Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Deer Hunting
"Why do we need to learn hunting, Master?" Ashe whispered.
Siderius smirked. His eyes traced upon the wilds, taking in the scenery, or perhaps looking for a possible prey.
"What we actually are... are Hunters. Hunting is one of our primary skills as we hunt down not even beast but monster, creatures of the dark and sometimes, evil worshipped humans."
"Are we bounty hunters, Master?"
"Coins are one of the many rewards we look forward to. But no, that is not our purpose. We do not hunt for a reward. We hunt to keep the reality intact."
Ashe blinked her eyes rapidly.
"We keep the balance on the scale of the world. We make sure reality runs on a fair equilibrium.
In the old days, we were born because witches rampaged the lands and enslaved humans and every other species in all the Kingdoms.
We graft organs from beasts and creatures to rob them of their power, their ability and their essence.
We adapted the alchemical practices and turned it into our weapons.
Our swords are made from the purest iron and hottest fire."
Siderius leaned in close to Ashe and whispered to her ears. "We are witch hunters."
Ashe shivered gently. She stared at Siderius, seemingly still in disbelief. It was the very first time he let her know what they truly were.
There were many thoughts running through Ashe’s mind. Hesitation. Worries. A tiny bit of excitement. And a whole large deal of dread.
Eldoria was a kingdom of witches. Witch Hunters weren’t simply their enemies. They were the enemies of the entire kingdom of Eldoria.
This was a dangerous path. A path of no return. A path that shall put her at odds with all of the people she once called family. She would need to hunt them, and kill them mercilessly.
Can I really do that? Ashe asked herself silently. She knew that she couldn’t. At least, not now. For her, witches were still ordinary people. They only had a little bit of quirks and magic in their blood.
She didn’t know if they deserved to die.
Ashe only knew Siderius for a short while. Less than a month. But she already knew that her master would never compromise. He would kill them all.
He had never hidden that bloodlust of his.
Siderius could see in her eyes the doubt and hesitation.
"Are you having second thoughts, my apprentice?" Siderius stared at her with a lingering smile.
He knows. Ashe told herself. And he’s right. She didn’t know what was the right choice. Her fist clenched so hard, they turned white.
She wanted power to get back what she deserved. But this path was not a path of conquest. It was a path of hunting and killing. And Ashe knew, this man wouldn’t be happy to know that she hesitated.
"I..." Ashe’s lips quivered. She couldn’t say anything.
Siderius squatted down in front of her. Their eyes met.
"What do you really want in life, Ashe?"
"What I want..." Ashe’s eyes lost their focus. She looked deep and broad and could only see a hole needed to fill. "I want what was taken from me."
"And that is?"
"I want all of Eastern Restera."
Eastern Restera, people usually called it in short as The Rest Mountains. It was the territory of the Costeau clan, a vast mountain range of rocky hills and barren desert.
Most things died there. And there were barely any organic resources to farm. But it did have the biggest gold reserve in all of Eldoria. So much that it guaranteed the power of the Costeau for thousands of years.
Ashe was never considered to be an heir for the Costeau. She was never going to take Eastern Restera as her own. But she had always wanted to, badly.
"And what are you going to do if they stop you from taking it, my apprentice?"
"I... I can never have the power to do such things."
"You will, my apprentice. With my help." Siderius lifted her chin gently. His gaze pierced into the bottom of her desire. It wasn’t hard to see what she truly wanted.
Ashe could feel the warmth from his hands. It brought her the confidence to say what she was ashamed of.
"I will do anything to take Restera. And anyone who would stand in my path shall face my wrath." Ashe blurted out.
Siderius smirked. He patted her head gently. "Everything has a price. This is the price for your dream. A path of blood and killing."
Ashe’s breath slowed down. "I understand, Master."
The exchange passed away like nothing happened. However, Siderius’ eyes changed in a subtle way. He had understood Ashe more. She was still too soft.
There is no good witch. A good witch is a dead witch. He would not show mercy to any witches. The only redemption for them was death.
But today, he had made sure to fuel the resolve of his apprentice. So that one day, when she had to swing the blade, there would be no more hesitation.
A deer showed up in their vision. It appeared at the edge of the river bank and quickly quenched its thirst.
Siderius put his fingers up to tell Ashe to stay silent. Then he pulled out his hunter’s knife.
A bow would be best in this situation. But he did not have a suitable hunting bow yet. It was what he intended to make by ordering Kraus bought those items.
For now, he could only use a bit of alchemy to cheat this hunt.
The deer was a buck with long antlers on its head.
Siderius whispered lowly. "Do not move."
The buck approached the pair. They stayed still like two frozen statues.
Siderius was still grabbing his knife. His left hand raised up high with the silver bracer ready.
The buck was cautious. It stopped a few times looking around, making sure nothing dangerous was within its vision.
The bush hid Siderius and Ashe well, removing them from the vision of the deer. The deer’s nose twitched quite a few times, tasting the air and trying to smell anything in its vicinity. But Siderius already made sure they were on the opposite of the wind.
As he expected, the deer approached closer and closer, having no idea that it had come dangerously close to death’s door.
Twenty meters. Eighteen meters. Sixteen meters.
The deer was closer and closer to the pair. They were on its path because of Siderius’ perfect choice of location.
And when it was closed enough. Siderius waited a little more.
Deer’s eyes were extremely great at detecting movement. A single twitch of the muscle would have set its alarm off and it would run straight off without any chance of catching it.
So when the deer was still facing them, Siderius stayed motionless.
He could only hope two things to happen. One was that the deer would turn its head away, allowing a chance for Siderius to act.
Or second, its vision toward them was blocked.
The deer passed by a tree. The tree was big enough to cover its cone of vision and hid Siderius away.
It was then that his left fingers moved. The sigil of <Vertigo> materialized and floated in the air. Immediately, a surge of dizziness took over the deer. Its legs wobbled and gave up.
The buck with the great antlers suddenly dropped down to the ground. It tried to stand up only to fall down again due to the immense dizziness that had taken over it.
Siderius bolted out of the bush. The sound of rustling leaves alarmed the buck immediately. It stood up in panic and ran away.
It could only dart a few meters before its legs gave off and fell on the ground again.
Siderius might not have a bow to kill it from far away but Vertigo could buy Siderius the precious time needed to shorten the distance.
His alchemical sigil had gotten stronger. Strong enough to neutralize a deer for a dozen seconds.
He jumped on top of it and with one decisive thrust, the knife slid into its heart and killed it instantly.
"Depart in peace."
The deer let out its last high-pitched shriek.