Arvus and Rey had been moving through the forest for some time now. The weather was really bad, but they did not return.
Although it would be more practical to walk at a distance from each other, the man did not do this, and the guy did not care. This night definitely wouldn't be as good in terms of loot as it would be if he was alone, so Rei didn't push himself too hard.
Glancing at Arvus, he asked him:
Why is your armor different from the rest?
Ray couldn't see the man's face because of the lowered hood, but he waited a bit before answering:
- Once every five years, a tournament is held in the capital, where the strongest among us is determined.
“So this is for winning the competition?”
- I didn't win. But the king honored me with a reward.
After thinking for a bit, the guy asked the next question.
- What is this material?
“Gilfar skin and bones. - the forest man answered more coldly, as if hinting that he would no longer answer. Yes, the guy, in general, was not going to ask anything else.
After listening to Arvus, Rey imagined a beast that could wear such armor instead of leather, but he was distracted by the crunch of a branch far ahead. Both stopped at the same time. The guy bent down and reached out with his hand behind his back, wanting to get the bow, but the palm of Arvus fell on his shoulder, who, taking his daggers, pointed to the guy's belt, on which his own hung.
"Interesting…"
Taking out his weapon, Rey nodded his head to the right side, making it clear that he would bypass from that side.
Only after almost five minutes did he notice a two-meter deer, which slowly walked through the night forest. Stopping about thirty meters from him, the guy hit the tree with the dagger hilt, giving a signal of readiness. The beast also heard it and turned its head in the direction from which the sound came, but, not noticing anything, continued on its way, at a slightly faster pace.
Hearing the same blow coming from the other side, Rei immediately began to act. Trying not to make noise, he closed the distance to the deer until only ten meters remained. Hitting the tree trunk once more, he waited a moment and rushed towards his prey, raising his dagger to strike. The beast noticed him instantly and, despite the fact that it was predatory, did not fight, ran in the opposite direction from Ray. Before he had taken more than five steps, a shadow appeared from behind the nearest tree, piercing his neck with a clean blow.
Ray didn't say anything, just silently approached the fallen animal, the last grains of life leaking from its eyes. Taking out the ropes, the guy began to tie the carcass of the beast, absorbing his soul along the way. As he finished and was about to heap his prey on his back, Rey heard Arvus' words that made him freeze:
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“Why don’t you use those daggers that you finished off the Gsarkh?” - although the man's voice was no different from the usual one - calm and strict, the guy immediately understood why he called him on this hunt.
Many excuses ran through Ray's head, but even to him they seemed like nonsense, so he simply remained silent. But Arvus continued to speak:
“Those daggers… I wouldn't have noticed if they were any others, but I made these with my own hands.
Ray took a step back, realizing that the forest was not in a completely peaceful mood.
It was a present for my younger brother. - the son of the forest minted words one after another, taking the first step towards the guy. “I gave them to him the day he became one of the elite.
The guy slowly moved away, trying as much as possible to break the distance between them. Arvus, as if not noticing this, continued:
- I immediately felt that he was no more, but until the last I hoped that I was mistaken ...
The man put his hands on the daggers that he had already hidden after killing the deer. Rey did not even touch his own, he understood that he would not be able to defeat Arvus in such a battle, so he continued to slowly retreat.
- All his life Corvus lived with dignity, like a true son of the forest! Why did he have to die!? the man thundered, and such anger sparkled in his eyes that it didn’t even occur to the guy to dissuade him from something. He answered a little indifferently, but honestly:
“He has become my strength and I don’t need another reason.
Now in the emerald eyes of the forest there were no longer sparks, but a raging flame, after a moment of silence, he squeezed the handles so that even Ray could hear and spoke again:
“I didn’t stab you in the back with a blade just because you saved my sister, but…” pulling the daggers out of their scabbards, the warrior swung his whole body forward, “today you will die!”
“You can’t delay… There will only be one chance.”
Stepping back behind a large tree, Rey forced Arvus to sidestep him. The same, in turn, activating another technique, accelerated sharply, but this did not help him. Lesnoy only had time to put his hands with daggers in front of him, trying to block the huge paw of the beast, rushing in his direction.
The man really managed to take the blow with a weapon, but his body flew off almost a dozen meters, until it crashed into the trunk of another tree with a dull sound. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Arvus tried to get up, but his left hand, which received the main force of the blow, did not move, while his right, although it could move, hurt so much that the man groaned, leaning on the ground with it.
Ray stepped out from behind the tree in his forest uniform. That's just completely naked - the armor was torn into shreds during the transformation. The guy spoke to his teacher, who, having tried to rise, fell to the ground again, spitting out another portion of blood:
“I didn’t mean to harm you or anyone else. Know that you chose to die on your own. - at that moment, Ray did not quite understand why he was saying these words. They escaped him involuntarily, as if some kind of excuse.
Arvus couldn't answer. All his strength was spent on futile attempts to inhale, but there was also little left of his lungs - so much strength was invested in one single blow of the gsarkh.
“I consider you a great warrior, and in spite of everything I respect you even now. I'm even a little sorry that all this happened ...
Ray looked at the full of hatred, gradually fading gaze of the forest. Shaking off a drop of blood from the palm of his hand, which oozed from a rather deep wound on his arm, left after a blow to the blades of Arvus, he came close to him.
“Your people are indeed very united. I do not want you to be disappointed in your nature before death, thinking that your brother died at the hands of the same son of the forest. I'm not one of you, even though I look like that. And now ... - the guy raised his hands to the head of the teacher. - Goodbye.
In one swift movement, Rey twisted Arvus' neck. He did so for two reasons. First and foremost, he didn't want to ruin the armor he liked. The second was rather subconscious - the guy wanted to give the forest a quick death.
Taking the soul of Arvus, he hesitated.
“If someone in the city knows, then there is no point in returning.”
"Heck! I just started to get used to this place… I hope everything is ok.”
Having removed all the equipment from the body of his already former teacher, Rey hid it in the Inventory. Having broken four souls, he patched up his wounded arm - for some reason he did not want to turn into a smaller form. Yes, and not so great were spending. The guy turned into a gsarha again. The body could not be left here, therefore, in a few movements, he made a depression in the ground hardened due to the cold and threw Arvus there. Diligently dug it in, the guy stopped.
“If he didn’t tell anyone, then I can justify myself by the fact that after leaving the city we parted with him. They consider me one of their own, incapable of attacking a fellow, so they will not suspect. – Thinking in this way, the guy went towards the city, along the way taking the carcass of a deer. That's just the armor he had to change to one of those that he obtained by killing the same forest detachment. But the kits were like two drops of water, so this should not have been a problem. Walking at a leisurely pace and maintaining maximum concentration, in case Arvus was not alone, Rey remembered his last words.
“I probably wouldn’t be so reckless about killing those hunters now, although, who knows…” He continued to walk forward with a displeased click of his tongue. “The past cannot be changed.”