Ashton climbed onto the roof. As he entered the sunlight, the shadows covering him were washed away like grime. He was careful to climb up right by the vents and electrical boxes on the rooftop, so that he could still continue to hide.

  To start with, before doing anything else, Ashton took a bite of the chocolate he bought from the vending machine. It had a bitter taste, like the darkest chocolate he had ever tried. But it also had a tangy, almost sour taste to it. Not unpleasant in any way, but it was an overwhelming, slightly unexpected sensation. Especially because the sour bitterness of the chocolate seemed to cling to the inside of his throat like some kind of thin film.

  But at the same time, he could feel a magic flow through him as the chocolate's effect settled in his body. He had around five total hours of this effect, getting one whenever he ate a piece. Since he wasn't sure what these guys were packing just yet, he ate one just in case, and would decide how much of the rest he would need later on. But just in case, he was also carrying his cigarettes and lighter right in the pouch by his hip.

  With everything that he needed ready, Ashton got started. There were at least nineteen lizardmen just up here on the rooftop alone. Of those, five were sleeping, six were just sitting around and chattering, and the remaining eight were actually standing guard.

  Ashton pushed out a strong exhale, giving shape to the sylph. He channelled the elemental and started vibrating the air in front of his mouth. A quiet whisper revealed that his voice was distorted. His voice didn't sound like that of another person, but it simply didn't sound like the voice of a person anymore. With a little bit of adjustment, and by pitching his voice up and making it slightly more nasally, Ashton was able to make his voice sound just enough like that of a lizardman for this next part to work.

  He pushed his hand onto his throat and squeezed slightly, speaking out once a lizardman came close enough.

  Of course, there were some phrases that he had picked up from these guys as well.

  "Silima miris," Ashton started, "Shavag aramida logsha."

  It translated roughly into 'come over here, I found something suspicious'. At least, that's what he had picked up from context clues in the past when infiltrating lizardman camps. The individual that had overheard Ashton, a sole common lizardman, looked around and slowly approached him. The moment that it turned around the corner, Ashton already hit the underside of the monster's jaw.

  It almost fell backward in pain, but Ashton pushed his staff down and pushed it against the bone necklace it was wearing, pulling it forward instead. Ashton pushed against its legs and made it lose balance, spinning his staff around to precisely hit the monster's spine. Its backbone cracked and lower jaw shattered, there wasn't much that the lizardman could do but try and hit Ashton with its makeshift spear crafted from an old broomstick and a kitchen knife. But by the time the blade came even close to Ashton, he had already widened that small crack in its spine into a proper split. Paralysed, the monster could only await its death now.

  ***

  [You have killed a [Lizardman] and offered its life to the [Daughter of the Scarlet Heart]]

  ***

  The dead monster laid in front of Ashton, and he quickly flipped its body around so that he could see its front. He didn't kill this guy for no reason. He had already checked out a few other lizardmen on the way here, but none of them had the same markings on their scales as this one did. From the amount of bones on its necklace, Ashton figured that this one was actually fairly accomplished, at least compared to the other ones here. Well, it couldn't have expected a sneak attack here of all places.

  Ashton looked closer at the markings. These were something like tattoos; carvings placed onto the lizardmen's scales. Usually, they were just there as a sign of pride, but sometimes they were actually closer to spells carved into their bodies, strengthening them and giving them power. Similar to how Ashton engraved enchantments onto the xantusi leather.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  That being the case, these were just the former. But despite not being directly filled with the magic that Ashton was hoping for, they were still hints at the deep culture and history within this tribe. Spells and culture were deeply intertwined with each other, and that was the case for the shamanistic rituals that the lizardmen did as well. The patterns of the spells were a huge part of the culture, and vice versa, so by just looking at these, Ashton could further narrow down exactly the deity that these guys were preparing their ritual for.

  "Hm... judging from the markings, it's a deity from the Lamiagari pantheon. It's not Mari, the scales are too scuffed up for that. Maybe Ashmara?" he looked closer at the necklace that the lizardman was wearing. They were simple bones stripped of muscle and flesh. Not cleanly, but by gnawing on them until almost nothing was left. Followers of Ashmara would be more careful with charms like these.

  Judging from this lizardman's build, quite muscular as far as this species was concerned, as well as the weapons giving off a sharp stench, it was clear which deity it was.

  "Shimia, then. Domains of poison, healing, and strength. That's... annoying, but I can deal with it," Ashton smiled and stood up straight. He looked around and stashed the dead lizardman somewhere where the others wouldn't see it; in a large garbage bin standing behind the building that Ashton had left open for this very occasion.

  And now, it was time for Ashton to move on. First, he had to get a good lay of the land. Luckily, it was fairly easy to move around these lizardmen undetected as long as he was careful enough. Even when he did accidentally draw some attention, there were some spots here and there where he could hide in the shadows, letting the monster pass by.

  Before long, Ashton had reached the rooftop access. He quietly walked down the steps, making sure to keep an ear out on any sort of footsteps. As he walked down, he soon reached an office space built at the side of the building. The store itself was a massive warehouse, but people still had to do administrative work, so this was apparently where that happened.

  There were lizardmen in there, but Ashton was able to catch a glance at what was going on inside. Since the lights didn't work, there were plenty of shadows to hide in, so Ashton soon looked out a window facing the inside of the store. To call what had happened in there 'destruction' was putting it lightly. Almost everything was torn down and repurposed somehow. A lot of shelves were used to make walls, and all the inventory in the store was scattered throughout. It was like a maze in there, with everything thrown around and used to block plenty of the passages or make new structures.

  They had apparently figured out how some of it was supposed to be used, though. Mattresses were used to build nests, they were drinking booze, and there was plenty of food that they were gorging on, practically fattening themselves up. They must be hungry since they weren't eating most of the people they kidnapped.

  Speaking of... in the corner of the space, Ashton could see a large wall built from the shelves and palettes from the store, with a ton of lizards surrounding it. Ashton couldn't see anything too well since he could really only catch a glance before having to leave the office again. It was too risky to stay here otherwise.

  Instead, Ashton promptly went downstairs into the main warehouse. Sure, there were a ton of monsters there, but it was so maze-like that Ashton had plenty of places to hide himself while trying to get a lay of the land. And, most importantly, free the kidnapped people.

  For that, Ashton had to prepare a few things. First things first, he had to collect some weapons. Really, anything for the people to protect themselves with after they ran. Ashton had to stay here and make sure he took down this place safely. Since they were in a large group, they should be able to handle themselves to some degree. It was too risky to leave them here. Fighting against so many opponents on their turf while protecting others was too much for now.

  He also needed some rations, since Ashton doubted the people had been fed properly. Some bags to carry things with were a good idea, too.

  Ashton had spotted a place they could head for the time being and stay relatively safe while he took care of everything. If they managed to hold out until Ashton was done, he could bring them to a safe place. The closest camp he trusted for certain was Calibur, though the closest in general was the camp around the police station.

  Well, Ashton had some time to figure out what place to bring them to. Worst case, he could bring them to the police station, and if they were no good, then he'd bring them to Calibur next.

  Now that he was in here, Ashton roughly remembered where things were supposed to be. His memories were still all scrambled up most of the time, but once he met people or went to places from his past, those memories were all lined up correctly again.

  Though, in this case, that wouldn't really help too much. The lizardmen had moved things around too much for Ashton to perfectly remember every detail. Plus, it had been a while since he was here before he was summoned, anyway. They might have moved some things.

  And after getting a lay of the land and prepared a way outside for the people, it was time for Ashton to prepare to fully clear this place out.

  While his main combat specialty was staff fighting, due to his experience with enchantments, he picked up a few other neat tricks over time.

  With the right enchantments and materials, setting up traps was as easy as taking a nap.