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Chapter 26: Specter hunting VII

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"As for me. I use these twin daggers, so I will act as a secondary attacker after Lucas. Natalia uses a chain blade so she will stay mid-range.

As for you Boarlian, you will cover for me and Lucas and attack when you see an opportunity.

Val, you said you're an archer, so cover our back and let us know if a variable is approaching. You can attack as you see fit.

Of course, am saying all of this but the battle will likely be swift for all we need is a few hits but the same could be said for the enemy.

What we should prioritize is protecting each other, or better eliminating them in one hit. Anything to add or disagree with?"

Selena eyed everyone, noticing not one of them objected, so she continued, "As I've said before, my and Val's contracts are much harder than everyone else's. So if anyone of you wants to bail out, let me know before we start."

Lucas was the first to respond by shaking his head, "I don't mind at all. in fact, we owe you that much because we aren't prepared for this at all, so that's the least we can do."

Boarlian seemed to agree as he nodded though said nothing. Val of course had nothing to say because he benefits from that.

"Alright, everyone can go to sleep now, and make sure to take a good rest because we'll start our search first thing in the morning."

Everyone set up their tents in the room, a tent every hunter should have especially considering how much hunters move for the hunt.

Val didn't sleep at all but simply continued with the creation of his aspect seed. He couldn't help but notice that the process became much easier since meeting the bunch.

That led him to believe or know that the aspect seed is related to one's emotions and desires, just as many of the scholars around the world presumed.

His desire for this specific aspect only increased after meeting them for he has this hunch that it wasn't a coincidence. Perhaps whoever or whatever brought him to this world is on the move.

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"As you might know, this is specter contact potion. This will allow us to be able to attack them even in their immaterial form.

There are some other alchemy items we will need but I and Val will be responsible for using them. For now, I shall apply the potion on your weapons, Its effect should last for about a day.

As you might already know, there is an ether art for things such as these which give the best possible effect. You don't have it but it should be given to you once we finish the contracts, or you can just buy the needed ether scroll to cast the art without consuming any ether."

Lucas nodded before handing her his twin Axes while Val took Boarlian's spear. Natalia seemed to be able to perform the art herself.

All three of Selena, Val, and Natalia started performing the ether art. It's one of the most recognized art throughout the world, a core art every Seeker desire.

It's the most used art throughout the world though it has many variants. It's also one of the core factors that make the difference between casters and none casters.

"Blessing of all things- Convergence." That was the name of the ether art, blessing of all things. Convergence was but a variant of it that allow ether to apply material things to their weapons.

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As they started chanting the nether words of the art, they poured the potion over the weapons.

Their ether also started pouring through their output runes and started guiding the fluid to travel all over the weapons and coat them in their color.

It was a harmonious scene as the weapons and the potion seemed to blend together, becoming whole. The casters' ether was also covering the weapons and making sure the applied potion remain just that, applied.

"Here." They then handed them back their weapons.

"We should recover to our peak before heading out so let's wait for a bit," Val added before sitting down and closing his eyes, ready to recover his lost ether. Selena and Natalia agreed as they did the same.

Every ether art they can use counts, and it can mean the difference between life and death.

Moreover, in contrast to the monster that's Val who can cast more than four arts before his ether is consumed, Selena can at most cast two arts and that says a lot considering what sequence and phase she's in.

Granted that Seekers in battle don't need many arts. Most often than not, all they need are two ether arts, one of them is one of the variants of blessing of all things which depends on one's needs and accessibility to the arts.

It wasn't long before the group set out towards the husband and wife's house under the village leader's guidance who wanted to keep an eye on them while in the village.

The house was like most houses in the village a bit frail looking and bland, made solely of dark wood.

"The house has been empty since their disappearance, and they left behind nothing of significance, so I don't see why you want to search but have it your way, just don't cause any trouble,"

Almeir said with his arms crossed then just watched the group as they cautiously entered the house.

Val narrowed his eyes as he followed behind Lucas who was in the front. He focused entirely on the illusionary curtain of his soul.

He observed the movement of the ether around, trying to detect any strange movement in the house.

That is something very few can do even at the two following sequences, and none can do so at his stage, his soul is quite bizarre and a seeker's soul is the core of their existence and advancement.

He noticed nothing too bizarre if the abundance of dark ether variants is taken out of the equation, but they aren't and that told Val a lot about the past of this house.

The good thing is that he didn't sense anyone or anything in the house. He still didn't let his guard down though as he followed closely behind Lucas with Boarlian following behind him.

The girls also followed with Natalia cautiously walking beside Selena, seemingly protecting her.

The house was nearly empty as Almeir said. When he said that, he meant people or things of significance, but they noticed that there is very few house belongings. It was extremely bland and dull.

They first started looking through the house for any source of danger. Once they made sure it's safe, they started their thorough search after spreading out throughout the house.

Val of course headed towards the bedroom which will most likely have clues of what happened if there are any. Selena thought the same, so she followed after him with Natalia by her side as always.

"Also quite bland, likely due to their poor state but that also tells a lot about their life, quite bland. Moreover, these are scratch marks, and there is quite a bit of them."

Val mumbled to himself as he noticed several faint scratch marks all around the bedroom. He also noticed the worn-out state of the mattress which didn't seem natural to him but artificial, "They fought a lot."

"So it's really as I thought, something happened that made her escape the village but she ended up dying and turned into a specter, predictable"

Selena added, feeling a bit proud of herself. She felt like things were going perfectly for her, and that she can easily pass the test and prove herself.

Val released a beautiful smile of amusement as he turned around and looked at her with inky eyes, "Am afraid it's a bit more complicated than that." he then turned his attention to a specific spot.

Selena frowned as she followed his line of sight as she heard his next words, "If am not wrong then that's blood, a large spot of blood. It's cleaned up and all you can see is a large darker spot but I am quite sensitive to blood."

Val wasn't finished as he started doing his thorough search of the room though he didn't want to touch anything, "Natalia, mind being a dear and helping me here?"

Natalia was quite curious about what he noticed so she obliged with her usual faint smile, "What do you need me to do?"

Val gently smiled as he pointed to a certain worn-out spot, "Thank you. Move the desk from that spot."

Natalia nodded as she noticed a few small darker spots on the desk, she smiled with amusement and said, "Oh my, could it be that you don't want to dirty your hands? I certainly didn't expect that from one of the Helious members, especially considering this is blood as you pointed out."

Despite her mischievous remark, she still did as told while Val just smiled not minding her words one bit...

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