~ Chapter 50: Reason and Blessing ~

[Alexandre Damascus' point of view]

 It came as a surprise when this brat shouted like that. She should have been under the influence of my [Blessing of Charm], which I stole some time ago from a wimp of a priest of the temple of the Goddess of Love Shanteya. It should have brought everyone around me under my control, having their hearts and wills bend as I pleased. It should have worked, it always did!

Yet, this brat screamed for help, just like they spoke up against me when we first met. What was up with that? How could my Blessing have failed?

No matter how I think about it, it's impossible... So then... How? Just how did they resist the mental control of the [Blessing of Charm]? I thought as I ran through the Chedelle Forest while carrying the little girl whom I kidnapped from her own room.

Normally, this place was teeming with monsters like Dayuks, War Bears, Giant Snakes, and all sorts of other beasts ready to shred every human who dared stray too deep within this forest. If I didn't use my [Blessing of the Hunt] when I first stepped inside, I would have had to fight each and every one of these miserable critters, delaying and annoying me.

True, they were no match for me or any of my 64 Blessings, but annoyances would still be annoyances. They would have undoubtedly slowed me down.

Besides, there was a saying that went along the lines of: If you have a Blessing, then use it!

I had 64, I couldn't be stingy now, could I?

That being said, without a Blessing similar to this one, the Chedelle Forest was a dangerous place for most Master Ranked Adventurers. Only this brat's aunt could easily chase after me, but she was probably busy now trying to keep that other brat alive. I heard he had a strange Blessing too, but as long as he survived, I could always go back and collect it from him.

For now, I just had to find a good spot where I could use my Blessing to steal this little girl's Blessings. Last time I checked the map, there were several clearings in this area. The problem was that their locations wasn't very accurately written down or at all. The cartographers around these parts didn't bother to put too much detail when it came to forests, unless of course there was an unchanging landmark like a cliff, an elder tree, or some sort of ancient structure. Clearings came and went like the passing seasons. Where one was last year, today could be nothing but a thick patch of young trees.

Thus, I was running around blindly, but luck was with me for I had managed to stumble upon one.

Without hesitation, I ran towards it, and a moment later I was finally out of the forest and looking up at the big, bright moon.

“Perfect!” I said with a smirk.

Not caring if she got injured or not, I tossed the little girl a few steps away from me. Thanks to her quick reflexes, however, she landed on her feet like a cat. Now all I had to do was begin the ritual which would activate the Blessing with which I could steal hers.

The thing about this ritual was that it wasn't really mandatory at this point. Once you practiced your Blessing long enough, you could fulfill its activation conditions fairly quickly or even skip them completely in certain cases.

So, if that was the case, why was I going through with this ritual?

You see, killing someone could be done in the same manner as one would create a piece of art or like a brute who's only goal was to see the red liquid pouring out of his victim's wounds. I was of the first kind, however, while I wasn't trying to create the ultimate gory masterpiece, I loved the feeling of accomplishment and delight completing a ritual of death gave me. It made sense to take pleasure in the way I stripped my victim of its last moments in this world.

That look of fear and terror in their eyes when they knew they were going to meet their end was... exhilarating!

This ritual and at times meticulous planned out hunt was what separated me from the common criminals. It wasn't the number of kills. It wasn't who I killed. It wasn't where I killed them. It was all about the RITUAL and how much FUN I had doing it.

Besides, just a few more Blessings, and it wouldn't matter anymore who would dare to try to stop me. I would be able to go on hunts and killing sprees as much as my heart desired because there would be NO ONE to stop me!

“Wh-What do you want with m-me?” the little lamb spoke in a trembling tone of voice.

I showed her a smile and looked into her worried eyes.

“To suffer.” I replied and showed her a big grin as I activated my Blessing and commenced the ritual.

A shroud of darkness covered me, and tendrils of shadows spread out at my feet. This was how my ability looked like. It was fearsome, terrifying, horrifying... just beautiful.

It's name? [Blessing of the Thief]. It was offered to me by the world's very own God of Darkness, the one who ruled over all the beings who hid away within the shadows and feared the touch of light.