39 Anissa Bryar (1/2)

Edmond looked like he was going to ask what she meant, but she didn't give them a chance.

”I'll explain later. First, just sit tight. The Mayor has already asked for a medical evacuation. It'll be here, soon. As for your father, he will be released from the prison. I guarantee it.”

As she said this, the sickly man nodded, following which Edmond smiled feebly and continued to pet his Tera.

Aaron, on the other hand, continued to keep a close eye on this woman, as the feeling of danger he got from her was still present.

He still remembered the Chief's words, and how he was supposed to treat humans and Teras differently.

Yet, there was no way that he would trust anyone willy-nilly, just because they had helped them once.

Hell, he didn't even trust Edmond fully. The guy had been ready to forcefully enslave his most precious friend, and although Aaron knew the reason, and had seen Edmond do stuff which more or less redeemed his character, he was nowhere close to completely trusting him in the way that he trusted Woof.

That was why he had answered in that way when the woman had asked if he was his friend. They were only in an agreement, and he had only agreed to help him because it would benefit him by netting him someone who could help him traverse the Path easier, while also giving him the satisfaction of following his hobby.

In his view, a friend was like Woof, whom he could trust his life with. Unless he felt the same way about someone, he would never use that word.

He wondered what the woman meant by 'medical evacuation', but he didn't ask as he could tell that he would find out soon.

Meanwhile, the woman was looking down while thinking deeply about something.

He still remembered her statement from before. What could she have meant? Why did the matter of 'boredom' even come into the conversation?

Well, she had said that they would talk about it, and he expected to find out then.

After a few seconds, she looked up to find Aaron looking at her, while Woof was still acting very cautiously.

Chuckling, she said, ”Apologies. I tend to go off on tangents which make me forget where I am. I'm Anissa. Nice to meet you. And you can tell your Tera to stand down. I mean you no harm.”

Seeing her hold out a hand, Aaron looked at it and raised his own to shake it.

As they were at the edge of the pit, Edmond could see this, and he was just about to shout out a warning when he stopped, thinking that if she really was as powerful as she seemed, she should have no problem.

Right now, all he knew was that she was someone powerful who had come to apprehend the illegal breeding. As he was someone who had grown up in a City, he knew exactly how much this activity was frowned upon for various reasons. He also knew that Ascenders could get hefty rewards if they apprehended illegal breeders, and he suspected that she had been happy for this reason, too.

Of course, he, too, didn't know why she had decided to kill the man instead of capturing him, or whom he had referred to when he had spoken before.

Just as he thought, when Aaron began to apply his full force to squeeze her hand, in the same way that he had done in the Hamlet, she only looked at him inquisitively once before smirking and squeezing in return, too.

He could see this from the way she changed her stance to allow herself to put forward more force.

Meanwhile, Aaron was seeing someone respond correctly to his handshake, for once. After all, all he knew was that he was supposed to shake it, and because the Chief and Edmond had never said anything, he had assumed that one should put forward their full strength.

His hands were those which had braved many attacks, and had even killed countless Teras. Yet, her strength was nothing to scoff at, too.

Soon, both of them realized that they were tied, as Aaron had also reached his limit.

Yet, the difference between them was that he could take the pain easily, and she couldn't.

As she finally let go, Aaron did so, too, following which she clutched hers and glared at him for a brief moment before turning around and cursing under her breath.

Anissa was actually pretty shocked, although she didn't want to admit it. Although she was primarily a Tera Master, she was proud of her Body Practitioner might, which she focused on as a hobby despite her father's objections. She had already reached the Rare level of Body Practitioners, and she had thought that it would be a piece of cake to make this boy wince.

Yet, he hadn't even flinched, and he had even caused her to feel pain.

He was certainly…interesting.

Of course, so was his Tera, which looked normal, but had caused her Eagle to subconsciously keep an eye on it while it looked around.

Now, feeling the pain recede, she was about to turn around, but stopped when she heard a sound from above.