Under Appio and the others’ attention, Edward explained himself. “I was searching for Murlocs through the forest when suddenly the soil crumbled under me and I fell into a spiked pit. I had barely time to react when a group of Murlocs appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the pit ready to achieve me. Luckily for me, I have a teleportation power and I had little difficulty escaping the trap and dealing with the Murlocs.”

“From your state, I can see how little difficulty you had to deal with such weak monsters,” Flavius added with disdain.

“Tche, so much for Murlocs extermination. I didn’t have my fill.” Appio complained.

“Actually, did we really kill all the Murlocs?” Heraeus asked. “There weren’t that many of them that attacked us last night. I feel like there were more of them that escaped yesterday.”

Flavius frowned. “It doesn’t matter. Appio already searched the island for the whole night, and there is not a single Murloc in view. If some managed to escape it’s not our problem. We exterminated the Murlocs, we are done. I don’t feel like wasting more time here. What will we look like if we take three days just to take care of simple Murlocs? No, I say we go back to Gobéliard and enjoy our success.”

Appio was still grumpy but he didn’t feel like spending more time on that island so he agreed with Flavius. Heraeus shrugged. “I guess you are right. Anyway, Murlocs always come back. If someone meets with a straggler, we can always say that new ones are involved.”

Edward watched the exchange. Their laziness work for me. I don’t know how I would have explained myself if they had scoured the island once more and found no trace of the trap I supposedly fell into. The three of them are often bickering with each other but Flavius seems to have a clear advantage. Although they are quarreling, he is acting as their leader on important matters. If it is the same for the families, the Regalis family is the most powerful of the three. I have to keep that in mind.

The group left the island and embarked on their respective vessels. Edward discussed with the guards that had stayed on the boat, protecting it during the whole expedition. He inquired about the Murlocs’ attack that Flavius had mentioned. From what they told him it hadn’t been an attack in the proper sense of the term. The sentinels keeping watch had seen shapes emerging from the water, a flare had been shot to light the area, and a group of Murlocs had been revealed. They had been taken care of by the long-range user, Flavius lighting proving especially effective in the water.

It is coherent with what I thought. It must have been a group of stragglers fleeing from the cavern after I killed their leader.

The morale was good and the crew was happy and relieved to leave back to Gobéliard after the Murlocs had been dealt with without issue. They hadn’t noticed that the total number of Murlocs that had been killed on the assault both from the beach and from yesterday night weren’t even near the real amount of Murlocs that had been on Egregius Folly. Only Heraeus had noticed this detail.

There were still three people that were grumpy and sour, the three bodyguards that were supposed to keep an eye on Edward. The latter had managed to leave them behind, and they had to search for him on an island covered in traps. Not one of them was left without at least a bandage protecting an injury. They were pissed at Edward and yet they couldn’t do anything against him. The families had made it clear that they wanted him alive.

Edward used the return trip to unwind and rest. The fight with the Murlocs had lasted a long time and he had been injured repeatedly. He had been healed by the blood he had absorbed but only on a physical level. The exhaustion was still there. Knowing that he was in a safe environment, he slept to gain back the sleep he needed.

*****

Once he woke up feeling better, he noticed he was closer to his aim of breaching the predator level than he thought. He could feel a distant hunger in the back of his mind, his body claiming more blood to progress to the next level.

Finally. This trip hasn’t been in vain. With all the Bloodmaws, Teleportcrows, Lusus naturae, and the throng of Murlocs I killed, I would have expected to already be at the predator level. Seriously, if everybody needs that much essence to break through, I can understand why they are so few predators and so many awakens. It is worrying for a further breakthrough.

Now that I’m so close to the next level, I should focus on hunting Lusus naturae exclusively. I need their acceleration power. I don’t want to kill simple Murlocs only to end up at the next level without any additional power.

Being this close to reaching the same fighting level as the Gobéliard family’s head, means I can accelerate my planning. Anyway, I doubt they will wait for much more time, the fact that I’m able to escape my bodyguard will probably spook them.

*****

The vessels reached Gobéliard. Since the time of their return was unknown, there was no crowd waiting for them. However, the docks were always bustling with activity, and a mass of people gathered quickly enough, the bystanders waving and acclaiming the return of the expedition. The families used the occasion to show off once more under the acclaim of the crowd.

It was his first expedition with the Gobéliard families, but Edward was already fed up with their aptitude. They never missed an occasion to show off, and they were arrogant to the point of compromising their ability to analyze a situation. At least this was the case for Appio who had let his anger lead him to chase Murlocs without realizing something strange was going on. After their speech, Edward left for the town hall accompanied by his bodyguards that were still bearing a grudge toward him.

Now that he was alone in his room, he took the time to think back to everything that had happened during the expedition. It had been a tough fight with the Murlocs, and he was considering what he could have done better and what to do to correct his weaknesses.

Contrary to my expectations the Murlocs proved to be tricky to manage. I was put in difficulty twice during the fight, first when their leader was adapting to my tactic, and then when the fight lasted for so long that I lost my concentration and got myself seriously injured.

If I have to fight an army of weak opponents, I have to take care of their leader first. That’s what I tried to do, but it was already late. What I needed to carry out was to take care of the leader before he noticed me. Although surrounded like he was, that would have been difficult to accomplish. I need to see if I can get a stealth ability. I already how to mask my aura or how to create an aura lure, but that doesn’t block someone from seeing me. Once I go back to Agripin I will need to pay the library a visit, I’m sure the Damkinan have a few magical stealth techniques.

That would have solved the leader’s problem, but the duration of the fight would still have been a problem. In such numbers, the enemy is simply too numerous for me to take care of in a fast way. With my teleportation and daggers, I’m more equipped to fight a few powerful monsters rather than an army of weak ones.

Edward remembered Flavius’ lighting, bouncing between nearby monsters, and scorching them on the way.

I need an area of effect attack. I could opt for a long-range option like Flavius lightning or even wind or water manipulation. From what I saw, water and wind users were only able to produce medium size blades, but I’m sure that by progressing to the predator level that power would be stronger.

However, I’m not sure it’s a good idea. I’m a close-range fighter, a long-range ability wouldn’t bring me that much of an advantage when I can simply teleport directly to my enemy. The acceleration ability of the Lusus naturae suits me more. Is there no other way but to get a new power to solve this problem?

I’m not relying exclusively on my power, I also have my aura, my runes, and my magic, even if my magic is rather lacking for now. A large attack of magic will probably take some time to cast. As for runes, it is already complicated to blend two or three runes together. If I wanted to build something powerful enough to lunch a large attack, I would need to spend days just studying how to link the runes. No, the runes are best left to Leyla. That leaves my aura…

Marc was able to produce and send blades of energy from his sword. I didn’t control my aura at that time and I wouldn’t be able to see it if it was aura alone. And yet, the aura can leave the body to enhance a weapon. The aura can also sustain itself for a short time even without direct contact with the one sending it, the way Balin was able to fire aura-enhanced arrows is proof of it. In theory, nothing should prevent someone to send aura blades. But I didn’t see anybody do that until now, only Marc’s technique seems close enough. It is worth investigating. I’m in a situation where I can trade for techniques directly with Gobéliard families. Let’s use this opportunity and see what they have in stock.

Edward stood up and opened his room’s door leading to the corridor. “I wish to speak with Cornelius,” he told his designed and grumpy bodyguards. “Could you convey my intention to him?” he asked, closing the door before they had the time to answer, making it clear that the question was only out of politeness.

Now I only need to think about which rune to trade. Marc was from the Vega family so if such a technique exists, they have the most probability of having it. With the passive between us, I can be certain they will try to use this trade to extort me. They already have the block and the durability runes, I don’t want to give them the drain rune who knows what they would do with it?

Edward visualized slaves being drained of their vitality to make and sell potions. He shuddered at the thought. Nope, I have to determine a less dangerous rune to trade.