What was the Nun doing there? And with an Avian to top it off?

The Monk’s mission was to spread peace and the Sun's creed; if that was it, she was probably there to spread the Church of the Sun over to the Gnolls.

Maybe the Avians had some kind of economic treaty with the Gnolls, although it was weird.

If Sundoor barely tolerated them and didn't end up just killing them, it was just because of the Church of the Sun's presence. But even if that was so, would Sundoor allow the Avian to make moves on the Drylands inhabitants?

I would never know.

The only thing I knew was that with the nun by his side, a Monk being recognizable by the presence of trousers and lack of a gown, I was at a terrible disadvantage.

Nun's were like Priests, an Advanced Sub-Class of the Mender Class. A Monk was an Advanced Class that manifested in the presence of both the Priest or Nun Sub-Class and the Fighter Class.

Like Paladins, they were true war machines capable of casting Flow-shields, Blessings, and damn healings; they were a nightmare to fight against.

I believed that they did not have to be delvers to Promote their Skills; the Church did it for them.

If Nova's Flow-Shield could block one of my arrows, this woman's shield could be real trouble if she had it, not counting the Blessing that increased all attributes and which they could cast both on themselves and on others.

I had no idea which of these Skills she had, but the one that would impede me the most was definitely the Flow-Shield.

The flying folks' Commander was not to be underestimated either.

Gunslingers received an enormous adaptability boost to Flow-guns.

A gun I could shoot once, he could shoot ten times; that Flow-submachine-gun was probably heavily loaded with a low Flow capacity repeater, which most probably allowed him to shoot for a long time, and the power of his projectiles were surely augmented by some of his Skills.

A few Skills I had read on his Tracing came to mind: Triple Shot, Enhanced Shot, Tunnel Vision II.

I knew of Double Shot; it was master Venk's main Skill, Enhanced Shot made one's projectiles stronger, and Tunnel Vision… I did not know, but it might have indeed something to do with the power of his projectiles.

There were six men on the other side of the ship, and although the Captain could not count on them, now he had me Traced, which meant that even if I wanted to make the ship capsize, he would feel my movements.

I heard him call for what looked like two names, and men came on this side of the ship; they took control of the two steering wheels. At the same time, the sound of the blasts from their repeating cannon diminished.

"Spectre, why are you targeting this man? He's a Featherland emissary; he has come here to help us spread the word of the Sun. What has he done to you?" Said the nun.

I couldn't believe what I heard.

The knife! Of course! It had been the first thing the Commander had seen; that was why he grew so fixated with me! Why didn't I think about it!?

But what could I do now? Could I answer? Justify myself? What if it was a distraction? It surely was.

I needed to take that chance and play the part.

"He declared open hunting when he tracked me and didn't let go! I'm on my formative missions; I cannot go back to my people with a man at my heels. I let him go and ran for dozens of kilometers, but when it was clear that he did not want to let go of me, I decided that he had to die," I shouted back.

I did not hear them utter any words for a few seconds, so I continued the ploy.

"But we give value to life, Nun. I don't want to hurt you, so let me do my work, and I'll spare your life, even get you to safety, away from that beast."

I waited as they likely plotted their response, so I decided to visualize my Skills' progress.

You've earned 7251 + 13589 + 9524 Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next TechnoHunter level: 162.252/300.000

There was no need to ask the whisper for all the various ones I had received; I just wished to see the total.

Skill points for Trick Shot Promotion:

- Trick Shot Major Perk: 512/2000

- Trick Shot Minor Perk: 256/1000

- Trick Shot Passive Perk: 497/500

That was very interesting; maybe I could manage to unlock the next Passive before I got back in the full brunt of the fight. Also, Trick Shot Major and Minor seemed to have increased much more than I thought possible; maybe if I pushed myself or fought against somebody as I used the Skills, they were valued more toward the Skill Promotion.

Skill points for Trace II Promotion:

- Trace II Major Perk: 581/20000

- Trace II Minor Perk: 325/10000

- Trace II Passive Perk: 1255/5000

Although the Major and Minor Perks seemed to be following the trend, Trace II Passive Perk had seen explosive growth.

For some reason, I couldn't help but think that it was connected to the feeling that saved my life when the Commander shot me.

"You've killed four men already, Spectre, I'm sorry, but I cannot accept that without a proper mandate from your order," said the Nun.

What in the Abyss? There was a mandate for killing?

But the situation was critical, and I could only keep up the appearances, "I gave you a chance, Nun. Until he releases me from his tracker, you are defending a condemned man. Are you sure that is your decision?"

"I won't abandon a servant of the Sun for a meaningless death! Abandon your intent and give yourself over, Spectre, you will face just trial if-"

I interrupted her, screaming darkly atop of her, although suave, raised voice, "Then, I guess you've chosen death, Nun. May the Sun smile upon you."

I didn't know what happened then; I didn't know if I had said something wrong or screwed something up, but something changed.

I heard her drop down the cabin; Synesthesia came to my aide by making me realize her position in the air thanks to the vibrations from the ship's metal.

She was coming at me, directly, willingly.

I didn't even have the time to move when she jumped off-board.

I raised my head up and saw her literally jump off the ship, make a capriole in the air, then turn around and throw a hooked rope at me. I caught it with my clock-arm, and it wrapped around it, anchoring itself on my forearm.

I should not have done that.

With a lightness that I simply could not believe possible, she pulled herself toward me. I could barely feel her weight, but when she pulled herself over, she kneed me on the chin.

I literally saw the stars, both those of the night as my neck jerked up and the ones my Synesthesia communicated me together with the pain.

Once she did that, she jumped over the railing; then she pulled me over.

I tried to resist, gripping tight against the knife encased in the ship's metal to help me maintain my balance, but it was useless, the knife came free of the metal, and my body arched in the air, pulled by the rope tied around my clock-arm.

What was going on was incredible, I had never seen somebody capable of such a thing, and her motion had yet to end.

My body was still in mid-air when she pulled again on the cord and slammed me hard against the deck of the ship.

I was so confused that I couldn't even understand properly how I had allowed that to happen.

The Nun was on top of me the next second. She placed both her feet on my arms and sat on my chest.

"Where did you get this knife?" she asked.

But when I saw her face, I was entirely stupefied. All I could do was keep staring at her.

She was a regular with green eyes and brown hair tied into a bun that was coming loose; the usual pin with the symbol of the Church of the Sun, an arc over a shining sun, failing to hold them down.

"You are no Spectre; who are you? Spectres don't salute the Sun, never. They worship the Moon."

I had fucked up, but I was taken aback by a different reason. Did I meet this woman before?

A memory of a woman dressed in amber and white dress flashed in the back of my head.

"Sister Vinny?" I asked, like a dumbass.

It was the name of the sister that had been so close to Nova, the one that had taught us how to correctly fight the plague and the corruption, the one that had died together with us, the one that had never left the village even though she could have, even though she did not have the power to do anything about it.

And in the end, she had been one of the first to die.

The Nun's hands had a spasm.

"Are you going to arrest him, Sister Vanna, or may I execute him for murdering my men?" Said the Commander, in his Featherland accent; he was still waiting behind the cabin's rail.

In the meanwhile, I couldn't help but Track and Trace the Monk that was holding me down.

Vanguardia Northington, Monk Level 50 (Max/500.000), Nun Level 50 (Max/500.000)

Health: 100%

Stamina: 93%

Agility: Moderate-High

Constitution: Moderate-High

Strength: Intermediate-Moderate

Focus: Moderate

Perception: Low-Intermediate

Willpower: Moderate-High

Strengths: Agility, Focus, Willpower

Weaknesses: None

Class Skills: Flexibility III (Agility), Hardness III (Constitution), Gentle Fist II (Strength), Ki III (Focus)

Sub-Class Skills: Ki-adept Body (Constitution), Cleansing III (Focus), Hear the Voice III (Perception), Righteousness III (Willpower)

Race: Human

Sex: Female

Height: 176cm

Weight: 63 kg

Age: 27

Origins: Unknown

Family: Unknown

Northington… yes, nun Vinny was called that, I recalled it clearly, the other Priest, the one that left, called her Northington.

"Sister?" The man asked.

But the Sister was too shocked to answer him. She was entirely focused on me.

"How… Do you know that name? Have you seen my sister?" She asked.

It was indeed her blood sister; they looked a lot alike. But how come she didn't know?

Wait! She didn't know!

Her sister had died, it had been about three years past now, but this woman did not know, and she looked desperate… maybe I could pull myself out of this.

"Of course, I know your sister; she heals me all the time I get back home," I answered, the baseline of a big, fat lie forming in my mind.

"What? Why would- no, where is she?"

"Free me, and I'll get you there. But I don't want anyone coming together with us; if they find us, they will kill us all, including your sister," then I whispered to her the next part, "Sundoor hates us. It's enough to look at the color of my skin to understand that, don't you think so?"

"What are you talking about… just who are you? How did you get a Spectre's Dignity!?"

"It was my father's," I said with confidence. I couldn't be more convincing than that.

I don't know if it was the lie, the new knowledge about her sister, the situation, but I could feel her grip waver.

And she had made a mistake; she had not taken the knife away from me, not yet.

I took that chance her confusion had brought me, to throw my knife somewhere, anywhere, really.

Then transferred without problems with her in tow.

We were free-falling from the sky, limbs tangled-up.

The boat was at my right, slowly disappearing in the distance; I needed to get back up there; I needed to finish the job, but the woman had me locked in a grip.

"Do you want to die!?" I screamed at her, trying to overpower the sound of the wind.

We had just a few seconds before we hit the ground.

"Where is my sister!?" She screamed in my face; the wind washed her spittle away before it could reach me.

"Your sisted died to the fucking Plague three years ago! Now free my arm if you don't want to die as well!"

She was petrified, and we were about to hit the ground; we would die; there was no salvation from that height.

I could see the stone on which my head would crash; I was already picturing the splash and explosion of blood it would make- when the nun left the grip she had on my hand.

I threw the knife the very moment she did, and just before we touched the ground, we transferred a couple of dozen meters away.

I did not manage to catch the knife in time, for we ended up tumbling on the ground, rolling over and over again.

I hit my head somewhere while rolling and blacked out.

I saw red when I opened my eyes.

I was in a little clearing of the forest; no, it was a place that the Titan had destroyed.

Everything ached, and pushing myself up, I felt dizziness almost overcome me.

The Monk was nearby; she was on the ground a few meters from me.

She didn't seem dead.

I stumbled up with a damn headache. Bringing my clock-hand to my forehead, I checked for traces of blood on it; yeah, I was definitely bleeding, and two of my fucking clock-fingers had bent backward; I would have to dismount them to fix them, damn.

A quick check of my body said that the rest was mostly ok, just a lot of scrapes on my naked chest.

I got up, wavering in place, but I needed to find my knife, now.

I could feel that I was still being Tracked, and the airship was still trying to juggle a now definitely tired-looking Titan.

Nearby I could hear and partly watch cannon shots coming from below, shooting at the beast's face; they most probably came from Sundoor's militia Sand-Crawler.

I had to be fast if I wanted to bring that ship down before they had time to get away from the place.

No one, whether Avians or Citizens, would leave once they won over the Titan. They likely gave a massive amount of Soul fractions and Crystals.

I located my knife a couple of dozen meters to my left.

After I took it, I walked over to the Nun on the ground.

I couldn't help but stare at her face. She did really look a lot like Vinny.

I raised my hand above her, but I hesitated.

There was no way I was going to kill Vinny’s sister after all that she had done for us, for Nova.

How did this woman not know about her blood sister's death?

I gave myself the answer. It was easy; the war. She had been in the war, no other explanation.

Her levels said everything about her. Maxed Advanced Class, maxed Advanced Sub-Class.

The only thing she lacked was an Ultimate Class promotion.

Logan had told me that to Promote a Class to Ultimate; one had to absorb an Evercrystal or an Everstone; there were no other ways.

Delvers would find them while delving, but in Priests’ case, they would have to be promoted by the Church.

I cut away part of her tunic and wrapped her head, and then I wrote a message in the dirt near her, it read:

"Dear Nun,

Your sister gave us hope and salvation; I'm sorry she died.

Sincerely,

The Night Hunter."

I had no idea why I wrote that name; it came automatically.

Then I left; there was quite a bit of distance I had to cover to reach the ship.

I was surely concussed, and the whispers were pestering me, but I could not stop. Not now. Not when I was at literally a few jumps from my objective.

As long as the nun didn’t wake up and didn’t learn how to fly, I was going to be alright, mostly.

The fact that the young Commander might have been able to fly didn't… well; I just hoped it wasn't the case.

Once again, I reached for the airship that suddenly tried to jerk away from its current location, even though it was safely outside the Titan's range.

The Avian Commander might have realized that he was alone against me now, relatively alone and that I had survived or beat the Monk of the Sun.

Maybe he understood what kind of mess he had gotten himself into, yet he did not drop the tracking.

He could have just released it, tracking someone else, something else. But he had not, so although he ran, he remained with the idea of wanting to hunt me down.

But the roles had switched since the moment night descended. If during the morning I had been the prey, and he had been the hunter, now the tables had turned. He would be the prey, and I... I was the Night Hunter.

I had my knife planted deep inside of the ship’s hull. The night air and the continuous overuse of Shade were making my temperature constantly drop.

I could feel that it was mostly because of the air and just relatively because of the Shade. My resistance to it was hard to believe.

Anyway, there was no need to dangle about, he knew of my location, and although I didn't know of his location, I would come out on top because, with one knife throw, I could literally move from one end of the ship to the other, while they couldn't.

So I did exactly that, I threw my knife toward port side, then again to appear at the height of the rail, and I was back on top of the ship.

Like I had expected, two men were running at me. And the Commander came out from the cabin, with his submachine-gun ready to riddle my body with holes.

I would never have allowed it; instead, I threw my knife at the man coming in front.

The man swung his hammer at me with his eyes closed, ready to hit me as I transferred, but I didn't. Instead, I shot toward him, letting the knife scar his face.

He had likely received an explanation from his boss; they all did, which meant that there were two possibilities, well, three. The Commander had failed to correctly explain to his men the extension of my powers, or maybe the guy with the hammer was dumb, or, less likely, both.

Attack before an effect explicated itself? Maybe the poor soul wasn't a good fighter; not all were. Many villagers didn't even know where to start; even the woodsmith with his impressive Strength did not know what to really do about it.

On the other hand, I had constantly been fighting, hunting, killing to defend my village.

We couldn’t all be fighters, and the man in front of me might not have expected such an attack, yet it did not matter now; he would be dead meat shortly.

When I reached the man with the hammer, instead of attacking him, I braked left, then shot the man at his side. I shot him in the head, point-blank, using the remaining projectile in that Flow-gun I had stolen.

The gun was now entirely spent and not recovering. It would recharge by pulling the natural Flow from inside of me, but there was no Flow to be pulled at night, so I put it back at my belt.

I slipped the sword from the man's still warm hands the moment the barrage of projectiles started coming my way and threw myself off-board by launching it; retrieving the knife could wait.

A couple of mid-air transfers later, and I was on the port side of the ship's bow.

One man was manning the sails, moving from hard side to port side like an obsessed, and one was slowly firing the gun. This meant that the last ones had been placed to steer the wheels.

I had five men to go, then the Commander, I could do it.

I might have tried to take the Commander down, letting the others go, but the chance of them intervening in our fight was too high. One Flow-gun shot, and I would be dead meat.

Yet the bastard Commander was already there, he could wildly shoot at me even from this side, but he was holding back. Maybe it had something to do with the cannon's location.

I could work with that, but later. Now I would rest outside of the ship, holding myself behind the rail thanks to the sword encased deep inside the ship's metal.

I needed whatever I could take from the pressing whispers, so I let them in.

You've earned 8297 + 11603 + 11897 + 8953 + 7212 Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next TechnoHunter level: 201.261/300.000

You've earned 97 + 112 + 113 + 89 Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next Tamer level: 2729/27000

Skill points for Trace II Promotion:

- Trace II Major Perk: 922/20000

- Trace II Minor Perk:489/10000

- Trace II Passive Perk: 1658/5000

Trick Shot Passive Perk will be promoted. Agility bonus x 2. Choose one of the following Perks to be added to it:

Shadow Speed:

At night or in places dense with Shade, your bonus Agility will double.

Shadow Steps:

At night or in places dense with Shade, your steps make no sound, even while running.

Shadow Vigour:

At night or in places dense with Shade, your natural Stamina recovery is enhanced.

Oh, I already like that Shadow Vigour, and I was ready to bet that Harlow would love it too.