Chapter 239: 239
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Through the open windows and the thin white curtains that were swaying in the sea breeze, the ocean outside was visible from above.
Meanwhile, Luuk was busy observing the villa where the two of them would be staying for a while. The room where they were currently in was the common room that had two sofas and a small Television. The room was painted white, creating a nice contrast with the brown wooden floor below. On each corner of the room, green plants were decorating it beautifully.
Climbing up the cream-colored stairs to the right that had wooden railings, Luuk arrived on the second floor where the bedrooms were. The second floor was just narrow hallways leading to each bedroom. It was also prettily adorned with plants and simple colored paintings on the wall that matched the white background of the wall.
Luuk entered the bedroom to the right that was designated for him with his backpack on his back. He opened the glass door and entered the room that had a balcony outside. The sunshiny room welcomed him with the warm sea breeze and the smell of the ocean.
Meanwhile, Graham was checking the room on the first floor that was supposed to be the study. He would like to turn it into his temporary detective office.
The study had two giant bookshelves on the right and an elegant, red carpet covering most of the floor. The bookshelves were rather empty except for a few old-looking novels left behind by the previous renters of the place, but it wasn't any of his concern.
Graham walked over to the desk on one side of the room right in the center and checked its condition. It had three drawers on the right side and a big compartment on the left, which were all empty. He then placed the materials inside the compartment and locked it securely. Later, he would switch with Valentine to place the whole building under Anti-Divination.
Besides inspecting the desk, he also made adjustments to his new office using the power of Order to make his job easier. First, he swept all the dust away from there and moved the furniture around to resemble his office back home. It didn't take him long to finish the job because of his ability.
"Life sure is easy as a Contractbound, isn't it, Val?"
Once satisfied with the result, he went dragging his suitcase upstairs and prepared to put his clothes neatly inside the giant wooden wardrobe with an intricate carving in the bedroom. He also used Order to make the job easier.
"Val, there seems to be a way down to the beach. Do you want to go?"
Standing on the balcony, Graham's attention was captured by what seemed to be stairs carved out of the rock on the side of the cliff to his left. The stairs looked worn out from use and age, but they appeared to still be stable enough for people to use.
Looking at the balcony on the right side of the villa, Graham shouted, "Luuk! Come out here!"
The young medical student, now already shirtless, walked out of his room and looked at his neighbor with a curious expression.
"What is it, Mr. Hymes?"
"It seems that we can go down to the beach. You coming?" said Graham while pointing at the carved stairs down below to the left.
It was probably a little more difficult for Luuk to see it because he was farther away, but his good eyesight allowed the man to spot what Graham was pointing at.
"Sure!" he said excitedly, but then his face turned sour, "But that means I have to wear my shirt again."
Graham shrugged and went out of his room after locking the balcony door. It was a double glass door that let a lot of sunlight to shine through, so he also had to close the blinds, both the white see-through one and the thicker, brown curtains that almost completely blocked the sunlight. He also did the same with his glass door, making sure no one could peek into his room while he was away.
Before leaving the bedroom, Graham quickly got changed to a more comfortable outfit and switched with Valentine, lying on the king-sized bed with a pure white sheet on it. Once his other half woke up, he quickly placed Anti-Divination upon the whole building, dropping a little of his blood behind the wardrobe.
"Now that's done, G. Let's switch back over," he muttered and lied back down on the bed.
Graham woke up again with a bit of a headache because of the rapid falling asleep and waking up process, but after a little massage, it went away by itself.
Luuk was already waiting for him on the first floor, sitting leisurely on the sofa when Graham got out of his room. He made his way downstairs quickly, wearing only a shirt that was only buttoned at the bottom and a pair of loose pants. He was still carrying his cane and around his waist, the belt with complicated patterns was resting quietly. There was also a bracelet with a closed mouth and a silver ring on his left hand, seemingly connected to an invisible string.
Looking at all the equipment the man had on his person, Luuk joked, "Are you going to the beach or to war?"
Graham only chuckled and shrugged, "We can never be too prepared, can we?"
Luuk nodded nonchalantly. He himself had an eerie severed hand holding onto his elastic pants and what looked to be a knife with a gemstone embedded on it hidden under the t-shirt that he was wearing.
Although the two men looked casual, they didn't neglect their preparation for unexpected things.
Graham and Luuk then left the villa through the giant glass sliding doors leading to a small swimming pool. After closing the door and locking it, the two men walked down the platform where the pool was and trod on the grassy clifftop, completely barefoot. The sensation of the dry grass tickling their feet greeted them.
The stairs leading down was located a little bit far from their villa, so they had to walk some distance before reaching them. All the while, the sounds of waves crashing and the sea breeze blowing accompanied them in their short journey.
"This must be for tourists to go down to the beach, but it doesn't look like it's been used recently," Graham concluded.
Besides their footprints on the dry grass, there didn't seem to be anything else present around the stairs. The other villas were also located too far away from that particular part of the cliff.
"Let's get down then. It looks safe enough," Luuk suggested.
The way down looked rather steep, and the steps were irregularly carved. With a single wrong footing, someone could fall all the way down to the bottom. However, Luuk with his light feet could probably go down easily, while Graham had to be a little more careful.
The young man led the way and started jumping down with relative ease as if it was his second nature, while Graham had to take the steps one at a time.
"Whoa!!"
Luuk shouted in awe once he reached the bottom. He was currently standing on the warm, white sand looking at the vast ocean surrounded by rocky cliffs. The waves bubbled as they hit the beach and with them, tiny corals and shells were carried ashore.
"Luckily this is not summer, otherwise, the sand would be boiling," muttered Graham casually as his feet touched the sand.
The young medical student had run off to the water. It looked like it was his first time seeing the ocean, although it was unlikely since his family was very rich. He must have experienced going to the beach when he was younger.
Looking around, Graham noticed that there were no other footprints on the sand either except for his and Luuk's. The pristine beach looked untouched.
Walking towards the ocean casually, he felt the wind and the sun on his skin. It was a feeling akin to being enveloped in a very thin layer of a warm sheet. The salty smell of the sea also penetrated his nose, enhancing the otherwordly sensation he was feeling.
"Mr. Hymes, the water is warm!" shouted Luuk joyfully.
"Val, I didn't remember signing up for a babysitting job," he muttered jokingly as he approached the young man whose pants had been rolled all the way up, but still wet anyway.
Graham sat on the warm sand and focused on being in the present. He let go of all the worries and anticipations of the future for the moment. The cane that he was carrying was laid down next to him.
"It's a nice day to be relaxing, but we can't stay too long in the sun. We might burn our skin," reminded Graham.
It was true that neither of them had put on any sunscreen. Luckily, Graham's skin was already rather tan, so it didn't turn burned red like a cooked crab easily. Luuk, however, had a paler complexion, and even then, Graham could already see some reddish patches on the man's skin.
"That's fine, Mr. Hymes. My herb mixture should be able to help our skin recover, shouldn't it?" he said confidently.
"If you say so,"
The two grown men spent more than five minutes enjoying themselves on the beach when suddenly, something caught Graham's attention.
In the distance on his left, there was something shining like a jewel reflecting the sunlight. The light twinkled for a few more times before disappearing, and then reappeared again and repeated the process as if it was trying to attract the attention of anyone nearby.
"Luuk, did you also see that?" asked Graham, getting up from his spot. He readied his cane in his left hand and took out Valentine's dagger that he had hidden under his shirt.
"Yes. Wanna check it out?" Luuk nodded and asked back.
Graham gave an affirmative response and the two of them began walking along the beach towards the twinkling light.
The beach was wide and the tall cliffs surrounding it made it some kind of a private space. If not for the carved staircase, Graham didn't see any other way of getting down there except by the sea route. Since there was no one else there, the appearance of the mysterious glow was indeed suspicious.
It took them more than five minutes of striding along the beach to get close to the source of the light. Carefully, they approached the object that turned out to be a beautiful clear gemstone that was indeed reflecting the sunlight for its glow. However, a normal gemstone couldn't control when it would reflect the light, so the regular interval of the twinkles was abnormal.
The two of them stood a distance away from the gemstone that was the size of a big apple and watched it intently. Their supernatural sense was telling them not to touch the object.
"Throw a pebble at it," Graham instructed Luuk who was standing closer to the sea. There were a lot of throwable objects under him.
Picking up the biggest stone he could, Luuk then flung it at the gemstone, hitting it right in the center.
"Growl!!"
Suddenly, the gemstone shook and a giant, gaping maw turned visible before closing violently, swallowing both the gemstone and the stone.
"What the hell is that ugly thing?!" Luuk said, surprised by the sight in front of him.
The clear gemstone turned out to be a body part of the giant toad-like creature now standing in front of them. It seemed to have the ability to turn invisible and lured its prey to the gemstone before consuming them whole.
The creature itself was twice as tall as Graham and its body was bigger than a motor carriage. Its skin was white in color, blending perfectly with the sand even without its invisibility, and its four limbs were covered in warts. It indeed looked like a toad, only much bigger and uglier.
Seeing that its prey wasn't caught by its trap, the creature looked conflicted. It must be thinking about whether to fight or flee. The fact that it had to hunt using such a method might suggest that the creature wasn't the best at hunting directly, so it would most likely choose to flee.
"I order you to stand still!"
With Graham's Order, the creature had now lost the ability to control its own body for the duration.
"How do we even kill this thing? Do we slice it little by little?" asked Luuk curiously, looking at the giant monstrosity in front of him.
"That's the only way. Just make sure we are still able to sell its body parts later," Graham reminded.
He raised his left middle finger that had a ring on and a needle flew out of his shirt. The needle then swiftly beelined towards the creature's left eye and stabbed it. Blood spurted out of its injured eye as it became blind, the red liquid ran down its white skin.
Meanwhile, Luuk had thrown his own dagger and hit the creature's other eye, wounding it as well. The red gemstone embedded on the knife then let out a glow before flame burst out of it, burning the creature's eye and blinding it. After that, Luuk used Theft to retrieve his knife back.
"Groan!!"
The giant toad let out a groan of pain the moment it was able to move again. However, the paralyzing effect of the needle then kicked in before it could do anything else, incapacitating it once again.
Using the severed hand, Luuk stole the creature's defense, weakening it. After that, he threw his dagger again, aiming for the toad's head. Because of its weakened state, the dagger sank easily into its skin, wounding it even more before Luuk took it back using Theft. He repeated the process several more times until the creature's head was all full of blood.
Meanwhile, Graham was doing the same using his needle, stabbing the creature in various spots. Luuk's ability made it easier for his needle to pierce through the toad's thick skin, and each time it wounded the creature, the paralysis effect was reapplied, albeit slightly weaker than the previous one.
Blood came flowing out of the numerous wound on the creature's white body, creating a grotesque contrast. After the repeated attacks without it being able to do anything, the giant toad finally died, collapsing on the sand lifelessly.
"Nice job. Now let's harvest this thing," said Graham proudly. It was one of the easiest kills he had got so far, and he was pleased with it.
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Through the open windows and the thin white curtains that were swaying in the sea breeze, the ocean outside was visible from above.
Meanwhile, Luuk was busy observing the villa where the two of them would be staying for a while. The room where they were currently in was the common room that had two sofas and a small Television. The room was painted white, creating a nice contrast with the brown wooden floor below. On each corner of the room, green plants were decorating it beautifully.
Climbing up the cream-colored stairs to the right that had wooden railings, Luuk arrived on the second floor where the bedrooms were. The second floor was just narrow hallways leading to each bedroom. It was also prettily adorned with plants and simple colored paintings on the wall that matched the white background of the wall.
Luuk entered the bedroom to the right that was designated for him with his backpack on his back. He opened the glass door and entered the room that had a balcony outside. The sunshiny room welcomed him with the warm sea breeze and the smell of the ocean.
Meanwhile, Graham was checking the room on the first floor that was supposed to be the study. He would like to turn it into his temporary detective office.
The study had two giant bookshelves on the right and an elegant, red carpet covering most of the floor. The bookshelves were rather empty except for a few old-looking novels left behind by the previous renters of the place, but it wasn't any of his concern.
Graham walked over to the desk on one side of the room right in the center and checked its condition. It had three drawers on the right side and a big compartment on the left, which were all empty. He then placed the materials inside the compartment and locked it securely. Later, he would switch with Valentine to place the whole building under Anti-Divination.
Besides inspecting the desk, he also made adjustments to his new office using the power of Order to make his job easier. First, he swept all the dust away from there and moved the furniture around to resemble his office back home. It didn't take him long to finish the job because of his ability.
"Life sure is easy as a Contractbound, isn't it, Val?"
Once satisfied with the result, he went dragging his suitcase upstairs and prepared to put his clothes neatly inside the giant wooden wardrobe with an intricate carving in the bedroom. He also used Order to make the job easier.
"Val, there seems to be a way down to the beach. Do you want to go?"
Standing on the balcony, Graham's attention was captured by what seemed to be stairs carved out of the rock on the side of the cliff to his left. The stairs looked worn out from use and age, but they appeared to still be stable enough for people to use.
Looking at the balcony on the right side of the villa, Graham shouted, "Luuk! Come out here!"
The young medical student, now already shirtless, walked out of his room and looked at his neighbor with a curious expression.
"What is it, Mr. Hymes?"
"It seems that we can go down to the beach. You coming?" said Graham while pointing at the carved stairs down below to the left.
It was probably a little more difficult for Luuk to see it because he was farther away, but his good eyesight allowed the man to spot what Graham was pointing at.
"Sure!" he said excitedly, but then his face turned sour, "But that means I have to wear my shirt again."
Graham shrugged and went out of his room after locking the balcony door. It was a double glass door that let a lot of sunlight to shine through, so he also had to close the blinds, both the white see-through one and the thicker, brown curtains that almost completely blocked the sunlight. He also did the same with his glass door, making sure no one could peek into his room while he was away.
Before leaving the bedroom, Graham quickly got changed to a more comfortable outfit and switched with Valentine, lying on the king-sized bed with a pure white sheet on it. Once his other half woke up, he quickly placed Anti-Divination upon the whole building, dropping a little of his blood behind the wardrobe.
"Now that's done, G. Let's switch back over," he muttered and lied back down on the bed.
Graham woke up again with a bit of a headache because of the rapid falling asleep and waking up process, but after a little massage, it went away by itself.
Luuk was already waiting for him on the first floor, sitting leisurely on the sofa when Graham got out of his room. He made his way downstairs quickly, wearing only a shirt that was only buttoned at the bottom and a pair of loose pants. He was still carrying his cane and around his waist, the belt with complicated patterns was resting quietly. There was also a bracelet with a closed mouth and a silver ring on his left hand, seemingly connected to an invisible string.
Looking at all the equipment the man had on his person, Luuk joked, "Are you going to the beach or to war?"
Graham only chuckled and shrugged, "We can never be too prepared, can we?"
Luuk nodded nonchalantly. He himself had an eerie severed hand holding onto his elastic pants and what looked to be a knife with a gemstone embedded on it hidden under the t-shirt that he was wearing.
Although the two men looked casual, they didn't neglect their preparation for unexpected things.
Graham and Luuk then left the villa through the giant glass sliding doors leading to a small swimming pool. After closing the door and locking it, the two men walked down the platform where the pool was and trod on the grassy clifftop, completely barefoot. The sensation of the dry grass tickling their feet greeted them.
The stairs leading down was located a little bit far from their villa, so they had to walk some distance before reaching them. All the while, the sounds of waves crashing and the sea breeze blowing accompanied them in their short journey.
"This must be for tourists to go down to the beach, but it doesn't look like it's been used recently," Graham concluded.
Besides their footprints on the dry grass, there didn't seem to be anything else present around the stairs. The other villas were also located too far away from that particular part of the cliff.
"Let's get down then. It looks safe enough," Luuk suggested.
The way down looked rather steep, and the steps were irregularly carved. With a single wrong footing, someone could fall all the way down to the bottom. However, Luuk with his light feet could probably go down easily, while Graham had to be a little more careful.
The young man led the way and started jumping down with relative ease as if it was his second nature, while Graham had to take the steps one at a time.
"Whoa!!"
Luuk shouted in awe once he reached the bottom. He was currently standing on the warm, white sand looking at the vast ocean surrounded by rocky cliffs. The waves bubbled as they hit the beach and with them, tiny corals and shells were carried ashore.
"Luckily this is not summer, otherwise, the sand would be boiling," muttered Graham casually as his feet touched the sand.
The young medical student had run off to the water. It looked like it was his first time seeing the ocean, although it was unlikely since his family was very rich. He must have experienced going to the beach when he was younger.
Looking around, Graham noticed that there were no other footprints on the sand either except for his and Luuk's. The pristine beach looked untouched.
Walking towards the ocean casually, he felt the wind and the sun on his skin. It was a feeling akin to being enveloped in a very thin layer of a warm sheet. The salty smell of the sea also penetrated his nose, enhancing the otherwordly sensation he was feeling.
"Mr. Hymes, the water is warm!" shouted Luuk joyfully.
"Val, I didn't remember signing up for a babysitting job," he muttered jokingly as he approached the young man whose pants had been rolled all the way up, but still wet anyway.
Graham sat on the warm sand and focused on being in the present. He let go of all the worries and anticipations of the future for the moment. The cane that he was carrying was laid down next to him.
"It's a nice day to be relaxing, but we can't stay too long in the sun. We might burn our skin," reminded Graham.
It was true that neither of them had put on any sunscreen. Luckily, Graham's skin was already rather tan, so it didn't turn burned red like a cooked crab easily. Luuk, however, had a paler complexion, and even then, Graham could already see some reddish patches on the man's skin.
"That's fine, Mr. Hymes. My herb mixture should be able to help our skin recover, shouldn't it?" he said confidently.
"If you say so,"
The two grown men spent more than five minutes enjoying themselves on the beach when suddenly, something caught Graham's attention.
In the distance on his left, there was something shining like a jewel reflecting the sunlight. The light twinkled for a few more times before disappearing, and then reappeared again and repeated the process as if it was trying to attract the attention of anyone nearby.
"Luuk, did you also see that?" asked Graham, getting up from his spot. He readied his cane in his left hand and took out Valentine's dagger that he had hidden under his shirt.
"Yes. Wanna check it out?" Luuk nodded and asked back.
Graham gave an affirmative response and the two of them began walking along the beach towards the twinkling light.
The beach was wide and the tall cliffs surrounding it made it some kind of a private space. If not for the carved staircase, Graham didn't see any other way of getting down there except by the sea route. Since there was no one else there, the appearance of the mysterious glow was indeed suspicious.
It took them more than five minutes of striding along the beach to get close to the source of the light. Carefully, they approached the object that turned out to be a beautiful clear gemstone that was indeed reflecting the sunlight for its glow. However, a normal gemstone couldn't control when it would reflect the light, so the regular interval of the twinkles was abnormal.
The two of them stood a distance away from the gemstone that was the size of a big apple and watched it intently. Their supernatural sense was telling them not to touch the object.
"Throw a pebble at it," Graham instructed Luuk who was standing closer to the sea. There were a lot of throwable objects under him.
Picking up the biggest stone he could, Luuk then flung it at the gemstone, hitting it right in the center.
"Growl!!"
Suddenly, the gemstone shook and a giant, gaping maw turned visible before closing violently, swallowing both the gemstone and the stone.
"What the hell is that ugly thing?!" Luuk said, surprised by the sight in front of him.
The clear gemstone turned out to be a body part of the giant toad-like creature now standing in front of them. It seemed to have the ability to turn invisible and lured its prey to the gemstone before consuming them whole.
The creature itself was twice as tall as Graham and its body was bigger than a motor carriage. Its skin was white in color, blending perfectly with the sand even without its invisibility, and its four limbs were covered in warts. It indeed looked like a toad, only much bigger and uglier.
Seeing that its prey wasn't caught by its trap, the creature looked conflicted. It must be thinking about whether to fight or flee. The fact that it had to hunt using such a method might suggest that the creature wasn't the best at hunting directly, so it would most likely choose to flee.
"I order you to stand still!"
With Graham's Order, the creature had now lost the ability to control its own body for the duration.
"How do we even kill this thing? Do we slice it little by little?" asked Luuk curiously, looking at the giant monstrosity in front of him.
"That's the only way. Just make sure we are still able to sell its body parts later," Graham reminded.
He raised his left middle finger that had a ring on and a needle flew out of his shirt. The needle then swiftly beelined towards the creature's left eye and stabbed it. Blood spurted out of its injured eye as it became blind, the red liquid ran down its white skin.
Meanwhile, Luuk had thrown his own dagger and hit the creature's other eye, wounding it as well. The red gemstone embedded on the knife then let out a glow before flame burst out of it, burning the creature's eye and blinding it. After that, Luuk used Theft to retrieve his knife back.
"Groan!!"
The giant toad let out a groan of pain the moment it was able to move again. However, the paralyzing effect of the needle then kicked in before it could do anything else, incapacitating it once again.
Using the severed hand, Luuk stole the creature's defense, weakening it. After that, he threw his dagger again, aiming for the toad's head. Because of its weakened state, the dagger sank easily into its skin, wounding it even more before Luuk took it back using Theft. He repeated the process several more times until the creature's head was all full of blood.
Meanwhile, Graham was doing the same using his needle, stabbing the creature in various spots. Luuk's ability made it easier for his needle to pierce through the toad's thick skin, and each time it wounded the creature, the paralysis effect was reapplied, albeit slightly weaker than the previous one.
Blood came flowing out of the numerous wound on the creature's white body, creating a grotesque contrast. After the repeated attacks without it being able to do anything, the giant toad finally died, collapsing on the sand lifelessly.
"Nice job. Now let's harvest this thing," said Graham proudly. It was one of the easiest kills he had got so far, and he was pleased with it.
Through the open windows and the thin white curtains that were swaying in the sea breeze, the ocean outside was visible from above.Meanwhile, Luuk was busy observing the villa where the two of them would be staying for a while. The room where they were currently in was the common room that had two sofas and a small Television. The room was painted white, creating a nice contrast with the brown wooden floor below. On each corner of the room, green plants were decorating it beautifully.Climbing up the cream-colored stairs to the right that had wooden railings, Luuk arrived on the second floor where the bedrooms were. The second floor was just narrow hallways leading to each bedroom. It was also prettily adorned with plants and simple colored paintings on the wall that matched the white background of the wall.Luuk entered the bedroom to the right that was designated for him with his backpack on his back. He opened the glass door and entered the room that had a balcony outside. The sunshiny room welcomed him with the warm sea breeze and the smell of the ocean.Meanwhile, Graham was checking the room on the first floor that was supposed to be the study. He would like to turn it into his temporary detective office.The study had two giant bookshelves on the right and an elegant, red carpet covering most of the floor. The bookshelves were rather empty except for a few old-looking novels left behind by the previous renters of the place, but it wasn't any of his concern.Graham walked over to the desk on one side of the room right in the center and checked its condition. It had three drawers on the right side and a big compartment on the left, which were all empty. He then placed the materials inside the compartment and locked it securely. Later, he would switch with Valentine to place the whole building under Anti-Divination.Besides inspecting the desk, he also made adjustments to his new office using the power of Order to make his job easier. First, he swept all the dust away from there and moved the furniture around to resemble his office back home. It didn't take him long to finish the job because of his ability."Life sure is easy as a Contractbound, isn't it, Val?"Once satisfied with the result, he went dragging his suitcase upstairs and prepared to put his clothes neatly inside the giant wooden wardrobe with an intricate carving in the bedroom. He also used Order to make the job easier."Val, there seems to be a way down to the beach. Do you want to go?" Standing on the balcony, Graham's attention was captured by what seemed to be stairs carved out of the rock on the side of the cliff to his left. The stairs looked worn out from use and age, but they appeared to still be stable enough for people to use.Looking at the balcony on the right side of the villa, Graham shouted, "Luuk! Come out here!"The young medical student, now already shirtless, walked out of his room and looked at his neighbor with a curious expression."What is it, Mr. Hymes?""It seems that we can go down to the beach. You coming?" said Graham while pointing at the carved stairs down below to the left.It was probably a little more difficult for Luuk to see it because he was farther away, but his good eyesight allowed the man to spot what Graham was pointing at."Sure!" he said excitedly, but then his face turned sour, "But that means I have to wear my shirt again."Graham shrugged and went out of his room after locking the balcony door. It was a double glass door that let a lot of sunlight to shine through, so he also had to close the blinds, both the white see-through one and the thicker, brown curtains that almost completely blocked the sunlight. He also did the same with his glass door, making sure no one could peek into his room while he was away.Before leaving the bedroom, Graham quickly got changed to a more comfortable outfit and switched with Valentine, lying on the king-sized bed with a pure white sheet on it. Once his other half woke up, he quickly placed Anti-Divination upon the whole building, dropping a little of his blood behind the wardrobe."Now that's done, G. Let's switch back over," he muttered and lied back down on the bed.Graham woke up again with a bit of a headache because of the rapid falling asleep and waking up process, but after a little massage, it went away by itself.Luuk was already waiting for him on the first floor, sitting leisurely on the sofa when Graham got out of his room. He made his way downstairs quickly, wearing only a shirt that was only buttoned at the bottom and a pair of loose pants. He was still carrying his cane and around his waist, the belt with complicated patterns was resting quietly. There was also a bracelet with a closed mouth and a silver ring on his left hand, seemingly connected to an invisible string.Looking at all the equipment the man had on his person, Luuk joked, "Are you going to the beach or to war?"Graham only chuckled and shrugged, "We can never be too prepared, can we?" Luuk nodded nonchalantly. He himself had an eerie severed hand holding onto his elastic pants and what looked to be a knife with a gemstone embedded on it hidden under the t-shirt that he was wearing.Although the two men looked casual, they didn't neglect their preparation for unexpected things.Graham and Luuk then left the villa through the giant glass sliding doors leading to a small swimming pool. After closing the door and locking it, the two men walked down the platform where the pool was and trod on the grassy clifftop, completely barefoot. The sensation of the dry grass tickling their feet greeted them.The stairs leading down was located a little bit far from their villa, so they had to walk some distance before reaching them. All the while, the sounds of waves crashing and the sea breeze blowing accompanied them in their short journey."This must be for tourists to go down to the beach, but it doesn't look like it's been used recently," Graham concluded.Besides their footprints on the dry grass, there didn't seem to be anything else present around the stairs. The other villas were also located too far away from that particular part of the cliff."Let's get down then. It looks safe enough," Luuk suggested. The way down looked rather steep, and the steps were irregularly carved. With a single wrong footing, someone could fall all the way down to the bottom. However, Luuk with his light feet could probably go down easily, while Graham had to be a little more careful.The young man led the way and started jumping down with relative ease as if it was his second nature, while Graham had to take the steps one at a time."Whoa!!"Luuk shouted in awe once he reached the bottom. He was currently standing on the warm, white sand looking at the vast ocean surrounded by rocky cliffs. The waves bubbled as they hit the beach and with them, tiny corals and shells were carried ashore."Luckily this is not summer, otherwise, the sand would be boiling," muttered Graham casually as his feet touched the sand.The young medical student had run off to the water. It looked like it was his first time seeing the ocean, although it was unlikely since his family was very rich. He must have experienced going to the beach when he was younger.Looking around, Graham noticed that there were no other footprints on the sand either except for his and Luuk's. The pristine beach looked untouched.Walking towards the ocean casually, he felt the wind and the sun on his skin. It was a feeling akin to being enveloped in a very thin layer of a warm sheet. The salty smell of the sea also penetrated his nose, enhancing the otherwordly sensation he was feeling."Mr. Hymes, the water is warm!" shouted Luuk joyfully."Val, I didn't remember signing up for a babysitting job," he muttered jokingly as he approached the young man whose pants had been rolled all the way up, but still wet anyway.Graham sat on the warm sand and focused on being in the present. He let go of all the worries and anticipations of the future for the moment. The cane that he was carrying was laid down next to him."It's a nice day to be relaxing, but we can't stay too long in the sun. We might burn our skin," reminded Graham.It was true that neither of them had put on any sunscreen. Luckily, Graham's skin was already rather tan, so it didn't turn burned red like a cooked crab easily. Luuk, however, had a paler complexion, and even then, Graham could already see some reddish patches on the man's skin."That's fine, Mr. Hymes. My herb mixture should be able to help our skin recover, shouldn't it?" he said confidently."If you say so,"The two grown men spent more than five minutes enjoying themselves on the beach when suddenly, something caught Graham's attention.In the distance on his left, there was something shining like a jewel reflecting the sunlight. The light twinkled for a few more times before disappearing, and then reappeared again and repeated the process as if it was trying to attract the attention of anyone nearby."Luuk, did you also see that?" asked Graham, getting up from his spot. He readied his cane in his left hand and took out Valentine's dagger that he had hidden under his shirt."Yes. Wanna check it out?" Luuk nodded and asked back.Graham gave an affirmative response and the two of them began walking along the beach towards the twinkling light.The beach was wide and the tall cliffs surrounding it made it some kind of a private space. If not for the carved staircase, Graham didn't see any other way of getting down there except by the sea route. Since there was no one else there, the appearance of the mysterious glow was indeed suspicious.It took them more than five minutes of striding along the beach to get close to the source of the light. Carefully, they approached the object that turned out to be a beautiful clear gemstone that was indeed reflecting the sunlight for its glow. However, a normal gemstone couldn't control when it would reflect the light, so the regular interval of the twinkles was abnormal.The two of them stood a distance away from the gemstone that was the size of a big apple and watched it intently. Their supernatural sense was telling them not to touch the object."Throw a pebble at it," Graham instructed Luuk who was standing closer to the sea. There were a lot of throwable objects under him.Picking up the biggest stone he could, Luuk then flung it at the gemstone, hitting it right in the center."Growl!!"Suddenly, the gemstone shook and a giant, gaping maw turned visible before closing violently, swallowing both the gemstone and the stone."What the hell is that ugly thing?!" Luuk said, surprised by the sight in front of him.The clear gemstone turned out to be a body part of the giant toad-like creature now standing in front of them. It seemed to have the ability to turn invisible and lured its prey to the gemstone before consuming them whole.The creature itself was twice as tall as Graham and its body was bigger than a motor carriage. Its skin was white in color, blending perfectly with the sand even without its invisibility, and its four limbs were covered in warts. It indeed looked like a toad, only much bigger and uglier.Seeing that its prey wasn't caught by its trap, the creature looked conflicted. It must be thinking about whether to fight or flee. The fact that it had to hunt using such a method might suggest that the creature wasn't the best at hunting directly, so it would most likely choose to flee."I order you to stand still!"With Graham's Order, the creature had now lost the ability to control its own body for the duration. "How do we even kill this thing? Do we slice it little by little?" asked Luuk curiously, looking at the giant monstrosity in front of him."That's the only way. Just make sure we are still able to sell its body parts later," Graham reminded.He raised his left middle finger that had a ring on and a needle flew out of his shirt. The needle then swiftly beelined towards the creature's left eye and stabbed it. Blood spurted out of its injured eye as it became blind, the red liquid ran down its white skin. Meanwhile, Luuk had thrown his own dagger and hit the creature's other eye, wounding it as well. The red gemstone embedded on the knife then let out a glow before flame burst out of it, burning the creature's eye and blinding it. After that, Luuk used Theft to retrieve his knife back."Groan!!"The giant toad let out a groan of pain the moment it was able to move again. However, the paralyzing effect of the needle then kicked in before it could do anything else, incapacitating it once again.Using the severed hand, Luuk stole the creature's defense, weakening it. After that, he threw his dagger again, aiming for the toad's head. Because of its weakened state, the dagger sank easily into its skin, wounding it even more before Luuk took it back using Theft. He repeated the process several more times until the creature's head was all full of blood.Meanwhile, Graham was doing the same using his needle, stabbing the creature in various spots. Luuk's ability made it easier for his needle to pierce through the toad's thick skin, and each time it wounded the creature, the paralysis effect was reapplied, albeit slightly weaker than the previous one.Blood came flowing out of the numerous wound on the creature's white body, creating a grotesque contrast. After the repeated attacks without it being able to do anything, the giant toad finally died, collapsing on the sand lifelessly."Nice job. Now let's harvest this thing," said Graham proudly. It was one of the easiest kills he had got so far, and he was pleased with it.
