"Oh dear, they look scary!" I blurted, and then I threw a fireball at one of them.

It burned away in an instant without making a single sound. But I failed to hit the second one fast. He figured out my plans and disappeared from the fire line so quickly that I could not even notice this. Three fireballs missed the target, one of them set a garbage bin on fire. The second one nearly burned the car peacefully parked in the parking lot. It seemed unreasonable to fight these creatures under a lantern not far from the apartment house, but they gave me no other choice.

Three more fireballs were thrown in vain, and I was getting very angry.

"Hey, that wasn't the deal! You're making me dizzy!" I said to a silent monster.

I decided not to be on the bit and tried to calculate the trajectory along which the enemy was moving. Every time I tried to hit the target, he went a few feet to the left and stopped.

"Hm…"

I threw the next fireball, which served as the bait, from my left hand, and then threw the second one almost immediately hitting the monster when it stopped.

Having shaken my hands off, I smiled and said,

"That's it!"

I heard clapping behind me. Eugene stood, leaning on the lantern.

"I'm impressed. You learn fast. Yesterday you almost exploded from these abilities, and today you deftly kill vampires. By the way, it was them. That's how they look, not as you show them in the movies. It's not good that you've put on such a show."

"I was just waiting for you, and they attacked me. What was I supposed to do?"

Eugene shrugged.

"Well, shall we look for another adventure?"

"I didn't take their abilities. Why?"

"You did, but haven’t noticed. They're parasites and their abilities limited to speed and strength only. And they're not immortal, so you don't have to worry."

"Thank God!" I exhaled with relief.

Eugene raised an eyebrow at my last sentence.

"What?

"You know the truth. Why do you keep saying that?"

"That's a habit!" I shrugged. Besides, if I started praising many gods in public, I would be misunderstood.

"Okay, ask your questions!" Eugene sounded a bit doomed, but judging by the look on his face, he wanted to answer or just liked my questions.

"What was that? A few minutes ago. I know I saw you, but how?"

"This is called mental connection between the Guardian and his ward. I feel when you're in danger. I can see you any minute just as you can see me. It'll be this way as long as you're under my protection. At least that's how Tol explained it. I've never had wards but missions. But when you are next to the demigod, I can track your location. Try to use it less often, because each attempt takes a lot of effort and is not always successful. I barely understood how to figure out when you're in danger."

"Do you mean your tattoo? It was glowing…"

"It always lights up when the ward is in danger. I felt it but could not come to the rescue without finishing my job, especially since the danger was minimal."

"The place you were in, what was it?"

"I thought you'd be asking me different questions. Why are you interested in me?"

"As you just said, we're connected. I want to know why and how. And since we're in the same boat for the whole trip, I'd like to know more about my companion. You can consider this a human thing," I waved.

"It's the Tart Desert. To get in and out of Tartarus, one needs to go through this desert. Only Gods can go straight to Tartarus. And I was protecting the entrance from the newly transformed souls that somehow managed to do something no one had ever done before. Nobody could wander the desert with impunity. There are certain services that eliminate unauthorized access."

"But how could you be there? You're not a God!"

"Yes. But I can transport myself there. I have friends among Gods, who can do me a favor at a certain price, especially since it's in their interest to allow me to do my job. Believe me nobody cares about the rules when the existence of all Living is at stake."

"Okay, now tell the truth!"

"About what?"

"About what's going on. Initially, you said that only one hundred souls escaped because of Charon. This morning I saw that the number is much bigger."

"That's true. While the gate was unsealed, a much larger number of Dark Souls escaped but you have to return only one hundred souls. It's the number that will restore the balance."

"Why?"

"One hundred souls escaped because of Charon. All the rest escaped because of the Guardians, who were not able to seal the gate fast. We also pay a certain fee but the Balance doesn't depend on it. It's rather natural damage."

"Why was there an earthquake?"

"It's not an earthquake. The fact that the dark souls can't stay long in this state outside the river and soon transform into other creatures. Only being in the form of spirits, they can infect the souls of the recently dead and wandering ones. Thus, they create an army. That's why the accident was set up. They hunt every new soul to transform. It's like a cycle. Sometimes they'll do something like that."

"Next time, I'll be ready to stop them."

"You won't be able. These souls don't care about physical distance. They can easily be on another continent."

"But I feel their death…"

"Not all of them. It's more like an anomaly. Charon feels no pain. Perhaps, it's your human nature to feel their emotions. In fact, only the cause of death is important for the Carrier. Since you are limited by the human form, you can only feel those who died in relative proximity. You have no idea how many people and other creatures die every minute. If you felt the pain of each of them, you would have died long ago. Try to abstract your mind from those who die. You can't help them."

"Maybe, with time… But why a new Carrier hasn't been appointed yet? It's terrible that souls have to suffer all this time."

"You're right, but it's not that simple. Charon has served as a Carrier since the beginning of time. According to scripture, after uncertain circumstances, it's necessary to appoint his Heir – a direct descendant, that is his son. But in view of the fact that he does not exist or we don't know about his existence, this process is somewhat complicated. Now hundreds of sages are trying to find someone who's willing to bear this burden voluntarily, not abusing the Force. This one must be worthy, or the Vessel won't choose him. You have to pay off the debt until then, because the Carrier will need the Force to take over the post."

"Tell me, how does the lack of Balance impact your world?"

Eugene was about to answer my question but we were interrupted by six newly arrived vampires.

"I'll handle this…" I said and started whacking those blood-suckers.

It wasn't until the third one that I realized I was moving as fast as they were. It was so amazing that my vestibular system could stand it, and everything did not merge into one continuous landscape before my eyes, but remained as clear. But by the time I was done with those three, the others attacked Eugene, who did not put up much of a fight, thinking it was better to leave them to me.

He was holding one by the throat as I approached. My hand burnt a hole in the back near the heart and grabbed the vital organ of the vampire, who did not fight at all. The next second the vampire fell down at our feet. But when I was holding someone's heart in my hands it strangely cheered me up. A smug smile on my face made me look very predatory.