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Chapter 29: Specter hunting X

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He knows someone is protecting him in the dark. That should also be the case for Selena, perhaps Natalia is her guardian, or at least that's a possibility in Val's mind.

Selena was also surprised as she scanned the area around her, yet noticed nothing. Whatever enemies he was talking about, she none of them. They weren't within her line of sight.

"Let me take care of them. Just keep an eye on our surroundings and protect my back." Stated Val before bringing his bow from his back.

Selena nodded and started watching his movement carefully as they'll tell her whether he's truly an archer or a swordsman.

Val then pulled two arrows from his quiver. He placed them both in the bow and aimed a bit to his left. He still wasn't sure he could hit the targets as one of them seems to be more well hidden and likely not within a clear line of sight.

That's right, he didn't see them but just sensed them. He knows their approximate location but wasn't sure whether he could hit them.

So he put down his bow before pulling the reins of his horse to advance further ahead. The group understood not to make too much noise, so they stayed silent and didn't question his actions.

Val's eyes were still carefully eyeing that direction... Until he detected them, an incredibly small trace of them was enough for him to again lift his bow, aim, pull the string before releasing it directly without a trace of hesitation.

All the group heard after that were faint screeches that faded out as quickly as they faded in. Two targets were killed by two different arrows released from the same bow at the same time.

"First try. Well, didn't see that coming. well, I actually did, but..." Val's ears perked up hearing a faint sound in the distance, "We should quickly leave the area. There is a lot of beasts around here, so the village hunters should be hunting around here, going any deeper is unnecessary."

"R-right. Let's head right from here." Selena responded after getting over her surprise, 'So he really is an archer. I don't know much about archery, but I am sure very few can achieve the same feat without casting ether arts or a powerful noble artifact. He's special and bizarre. I should let the family know just in case.'

The group moves out of that area, this time avoiding any monster in their way and even beasts as they can be aggressive as well.

The difference between monsters and beasts isn't many but it basically comes down to a few things, whether they're eatable, tameable and what they prey upon.

Monsters are quite aggressive, and some of them prey upon humans even if they aren't hungry. So humans tend to kill them on sight or avoid them.

There are of course many who actively hunt for them because of their benefits, their monster core and parts of them can be used as alchemy ingredients.

Beasts also have the same benefit. The difference is that they aren't as aggressive, and taming them is possible.

That makes all the difference because having an ether beast as a companion makes life, so much easier, especially when it comes to stronger beasts.

That doesn't mean that all monsters aren't tameable, that just means that the possibility of taming them is extremely low, and those tameable ones are too aggressive to lump them with beasts.

"It should be alright here, at least for a while." Stated Val as he dismounted his horse, and so did the others.

"Boarlian, if you don't mind, please place the body down and poke a small hole on the bag,"

Their surroundings were almost entirely vacant if not for the occasional passing beasts, either normal or ether ones.

The most sighted were types of Antelopes and gazelles. They're the most widely hunted as they stay away from the depths of the woods, making hunting them more accessible.

After Boarlian did as told, Val brought a potion from the large bag on his horse with a strange liquid in it, seemingly turning into a gas by the second.

Val then crouched near the body and opened the potion, ready to pour it on the body from that small hole.

"What's that? I've never seen it before." Asked the curious and even more nervous Lucas.

"It's one of the most known potions, made from the most known herb in our field, ghost leaves. It's basically just pure potion of liquid ghost leaves."

Val explained as he closed his eyes, preparing himself to chant one of the ether arts he has learned, one of many.

"Dark Worms of hunger." That was the bizarre name of the art he started chanting as Nether words started coming out of his mouth, making a strange depressing sound.

It's one of the few dark arts that's frowned upon to a certain extent but it's a necessity nonetheless. Moreover, it's only frowned upon when used against humans. Specters aren't considered as humans despite them being formerly so.

As he chanted the Nether words, he accurately controlled his ether to form a certain shape on his output runes, producing an even more complex shape.

From the center of that rune spurted what looks like worms, several black small worms. They only had one noticeable thing on their bodies, a large rectangular mouth that seems more like an abyss of pure darkness.

The one who had the most evident reaction to them was Lucas. Val knew he was inexperienced and a bit naive but he also noticed that the Axes he carries with him are a noble artifact of a mid-tier, quite the rare thing.

Due to that, he expected him to at least have knowledge of a few ether arts but it seems he doesn't.

Val took was single faint glance at the group before continuing with the process. As he pointed out before, knowing a person is the key to laying a leash around their neck, one they won't even notice.

He proceeded to guide the dark worms into the potion and manipulated them to drink it all. It all seemed too real as if they're real beings.

However, they aren't. They're just the convergence of the energy of reality to form something under the manipulation of Nether words.

Those words converge together to affect reality, seemingly the keys discovered by sentient beings to exploit a flawed system.

"W-what are you doing?" Lucas finally put up enough courage to voice what was thinking. It all felt too dark for him, nothing like what he imagined.

"I am doing whatever specter hunter does in similar situations. Well, the majority do this because the other option is too risky, not just for our lives but for the villagers."

The calm dark-haired young man didn't mind answering as he moved on to the next part of the ritual. He poured the worms through the hole on the dead body while holding his breath, not willing to smell the disgusting stench of death."

It was at that exact moment that the group got frightened by a horrible shriek. It didn't matter that a few of them knew of what was coming and prepared themselves for it, they still found themselves nearly jumping out of fear and shock.

The shriek was blood-curdling, sounding in the depths of their souls. It was one of pain, utter pain. The source? It was none other than the body, the dead body hidden beneath the black sheet.

Lucas even stumbled his steps back, falling on his butt. Natalia however despite wincing for a bit kept her eye on Val, not taking them off for even a moment.

He was still calm and collected as the process has yet to finish. He controlled the dark worms to feed upon the dead body and nimble in its flesh until he felt like can finally chant the last Nether words of the art.

Specters are the most dangerous creatures in the world. They can achieve what no monster could and their reach is way beyond them. They're the darkest of creatures, so humans had to use whatever they could to fight against them.

The black sheet on the body started to melt as he uttered those last Nether words, and from the body spurted what looks like grey mist, as if the body was evaporating.

With that came an even more horrifying shriek though this time not from the body, but from somewhere not far in the woods. It was getting closer and closer, louder and louder.

Val slowly stood up and made distance from the body as did the group. The only ones not that affected by what's happening are the ones that experience something similar or worse.

Selena took a deep breath and stilled herself for what's to come as she instructed the group, "Everyone!! get your bearing back together, and pull out your weapons. Be ready and remember my instructions."

Val unsheathed his gorgeous rapier and nailed on the group in front of him. He brought his bow before him and an arrow he prepared before wand aimed at the source of the sound that has yet to show itself.

A faint smile surfaced on his face, anticipating what's to come, 'One of the most miraculous experiences.

A corrupt soul, forever deemed to stay in the realms of the living unless extinguished by men. I can finally see for myself one of the greatest miracles of this world...'