Kai changed his clothes and went to greet everyone downstairs. Lady Eleanor was talking with Katja and Simian while Rast and Qwen were sitting near the door.

“Hey-”

Katja stood up and lifted Kai off the ground, “Who the fuck told you to stop resting, huh!?” Her intimidating nature turns her cat-like face into a tigress.

“I'm already rested enough. If I stay in bed any longer, I'd feel my body getting rusty.”

“I can definitely relate to that, let the man move his muscles,” added Rast.

Katja threw a loaf of bread at Rast's face, “No one asked you!”

“A maiden's heart is truly a fickle thing,” Qwem chimed in before getting thrown a bread on his face too.

Kai looks at the scene between the three of them. It reminded him of Oliver and Rin. He wishes they were there with him.

“Come sit down, young man. You didn’t get to drink your tea earlier. And here, I made some Karchag pie for you.”

Kai sat down and tried eating the pie. It was spicy yet sweet. The honey helped break down the meat as it melts into his mouth. Before he knew it, he had finished the pie. He went and grabbed the tea. It was aromatic and smelled of herbal undertones but tasted slightly citrus and tangy.

“Thank you for the tea, Simian.”

Simian shrugged, “don't thank me, it was Ms Eleanor's plants that made it great.”

“Thank you, Lady Eleanor.”

“Oh no, it's the least I could do. Not only did you heal my wound, but also replenished my Ember as well, as if my body became younger. I could never repay you enough, young man.”

“Speaking of which, how did you do that? Drivers aren't supposed to have healing powers. What you did was basically breaking the law of nature,” Katja wonders after beating up Rast and Qwen with bread.

“I don't know, it was the same thing with your cuffs, I could just sense the flow of Ember, and then when I held Lady Eleanor's ankle, I saw it, the broken flow. After that all I could remember was a feeling of wanting to fix it.”

“This makes no sense.”

“Maybe going into an almost zero state was a consequence of breaking the law of nature.” Qwen chimed in.

“Aaaaah! Whatever, as long as you're fine now. Get your stuff ready, we'll be going soon. The foraging squad just got back so we can use one of the carriage to travel to Halcyon. We'll wait for you at the plaza.”

Katja, Rast and Qwen grabbed their gear and went out first towards the plaza.

“Lady Eleanor ... .I understand that a Zero State is death to a soul, but do you know why Katja hates it so much?”

“Oh dear, everyone knows. But I think it's better to ask her yourself if you want a personal answer from her.”

“Alright.”

At the Plaza…

When Kai reached the plaza, there seemed to be a commotion. Everyone was gathering near the fountain. In the middle was Katja and Greyson arguing again. There was someone new he didnt’ recognize in between them. A demon-like person standing in between them with his arms crossed.

“You're going against Elder Eyfos? Are you crazy Greyson?!”

“Elder Eyfos didn't account for the lack of Karchag if we lose one carriage!”

“This is beyond us and Elder Eyfos! He has the provisional crest, this is a High council matter!”

“The High council's main concern doesn’t usually align with the souls below their status. Our village needs to be self-sustained.” Added the demon.

Kai felt a sting in his core from those words. The sentiment was similar to what the church of deigsir felt, a disdain for those above and those in power. If he follows the path as it is now, it will most likely end up causing a rift between two factions in the village. He needs to avoid causing anyone to be aligned with the church or worse, a faction similar to it. He walked forward to the center where the three of them were talking.

“I agree. I propose a counter offer. If I can help you harvest more Karchag, will you lend me one of the carriages?”

“Ah, you must be the proxy. I am Salazar, the foraging squad captain. Greyson has told me much about you.” He walked towards Kai and paced around him.

“Nothing good, I suppose?”

“Heh, sharp one aren't you?”

“It doesn't take a genius to see hatred in a man's eyes, yours is different though.”

“And what do you see from my eyes?”

“.....sorrow of losing someone.”

Salazar stopped moving, his expression grew cold and blank, staring down at Kai.

“And what would you know about loss?”

“You tell me, what do my eyes say?”

Salazar tries to peek into the emotions in his eyes. Everything around them was engulfed in darkness. Thunder and lightning hit the ground as water starts rising and whirlpools around his feet, dragging him deep underwater where almost no light could touch. From afar he sees a pair of green lights quickly approaching. As it drew near, he saw a giant monster with green eyes that ate him whole. The scene shifted back into reality as Salazar was now on his knees and breathing heavily while drenched in his cold sweat.

“....a monster..”

“Wait what? I thought you were gonna say ‘sorrow of losing someone’ too. But ‘monster’? Isn't that rude to say to someone you just met?”

“I don't care, all I see is a giant monster.” Looks away with an annoyed expression.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“Then what do you see Katja as?”

“House kitten.”

“Excuse me, what!?” She hisses at both of them.

“Then I must seem like a heroic golem, right brother Salazar?”

“....A twig.”

……..

Everyone bursts into laughter at his comment while Salazar was focused on analyzing Kai. When he peeked into him again, all he could see now was a calming starry sky. Salazar didn't know what to make of it. His [Demon's eye] could see into the very nature of a soul and their intent. The fact that two things exist within him is a mystery. The very existence of Kai started to intrigue him.

“Alright, I'll accept your offer to hunt Karchag. We will set out after sunset. Katja, Greyson, you'll both join as well. I want to get this done quickly,” both nodded in agreement.

“Why sunset?”

“The Karchags are nocturnal because they have sensitive eyes. The sunlight blinds them.” Katja explained to the unknowing Kai.

“Sounds like they have a hard life.”

“Well, they breed and multiply faster than we can kill them. It's fortunate that they're meat is delicious, otherwise we wouldn't know what to do with their corpses. As for the rest of its parts, we usually sell them at Halcyon for a high price.”

“Can't you just turn them into Ember?”

“No. The ember quantity within them is barely enough for half a day of Ember usage. There are things that are useful for more than just their Ember. Anyway, are you gonna be okay?”

Yeah, why'd you ask?”

“No, cause…catching Karchag is harder than it seems…it took 2 weeks just for the foraging squad alone.”

Kai suddenly realized he was being played by both Salazar and Greyson, “I seriously wanna beat them up.”

“Well, don’t forget to invite me when that happens.”

Katja, Kai, Salazar and the rest went their separate ways for the night. By morning, everyone was geared up and ready. They took two carriages and arrived in 2 days at the nearby hunting ground.

“Alright, we'll set up camp here. Katja, set the traps. Greyson, standby for when I give the signal, the newbie and I will go scout ahead.”

“Yes, Captain!” They said in unison.

Salazar leads the way with Kai following in the back. They walk slowly and silently until they reach a cave and He gestured to Kai to stop.Salazar used his [Demon's Eye] and to see better in the night. He counted seven Karchags.

“Listen well, Karchag's Ember capacity is low, it's their survival mechanism. Any Ember spike in a 5 Kilometer radius will alert them.”

“But didn't you just use a Spark?”

“My [Demon's eye] doesn't use much Ember. Otherwise it would be an ineffective skill. Head back towards the camp, I'll lure them towards the traps.”

Without them realizing, a third party of enemies was approaching. It was a “Hagrefir”. They are a dangerous species that hunts alone. The reason it hunts alone is because their power is on par with a dozen packs of Karchag. Its movements had alerted not only the Karchag pack within the cave but also the foraging squad as well. Its towering height and harrowing screech is a sign of their hunting call. Lightning came out from its horns and struck the area near the cave.

“What the hell is that?”

“It's a Hagrefir! This is bad. We can't let the Karchag run away and we can't let it get to them first. Follow me, at this point Katja and Greyson would already realized it's a Hagrefir. Heard the Karchag towards the traps! I'll distract the Hagrefir!”

“Heard them? You mean like sheeps?”

“I don't know what that is, but sure, like sheeps. Now go!”

Salazar went straight for the Hagrefir and kicked the back of its head, “Eyes on me, ugly!”

Kai ran alongside the pack of Karchag, “Okay, now what? I didn't really read a manual for Karchag herding when I got here.”

He tried to steer their head towards the traps but was unsuccessful, “Okay, plan ‘A’ didn't exactly work. There has to be something. I wish it wasn't so dark. Not everyone has night vision abilities, guys!”

Kai lit up his hand in bright flames and the Karchag immediately looked away and changed their course.

“Oh shit, wait, what was it that Katja said? Their eyes are sensitive to light! Alright! This could work.”

Kai ran ahead and lit up the bushes and trees on fire. The Karchags avoided them and ran towards the only path that wasn't burning and it led them towards the traps and incapacitating them. By the time Kai joined back with the base camp, he had already absorbed the flames again, avoiding a wildfire. Greyson unsheathed his sabre and used his spark to kill their prey.

[SIlent Slice] , His green Ember accumulates within his sword and cleanly cuts their necks with the unseen power of the winds.

“Whoa, I didn't know we had the same color. That's cool!”

“It is appalling. Your usage is crude, like a blind man swinging at air. You defy the flow of nature while I use it elegantly and with its consent.”

“I didn’t know I had to ask for permission.” He clasped his hands as if begging the world for forgiveness.

“Empty gestures, but I guess that's a start. Where is Brother Salazar?”

“He was distracting a Hagrefir i think?”

“Fool! No one can fight a Hagrefir alone!”

[Wind Tunnel]

Greyson boosted his way towards Salazar's Ember signature.

“Don't take it the wrong way, he just cares for the captain that much.”

[Tri-Star Cage]

Katja summons the cage that once held Kai and forms it around the dead Karchag.

“This way, no one can get to our spoils. Well, no one except you, that is.”

“Hehehe, i'm truly sorry for my actions.”

“Let's follow Greyson, he's right that nobody can fight the Hagrefir alone.”

They head towards the fight, but unlike Greyson, Katja doesn't have any movement Sparks and Kai's is still unreliable. Their speed is significantly slower than Greyson.

“Kai, try using your movement Spark again.”

“I don't know how to control it, I still can't copy Sir Retsu's movements perfectly.”

“You mean you tried to copy his movement? Kai, each person has their own movement spark. What sir Retsu used may not be compatible with you. Try and think about what your own movement is, otherwise we can't get to them in time.”

Kai was lost in thought. What would be his own movement spark that's compatible with him? He thought about the ICL and what he did to be agile in fights. He's reminded of the fight with Basil. He had used the ring's cage as a platform to jump up and propel him forwards. He can take it to the next level, he thought.

“Katja, get on my back and hold on tight.”

She did as he said,”I'm guessing you found it?”

“Yeah, but I'm not sure you're going to like it.”

He jumped towards one of the trees and angled his trajectory towards another tree. As his feet reached the bark, he quickly accumulated flames on his feet to combust and fling them forwards like a pinball, using the trees to bounce.

[Inferno Steps]

They darted from tree to tree whil Katja was unable to keep her face straight.

“I HATE THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!”