Chapter 194 The Way Back (1/2)
”Hunters are called that because they hunt es,” Snowcloud explained ”They specialize in a type of Body Refineic, and they use it to hunt and kill es Even Masters and Grandes?” Arran asked Although he was curious about the Body Refineht time to express his interest in it
”nobody knows,” she replied ”They rarely appear in the borderlands, but when they do, they inevitably leave a trail of dead ain”
”That's it? They kill es?” Arran frowned, unimpressed with the explanation He had killed his fair share of es already, and with the possible exception of Zehava, so had the others in their sroup Moreover, while Hunters' powers seeic were hardly unique abilities
”You don't understand,” Rockblaze said ”They slaughter es like coust on his face as if the very idea was obscene
”But es kill each other, too,” Arran said ”And quite often, at that”
”That's different,” Rockblaze said sharply ”A fight between ht between equals But Hunters… what they do is butchery There is no honor involved”
To Arran's ears, the adept's words sounded like nonsense Even ignoring the ridiculous idea of honor in battle, none of thean equal
Still, he held his tongue
Irrational though Rockblaze's ideas seemed to Arran, the conflict between the it would serve no purpose Even if he thought the adept was an idiot
Instead, he asked, ”Is that why your attacks use Essence indirectly?”
It seeht question, because at once, the adept's expression turned excited ”Exactly! Using ic directly is easy, but it has far tooobjects you can—”
Rockblaze spent several ic attacks, and although Arran's opinion of theintently He had no plans of using the techniques himself —he learned ht help him better protect hi for some time, but finally, Snowcloud interrupted hi journey ahead, and the region is still filled with enemies The sooner we leave, the better”
Arran nodded ”We should But there is so I have to do in the ruins, first — it will only take a ful look, then nodded ”Be quick about it”
It only took Arran a short ti he had hidden within the city, and he smiled in satisfaction when he inspected its contents The belongings of the Waning Moon novices they had slain on the road to the Eidaran Empire were still there, and from the looks of it, undisturbed
When he returned to the others, he found the to leave
Yet as they were about to depart, Zehava spoke up ”The poison you used on Rockblaze,” she began, with a fearful look at Snowcloud, ”did you use it on me, too?”
”Of course,” Snowcloud replied flatly ”I'll give you both the antidote e're back to safety, but not ahappens—”
”I control the poison,” Snowcloud interrupted ”Unless I trigger it, you're safe But if I see any signs of betrayal…” She left the rest unspoken, but the e was clear: betrayal meant death
Arran wondered whether Snowcloud was telling the truth, but only briefly After spending a year with her, he knew her well enough to see that this was no bluff — she had actually poisoned the two
In his mind, he complimented her decisiveness It was not a side of herself she showed often, but when she did, it never failed to leave him impressed
They quickly set off oncejourney ahead and no more pursuers on their tail, an abundance of haste would not serve them well
To Arran's surprise, they encountered no es on their way out of the Eidaran Empire, and Zehava explained that most of the search parties had been sent further to the north