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 blossomed into 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, Gerald and..."
"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 hadn't nearly wet himself moments ago.
'So they're explorers...? That makes sense.' Damon looked him up and down expressionlessly.
He wasn't surprised the boy was a grade four, considering he looked about two years younger than Damon. Although children weren't usually sent into battle at that age, it was fairly common for those 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," said Gerald, 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 arranged on the shore to spell the words Redhill."
"Ever since then, folks have been spreading word about figures in red and black garb 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, the man made a suggestion. "If you're not associated with these people, I recommend you use a different family name when traveling to avoid the trouble."
"I'll take it into consideration," Damon replied wearily. It was good advice, all things considered, but he took too much pride in that name to hide 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 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 by 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 Damon had exuded was greater than either hers or Gerald's. While they couldn't hold a candle to the Specters whose lineages stretched back to the previous era of constant strife, they both understood how difficult it was to raise someone's spiritual energy.
It was said that developing spiritual energy at a young age was much easier than doing so later in life, but it should have been unthinkable for a novice to exceed the energy quality of a mature Specter, let alone two of them.
"Are you really a novice kid?" Gerald asked. He couldn't help but doubt what he'd just learned.
"Hmm," Rudy hid behind Gerald and peered at Damon with astonishment, nodding in agreement. He'd 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 said, shrugging his shoulders, even more perplexed than before.
Then a weak smile tugged at his mouth as he added, self-deprecating, "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 if it could earn their trust. It would have been impractical to think he could deceive them anyway, knowing they were familiar with the ranking system used by the military academies and guilds.
Still, his words seemed to catch them off guard.
"What!" The trio shouted in unison, but Elizabeth was the quickest to recover.
"How is that possible? A normal fifteen-year-old wouldn't have that kind of energy!" she exclaimed, staring at him in all seriousness.
Despite their wealth, not even her family, the Greyhounds, had anything that could let one of their members achieve such results, since resources like that were often worth their weight in souls.
The family had once considered calling upon a mysterious existence to help increase their spiritual energy quality, but such a ritual was often too risky, leading to possession or unwanted soul bindings.
"It's the truth," Damon said 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's really telling the truth, then this kid is either a monster cultivated through extensive resources or a natural prodigy. He might even be the Eirosians' 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 people hope for a brighter tomorrow, as the best of the newest generation competed in a showcase of might and skill.
But qualifying was a battle in itself, 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 smiled and pointed eagerly 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 at once, but he had to ask, "What's a Wagner...?"
"They're large humanoid rabbit beasts with abilities tied to the matrices of wind and flow. They use wind for distractions, slashing attacks, and air blasts, while flow is centered around amplifying their speed." Elizabeth explained, drawing one of her blades as her emerald eyes wandered across the surrounding area.
"And you're saying you three cleared out a cave of those things?" Damon asked with a gulp. He knew Elizabeth and Gerald were quite competent, but he couldn't imagine them pulling off such a difficult task with Rudy dragging behind them.
Suddenly, Elizabeth met his gaze as if she'd read his mind.
"I know he might not seem like much, but Rudy actually played the biggest part in that. His abilities are centered around the matrix of Terra, giving him control over different forms of rock and plants." Elizabeth's smile widened as she said this.
Noticing the gleeful smile forming on the boy's lips, she continued, "After his spell was ready, we used the cave's stalagmites to crush most of them, but one managed to escape during the commotion."
'Spells? Matrices?... Things just keep getting more complicated!' Damon felt a headache coming on as he updated his mental notes.
'Now I'm really curious why that old pervert wants to teach us. There has to be something she's getting out of it.'
Obviously, he didn't know Tomoe well since he'd only spoken with her for a few minutes. But she didn't strike him as the type to let visitors wander her domain claiming spoils.
Well... maybe she would, if she found it amusing enough.
As that thought settled, Damon turned his focus outward. The smell of blood wafted past his nose, and he glanced at the dead beasts around them.
"Shouldn't you harvest the organs and eyes before they start to rot?" he asked.
"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 will buy them."
Damon's brows furrowed at this.
"So um... how would someone know if they'd 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 to himself, sighing inwardly.
Shortly after, they decided to pause their discussion and made their way to the other side, finding the ground layered with large rocks and creeping moss.
Elizabeth took the lead and climbed the rubble. She sliced through some vines, revealing a hidden tunnel, and offered to walk ahead while Gerald chose to guard the rear. Few words passed between them, but they seemed to understand their roles perfectly.
Damon found this a little strange as he tried to fall into the formation. He spread his senses wide and walked in the center with Rudy beside him.
"It's weird, right?" Rudy suddenly looked over and spoke up.
"What is?" Damon asked, a little wary.
"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 toward Rudy, whose face had brightened with excitement and pride.
"Do you usually boast this much about other people's achievements?"
Rudy lowered his head, his cheeks turning bright red with shame. He clutched the edge of his white shirt sleeves, struggling to find the right words as his eyes darted left and right.
Seeing this, Damon knew he'd hit the nail on the head. He couldn't help but chuckle. "What is it?"
"Ehm… ehm…"
"How can I help you? Spit it out."
Rudy looked up into Damon's eyes, flinched, and mumbled, "Ehm... Since we're on the same team… ehm, could you teach me how to wield a sword?"
"Ha?" Damon's smile faltered for a split second as he froze.
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.
Still, he did his best to contain himself 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 your footwork and form."
"Really?" Rudy exclaimed.
"Yes, now will you take a step back?"