Stuck as a Villain!

Chapter 85: Soul Core!

It’s been around a day since Seth and his temporary raid team entered the dungeon and got ambushed before they could have even initiated their adventure properly.

The sudden attack took away the life of almost the whole raid team except for the assassin class warrior, Carla or Caroline who was somehow holding her ground until Seth woke up and one-sidedly dominated the battlefield.

The fact that only Seth could use his Soul Energy inside the dungeon and also that they were trapped in this place, were the points of concern but Seth recommended the two ladies to have rest for the night and restore their energy before they move forward since in the first battle they incurred heavy damages.

Lara was reluctant at first since if she decides to rest, then all the responsibility of guarding would sump up on her young master. However, one command from Seth was enough to put the maid in sleep mode.

Currently, after having dinner which consisted of meat jerky and rice balls which Seth had in his storage ring, they took shelter near the entrance.

Seth arranged a campfire with the help of abundant firewood he had in his storage ring. He also cast a barrier around them which despite being weak, would help them to negate the initial strikes of any unexpected appearance. The barrier also erased their presence and subdued any kind of smell to avoid inviting any unwanted guests.

Sitting near the fireplace, Seth glanced at his maid who was now asleep with her head resting on a makeshift cushion. She had drunk a healing potion but to have a full recovery, i.e mental and physical, she needed to take some good night's rest.

Seth sensed some goblins here and there but before they could enter the vicinity, Seth went out of the barrier to silence them while trying to not alert the surroundings.

Fortunately, after the demise boss monster, the mob goblins didn’t have much sense to make formation and ambush the intruders as they did before. Even so, currently, Seth was feeling so boosted up that he believed he can handle two boss monsters at once if he goes all out.

During the whole time when Seth prepared the camp, or always put up with the guarding duty…a pair of emerald eyes kept on staring at him like she was trying to figure out something.

Seth undoubtedly noticed her gaze but chose to stay silent until the other party didn’t take the initiative.

“…who are you?”

Her voice was shrill and slightly wariness still can be found even though Seth had shown enough tokens of kindness to the girl. Such petty.

“Well, can’t tell you my identity, but my real name is Seth.”

Seth was not sure whether he would be taking the girl under his command or not so her not knowing his identity would create a little less mess if she somehow follow the plot and meets up with Arata in the future.

But thinking how drastically he has changed the plot, Seth already has made a role for Caroline to perform in order to attain something profoundly important for Arata and humanity.

Hearing his words, Caroline stayed silent for some seconds, before she unexpectedly revealed her name as well.

“I am Caroline. I mean my real name.”

Seth nodded without any sign of surprise on his face and Caroline could understand such a reaction since Seth had no idea how important Caroline’s identity was to her and what kind of exception she has made by telling him her real name.

Although he didn’t show, in actuality Seth was a little taken aback since he didn’t think Caroline would start to believe in him this soon.

“It's better you sleep, Caroline since once we start our journey from here, god knows when we will be able to relax. And if you are worried for your safety-“

“I am not. I trust you.”

There was a reason why Caroline strongly meant what she just uttered. And Seth knew those reasons as well, so he didn’t have trouble accepting her words before he saw the raven-haired girl covering herself with her shroud and closing her eyes to drift away into dreamlands.

Being left alone, Seth once again glanced at his peaceful maid’s face before he closed his own eyes. He had his senses widened enough to let him know if even an ant crawls inside his jurisdiction.

The reason he closed his eyes was to inspect his soul core because he was having some doubts about this sudden boost of energy he was experiencing.

It was not tough to inspect one’s soul core if someone had enough synchronization with this mythical energy. But previously Seth didn’t have enough proficiency to sneak inside his subconscious and locate the powerhouse of his body.

But now…

‘As I thought…’

Muttering to himself, Seth stared down the big orb floating amidst endless darkness which in reality was his disguised internal structure and that white orb was his core.

White light radiating from it defined the purity of one's soul energy which most of the awakened had entire milk in color. Once a person deteriorates because of old age, the soul core starts to lose its capabilities and the color of the orb begins to shift to dull yellow. Those who get corrupted had their cores dyed raven in color, like an abyss. No way out of the darkness.

Then what about Seth’s orb?

In normal circumstances, it should have plain milk white radiation but…

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“Oh, you guys are awake? Should we start our hunt or would be better to have breakfast first?’

Lara has awakened from her slumber a while ago and the refreshment she felt after such a good night's sleep vanished instantly when she realized where she was and under what circumstances she was resting such carelessly.

Fortunately, the only face which could have calmed her down under the situation soon arrived with green blood dyed splattered on his shirt and some on his face.

“Forgive my impudence, master! Please let me clean you up.”

Lara left her seat before she dashed toward her young master and gently started wiping the blood away from his charming face which despite being tainted, made Lara dazed a bit there when she arrived close to him.

She wiped his face and then started unbuttoning his shirt which has been soiled enough from all the battle until now. She didn’t have to ask as Seth already had another shirt in his left hand which Lara took and went back to work.

As soon as his bare upper body came into view, Lara gasped as she saw a deep cut mark near his left chest plate. There was no active blood and the wound was pretty much healed but the mark along with some other small cuts still remained on his previously unblemished skin.

“Don’t be sad, Lara. It was my wish to no longer remain passive and sheltered so this much is given.”

Whispering his words, he encircled his arms around her waist as he soothed the emotional fool who starts weeping over such trivial things. Honestly, he liked these marks which represented his battles and also reminded him of the past. Unlike last life, he was not only practicing his martial arts but utilizing them in real-life combat which was providing him immense battle experience.

Upon feeling the familiar warmth such close to her even though the circumstances were so dire and unfavorable, made Lara calm as she enjoyed the moment without minding the prying gaze she and Seth both were feeling from the side.

After some time, Lara separated herself from her young master since she felt his hands roaming her body dangerously which enhanced her blood circulation and dyed her face with a crimson shade. Although she has taken an oath to serve her young master, this wasn’t the right time or place to do that!

Seth chuckled at her cute antics as he got dressed and returned to the camp with Lara by his side.

“Okay then. Now that we have enough rested, let’s prepare the strategy to deal with this place.”

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A/N:- Next chapter would be action-oriented and maybe some other scenes of other characters as well. If you are reading the story on regular basis then can you tell me, whether adding others POVs feels good or put off the mood?

Lemme know in the comments~