Silence followed.
The wolves were dead, but tension lingered in the air. Hoping to ease the situation, the dagger wielder stepped forward and exchanged a not-so-subtle nod with the hammer wielder to lower his weapon.
"Thanks for the save, that was perfect timing." She said. Her sweaty face then blossomed with a smile as she sheathed her blades into the leather holsters on her hips. "My name is Elizabeth Greyhound but you can call me Liz and these are my companions."
"I'm Rudy Greyhound, grade four explorer and heir of the Greyhound family," the young blond blurted out before she could finish. He confidently stepped forward, puffing out his chest as if he wasn't about to wet himself mere moments ago.
'So they're explorers..? That makes sense.' Damon looked him up and down expressionlessly.
He wasn't surprised to discover the boy was a grade four considering he looked about two years younger than he was. Although they weren't usually sent into battle at that age it was rather common for children capable of manipulating thought matter to be registered with a guild or academy.
Seemingly displeased by the boy's outburst, Elizabeth glared at Rudy to silence him. Then looking back at Damon curiously, she regained her smile and continued. "You're an explorer too, right? We didn't expect to see another person out here. Are you perhaps the one that showed up last night?"
Damon gave a nod to the trio and stepped off the wolf's remains, sheathing his dagger. "Yeah that was me. The name's Damon Redhill."
"Redhill?" Elizabeth's expression faltered as she sought confirmation.
"What's with that look? Have you met someone from my family before?" Damon asked curiously.
"We thank the gods we haven't." Gerald said, breaking his silence. He took it upon himself to explain on Elizabeth's behalf, noticing Rudy's bewildered expression. "About a year after the tragedy that took place across Koinonia, thirteen bodies were found west of Clairemount at Santiago bay. They were hacked into several pieces and aligned on the shore to spell the words Redhill."
"Ever since then folks have been spreading the word about figures in red and black garbs leaving those words all over the continent."
"T-that's terrifying.." Damon muttered dryly. His thoughts scrambled as he tried to figure out who in his family would conceive such a villainous calling card. Several faces came to mind but he couldn't be certain.
Noticing his shifting expression, Gerald made a suggestion, "If you're not associated with these people, I recommend you use a different family name when travelling to avoid the trouble."
"I'll take it into consideration," Damon replied wearily. All things considered it was good advice, however he took too much pride in that name to conceal it.
Gerald shook his head in response before going silent. He could sense his words had fallen on deaf ears.
Just then Elizabeth switched the topic and addressed Damon, "Hey how about joining our team? You're pretty strong. We'd be glad to have the extra hands to watch Rudy's back. We'll even share twenty percent of the haul."
Damon was immediately thrown off by her excitement. He took a couple of seconds to recollect himself but he opted to bargain. "I'll help you but in exchange, could you tell me what you know about this place?"
"Eh?" Elizabeth was shocked when she heard his question. She exchanged glances with her companions and said, "That's surprising. Based on the quality of spiritual energy you released in that attack, I thought you'd be well acquainted with that old woman."
It was quite shocking indeed. The pressure exuded from Damon was greater than that of both hers and Gerald's. While they could not hold a candle to the Specters who had long lineages beginning from the previous era of constant strife, they both understood how difficult it was to increase someone's spiritual energy.
It was said that developing your spiritual energy at an early age was much easier compared to when you're older, but it should have been inconceivable for a novice to exceed the energy quality of a mature Specter, much less two of them.
"Are you really a novice kid?" Gerald asked. He couldn't help but doubt what he had just learned.
"Hmm," Rudy hid behind Gerald and peered at Damon with astonishment, nodding his head in agreement. He had never heard of someone around his age having this level of pressure either.
"You don't believe me?" Damon looked at Gerald and asked curiously.
"I-it's not that we don't believe you. We simply want to confirm your rank to renegotiate the division of any loot we find." Gerald replied with a slight stutter in his husky voice.
"It's fine, I'm really a novice," Damon shrugged his shoulders, even more perplexed. Then a weakened smile tugged at his mouth as he added self deprecatingly, "In fact I don't even have a forte, I just started my Specter training today."
Truth be told he didn't mind sharing this information if it could gain their trust. Moreover it would have been impractical to think he could deceive them knowing they were familiar with the ranking order of the military academies and guilds.
Nonetheless his words seemed to take them by surprise.
"What!" The trio shouted unanimously but Elizabeth was the quickest to recover.
"How is that possible? A normal fifteen-year-old wouldn't have such energy!" She exclaimed, staring at him in all seriousness.
Despite their wealth, not even her family, the Greyhounds, had anything in their name that could allow one of their members to achieve such results, as said resources were often worth the weight in souls.
The family had once played with the idea of calling upon a mysterious existence to help increase their spiritual energy qualities but such a ritual was often too risky, leading to possession or unwanted soul bindings.
"It's the truth," said Damon neutrally. His words dealt the final blow to their confidence.
As she gazed into his clear blue eyes, Elizabeth took a deep breath and calmed her thoughts. 'If he is really telling the truth then that means this kid's either a monster cultivated through extensive resources or a natural prodigy. He might even be the Eirosian's secret weapon to win next year's Rammstein..'
In a world where monstrosities ran amok beyond the walls of every human settlement, the international games gave the people hope for a brighter tomorrow as the best of the newest generation competed against each other in a showcase of might and skill. But qualifying was a battle in itself and one the twenty-three-year-old Elizabeth had already lost several times.
Yet she couldn't help but think the boy before her would be different.
She donned a smile and eagerly pointed to the other side of the steep slope. "How about we continue this discussion after we clear out this den? We set up camp an hour ago in a nearby cave after clearing out a burrow of Wagner rabbits."
'So they avoided the tiger to look for bigger prey..' Damon's facial muscles twitched almost immediately but he had to ask "What's a Wagner..?"
"They're large humanoid rabbit beasts with abilities related to the matrices of wind and flow. They use the wind for distractions, slashing attacks and air blasts while flow is centered around amplifying their speed." Elizabeth explained and drew one of her blades. Her emerald eyes began to wander across the surrounding area.
"And you're saying you three cleared out a cave of those things?" Damon asked with a gulp. He knew the duo of Elizabeth and Gerald was quite competent but he couldn't imagine them completing such a difficult task with Rudy around as dead weight.
Suddenly Elizabeth met his gaze as if she had read his mind.
"I know he might not seem like much but Rudy actually played the biggest part in that. His abilities are centred around the matrix of Terra giving him control over different forms of rocks and plants." Elizabeth's smile widened as she replied.
Observing the gleeful smile that formed at the boy's lips she then continued, "After his spell was ready we used the cave stalagmites to crush most of them but one managed to escape during the commotion."
'Spells? Matrixes?... Things just keep getting more complicated!' Damon felt a headache coming on as he updated his mental logs.
'Now I'm really curious why that old pervert wants to teach us. There has to be something she's gaining from all of it.'
Obviously, he didn't know Tomoe that well since he had only spoken with her for a few minutes. But she didn't strike him as the type to let visitors wander around in her domain claiming spoils.
Well... maybe she would if she found it amusing enough.
As that thought dawned on him, Damon returned his focus outward. The smell of blood wafted at his nose and he glanced towards the dead beasts around them.
"Shouldn't you harvest the organs and eyes before they begin to rot?" He questioned.
"That's a waste of time. It's all tainted." Gerald waved his empty hand. "Within a domain everything created inside is soaked in the caster's spiritual energy. To humans it's like radiation. A little's fine but too much can destroy your body and mind if absorbed, so no merchants would buy them."
Damon's brows furrowed when he heard this.
"So um... How would someone know if they absorbed too much..?" He asked nervously, scratching the side of his neck.
'Don't tell me...' Elizabeth regarded him with a deadpan expression for a moment then coughed and said seriously. "In every case it starts with random bouts of auditory and visual hallucinations of things that haven't happened and people attacking them."
'So I'm safe..' Damon mumbled in his heart with a sigh.
Shortly after they decided to temporarily halt their discussion and made their way to the other side, finding the surface layered with large rocks, growing moss and vines.
Elizabeth took the lead and climbed up the rubble. She sliced apart some vines revealing a hidden tunnel then offered to walk ahead while Gerald chose to guard the rear. Few words were really exchanged between them but they seemed to understand their roles perfectly.
Damon found this a little bizarre as he tried to adapt to the formation. He spread his senses out and followed along in the center with Rudy, walking next to him.
"It's weird right?" Suddenly the boy looked over and spoke up.
"What is?" Damon asked begrudgingly.
"How they communicate! I heard from that old lady that Liz is something called a Resonator. She's not really good at it yet but apparently she might have the ability to read minds using spiritual perception."
'Another one huh..?'
Letting out a sigh, Damon turned towards Rudy, whose face was brightened with excitement and plume. "Do you usually boast this much about other people's achievements?"
Rudy lowered his head as his cheeks became bright red in shame. He clutched the edge of his white shirt sleeves, struggling to find the right words as his eyes drifted left and right.
Seeing this, Damon knew he hit the nail on the head. He couldn't help but chuckle and ask, "What is it?"
"Ehm… ehm…"
"How can I help you? Spit it out."
Rudy looked up into Damon's eyes as he flinched and mumbled, "Ehm... Since we're in the same team… ehm, could you teach me how to wield a sword?"
"Ha?" Damon's smile momentarily faltered as he froze for a split second. He tried to think of a way to decline Rudy's request.
'It would be risky if he learns our family secrets and gets targeted because of it.'
Shaking his head, he responded. "You said you're a grade four explorer, right? Shouldn't you already have an instructor from a guild or academy?"
"I do but those professors won't teach us any good combat arts, only beginner level stuff." Rudy pursed his lips and grabbed onto Damon's arm as he spoke. "Can't you teach me something?"
'But you are a beginner and aren't you getting a bit too close here!' Damon wanted to scream at the top of his lungs as the boy's face drew near. However, he did his best to contain his emotions and replied, "Look I'm sorry but I can't teach you anything advanced either. But I could teach you the basics I was taught after we're done here. It might help with improving your footwork and form."
"Really?" Rudy exclaimed.
"Yes, now will you take a step back?"