Eternal Empire Online: The Rise of the Mythical Detective

Chapter 39: Mythical Detective Case File, The Nightmare At Droom Village 6

When the series of mind blowing events ended, Pearl and Leroy cried with in great joy when Remy finally woke up. They’d kissed, hugged, and held her like she might suddenly disappear if they stop holding her. They’re so happy that it’s hard to imagine that not an hour ago, they were at the verge of despair and death. Afterwards, when their emotions finally stabilized, Leroy and Pearl approached and thank Grimm not just for saving Remy but most of all, for freeing Droom from their four years of nightmare under the manipulations of Mabel.

“But how did you figure out it was her?” Leroy curiously asked.

Grimm explained the details but not in the full extent since there are some factors that belong to the real world which might be impossible for them to comprehend.

First was how the ‘Undetected Sleep Cursing’ was done.

The biggest mistake that Grimm did while solving the case that resulted into wasting of precious hours was that he let himself be restricted by the two methods in which curses are inflicted, the direct contact and the transmission through body parts. He solely focused on those two that he failed to capture the actual method despite witnessing it personally through Leroy’s memory.

And it was all thanks to the one oftenly used question that Mabel herself asked to Grimm that he was able to piece things together and figured it all out.

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During the earlier conversation with Mabel…

“My name is Mabel. Nice meeting you.”

“Nice meeting you too. My name is…”

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

Grimm trailed off and his entire body briefly stiffened when the corners of his brain simultaneously snapped and pieced things together the moment that he’s about to mention his name.

‘What the hell!?’ He exclaimed fiercely, cursing himself at the same time upon realizing his narrowmindedness. ‘Damn!’ He cursed again. The answer was at plain sight but he failed to see it because he relied too much on one factor.

He was so stupid but thankfully, he was not too late yet. And like a blessing in disguise, a much needed opportunity was conveniently served to him in a silver platter.

When he recovered, he finally responded to Mabel and said, “…Wilhelm. People call me Wilhelm.”

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Yes, the question and the answer that triggers Grimm’s brain into solving everything was his very own In-Game Name.

[Grimm]

The origin of his chosen IGN is from the surname of Jacob and Wilhelm, the Brothers Grimm. Siblings from Germany that together specialized in collecting and publishing folklore aka Fairy Tales during the 19th Century.

And two of their most famous tales was the Snow White and the Sleeping Beauty, stories where both the Princess were cursed by evil bitches into an eternal slumber.

Princess => Sleep Curse => Method???

Realizing those factors, Grimm connected all the clues and events together, forming a highly reasonable deduction that was just further solidified after peeking onto Mabel’s character info.

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Name: Mabel

Race: Human

Level: 15

Max Health: 380

Skills: *All Synthesis (Passive), *Vending (Passive)

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She might have sealed all her skills while she was under her human disguise but due to her job as a Potion Vendor, it’s impossible for her to seal her All Synthesis too.

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[Espionage] => [All Synthesis|Rank A]

The ultimate Potion Mixing skill that enables its user to create all types of potion.

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All Synthesis has several effects related to potion making but the one that truly matters to Grimm was;

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[Spell Potion]

Create a potion that has the same effect as a Spell.

Restriction: Can only Potionize learned Spells.

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Now for the Full Explanation.

GRIMM => FAIRY TALE => SNOW WHITE, SLEEPING BEAUTY => SLEEP CURSES => METHOD???

MABEL => REMY => SLEEP CURSE => METHOD???

ANSWER: [POISONING]

Just like how Snow White was poisoned to an Eternal Slumber by an apple and how Sleeping Beauty was also cursed by the needle of Maleficent’s Spinning Wheel, the Lotus Witch had cursed the villagers of Droom through the method of poisoning.

By using the effect of All Synthesis|Spell Potion, she turned her Endless Slumber, a powerful Sleep Curse into a potion and applies them into inanimate items mostly on consumables like water and food.

However, despite turning them into potions, the same triggering conditions to activate Curses still apply on them, direct contact and taking of body parts. So even if the Cursed Potions are ingested, they’ll remain harmless until the triggering conditions are met.

Mabel poisoned Remy, Grimm had already pieced that together but how did she activate the potions after Remy ingested them without touching or even meeting her?

Answer: [Command Potion]

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[Espionage] => [Command Potion]

Control and command the potions the Command Potion user had created onto when they will activate. Applicable even if the potion had already been consumed just as long as the consumer is within 5 kilometers.

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With Command Potion, the triggering conditions for Curses are bypassed since the effect of the Curses turned Potions can be controlled and activated by the will of the potion maker. Through that, Mabel has full control onto when the ingested Curses will take effect. That’s why no one had ever suspected her since she doesn’t have to be there to perform the crime.

Next is how he figured out that the Culprit is Mabel.

Despite deducing the Poisoning Method and connecting it to the All Synthesis of Mabel, those evidences are not enough to pin her as the Culprit.

The Command Potion and the Endless Slumber that are both vital evidences to make complete sense on everything but they were not known yet during the time that Grimm concluded that the culprit was Mabel, they were only revealed during the moment that Grimm unmasked her and thus, figuring out the full extent of the Undetected Sleep Cursing. Therefore, how did he pin Mabel as the Lotus Witch?

THE ANSWER: THE GRAPES.

During the events that Grimm witnessed through the memories of Leroy, Mabel bought a basket of grapes from his store. But aside from the ones she bought, there’s a bunch that she just touched but didn’t acquire. And when Remy arrived to purchase her three apples and one bunch of grapes, the bunch that she took was the same bunch that Mabel had touched earlier.

And when Grimm rechecked the scenes in the Village Square through his Investigate skill during the time that Remy lost consciousness, the bundle of grapes with her was already three pieces short, indicating that she’d ate them.

POSSIBLE POISONING METHOD => MABEL’S ALL SYNTHESIS => THE GRAPES THAT SHE TOUCHED => PROBABLY SPRINKLED IT WITH A CURSE POTION => REMY BOUGHT AND EAT THE GRAPES => SLEEP CURSE.

The probability was still vague but Mabel was the only one who made such connection to Remy the moment that she was cursed, making her the prime and only suspect. The rest of his actions then were a gamble and pure intuition.

Well, all his deductions hit the marks and Mabel and all her tricks were eradicated including her fearsome suicide skill, Eternal Sleep.

After those explanations, the trio of Leroy, Pearl, and Remy nodded while rubbing their foreheads. It seems that they’d understood his explanations but at the same time they’re having a hard time taking it all in. Well, it doesn’t matter anymore anyway since it’s already all over. Remy is saved and the nightmare of Droom is gone. That’s all that matters.

“I can’t still believe that it was Mabel,” said Pearl. “I had known since I was a kid. She’s even the one that tended Mom when she delivered Remy. It’s hard to accept that all her compassions were lies.”

“You need not to be upset about that,” Grimm responded. “Because those compassions weren’t lies.”

“But Mabel…”

“The Mabel you loved never brought you any harm. But the Lotus Witch who took her life did.”

Pearl’s eyes widened. “You mean to say…?”

“Lotus Witch is from the race of Evil Spirits that are capable of possessing humans. And four years ago, she murdered Mabel and took over her body in order to bring curses to Droom. So there’s no need to feel betrayed, Mabel never done such a horrible thing to you or to anyone. All the loves that she gave were true and pure.”

Tears seeped from Pearl and Remy’s eyes, both of joy and sadness. Joy, because Mabel that they’d loved never really harm and betray them and sadness, because Mabel had unfairly met such a tragic fate.

“Uhm, Wilhelm, its Wilhelm, right?” Leroy said.

“Yes?”

“If you don’t mind, I have a last question, no, actually there are two. The first is why did she target Remy next? And second is why did she curse Droom?”

“For the first question, the answer is she didn’t. Lotus Witch never had the slightest intention to specifically aim at Remy. For her, it doesn’t matter who’s the unlucky villager who will pick the grapes that she poisoned. It could have been Pearl, it could have been you, it could have been me, it could have been anyone. Remy was just unfortunate that she picked the grape with the Sleep Curse.”

Leroy understood and nodded.

“As for your second question, the answer for that is to feed.”

“Feed?” Leroy and Pearl said in unison.

Grimm nodded. “Evil Spirits such as the Lotus Witch prolongs their lives through feeding from the nightmares [Vitality~Nightmare] and hopelessness [Vitality~Despair] of the livings. That’s why she cursed Droom. Her Endless Slumber does not just inflict Sleep Curses but it also induces nightmares in which she consumes along with the life force of the one that’s inflicted.”

Realizing that, Pearl instantly tightens her embrace to her little sister and began telling her soothing words for comfort. Overall, Remy is genuinely happy for surviving and returning to her sister. But deep down, it’s obvious that she’s still stricken by the horrors that she’d seen and experienced while under the curse and while her life was slowly being taken away. Grimm couldn’t just imagine how scary could that have been for someone as young and as gullible as her.

Ding!

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‘A hatred over an unjust suffering had been unleashed!’

Your STAT had risen

Hatred has risen by 10 point (+10HATE)

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That’s why he’d ensured that that b***h of a witch will suffer before Specter predates her. He made her suffer unimaginable pain and at the end, despair, as a payback for all the miseries she brought upon to the sisters and to the people of Droom.

“And then with their deaths, she’ll also bring forth fear and later, helplessness to the survivors that’ll induce the creation of despairs from their hearts meant also for her consumption.”

Ting!

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QUEST COMPLETED: THE NIGHTMARE AT DROOM VILLAGE

A Miracle!!!

By a great stroke of fate, You, the truth seeking Mythical Detective was in the village of Droom the same day that the Lotus Witch was about to feed on her next victim. And through your splendid knowledge and deduction skills, you didn’t just save Little Remy but also ends the four years long nightmare of the village. Now, they can start anew towards another prosperity without fearing the comfort of slumber and the darkness of the night.

Fame has risen by 700 points (+700FAME)

Through the effect of your Profession, Fame received is doubled.

Total Fame received 1,400 (+1,400FAME)

Your Level has risen

Your Level has risen

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And at the end of the explanations and answering the succeeding questions, the quest that he himself triggered through persuading Leroy had finally reaches its c****x.

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Back to the present…

Despite saving an entire town from a four year long curse, Grimm didn’t get much from that quest. First, he induced the quest himself and told Leroy that compensation doesn’t matter so there’s no decent reward that’s readily prepared to be given to him. And even if he had a time to prepare beforehand, he has nothing in possession that Grimm finds as valuable and suitable as a decent reward. Second, Grimm asked them to keep his existence and involvement as a secret. It had only been four days in the real world back then since the changing of his Profession and through the Intel he’d gathered from the net he’d become aware of the growing uproar in Komina that involves him and those that assisted him in besting the Trials of the Forest of Illusion. And if by any chance they’ve become interested in tracking him in the future, he does not wish to be found. Too much attention hinders progress and at the same time, his preferred method of doing things is working within the shadows away from any spotlight.

Due to their immense gratitude, the three agreed without question which includes the dismissal of any query in regards to his unusual appearance and most of all, his background and identity despite their obvious curiosity. But, with only three of them knowing his achievements, no reward meant mentioning was ever presented. Therefore, he contented himself with the trio’s sincere gratitude and the level-ups.

Or did he?

Grimm smiled inwardly. The quest itself might not have directly given him a worthy reward but he also didn’t accomplish it emptyhanded. He did get something valuable out of it, something that has greater value than fame and money. And that’s the Soul of the Lotus Witch that Specter predated.

Through his Grimoire, he learned that Lotus Witch of the Poison Toad Swamp, despite being a weak Level 150 monster, is a thousand years old witch and a unique monster like Boor Mangeni. Her soul is old and ancient and is bursting with an overwhelming darkness and corruption, a feature that’s without a doubt will give birth into something extraordinary through the assimilation effect of Specter’s Predation.

Unfortunately, that reward claim was temporarily stalled due to the emergence of a complication. Since Specter had consumed Lotus Witch while her soul and magical powers were burning to release the Grand Curse, Eternal Sleep, Specter had taken all the blow from that spell. And though it was not in the degree where the Mythical Beast Shadow Crow will perish, it was still enough to pester him with a Sleep Hex that prevails while the Lotus Witch’s soul is being digested.

Well, the digestion ended earlier after three long months of waiting, all while he was in the middle of a fight against Sanzard and the Bullworms where the newly awakened and probably startled Specter had released the Shadowclad and unleashed the Persona of the Mythical Detective, ending the fight with a one sided m******e.

“Thank goodness. I’m so glad to hear that.”

“Caw!” Specter squawked happily.

“But speaking of the Lotus Witch, what happened to her soul?” Grimm asked. The digestion is completed, Specter had awakened. However, during those occasions, he didn’t receive any notification implying any new Stat or Skill that resulted from the Predation of the Lotus Witch’s soul. Surely, Specter couldn’t have just eaten it without assimilating anything. That was a high class and unique soul.

Specter responded through a hiccup in which his mouth spit out a dark green marble-like item that Grimm instantly catches.

“Huh, what’s this?”

Ding!

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You acquired [Soul Seed]

A beautiful and mystical gem of unknown usage. Created from the condensed soul, life force, and magical power of the fearsome Lotus Witch.

Type: ???

Durability: Indestructible

Rank: ???

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‘A Soul Seed?’ “Hey Specter, you know how what is this?”

Specter shook his head. A concrete proof that being its creator doesn’t necessarily means that he will know how to use it.

Anyway, the result was quite unexpected. Grimm was somehow looking forward for a skill or two from the Lotus Witch’s soul like what he got from Boor Mangeni. But regrettably, the end product didn’t turn out to be that way.

Nonetheless, this Soul Seed, though a miscellaneous item with an unknown usage seems to be fostering a great promise, or at least that’s what his intuition is telling him. “Well, I’ll just figure you out in the future,” Grimm decided, adding the research of the Soul Seed in his to-do-list.

But for now, he must solely focus on his main priority which is subduing all the floors and retrieving the ingredient of Mr. Oner. There are only two floors left and with the awakening of Specter and the release of his power, the c****x of this retrieval quest isn’t that far.