"Here sir." The clerk spoke as she handed over an Aredrite rank badge over to him. The grey violet faintly glistened in his hand,the third tier of the overall adventurer list as his display tier was that of a fourth tier expert.
If he wanted higher tiers then he would have to prove his worth and contributing for the guild with missions. A tier four expert was rather hard to find but nothing too complicated.
"I'm sure that you can accompany me with my adventures. Do you have any hunts that are yet to be accomplished ?" He posed, uninterested with the badge that he stored in his pouch.
The clerk felt a little dissatisfied with his demeanor, treating such a prominent role so casually as she handed over a quest. A quick glance at it and he accepted which took her by surprise but it wasn't her that would bear the damage thus she didn't focus on it roo much as the two made their exit.
Shyla grabbed the contract and a quick glance at it, she was filled with new vigour and rejuvenaty.
[{Stray wind lycans have been sighted at the jarry cliffs heading towards Galespire. Bring back their mana disc cores for twenty silver quartz}]
In comparison to the other quests, this one had a low prize and that was because it was way too hard to navigate where they were located. Not to mention it was clear that the guild wanted them gone as the prize for tier four mana beast cores couldn't be equated to sixty silver quartz .
It was more profitable to the expert than the guild showing that they wanted the wolves dealt with as soon as possible. Hiring a horse, the two made their way to the cliffs.
"I'm sure that I can handle those ravenous creatures all by myself." Shyla pouted as the two drew closer. "Really? You do know that those lycans can fly which makes them all the more dangerous. And you don't have anything to help you fly and be on the same level with them."
"Of course I meant with your help of making sure that they stay on the ground." She cheekily added on which elicited a small chuckle from him. "Okay." A few minutes later, the two arrived a narrow pathway that could only accommodate two carriages at a time.
Placing the horse to the side, the two glanced up only to see sharp and uneven rocks hanging on each sides. "Where do you think you two are going like that?" They were interrupted with a sound that came on the other side of the bridge.
A moments glance was enough to distinguish the source but the two weren't all that invested. Ignoring them, Hedon made a light snap of his fingers which increased the gravitational force above them while casting a shield to prevent any loose rocks from crashing down.
*Howl*
The ear piercing howls of the lycans could be heard that crashed hard onto the pathway, disoriented with the hard fall as they tried to regain their bearings. He squinted his eyes looking upwards with his figure instantly flashing from the vicinity.
Shyla was left to confront the pack of lycans by herself but she was more than confident with her set of skills. "Hey kid! Head back to the town and leave this to us!" One of the guards mused as his facials tensed with what was presented to them.
The lycans had humane like figures which were packed with dense manes which protected them from the cold of the high speeds that they would travel at and the high altitudes that they were exposed to. Their sharp golden eyes locked with those at the pathway.
*Whoosh*
Without hesitation, two of the five lycans lept at Shyla's figure however a red light hazy barrier formed around her figure which repelled them from making any further advances to her.
The sight however wasn't anything shocking to her given that Hedon had already told her in advance of it's properties. The lycans seeing that it would be difficult to get to her opted for easier prey, the two guards who put up their barriers.
*Howl*
Another sharp cry from the lycans followed however they were able to neutralize it with their sound cancellation barriers however another problem presented itself. The lycans, tier four beasts charged at the tier three guards who tried to put up with holding their own.
Without wasting any more time, she manifested the plasma making a whiplash with it and struck the lycans. With a single swing, she was able to put an end to three of the five lycans as their bodies collapsed to the ground.
Deep holes could be seen which stretched all over the place with how she swung the plasma around. Realizing that the two guards were about to meet their end, she frantically shot bolts of plasma at the lycans however her aim was lacking greatly and...
*Thud*
The remaining lycans fell to the ground however along with them so did the two guards. They looked at the massive holes riddling their bodies and in a state of panic, she withdrew her plasma which ended up passing through their bodies ending their lives.
Multiple holes could be seen on each side of the mountain, a testament to her power however instead of joy that she was able to conquer the lycans, a tinge of guilt rose in her heart as she looked around in a state of panic.
She made her way to the corpses with her legs as she at first hesitated to look at the bodies before taking a peek.
Being this close, she could see the horrified looks on their faces as the gaping holes, cleanly bored through their bodies huge enough to be considered that the remaining bits couldn't even be sufficient to make a single human body.
She glanced at her own hands in disbelief before she heard a familiar voice behind her. "You were able to handle the situation by yourself after all." Hedon mused as he looked around however Shyla wasn't pleased as she crashed hard into his figure.
"Zephie...I- I..." She went on as she pointed at the pair of bodies lying callously on the floor. He gave a light chuckle at the sight as he crouched down to her level. He cupped his hands onto her small and cute face. "Shyla, I want you to know this."
"During your path of becoming the strongest hunter to exist, you will be forced to fight against other humans who will try to stop you. I'm sure that you'll be able to win but this..." He mused as he gestured at the scenery of blood, corpses and carcasses.
"This is just the beginning and you should get used to it. This is the life of the wild. Sure in kingdoms and other civil places, those in power rule but in the grand scheme of things, it's true power that determines it all."
"If a king or a queen isn't strong enough then their power will be questioned by those who are stronger than them and they'll lose it all. Thus let this come off as a lesson to you. It's not about whether you're right or wrong, it's about whether you're strong or weak. After all it's the strong that determine what is right and what is wrong."
Shyla took another glance at the horrific sight, her dainty fingers digging deep into his clothes before burying her head feel into his figure. Within her life, she had never been subjected to such gory and mentally scarring scenes and this being her first, it would definitely last with her for a long time.
"Shyla, if they were strong then they wouldn't have died so let this act as a reminder. If you don't keep on getting stronger, then you just might meet such a fate. Be it in the hands of beasts, demons or your fellow humans. You'll have to familiarize yourself with such scenes because they'll keep on recurring the stronger you get."
"I promise that I'll train extra hard to not just be the best hunter but the strongest person there is." Her face full of determination and resolution. Hedon ruffled her hair which brought out a smile out of her. "That's the spirit."
He mused as he stood up to his feet. "Well we can't harvest the cores given how much you damaged their bodies but luckily there were more up higher." While Shyla was confronting the five, he was above as he cleared the remaining dens of the lycans.
And thanks to that, he was able to end up with a lot of tier four beast cores in his hands. Shyla instantly had her interest spark when she saw them however Hedon refrained from handing them to her. "I know that you're curious but they have more uses than just looking good."
*Snap*
With a light snap, he was able to get rid of the gory scene and their figures vanished from the scene and back to their hotel rooms. The two sat facing each other in a meditative position as he produced the mana disc cores out of his storage.
The matter of refining it was easily dealt with by a thought as he urged her to remain calm and relax. She could feel a strange and alien sensation that ran through her body however she couldn't quite describe what exactly it was.
It wasn't painful but rather refreshing thus she kept her eyes closed for the whole experience. 'There's no need to stall any of this.' He mused as he kept on injecting her with mana. Shyla felt her mana disc core which was instead a pure disc was now mixed with the strange plasma that she manipulated.
It started from the clear disc which evolved further as it changed colors from red to green and all the way till it formed a hard crystalline glow to it before it all dissipated as the disc was at the very end completely covered with the blue violet plasma.
The process was slightly painful for her as she grit her teeth however she knew that she had to endure it all and in a matter of hours, the agonizing process came to an end as the plasma was infused into her blood which unlike having a mana disc core made her storage of mana way more flexible.
Glancing outside, she could tell that it was late and her body was sore thus she took a shower afterwards and fell into a deep sleep leaving Hedon with his thoughts. He glanced at Shyla's body as wild thoughts ran through his head.
'So far it has been going great by using her as an experiment for a facade of emotions to project. As for her brother, let's see how she reacts when in contact with him.' The whole concept of actually training her to be the best hunter was an afterthought, his actual motive was using her to make himself more humane and relate better with Sophia and any other ladies that he would come across.
But for him, a game it all was at the end of it all. Nothing more than a ploy to help him waste time as he geared up and made his way out of the hotel that he was in and down the streets which were still packed with people bustling about.
His goals from before, a small task from Andrew was still fresh in his mind but he had all the time in the world to get on with the task thus he wasn't in a rush to accomplish it.
"I'd like a room please. With all the best ladies you have." His voice echoed through one of the chambers of the tavern. His fourth tier was prevalent thus those present had to take him seriously. "Why yes of course, follow me." A lady over the counter mused as he then proceeded to guide him into a separate room.
Right in front of him were stunning and tempting ladies, all dressed with sexy lingerie on and in very submissive poses. He gave a devilish smile as he saw the line up. 'To think that it has gotten this bad. It's a shame how weak these humans are.'