Void's eyes glowed, his gaze piercing through the smoke as he located the Vandals. The Eliskni captain erupted in anger, howling as he flailed his arms trying to punch through the smoke.

'tsk', He clenched his teeth.

'I can't go in without alerting him.'

Void wanted to use his weapons but the moment he channeled too much light or used a gun, his presence would be revealed. He had not yet mastered stealth to that extent.

He observed the smoke and realized it would soon begin to disperse,

'not good. Hiding from that captain will be troublesome.'

"Nicely done newbie, Tevis wasn't wrong about you. I will take care of the captain. Levi out."

The voice pricked his ear and Void immediately turned his head,

What he could only describe as a "shade" flickered through space rushing towards the smoke at blinding speeds.

Levi's figure emerged, separating from the shade, he jumped through the air, a short bow conjured in his hands.

'Tether', Void muttered seeing the bow, his eyes following Levi's leaping figure.

Void immediately jumped twice, almost stepping on air as he cleared the area.

Levi pulled back the arrow, energy condensed heavily into his bow, as he aimed right at the center of the smoke.

His actions weren't without response, the fallen were immediately hooked onto his position. Not a fraction of a second later, immense firepower erupted from within the smoke.

Levi like an untouchable ghost, twisted and turned his body in mid air, brushing past the shots, the power in his bow finally condensing as he let go.

A beam of light shot through to the center of the smoke, as the arrow planted itself into the captain's thigh, shearing through his bone. Immediately, the air got heavier, a strange power compelled everything to slow down.

Unexpectedly a pulse of energy flared through the area, and bounced back on itself, attracting everything to its center. The light condensed into a fierce vortex, everything within its radius had been pinned down.

Void was shocked and almost stumbled back down, if he had been careless and not jumped back, he couldn't guarantee whether or not he could resist this pull.

"Did you even leave anything alive". Void placed a hand on his ear.

"Come on now, you gotta have some faith in me, it's only gonna slow them down". A crisp reply came back.

The erupting vortex had sucked in all the smoke, but surprisingly except the captain being slowed down, the rest of the fallen were still in one piece.

Void was dumbfounded, was this level of control even possible.

"Hey don't show that dumb look, just shoot an arrow for a few hundred years, you eventually know what it does. Though I suppose you would need to shoot one for a thousand" A snarky laugh plagued his ear.

Void furrowed his brows and switched his channel to a quieter one.

'Why the fuck are all hunters such insufferable assholes.'

It was a question he couldn't answer in either of his lives.

He took a deep breath in and focused once again. The captain was temporarily immobilized trapped in a vortex of energy, whereas the rest of the fallen seemed to fearfully scatter away, choosing to hide in nooks and crannies within the alleys of the city.

Void stretched his legs and faced the direction the Vandals ran towards, he immediately began sprinting with full force.

--------------------------------------------

[Lunar Station, Skywatch ]

Tevis gazed down at the city while squatting down at one of the satellites, observing the encounters his team had with the fallen. As the leader his responsibility was to ensure their safety, but currently he was relaxed.

"Levi alone can handle the scavengers, I hope Void doesn't fail his task." He muttered to himself.

Tevis shot a glare to the side, a figure appeared blinking through space.

"Elliana, I thought you were busy with preparation. Too much time on your hands?"

"And I thought the Nightstalkers were busy protecting Skywatch, fighting tooth and nail. You're just playing with the Fallen foolish enough to step inside." She retorted.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Tevis shrugged as he chose not to pursue that line of argument.

"I heard you're training him? How's it looking." The warlock gestured down to the city.

Tevis contemplated as he looked conflicted.

"It's hard to describe. He has monstrous potential. I don't know where his sense for battle comes from, but the tactics are impeccable, it's almost like he's done this a thousand times before.. His execution is surprisingly pathetic, but he keeps trying nonetheless. It's the first time I've ever seen someone this talented this desperate to get strong. But it won't be easy for him. To put it simply, it's like trying to pour an ocean into a cup." Tevis spoke solemnly.

Eliana was quite perplexed at such an evaluation. She frowned.

Tevis wasn't just some random hunter she consulted, he was one of the few disciples left behind by the previous hunter vanguard Andal Brask. Tevis could even be one of the strongest hunters within the last city, and for him to issue such an evaluation....What kind of a potential did Void have?

Currently she could not classify this "evaluation" as good or bad.

'Monstrous potential but terrible execution.'

It was a dilemma. His potential was valuable without a doubt, but considering he would be facing a lot of dangers, it was likely that his feeble strength wouldn't be able to keep up with his problems.

All of a sudden a sour taste entered Eliana's mouth....'Had I known of his potential perhaps I wouldn't have chosen him to be the scout.'

It was better to recruit him into the Praxic fire directly, but it was likely that he wouldn't accept in the first place. Now that she had already prepared everything for the mission, changing the scout wasn't feasible.

However, in her eyes, Void's evaluation had shot up, he was definitely a target the Praxic Fire would keep an eye on in the future. With monstrous potential, a possibility of turning to the other side exists.....Eliana made a mental note to keep an eye on this budding guardian.

Tevis hadn't realized the impact of his own words on his fellow hunters' life.

"So how long do you plan to train him?" Eliana spoke up after observing in silence.

"The agreement was me training him if he completed fallen bounties for five days. But there's no way you're here to just chat are you." Tevis squinted, Praxic order being here was bad juju, he couldn't help but believe something had gone amiss.

"It's not like I can't come to observe my scout, but since you asked, we might have to speed up the lead time to this operation. I am here to give you a heads up, don't waste too much time testing him, teach him something useful."

"Tsk, that's the problem with you guys, I can't rush his development. If anything he's gonna be half baked at best if he went in early. This isn't a spell you can rush, a hunter's abilities are honed through grueling experience alone." He retorted.

"You can decide that on your own, I am just here to give you a heads up, if your precious hunter here ends up getting compromised because he couldn't perform well enough...I don't think you'll find anyone else to blame."

Tevis's face went numb hearing the words, he moved away from Eliana as he gestured the warlock to whisk away.

Eliana noticed his sullen mood, not wanting to meander any longer, she blinked through space her figure spreading thinly into light particles.

Tevis stayed, lingering at the edge of the satellite tower. He occasionally glanced at the lower city. After a few minutes of contemplation, he let out a heavy sigh and held his head.

"F*ck, guess I can't help it."

Tevis grabbed the rails and jumped off downwards.

-------------------------------------

[Skywatch, Lower District]

With a blast Void blitzed into the streety alleys, each step was placed with extreme precision, like a bullet he shot through the narrow turns, bouncing off the walls in succession Void maintained his momentum chasing the Vandals.

The Vandal's scurried in fear, knowing there was no way they could fight without their captain, they followed their natural instinct. To run and hide, in the darkest place they could find.

Unfortunately for them, Void was far too experienced in hunting out mobs. He was like a wolf sniffing out prey.

'These bastards, they're really good at hiding between these alleys.' Void thought, as the roads got narrower along.

The alleys were a network of twists and turns that he couldn't easily rush through, but for the Vandals, it was a safe haven they could easily hide in.

At a certain threshold, Void was forced to swiftly climb along the walls and continue the chase. There was no way he would lose track of them, his radar had already caught their presence.

Void darted between the walls, catching a glimpse of a Vandal as he increased his speed. Grabbing onto the wall beside him, Void channeled his strength, using his own momentum to fling himself across the gap towards the Vandal.

He immediately jumped to create elevation, as his feet glowed faintly, Void jumped in mid air propelling himself further, until finally he was right above the two fleeing Vandals.

In an effort to mimic Tevis, Void flipped his body with his feet up in the air, channeling the last part of his triple jump he kicked the air, effectively blasting him downwards hitting the Vandal.

With a swift grapple Void broke the shoulder joint in the fallen Vandal's arm, immediately a dagger appeared in his grip as he plunged it directly into the Vandal's head.

His movements were abrupt and not controlled, hence, the second Vandal jerked its head around sensing turbulent energy. Void's senses flared up, he knew that he had risked getting spotted. But in a sudden twist of events before he was recognized, he immediately chucked multiple daggers with full force towards the Vandal.

The shock of facing multiple daggers forced the second Vandal, to instantly focus on defending itself, hence losing sight of Void.

This fraction of uncertainty was enough for Void to trigger his shade perk, as he immediately used his extreme speed to rush out behind the Vandal.

With haste he pulled out his revolver, lining it perfectly behind the Vandal's skull unbeknownst to the fallen.

'Last one'

One shot rang out, the echo filling the hollow city as the shell dropped to the ground. A gaping hole was left through the Vandal's brain, staining the road blue, the Fallen's lifeless body dropped to its knees and plopped on the ground.

"Fuck that was a close one", Void breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's all four done, Obsidian, status report." Void called out.

Obsidian appeared from thin air, his eye's glowed blue, calculating a few factors,

"According to calculations, the Fallen captain's energy signature will reduce to zero in thirty seconds. The remaining scavengers have no signal. It seems someone really wiped them out fast." The ghost replied.

Just as Void relaxed his body, another transmission occurred on the guardian channel in Skywatch.

"All hunters report to Lunar-one. The fallen have been taken care of. Return to base as soon as possible, this is a direct order. Tevis out."

Void looked towards obsidian as the ghost vanished from sight, signalling it was time to go.

"Damn, I can't even catch my breath". He lamented, but soon began sprinting back towards base.