Ghiscra and I were standing inside the centre of our circle. While I was on standby, Ghiscra was watching the red-eyed man without turning away, looking at his every action.

Ghiscra, while inside the dome had casted a ‘Mental Enhancement’ spell again on Erganisu and a ‘Total Calm’ spell on Vefal. The fundamental difference was that the former makes him strong against attacks that affect the mind (Which is basically the description in the tin can) and the latter enables the recipient to give full focus without being hindered by external and internal stress factors.

Some Eomancy enhancing magic’s can’t be cast repeatedly in a short period of time. If that was possible, we all would have had leaps and bounds in all progress just by repeatedly casting the advance Blue Spell ‘Pure Intellect’… except Ghiscra, I think in fifty years, with her [Perfection], we would achieve the space age technologies at her rate.

Now back onto the battle.

We had a perfect defence as most of the assailants were unable to break through Erganisu and [Shadow] perimeter and Vefal was waiting for a chance.

Both Ghiscra and I were making that chance.

After she finished observing, she released her Soul Weapon. It was the first time I saw it.

Growing behind her back were six luminous, white branches. It looked like a pair of wings made out of light. From what she told had us earlier when we were heading here, Her Soul Weapon [Sarhatybha] are able to absorb skills competency from her surroundings. To explain it simply, If Vefal were to show her mastery in archery in her presence, one of the branches can accumulate from her usage of archery and in times, grows a fruit that she can eat to gain the same mastery as Vefal.

Of course, what define as a skill is purely subjective so the Soul Weapon follows what Ghiscra considered as a skill or proficiency. Ghiscra had once stimulated her entire team to displaying their skills to see how many limits her soul weapon could bore fruits. It was about twenty four fruits as she identified about twenty four skills.

And there is also a limit on how skills she can take as she lastly explained.

Right now, some of the branches had like five fruits currently growing on them.

Ghiscra took one and ate it.

“Which skill was that?”

“It’s from that red-eyed creature. I deduced that whatever he is currently doing, I determined that it’s magical type of skill that is controlling these assailants. Since [Sarhatybha] had borne a fruit, then it is close enough. It’s the same level as his; let’s see what happen when I add in [Perfection].”

Although it seems like there was no visible change, a slight tinge of transparency wrapped around her and suddenly all the garbed assailants stopped moving as though they were being restricted.

“What?!”

A weird shrill came out from the red-eyes as he was shocked by the current event. Without delay-

(‘Eo, Altruer, Igni, Imbuo’)

I enchanted the tip of her arrow with ‘Heat Imbue’ making it sizzling with piercing power and she shot at the red-eyes. Contrary to his sluggish appearance, he quickly dodged to the side, hiding behind one of his convulsing bodyguards.

Just as he did, he realized there was an expanding orb right in front of the arrow trajectory. The arrow didn’t come towards him as the arrow was redirected from behind from another expanding orb.

He quickly ducked and the arrow pierced halfway through the body of the assailant he was hiding.

I can imagine he inwardly sighing in relief but that wasn’t the last attack.

There was an expanding orb right above him and coming out from there wasn’t an arrow, but a spiked mace, impaling down with a terrifying speed.

There was that disgusting sound of a watermelon being split and a ‘thud’ as his body fell sideway to the right with his head a bloody mess on the upper half.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Erganisu pulling out his spike mace from an expanding orb below him after he gave the killing blow.

(‘Eo, Altruer, Ignis, Actus’)

I gave a ‘Fire Shot’ on the seemingly dead body to confirm whether he’s truly dead or not.

It took the attack without moving or twitching. After a few second, it lain there still without moving.

We all breathed a sigh of relief. If he was still alive, we have to move to Plan B. Looking around, I saw all the garbed assailants looked docile and unthreatening.

“Did you take control of them?”

“Yeah, it was a struggle of control even though I exceeded his level of skill during the period of [Perfection]. Since he is dead, I gained control of every one of them.”

While we talked, Ghiscra seems to direct them and they began climbing the hole one by one.

“Okay. Erganisu, can you retrieve his body? I like to know this guy origin.”

He nodded but there was a sudden sizzling sound like acid corroding coming from the direction of the corpse. We turned towards the corpse and found that it was dissolving into a grey puddle.

Fuck, delayed suicide poison that dissolve yourself? Who the fucks are these people?

--

Three days had passed and right now, we were watching the burial ceremony for the dead. Yesterday, when we were on our way back to the outpost, the assailants were gradually lagging behind, turning sluggish.

Ghiscra ate another fruit belonging to that man and she said it was a skill to maintain these assailants but for some reason, she couldn’t access the energies that were needed by them. After an hour, Ghiscra [Sarhatybha] had reached it’s time limit and all the assailants lurched into a stop. They stood without moving, mindlessly standing and weakening.

It was a strange sight.

But I can confirm what it is or rather what magic I could label it -Necromancy. A magic that mainly deal with spirits and the dead, a magic unlike Eomancy without using colours but wasn’t it was said that any other magic’s except some particular types than Eomancy wouldn’t work so does that mean that this foreign magic has the same nature as Eomancy?

Ghiscra was interested in this and both of us agreed to do a researched about this. We vaguely remembered the circles that were below each of the assailants but I noticed that it shared similarities with the formation on the arm of that mannequin.

After sending Vefal to inform the outpost and keeping watch of these aimless undeads as they, one by one, fall to the ground.

When Vefal had brought some Warriors and Guardians, most of the undead had already ‘died’ while the rest was on the verge of ‘dying’.

We brought them to the outpost and lined them up and covered them with burial shrouds. The guards informed me that the ones we held at the prison cell was dead about several hours ago, right after we killed that Necromancer.

Two days ago, we informed the six tribes to bring the relatives of the missing victims to examine these bodies. And as I suspected, it seems that these undead assailants were of the missing victims as the relatives, who arrived had identified some of them.

When we unclothed all of them, they all looked like dried and wrinkled husk with lifeless countenance.

As we watched the ceremony, Vefal at my side, tenderly puts her head above my right shoulder. I traced her gaze looking at two pair of human children’s currently facing one of the corpses.

It was not only that but she had looked at every scene of people bursting into tears or resignation as they identified their loved ones. When it comes to children’s, she has a tender spot for them and watching them going through tragedy would make her depress.

“Honoured Summoned, there is someone here that requested for your presence. It is the Chieftain Wife of the Grey Star Clan.”

A guard came and quietly whispered to me from the left.

Well, just in time. I was about to go there to clan myself after this but this makes it easier.

“Vefal, let’s be away from here.”

She looks at me with almost teary eyes before she nodded.

--

In a meeting room of the outpost, we finally met with this mysterious figure the second time as we stood in front of her. Vefal had resumed her cold exterior and she was watching that figure every move by my side.

Her [Shadow] was hiding under the chair in the ‘elusive’ form on which the figure sat just in case.

The figure sat without introducing herself even though she knew who we were. I’m not one to be offended just because of that, so I took the seat opposite of her.

Both of us were silently watching each other. She briefly glanced at Vefal, noting her.

“Honoured Summoned Ruigne, my name is Fellixa Reravir, the daughter of the Arch Alkhemist, Ghry Reravir of Valvakea.”

“Well then, Miss Fellixa, is there anything I can assist you with? I can’t deal with marital issues though.”

As I quipped, Vefal lightly kicked my leg.

“There’s no need for that if there’s no ‘marital issues’ in the first place right?”

She remarked that with slightly sarcastic tone. She doesn’t seem to be happy with her marriage? So it was an arranged marriage?

She continues-

“First of all, I wish to congratulate on finding those missing individual. The grievance that the tribes felt is at least put at rest. Secondly, I wished to inform you of the true enemies that lie from beyond the Leylines.”

!!!

My interest piqued, I leaned in closer.

“What do you know of these ‘enemies’?”

“All I can say for now is that their spies are already starting their operation in the entirety of Athryshiayl and the other territories like those Sons of Eoum incident, the Mal’eur premature incursion and recently, these missing individuals.”

She said it reservedly. Obviously, she doesn’t fully trust me but at least she’s saying something.

“I guess that’s true since I found a lot of discrepancies around them but that only just confirm my suspicion, do you have any other information?”

She went quiet when I asked.

“… I can’t tell you much even under the threat of imprisonment or death but as I know, you are going to Valvakea on your next assignment?”

I sighed. She’s not giving me what I need.

“Before that, I want to ask, why tell me? What do you gain by doing this?”

Even heavily clothed, I can see the resolution from her clear blue eyes but I don’t understand her angle.

“I had been gathering information’s about you ever since the attack of Sons of Eoum.”