Eventually, Ryan began to smell the scent of blood, and thanks to that, he couldn’t help but frown. If the monsters really found the baby, they were supposed to be making a lot of noise, but they weren’t. Without having any other choice, Ryan took a deep breath and then stopped moving to concentrate. The smell of blood was too strong, so he had to find another way to look for the monsters. Even though he could see pretty well in the darkness of the night, Ryan was at a level where he could identify someone hiding within it. So, he had to use his ears.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for him to feel something. It was faint, but Ryan heard the rough breathing of something. It was probably coming from a human since the sound was barely audible and not wild. With his new crossbow in hand, Ryan approached the origin of that sound. Only to find after a couple of minutes the corpses of several velociraptors…

“What happened here… the body of monsters were supposed to disappear after a while, but those didn’t. So, it is clear that a fight broke out recently, and yet, I didn’t notice? It happened before I reached this area?”

It was barely noticeable, but Ryan found a trail of blood. Whoever defeated those monsters suffered some wounds. Ryan followed the trail only to find even more velociraptors… as expected, he was getting close to the dungeon. However, such thoughts disappeared from his mind when he found a woman sitting on the floor with her back against a tree. Although she was covered in blood from head to toe, the baby she was carrying in her arms was completely fine.

“…” Ryan closed his eyes and bit his lips when he got closer and noticed that the woman had lost both of her legs.

When he looked to the sides, he found other piles of velociraptors… the woman looked pretty young, and the baby was enveloped in a cloth that didn’t seem appropriate. By the look of things, she gave birth in the last few days, and even in her weakened state, she was forced to fight for her life and to protect her child. Suddenly, the young woman opened her eyes, and after a while, she finally recognized the figure in front of her. Without knowing if Ryan was a friend or a foe, she grabbed a kitchen knife from behind her and pointed at him.

“Hang in there,” Ryan said. “I’m going to grab some potions for you. I will be back in an hour. No, wait! I can heal wounds!”

The very moment Ryan approached her, he saw the knife falling on the ground, and the woman began to mutter something. Ryan had to approach in order to hear what she was saying.

“Protect him… I no longer can…” The woman said. “The blood loss… the camp, north of…”

Ryan already knew that; she wouldn’t last long since he found a lot of her blood on the way. Still, he didn’t want to give up without trying. There is no way in hell a kid that young will become an orphan in front of him. Ryan won’t let that happen. He decided to carry the woman and the boy back to Shreveport. Even if he didn’t want to return, his wishes were meaningless in that kind of situation. Still, before he could close her wounds by using healing, she stopped breathing after muttering one last word.

“Ar… thur…” The woman said and then her head fell to the side.

Somehow, even in that state, her body managed to hold Arthur tightly. Ryan dropped his head and let out a long sigh. It was the only thing he could do because he had no real right to feel bad about it, just like he didn’t have the right to feel bad about the death of the people who died while fighting the Sahuagin. They were fighting for survival, while Ryan was fighting to gain power.

“That is a strong mother for you…” Ryan said. “No… all mothers are strong.”

Arthur was sleeping soundly, even in that kind of situation. It was amazing that his mother did so much for him, protecting his life and even calming him down until the very last moment. That was good, and all, but Ryan now had to look after him. Not even adults will have a good time alongside him since Ryan wanted to challenge as many monsters as possible, so it was only natural that a newborn baby shouldn’t stay with him. Leaving Arthur behind was out of the question, so Ryan had to found someone to look after him.

“It is annoying, but I can’t think of anyone better than Mia,” Ryan said and then sighed. “It is her sole redeeming quality, but she truly loves kids from the bottom of her heart.”

Although that was the best option, Ryan recalled that Arthur’s mother mentioned something else. About a camp North of there… and that raised several questions, if she knew about the camp, why didn’t she go there? If she knew about it, was it because she had gotten close enough to see it. Or perhaps she had come from there;

“Maybe I can find your relatives there, Arthur,” Ryan said while he was taking the newborn baby from his mother’s arms. “Let’s confirm if that is the case… If I don’t find anyone reliable there, you will have to deal with Mia.”

As soon as Ryan took Arthur on his left arm, the kid began to cry. No… the cry was an understatement. Arthur began to let out the loudest screams that were coming from the deepest parts of his soul. He was crying as if he was being carried by the scariest looking creature out there.

“This won’t be easy to you, nor for me,” Ryan sighed when he felt the approach of some monsters.