a high-grade Mana Vein, one that would be appropriate for him—that was why he’d gone to such lengths to amass so many carcasses. And he did get what he wanted... Just not how he expected.

He never imagined that placing four candles around the ritual circle would turn out to be a method.

A forbidden method, to be exact.

Just who would’ve thought of that? Certainly not him.

It was only the things he saw in movies, which should mean that it was fake—a fantasy.

But it turns out to be real in this world.

All spells I developed will naturally be turned to the forbidden version, huh... Should I be happy?

Deklan didn’t know what to feel right now.

No matter how much he wanted to be happy with this result, the word ’forbidden’ doesn’t imply good things. Based on what he knew from the stories he’d read or movies he had watched, anything forbidden would require things to be sacrificed.

And that could be a real hassle to deal with.

"I’ll see what it meant first before judging, I guess..." Deklan shrugged.

At the very least, he could feel the difference—his mana reserve hadn’t simply doubled.

It had swelled to three, maybe even four times its former capacity. His flesh thrummed with mana, and now a thin manastream coursed alongside his bloodstream, threading power through every inch of him. He’d need time to be accustomed to it, of course.

Since he had only broken through minutes ago, this was natural.

But either way, that could wait.

For now, it was enough to know one thing: he was stronger than he was ten minutes ago.

...

Name: Deklan Tiernan

Persona: Agna the Red Scarecrow (Active)

Rank: 5-star Iron

Exorcist Rank: Apprentice

——

STAT(S) [Night]

Strength: D+

Agility: D+

Endurance: D

Intelligence: D+

Perception: C

Mental: C

Sanity: 50%

——

SKILL(S)

[Ghost Conqueror] [Dual Existence] [Eerie Smile] [Astral Strike]

——

TRAIT(S)

[Iron Spine] [Breeze Affinity] [Mini Ghost] [Ember Affinity] [Fire Skin]

...

Deklan was quite pleased at how his stats were starting to look.

Most of his stats were now at D+.

It should be beyond normal for a 5-star Iron rank should possess—since he could even match Ghosts at the bronze rank. On top of that, he could feel it in him that his strength was inhibited from raising more than it was.

Perhaps he had already reached the very peak of how strong those at the iron rank could be.

And now, he wouldn’t progress further until he reached the next rank.

But then again, he was also already planning to break through to the bronze rank anyway.

He got enough mana items to push him to the next rank, and he also has all the traits he wanted.

Had Kaelyn not shown up, he would’ve already attempted to break through to the bronze rank. But he’d made a deal with her—to guide her through the inner area, so that breakthrough would have to wait until he returned home and wrapped all of this up.

Tomorrow is the most likely time when he could achieve the breakthrough.

I wonder how strong I am in comparison to her.

From her aura alone, she should be at the later stage of the bronze rank.

Her stats should be quite high.

But I’m still not strong enough to beat the other Alpha Ghost.

Deklan knew it would be wiser to reach bronze rank before challenging the opposing Alpha Ghost, yet passing up this opportunity felt wrong. Kaelyn is a strong companion—a seasoned Exorcist from how she carried herself.

She wasn’t Marsha, who was a talented but neglected.

Instead, she was a talent that was honed sharply.

He stood a real chance of holding his own against the Ghosts from the opposing Null Zone with Kaelyn on his side.

I’ve decided. I would go into the opposing Null Zone to see how it looked over there.

Better to go with her than alone.

Reaching back to the group, Deklan, as promised, led them closer toward the inner area.

Along the way, he made small talk with Kaelyn to break the ice.

"Considering the people you’re bringing," Deklan glanced behind, seeing that there were at least more than two dozen normal people she brought—on top of around ten Exorcists. "Isn’t it better to settle in the forest rather than in the inner area?"

"Just lead the way, don’t talk," Zayne said sharply. "It’s none of your business."

"It’s fine," Kaelyn waved her hand, casting him a warning look—again. "I was planning to settle in the forest anyway, but in the future, I was hoping to make a base in the inner area. I know we can’t settle in there for now, so I’m only asking you to help me scout."

"I see," Deklan nodded, and then cracked a smile. "Then we’ll be neighbours for a long time."

"Yes, something like that."

"Lucky me."

"Lucky you?"

"Yes, I’m sure Lady Luck is smiling at me right now for giving me a pretty neighbour like you."

"You flatter me."

Deklan chuckled, not forgetting to cast a mocking glance at Zayne, of course.

He couldn’t forget how annoying Zayne was, and this was one of the many paybacks to come.

As they approached the edge of the inner area, Deklan clapped his hands once. "Alright. Since you’re only here to scout and not settle, why don’t we split into two groups? It’s already late, and I’m sure your people are running on fumes."

Upon hearing this, Kaelyn wanted to protest.

But when she looked over to the others, she could see that they were really tired.

Since she was an Exorcist with more stamina, she forgot that the people weren’t as strong as her.

"I only need one person to come with me," Deklan said, raising a finger. And then he turned to Zayne, a wide smile stretching across his face. "What about you, Zayne? Since we have let bygone be bygone— this will mark our fresh new start."

"Of course," Zayne smiled back, but his face was reddening from restrained anger. "That sounds great."

"No," Kaelyn intervened. "I’ll be going with you, Deklan."

Letting these two sticks together would be a stupid move on her part.

She’s not a moron.

It was easy to tell that these two weren’t on good terms at all, and letting them get closer would only be asking for trouble. So, instead, Kaelyn would be the one to go with Deklan, "Go and find a good place to settle, Zayne. You’re in charge while I’m away. I’ll find you when I’m done."

"But young lady..." Zayne wanted to protest again, but one look stopped him from continuing.

Kaelyn walked on ahead, leaving the group behind.

On the other hand, Deklan turned to look at Zayne and smiled teasingly.

That smile told Zayne everything.

Deklan knew that Kaelyn wouldn’t let them be close, so he did this to make her volunteer.

"I’m going to be alone with your young lady now," Deklan said without making a sound.

He only moved his lips, shaping each word with deliberate slowness—slow enough that Zayne could read his lips with perfect clarity.