Vlad read one event after another, finding everything from the Spider-Wolf Massacre, where a merchant caravan was torn apart along the whispering pines road.
The survivors claimed they saw giant spider-wolves with glowing red eyes. But in truth, it was a bandit group using illusion magic and large trained dogs.
Most events were just the doing of people, and most were already taken care of by the city guards or the adventurers' guild.
But there were also supernatural events with no real explanation, such as the singing lady of the Moon Lake, the cyclops of dead wood, or the dozen other unexplainable events.
The explanation that came with these events was believable but not proven, and most such events were told by individuals with no credibility.
Vlad found no clues related to the Verdant Blight, even after going through nearly half of the available information.
However, he did find a few interesting events.
'An entire merchant caravan drifted into sleep, and surprisingly, no one was harmed, nor was any of the merchandise found missing,' Vlad read as his eyes scanned the attached map piece.
'If I remember right, this was where the Howling Griffin Guild discovered an underground pond with a large bloom of Epic-grade Nocturne Blossom.'
'Those flowers release an invisible haze that can put most people to sleep,' Vlad recalled. 'Even a dozen of them would be worth a small fortune... I should collect them.'
'A haunted area where many people had disappeared,' Vlad read aloud, studying the hand-drawn map on the paper. 'This should be connected to that vampire who escaped from the capital's dungeon.'
"Uhh... Master V," Vel's voice, as hesitant as ever, spoke up. "I think I might know the reason behind this mystery."
Vlad turned, surprised that Vel could read the human tongue. 'She sure has many hidden secrets,'
"I learned human writing from the books available in the garden library," Vel said, seeing his surprise.
"Sure, tell me what you think about this mystery," Vlad asked with a smile. "Who could be behind the mutilated corpses?" he added, even though the investigation by the Ring concluded that it was the work of a mountain bear gone mad.
Vel hesitated, then spoke up, her voice soft yet certain. "I believe this is the work of a spirit possession," she began. "The thing is, the majority of victims are mountain bears."
"And while a bear seeking ascension could kill its own kind to consume their beast core, it wouldn't leave their bodies mutilated like this." She paused to gather her thoughts before continuing.
"The wounds, from what I can tell from the description, resulted from one-sided slaughter. But to me, they seem more like something inflicted by the bear itself, almost like it was trying to tear something out from within." She explained and looked to see if Vlad saw the reason in her assessment.
"There must be a realm tear in the area," Vel went on, "from which an animal spirit escaped. The spirit is likely trying to find a host, using force to take over."
After a short pause, she added, "At least that's what I think." Vlad nodded slowly, his gaze thoughtful.
'If there is a realm tear in the Mist shore woods, I should go search for it,' Vlad decided, understanding that if he could not take its resources for himself, then he could always sell it to the adventurers guild.
Realm tears were divided into seven grades, and even the lowest kind was exceedingly rare and highly sought after.
Each tear was the result of an extremely rare phenomenon, when the boundaries of two realms collided and weakened to the point that, in rare cases, an unstable gateway would rip open between them.
The energies of the two realms would sometimes mix, forming natural spirit or law crystals, two of the rarest and highly valued resources.
Their value didn't end there, as a vessel crystal could also harness and contain the tear's anomalous energies, which is why realm tears were highly sought after.
Realm tears always had Creatures guarding them, whether spirits or magical beasts who fed on the concentrated energies, so harvesting the realm tear required appropriate strength.
"Vel, thanks for your insight," Vlad said with a smile, making the little girl sway happily from side to side.
"If you notice anything interesting, don't hesitate to speak up. I would love to hear it." He chuckled softly, "And if you have any questions, feel free to ask."
"Also, just 'V' is fine. You don't have to call me Master." He added.
"Uhh... No, I feel happy calling you 'Master,' so please don't," she said hesitantly, her fingers gripping the hem of her dress.
Vlad smiled warmly, "Sure, whatever makes you comfortable."
Vlad moved on to the next event, and after reviewing half a dozen entries, he found something similar to what he was looking for.
'This could be it,' he thought, his eyes shining with anticipation as he read the details.
A fisherman and his family of two were killed in what seemed like an open-and-shut robbery case, with the culprit not getting found.
The incident occurred out of nowhere and appeared nothing more than a bad robbery.
But Vlad saw more than that, a small, seemingly insignificant detail that the investigators had dismissed as poison. To Him, however, it felt far more than that.
'Any poison could make the veins turn green and skin pale white,' Vlad murmured, his brow furrowed. 'But those symptoms only appeared in the fishermen,'
'Maybe a thief killed them, or maybe it was the fisherman himself,' Vlad considered, his gaze hardening as he thought it over. 'I don't know how or why the Deceiver would give the potion to a fisherman, but this very well could be it.'
'I need to get to the bottom of this.'
Vlad had come seeking clues about the Verdant Blight, hoping to stumble upon an unexplainable event. While this case wasn't perfect, it was close enough to give him a starting point for his search.
Vlad wanted to stop the world event before it became a great disaster and acquire the shard of corruption.
The Verdant Blight of False Immortality was the first true catastrophe to strike the world of Ascension, revealing the terrifying nature of the Shards of the Nameless King.
The rise of Demonkin was a big event, taking the lives of thousands, but compared to the Verdant Blight, it was a small, insignificant threat.
As its name suggested, the Blight of False Immortality offered immortality in its most twisted form: turning people into Hollow, mindless zombies hungry for vitality.
It was created by an alchemist called the Deceiver, a half-elf who called himself Tael'tharin. This was certainly not his true name since it translated to the messenger or the Deceiver, depending on how one wrote it in the elven tongue.
He created an elixir that granted immense healing. In its most diluted consistency, it was capable of regenerating lost limbs, comparable to a high-grade healing potion that cost ten times the price.
But that was not it, as the elixir offered a permanent strength increase, better health, sharpened senses, and even permanent stats for players.
So, such a life-changing elixir was immediately popular among the players, soldiers, mercenaries, nobles, and anyone who could afford it.
But soon, the terror of the elixir hit the world, the capital city of Thalmaris suffering the worst of it, as every individual, nearly 90% of the population, began to show the symptoms of the Verdant Blight.
The disease affected everyone, not just those who had used the elixir, so no one blamed Tael but rather asked him to join the royal alchemists and doctors to find a cure.
The disease spread through contact and air, but one silver lining in this disaster was that it only affected bipedal creatures and none of the magical beasts.
The symptoms were divided into three stages:
Stage 1: Fracture: The victim becomes more paranoid, selfish, and aggressive. Slowly losing control over their emotions.
Stage 2: Decay: Physical symptoms emerged as their skin turned deathly pale, green veins appeared through their bodies, their eyes turned pupil less green, and they began to attack mindlessly.
Stage 3: Hunger: Their sense of self was gone, and now they were just a husk driven by dark emotions like hatred, envy, and hunger for vitality.