Chapter 11

Chapter 11 - LOT - [Point out any typos if you see em <3, thanks Patreons! Going over it now to edit]

The fog felt silky and smooth as Jack stepped through it, flowing around his body comfortingly. As he walked forward, it seemed to melt out of his sight, revealing the inner circle where the Chief currently stood.

As soon as he walked in, the ring lit up slightly, a pale blue color. The middle-aged Chief’s eyes glazed over slightly, as if he was focusing on something.

“Oh? Just recently turned 13 years of age, and you’re already at the peak of the Bearing Light Stage? Acceptable.” His eyes refocused as they looked at Jack.

“Do you have your beast proof?” He waved his hands expectantly at Jack.

Jack nodded and brought out the bear claws from his pouch, tossing them to the Chief. The Chief glanced at them before nodding his head and smiling.

“Hohoho, a Lopsided Bear, eh? Don’t see many of those. Alright! You have passed the first part of the Hunter Examination. Now for the second part that will determine your rank!” The Hunter Chief clapped his hands twice. Instantly, the fog began to swirl, and the world around Jack began to morph.

Instead of the simple combat ring, Jack was now standing on a wide open desert plateau, the Chief nowhere in sight. Jack looked around in astonishment at the abrupt change, rubbing his feet against the ground, feeling the realism. The cool of the north had completely vanished, replaced by a warm heat. The sun blazed over head, scant clouds drifting in the sky.

“This is one of the properties of the Hunter Trials Ring, used for our combat assessment. How well you do here will determine your initial ranking as a Hunter. While you can’t be physically injured from battle in this ring, everything is in your head, you should take this seriously.” The Chief’s voice boomed out, making Jack’s ears ring slightly.

“Understood.” Jack made a slight bow, his hand drifting down to his rag covered sword. As long as he was careful with his swordplay, the exquisiteness of his blade shouldn’t be revealed.

“Alright! The trial shall begin! Defeat as many waves as you can!”

As the Chief finished speaking, the air about thirty meters in front of Jack began to morph. Grey fog formed a faint image of a wolf-like creature.

A moment later, the fog solidified, and in front of Jack was a realistic Grey Wolf, a low ranking beast Jack had read about but never seen. It was smaller than the Tundra Wolves Jack had faced before, only standing a meter tall, but still a deadly threat.

Jack frowned, staring at the wolf carefully. Perhaps there was more to it than met the eye.

“Growwwlll!” The Grey Wolf let out a howl as soon as it saw Jack and launched itself forward recklessly, its paws pounding on the soft desert stone. It moved quickly, its large white teeth gleaming.

Jack grasped onto his Natural Ability, feeling the world around him slow to a fifth it’s regular speed. In this slowed down state, the movements of the Grey Wolf were painfully slow. Jack could see the individual muscles ripple as they contracted, pulling the Grey Wolf forward.

Jack’s uninjured right palm rested on his sword, getting into a ready stance. He decided to keep his Spirit in reserve, not drawing upon it as the Grey Wolf grew close. He focused completely on the wolf, keeping its every moment in his sight.

And, as soon as the Grey Wolf came into range of his blade, Jack whipped the sword from its sheath and brought it forward, at a perfect and precise angle. The golden sword sliced through the air just under the collarbone of the Grey Wolf, stabbing into it’s neck and up.

At the same time, Jack sidestepped the charge to the left, moving just out of range of the Grey Wolf’s body.

Blood spattered as the Grey Wolf tumbled down past Jack, its howl transforming to a gurgling rasp as it fell down on the ground and lay still, instantly killed.

Jack smiled. It seemed this combat test was easier than expected.

Meanwhile, invisible to Jack, the Chief floated in the air a few dozen meters above, nodding his head and watching him closely.

..

..

“And this, your lordships, is the tracker I summoned, Corker Aimsfoot, whose Natural Ability allows him to trace the faint aura all things give off.” The balding Jackal bowed his head as he spoke, a faint sheen of sweat covering his forehead. His voice was filled with deference and a hint of fear.

He was currently standing in a small townhome, one of the many properties of the Duke of Snow. They were in the largest room in the house, an empty and sparsely decorated dining room. A single marble table lay in the center of the room, with a few wooden chairs surrounding it.

Jackal was standing off to the side of the table, facing the three men sitting at it. Next to Jackal stood the tall and usually cheerful Corker. The tracker remained a respectful appearance, however, staying quiet as he spoke up.

“Yes, your lordships, I have successfully tracked a powerful aura of fire that was present at the site where the Duke’s son’s body was found.”

The three men sitting at the table remained silent. Each of them wore a heavy plate of white armor with the insignia of the Duke of Snow on them, and white metal helmets that obscured their expressions. They each carried a heavy white shield strapped to their back, and a white longsword on their waist. All three of them looked almost identical, the only difference among them being that one of the warriors had a red marking on his helmet, indicating he was the leader of the Snow Knights.

They were the famed Snow Knights of the Duke of Snow, powerful warriors that were the most loyal servants of the Duke. Possessing great strength and identities that remained a secret, they were a force to be reckoned with throughout the entire Duchy, despite their only being seven of them.

Even if the Lord of Snowbank City was present, he would have to give them face, not wanting to offend them, or the Duke of Snow they served as an extension as.

“And the actions of Lord Isrel?” The leader of the Snow Knights spoke, his voice grating and rough. A heavy aura of suppression emanated from him, as if the world around him couldn’t constrain him.

“The Snowbank City Lord has proved cooperative.” Jackal spoke up, his hands going to his waist and then freezing, forcibly stopping himself from tossing his daggers from hand to hand.

“He has sent his elite Frostplate Guard on active patrols in the city. Thanks to that, we have a reliable network from which to contain the attackers, since they have elected to remain within the city grounds.”

The three Snow Knights remained silent for a moment, contemplating. Then, the leader spoke out once more.

“Good, the City Lord is to be commended for his cooperativeness. As such he is to remain unpunished. As for you, Jackal, as long as we catch the killer, the Duke has decided you are to be given a way out. The fact that you have prepared such a framework and given us the killer’s location has earned you this chance.” He continued,

“Do not waste it.”

A trace of delight was quickly smothered in Jackal’s eyes as he bowed his head, responding,

“Of course, your lordships.”

The leader among the Snow Knights stood up, the other two knights standing with him.

“Now then. Have the Snowbank City Lord’s Frostplate Guard gather and create a boundary around the source of the fire aura. We will go to apprehend the killer within the hour.” His voice was cold and solemn, as if pronouncing a death sentence.

Jackal nodded, his fists tightening as he saw the end of the misery of the past week. He gave another bow and turned around with Corker, setting off to pass the commands on to the Snowbank City Lord.

..

..

“Have your men move quickly! The Snow Knights are already in place, any delays will earn you their direct ire!” The previous deference and fear in Jackal’s voice was nowhere to be found as he yelled out orders to the Frostplate Guard’s soldiers, ignoring the small fires of anger he lit in them. As long as he caught the killer of the young lord, everything would be okay.

A network of the blue armored guards had begun to spread out in the center of the city, surrounding the location Corker had pointed out as containing the heavy aura of fire. The guards stood at every major or minor roadway, a net containing thousands of fishermen, ready to block any escape. Soon the net would finish closing, and the Snow Knights would strike.

The streets were deserted, merchants and stray warriors vanishing in the wake of the intense activity of the Frostplate Guard. The common people were instantly able to tell something was up, and many had already made their escape from this part of the city. Storefronts closed early, people avoided the roads, and in just a few minutes the area became like a ghost town.

The aura of fire, however, remained constant, something Corker informed the Snow Knights of.

A few more minutes trickled by. The Frostplate Guards continued to spread out, almost completing the enclosure.

As Jackal noted all this, his satisfaction growing, he heard more than felt Corker arrive next to him.

“What?” Jackal grunted, his voice still slightly irritated. Corker had already received his payment, and was there merely to confirm the location of the aura of fire. He’d already done that, in fact, and was only remaining behind in case the killers escaped.

“Err, hahaha.” Corker mumbled, coming to stand next to Jackal.

“I’ve detected a faint anomaly.”

“What?!” Jackal turned to face the tracker, his eyes wide. The tracker Corker was well known for his Natural Ability. Any anomaly he sensed was bound to be a large issue.

“It’s nothing too serious. It’s just… The heavy aura of fire I’ve detected, the one at the outskirts of that forest, well, I’ve sensed a smaller, weaker aura. This second aura was completely masked by the first aura, and is much fainter, but I figured I would mention it to you. I only detected it very recently.” Corker shrugged apologetically.

Jackal felt a headache coming on as he rubbed his temple, his eyes glaring at the tracker. He looked around, noting there were only a few Frostplate Guards. The Snow Knights had already left in preparation to seize the perpetrators.

If he called them back now and told them of this… Jackal could already imagine their anger and irritation. He might even be killed on the spot. He had already told them they had tracked the killer, to change that now…

“Lead me to the location, I will handle it personally.” Jackal swore out loud a few times, unsheathing his daggers and starting to toss them from hand to hand. He continued to glare at Corker, helplessly.

Corker nodded. He didn’t want to sully his so far stainless reputation.

“From what I can tell, the smaller aura is from within the Branch Hunter Association, and is most likely from one of the Hunters inside it. Since it’s just a small time Branch, they should prove cooperative once I provide evidence.”

..

..

At the center of the enclosure the Frostplate Guards had created stood a small inn. Named the Dragonflee Inn, it was a quaint and warm establishment, popular for it’s well stocked tap. The common room of the inn was filled with several wooden tables and chairs, decorated with large tapestries of fleeing mythical creatures on the wall. Two dozen travelers were currently scattered about the common room, talking in groups.

The worried travelers were currently discussing what was going on outside.

“The elite troops of the city have surrounded everywhere within a mile of here!” One pot bellied traveller said, shaking his head. His fine silk garments shook with fear as he spoke, his terror apparent.

“There must be some kind of dastardly criminal they are about to capture in the area!” Another responded, also trembling.

“Perhaps a fearsome beast is hiding near us?” A third spoke up, this one an older woman wearing a long red dress.

“Maybe even a creature from the Void!” The worried inn stayers talked amongst themselves, all of them deciding to firmly stay hidden within the Inn.

Above the common room of the Inn, a tall, muscular man with long red hair stood in the finest room in the Inn, looking out a window with a frown. Next to him, lying on a bed unconscious, was a little girl emanating an extremely heavy aura of fire. She was currently sweating, her face tight with concentration.

“To dare act against me and the little princess when she is still in the midst of Awakening her power…” A deep tone of anger filled the man’s voice, one he kept quiet as he glanced back at the unconscious Diana.

“Let us see who is this brave.”