Chương 295: Hunter

The glowing point of the long, thin blade drew a mesmerizing pattern as it moved with blinding speed while trying to find a way past Kite's defenses. Kite had first thought it to be a rapier, but further inspection had instead shown that it carried a distinct edge which felt odd to see on a weapon that looked thin enough to break beneath almost any hammer, while in reality it had proved able to take on Kite's staff in direct blocks.

Magic and exotic materials truly never ceased to amaze, even though this time it seemed to be to Kite's detriment as the tip threatened to pierce even his heavy armor. While his main focus was directed at the swordsman, his spectral arms were instead busy with handling the attention of the whip-wielder.

After their initial failure to rush Kite and overwhelm him, the duo had instead switched to a more balanced positioning where the woman remained at a distance - even though there wasn't that much available on the top of the slanted tower - to use her reach and a few ranged spells to keep up the pressure.

Kite assumed that it would normally be a way to fight that would let them wear down many singular tougher opponents by switching back and forth, but even with their combined speed they were struggling to keep up enough pressure as each minor hit they had scored on him had only helped Kite speed up due to the echo of a certain familiar inner warmth that was stoked by their attempts to harm him.

Only when he left his homeland had Kite started to fully appreciate the boon of having the shared powers of the other members of the Elevenfold Unity at his disposal, and especially the echo of Dragonfly's inner fire brought a comfort both tangible and emotional. Even the lesser and limited version available through his regalia let Kite gradually pick up enough speed to keep warding off his opponents while the occasional projected counterattack ripped more of their mana from their reserves.

But this exchange of blows was not what had triggered Kite's sense of realization, but rather some still unformed thoughts in regards to other parts of his path. He had willingly entered their cage after all, even though it was usually he who initiated such a tactic. But seeing as the outline of the cage was already in place, Kite was left with even more ways to complicate things for his unwitting foes.

"Wall!" The barriers of Leyline Warding appeared all around the enclosed space. Most were left still and in place around the inside of the sphere that had previously attempted to contain Léon, but with Kite's evolving mental capacities as a peak silver-ranked being, he had enough focus left to spare to start sending several of the force segments chasing after his opponents at a steady pace.

They did not move particularly fast, but as five of them started closing in on the whip-wielder, they cut off her lines of attack and forced her to start to move around while the swordsman's footwork and attempted maneuvers were disrupted as neither of them seemed keen on getting caught between the pieces of barrier and risk immobilization even for just a moment.

Dashing between and beneath the barriers, the swordsman went on the offensive again as he clung to the initiative they had previously seized, his blade lighting up for some kind of devastating thrusting attack.

Kite tried to parry with Pattern-Shattering Counter once more, but at the last moment the man displayed some kind of speed enhancing power that let him swiftly change position and avoid having his attack snuffed out, only for the point of the blade to suddenly stop dead upon the absolute center of a small disc of force that had appeared before it with perfect timing.

Thanks to Kite's long evolved racial gift, there was always a small window of nigh imperviousness to his barriers just after appearing, which meant that the potent attack of his enemy was once again averted. Before making another attempt, the swordsman was forced to sidestep and circle to avoid the still chasing set of barriers with clear frustration growing in his motions.

That was when part of the unformed thought began to become clearer to Kite; that his feeling, willingly enclosing himself with his foes and how his path was well suited for it, was but a part of the decision. It was something else there that was part of him, or perhaps something that he strived for. At its core, a barrier was something that restricted movement or force.

Be it a wall that most often - at least without magic involved - could not easily be bypassed or a shield that deflected the tip of a blade much like Kite had just done, in the end, a barrier controlled or limited motion. And using multiple barriers to limit his foes on multiple levels as he did now… Kite had to admit to himself that it was not only practical but satisfying. That part of him enjoyed the control he could force upon his surroundings through his barriers.

They weren't just a means of protection, however important that also was to him, but also another way to impose his will on the world for himself. This warred a little with Kite's image of himself, but handling and untangling that would have to wait for meditation, assuming that he got the chance anytime soon. Fortunately for him, Kite turning the interior of the intended trap for Léon into a complicated mess of floating barriers had continued to rob his foes of their momentum.

The pair tried some kind of switch in order for the woman to get more up close and personal, but even that Kite managed to disrupt as a burst of mana let him swiftly shift several segments of barriers to form a solid wall that split the limited space in two while also separating the pair from one another. The woman immediately started pelting the force walls with strikes and some kind of disruptive force blasts, meaning that the separation would not last and that Kite needed to capitalize on this opportunity.

He leapt forwards using some of the stored momentum granted him by Unyielding, forcing the swordsman to once again dodge to the side in order to avoid being tackled by Kite's armored bulk. Touching around another segment of barrier to create space, the man was taken by surprise as Kite plucked the spear gifted him by Ardent on his wedding day and simply stabbed it through the barrier in question.

He had also improved this particular application of Chakra Implosion with a charge from Potential of Stolen Power, resulting in the surprise attack seeming to detonate most of the mana within the man's body as blue cracks flashed across this whole form. A wall of spectral swords suddenly appeared between Kite and the swordsman before the tips of the weapons turned towards the former and shot towards him. Given the amount of mana Kite had seen leave the other man's body, the special attack was a potent one.

Leaping back to buy a little bit of space, Kite managed to complete the chant of Ripple of Cancellation just in time to also note - through the haze of freshly dispelled conjurations - why his enemy had been so determined to drive him away at that particular moment, even though he could not have had too much mana remaining to risk the expense; the sphere that had previously trapped Léon was starting to fade.

Apparently having noted the same thing, the whip-wielding woman had already ceased her assault at Kite's barriers and was instead producing a sphere from a hidden storage pouch that turned out to unfurl into a flying chariot which they both promptly boarded, the swordsman seeming to sway precariously in his steps due to mana exhaustion.

Kite also started running towards the edge in pursuit while sending projected attacks as well as his remaining segments of barrier streaking ahead of him towards his foes as the flying artifact started gaining speed. However, just as the man was on the verge of calling something back towards Kite, a beam of light as wide as the chariot suddenly came down from above at a steep angle and consumed it fully. In the blink of an eye, the spell was gone, as was most of the flying artifact.

The pair of silver-rankers weren't dead however, the remnants of some kind of emergency barrier having shattered part way through the attack. Both then slowly started floating downwards under what must have been another set of lingering enchantments to protect the riders of the artifact from fall.

"Raymàn–!" the swordsman managed to bellow before two more beams struck from a completely different angle, piercing the heads of both him and his companion as they were left like sitting ducks in their predictable downward directory. Kite could still feel both of their auras, albeit very weak and disoriented as they were, proving once more the resilience of silver-rankers and– Then another set of equally pinpoint beams struck both heads again from a third direction, and the auras of both winked out.

Running out into the air upon a trail of small conjured barriers, Kite saw Léon - still seated atop Glint - shrug and smile once before he turned his attention back below where it turned out that some other force of essence users - mostly core-using mercenaries from the looks of it - had moved in to the ruins and were exchanging spells and other ranged attacks with Amica and Ceasar, with Léon apparently having supported from above.

Even though they were outnumbered five to one, Kite's team still seemed to have managed to keep them pinned and distracted. While Léon's sniping spells no doubt played a great part in that, Kite also suspected that Amica helped plenty by launching the fallen bodies of the odd cumbersome creatures summoned by the cultists in among the newcomers before Ceasar triggered his looting power to cause the huge beings to go up in billowing clouds of rancid rainbow smoke.

"I have so many questions," Kite called to Léon as he drew close to Glint and his teammate even while he remained ready to conjure barriers and protect his team from stray projectiles should the need arise.

"And I promise you answers once we've dealt with whatever rabble Rafàel and Aglaé managed to recruit," the elf answered calmly between spells.

"It will probably even go faster if you go down there and–""You know what," Kite interrupted, eyeing the rainbow vapors rising like pillars up into the air above the jungle.

"Patience is ever a virtue worthy of practice."

"So, mind finally telling us why we have two dead Estercostian nobles currently stored in a spatial bag and the reason that they seemed so keen on dropping in for a little chat-and-stab in the middle of a contract far away on another continent?" Amica's question caused Kite to crack open an eye where he sat meditating while trying to come to grips with the realizations that had come during his intervention in the very event that Amica was referring to.

Léon, who had just entered the hidden site of their current camp after another round of scouting, sighed in response while nodding.

"Indeed. Let us get this over with," he said before taking his seat around the heating formation that kept their dug-out subterranean camp nice and warm.

"But first things first. I managed to pick off another one of the fleeing mercs, but he was the last that hadn't already teleported away or managed to scatter with some other kind of power. Still, given what we know of the locals, I doubt that we will face any kind of reprisal here.

It was their fault for taking up unsanctioned manhunt contracts, after all, and I doubt that the adventure society would take kindly to them coming to complain how some of their people were killed by the elite operatives they tried to ambush. Still, we should move on in a few hours just to be sure nobody has a gold-ranked great-uncle or something who might come looking."

"Sounds reasonable. But that does leave us at least some time for a story. Perhaps one of noble intrigue and assassination attempts?" Amica prompted, leaning back with a smile as if expecting a grand tale.

"Then you will probably be disappointed," Léon chuckled.

"But fine I will tell you what I can. Those corpses in the bag are - sorry, were - Rafàel and Aglaé Beauchamp, a married couple from one of the main branches of their family. We go way back, seeing as our families have had a bit of a feud for the last hundred or so years. This has mostly been contained to politics and similar economic maneuverings, but there have been plenty of duels fought, as well as plenty of other more unsavory encounters such as this.

I wish I could say my family was honorable and impeccable in our dealings, but alas this is a dance between two partners both responsible for ending up where we are today."

"I am quite familiar with pride and its consequences from back home," Kite noted.

"From my experience though, things would have to be at least a little more personal for them to come all this way in order to ambush you, no?"

"Ehm, Yes, you could say that," Léon admitted.

"Rafàel and I were at each other's throats for most of our lives, since we were of the same age and often competed in the same social or martial events. With my set of powers, I tended to be little match for him in the dueling arena, but made up for that with… let us say precision in regards to certain social remarks and other maneuvers. As you know, I can be quite precise in many things, and have perhaps twisted the knife a bit more often than I should have when I was younger.

I can't say that the bastard didn't deserve it most of the time, but still. Things were calmer for a while, but then me being admitted into the task group while he was not caused things to escalate again, to the extent that my family deemed it quite necessary for me to be out of Estercost for a while.

Joining this team became a wonderful solution, but it seems like Rafàel also saw it as an opportunity to do away with me away from prying eyes and with very plausible deniability, assuming that they could take care of the witnesses. Which would be you all." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Then they should have brought a lot more people," Ceasar chuckled darkly.

"Or at least more competent ones."

"Well, Rafàel wasn't stupid and neither was his wife, but in their defense they were never part of Gauntlet and hadn't been around adventurers of that caliber that much given that few inside their families are still active. and paying a small army would have been a lot harder to get away with. Or perhaps they just didn't have enough pocket money," Léon finished with a shrug.

"Are there any other people of similar ambitions who we should be worrying about from here on out?" Amica asked pointedly.

"I don't think so, but I didn't think that Rafael would do something like this either. This does also mean that we have some work ahead of us in finding out how he got our location and contract in the first place. If the Adventure Society has a leak willing to give up information of this level, they certainly will want to know about it.

But given that we have both witnesses and evidence, I suspect that this matter will be more of an inconvenience to the Beauchamps than to us as there will be some very powerful people asking them very pointed questions. Gods, my family will probably love this as it will give them plenty of ammunition in some upcoming deals. An assassination is something to be expected at times, but a failed assassination? Few things are more embarrassing."

Kite nodded along with Léon's story, feeling that they were some similarities between things he had seen and heard of back home. It also brought the question of Discord to the forefront of his mind, and while he didn't exactly suspect Léon's family to be under the influence of the deity, it was proof that there was indeed ample fuel for the god's ambitions throughout the world. All the more reason for Kite to keep pushing towards his goal and help make a proper stand when it came to his own home.

The conversation continued for a while, with Amica pelting Léon with further questions that started the two devolving more and more into her just wanting to know some gossip and juicy stories, and Kite had started slipping off way back into meditation when a question from Léon brought him back to the present.

"So, Kite. Seeing that you probably saved my pride - if not my life - today, I believe it is proper for you to have the first picks from the gear of our would-be assassins. What do you want?" Opening his eyes again, Kite caught a spatial pouch with fine embroideries, looking back at the sniper with a clear question in his eyes.

"Please, go ahead. I know we're a team and helping each other is part of the job, but as it seems that my private life came haunting us and you managed to beat them both - something which my family won't let the Beauchamps forget, I assure you - you deserve a little extra show of gratitude." Nodding slowly, Kite had to admit that he was curious to what kind of gear the two had been wearing, and started to lay out the contents of the pouch for the curious Amica and Ceasar to take in as well.

"I would think twice of taking the sword though," Léon remarked as Kite laid out the long and thin blade.

"It is one of the family heirlooms that has been handed down for… Wait, now that I'm saying it out loud, it definitely sounds like you should take it. I can just imagine the look on the family elder's faces when they learn that their precious toothpick has wound up in the hands of a mysterious eastern wanderer."

"Would these elders happen to be gold-rankers?" Kite asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well yes, but most are core-users, and I have no doubt a young and talented man like yourself will be gold in a few years anyway."

"I shall… think on it," Kite noted while a bit wary of the gleeful, eager look in Léon's eyes. Still, he was tempted though, if only to give Peony something a little bit more special to inspect. When he hefted the blade, Kite found it a lot heavier than he expected, and from what Léon told them it had an enchantment that hindered health recovery as well as impressive piercing capabilities. Together they went through the rest of the pair's equipment along with those belonging to the fallen mercenaries.

Essence-users who had reached silver rank often had interesting pieces of enchanted gear, but over the years Kite had found that the chances of finding something suitable for his path and purpose had become less and less frequent. Matra was a good example of this, a blade that had been commissioned for a specific person back in the day and then gone unused for decades before it had found its way to Kite, whose many armed approach let him use its odd set of enchantments.

Much to Léon's delight, he did eventually end up taking the blade along with some other assorted items that he hoped could either benefit the guild - with its growing number of silver-rankers - or Peony. As he had been prone to for as long as Kite had known him, Ceasar was even kind enough to provide each team member with a share of what his more conventional looting power produced, providing an additional income of coin and quintessence.

"Now that the fun part is over, let's take an hour or two more to rest up," Amica declared once they were done.

"We need to get back and start sorting out how these people could find us, or at least leave it to the investigative branches. Then I'm sure we'll be whisked off to another contract in no time."

"-then repeat to me; what is your mission once we get to the location where the monster was sighted?" Inner Disciple Spark of the Flowing Viper Sect asked the disciples who rode on the road behind him in a loose formation.

"Initiate scouting, confirm the sightings and choose an order of attack dependent on seniority and path," came the reply as the three bronze-rankers called in unison. Inner Disciple Spark thought that he could sense a bit of exasperation in one of them at having to once again go over their objective even though they were far from fresh iron-rankers anymore. Still, he paid it no mind as the sensation was quickly quashed by the younger man in question.

As the lone silver-ranker present to guide his juniors as well as protect them from any other silver-ranked manifestations, Spark knew that he had a responsibility to treat his lessers with some leniency. Experiencing a feeling was all well and good, and ambition should not be stifled as long as one did not act foolishly upon said feeling. Most tended to see the sense in the repetition in time too, as had he himself back at bronze rank.

Those had indeed been simpler times in many ways, although ones Spark did not miss overly much. These nostalgic thoughts were rudely interrupted however, as three silver-ranked auras suddenly made themselves known to his senses. Seeing that the disciples accompanying him also reacted proved that the unknown presences made no attempt to hide, causing them all to be wary.

"Formation! Prepare to retreat should the need arise!" was all that Spark had the time to call before the three silvers had drawn too close. They appeared spread out atop the cliffs that towered over the road, clad in armor and robes of the Golden Song Sect, and did not even give Spark the time to call his challenge and demand their names before one of them spoke.

"By the decree of our glorious sect leader, the lands of the Golden Song have been closed to interlopers and others who would steal the opportunities that are rightfully ours. You are intruding upon our territory, and as we are also merciful, we will assume that you simply have not received word and allow you to leave."

"What? What is the meaning of this?" Spark bellowed in response at the preposterous statements as well as the implied threat.

"All warriors are allowed to seek opportunities where they please, as long as there are contracts. And besides, these are not even the lands of your domain!"

"They are as of this week," came the short and rather ominous sounding reply. Spark wanted to protest more thoroughly, but there were three silvers arrayed against him while he also had bronze-rankers to care for. Still, his pride did scream for him to engage and show them the might of the Flowing Viper, and he swore inwardly that he would get his revenge in the year to come as these news would no doubt create quite the reaction within the leadership of his own sect.

"We retreat," Spark eventually said after a moment of prolonged silence. He then turned and started leading his group back the way they came. While ostensibly turning his back on the three silver-rankers, Spark kept all of his senses trained on their auras to foresee any potential attack. None came though, only mocking chuckles low enough that only he could hear them at that distance.

This only further affirmed the smoldering desire for revenge in Spark's heart, and this time it was a flame that he would gladly stoke and build to a mighty fire. Kite steadied himself as the portal closed behind him, readjusting to how day had just turned to evening and a chilling downpour was replaced by crisp frost.

Had he still needed to breathe regularly, his exhalations after finishing centering himself would have resulted in a puff of steam, but Kite did not allow himself to stay and enjoy the winter air any longer. He was already late for an important day in the life of not one but two of the people closest to him, and while it pained him to have to choose who to visit first, little Raven would have to accept that his belated celebration of her ninth birthday was delayed one more day.

As he drew close to the Convergence guild hall, Kite walked past the main building and headed directly towards the private quarters and the dormitories of the members. These were shielded from the aura senses of most essence-users of silver and below, so while he couldn't sense those he was looking for, it soon became clear that someone inside could sense him.

"Little Kite! You've returned!" Uncle Walker exclaimed as he emerged from the trunk of a nearby tree.

"And a bit earlier than expected too!"

"Uncle! Did everything go well? Is he…?"

"All went quite well," Walker replied with a proud smile.

"But come! some things are better experienced than told!" A short trek later, where Kite got the distinct sense that Uncle Walker had to mentally restrain himself to not speak more of the subject of their earlier exchange, the pair entered the personal living quarters belonging to the guild master. Or rather, the guild master and his family.

"Kite! Welcome!" Spring called in greeting from an adjacent room, no doubt having felt his aura as he entered.

"Over here!" Now that he was inside, Kite's spiritual senses could pick up Spring and the tiny bundle of life that nestled very close to her. He entered one of their sitting rooms to find a freshly minted mother seated with a distinctly baby-shaped bundle cradled in her arms. From the soft snoozing sounds emanating from said bundle, the little one was currently asleep.

"Little Kite, meet Hunter upon Silent Wings," Walker said with the kind of pride that Kite has come to associate with new fathers.

"Out of his vat for a mere three weeks and four days."

"But who is counting?" Spring remarked with a sly smile, "At least he did not tell you the hours, minutes and seconds too," she finished, Walker rolling his eyes at her teasing.

"I believe that most gods will excuse me. I just had my very life upended after all."

"Well, either way, my heartfelt congratulations to all three of you," Kite said with a big smile as he leaned in to peek at the soft and chubby little face sleeping so serenely. It was still much too early to distinguish too many defining features in the little baby boy, but Kite did believe that he saw the hints of what might grow into Walker's sharp nose.

"He is most wonderful. Welcome, little Hunter. I assume that will be the short form of his name?"

"Indeed," Walker confirmed.

"Little Hunter here is quite a well behaved little one too, proving that naming him silent was not mere happenstance but prophecy."

"But if he takes after his father, that will cease as soon as he learns what speaking - or, more precisely - boasting is," Spring finished while rising from her chair and approaching Kite.

"Want to hold him?"

"Oh, yes please," Kite replied, and was soon rocking the soft little bundle back and forth with swaying motions that came back surprisingly easy even though it had been quite a few years since Raven was that size.

"And, fortunately for all of us, this won't even hinder me in giving you some gifts I took the liberty of procuring before returning." As Kite spoke, the spectral arms of his mantle had appeared, retrieving one of his spatial pouches Before they started presenting a few things wrapped in distinctly different fashions that hinted at them being from all over the world.

"Various toys from plenty of cities in the western part of the continent, a few sets of size-adjusting clothing enchanted to be repellent to dust, dirt, stains and whatever else little Hunter might find himself covered in, and…" He trailed off dramatically while showing them the last item that turned out to be a very small bottle with a tiny cloud hovering inside.

"Pretty," Spring remarked as she leaned in to look closer.

"What is it?"

"Something that is apparently incredibly convenient and therefore all the rage among the higher societies. Fortunately, we had a very grateful client around half a year ago who let me jump in line and make a small commission." While he spoke, Kite opened the stopper of the tiny bottle, and with a surge of mana the cloud inside started growing as it emerged, gradually taking on the white and fluffy quality of a cumulus cloud that shaped itself into a rounded cot that floated around a meter about the ground.

"I thought that your little one deserved only the most comfortable of beds while growing nice and strong to follow his father out on the no doubt many long treks you will be undertaking, and therefore deserves all the comfort he could get while there was still time. Unfortunately, the clout of my client did not reach far enough for me to be able to commission a full size bed for all of you, but alas. At least a sleeping baby is usually a happy baby."

By now, Walker had joined Kite and Spring near the floating, tiny bed, and reached out to poke that incredibly soft material.

"Heavens," he breathed.

"Just imagine sleeping on something like this. Thank you, little Kite. This sounds like a princely gift. It definitely makes an old and aching man jealous. Say, what would a full sized one even cost?" So Kite told him. And it turned out to be most fortunate that it was not Walker holding little Hunter at that moment, because Kite suspected that the shock might have been enough to make him drop whatever he was holding.