The Hexer's Inheritance floated a great distance in each direction slowly, mirroring Sila's apprehension. Bit by bit, Skullius had delivered the constant bombshells of hazards that potentially awaited him, which made the Tower General move around at a snail's pace.
Sudden bursts of lightning?
Immortal beasts?
Sila grew silent, preferring to not hear anymore.
This worked well either way, since if he headed in the direction of the mountain, but without any clear destination in mind, he would still be forced to hover very slowly.
'Absurd!' Sila cried to himself.
If he could exhibit some of his strength in this orb body, he would have felt safer, but he was merely imposing his consciousness onto a floating, round object which, like [Lucent Apparition], was dependent on Skullius.
This was a foul way to spend eternal free time.
What made it even worse was the thick storm of clouds that had rushed from out of nowhere, dipping even lower than their normal altitude.
This made it difficult for even Skullius to find the distant glowing GOAL for the next stretch of time. After a while, he had started following after Sila, having given up on following the treacherous, or maybe sacred mountain for a while.
Perhaps exploring more would do some good, even though it was so quiet all around that the experience didn't get any better.
Thankfully, with the link between the Hexer's Inheritance and Skullius, Sila and the Hybrid Luman could converse about matters great and small to pass the time. It wasn't like they didn't have anything at all to talk about.
'You know I remember a time when Aigas was dangerous in its own natural way – Clusters were a bonus. The abundance of powerful natural beasts from the forests was what kept accelerating our own growth. While this is certainly terrifying, I recall several creatures that roamed the lands of Pelian unrestrained, with prowess exceeding that of the ones here. They couldn't revive after death though.'
'Really? And you survived so long despite that because...?'
'I was, and still am a devout minister of the Deities, tomato flinger! Like none has ever seen!'
'Flesh you. Didn't you curse out Quintess some time ago? When you finally decided to give in to a "blasphemous existence, an undead like me"?' Skullius mocked with a raised brow.
'That was before I knew you would betray me.'
'I remember you stealing my body!'
'I RECALL YOU MAKING A DEVIOUS DEAL TO PURGE ME WITH THAT INSUFFERABLE STRAY KNIGHT FIRST!'
The back and forth was suddenly cut short by a pause from Skullius.
'...Fair enough. I'll give you that,' he then said.
Sila wasn't wrong. Back then, while he probably would have taken over Skullius' body anyway, it didn't help that the Hybrid Luman (Discount Human then), had accepted when Bek, the only Spirit Warden he had met so far, offered to remove Sila from within him.
This was after he had promised the Tower General a chance to see his wife.
In any case, Skullius had apologised for it and tried to make up with Sila after beginning on his rough endeavour to reforge his lost mana core, assuring the Tower General who was prepared to fade away, that he would at least help him find out if any of his comrades were still alive, detained in the Labyrinth of the Yoke.
'We already solved that one though, didn't we? We hugged it out and everything.'
'Hmph!' Sila grumbled.
Another pause ensued before the Tower General suddenly said solemnly.
'I'm not thick, you know, tomato flinger...'
'Hmm?' Skullius responded, confused. 'What is it now?'
'I mean it. That second time when you were offered a chance to get rid of me, by that Giant.... You could have erased me, but you didn't. You kept me alive to keep your word, didn't you?'
Skullius' expression remained unchanged, and neither did anything in his mind show a shift – emotion or thought.
'You could say that. We all learn with time. Besides, something in me kept stabbing at the fact that keeping my word was better than breaking it. So rather than choosing the easy way out...' he said. 'Maybe I chose to build some character.'
Sila kept silent.
'Then again, I did also keep you as a failsafe for if I ever die. But you already know that.'
A spark of agreement registered from Sila's consciousness.
After that, he didn't seem interested in talking to Skullius anymore, regardless of the tonnes of baggage he had planned to spill.
Damn it.
That was the extent of what both seemed comfortable conversing about. Skullius had wanted to ask about historic events from the past, but he lost the urge.
The silence suddenly became a bit more comfortable.
The fruitless expedition – with one orb, and one man, not man – went on until... so sudden that it caught Skullius off guard, Sila screamed in his mind.
'Tomato flinger! There's something here! Hurry!'
The Hybrid Luman shot towards the Hexer's Inheritance at once, reaching it in a few breaths. He swept everything with [Graceless Hunter] and found what Sila was talking about.
There, high up in a tree, so close to the hanging clouds, was a creature staring at the two curiously.
Skullius instantly went on alert, though while wondering what kind of monster this was.
It had strong arms and legs, the feet and hands showing no distinction from each other. Skullius was sure they were interchangeable. Short hairs grew on the creature, which was humanoid, a human-like, long face added to its long head. Black sclera filled its eyes, around them reddish, wrinkled skin that smothered a thick nose.
The Hybrid Luman had been looking for a tail on its body, but couldn't find out, which he couldn't tell if it was a good or bad sign.
Thankfully, the creature didn't seem to exhibit any hints of irrational hostility like the Retriever, but this also added to his anxiety.
He had never not been met with confrontation or some form of hateful reaction when encountering a Cluster beast.
In fact, he had never seen a Cluster that had multiple types of species. At least ones that seemed so different.
From the guidance field, he could tell this wasn't like the Beckoned Retriever, because a different name was shown.
[Fleeting Pioneer].
The creature was only Tier 7, but Skullius didn't feel any more relaxed by knowing that. For all he knew, it could be worse than the Retriever if it also gained some sort of ability from the environment.
The Fleeting Pioneer put its finger beneath its chin, looking to be wondering about Skullius, and the strange jade orb floating beside him.
'Probably shouldn't take any chances,' Skullius thought after scanning around him to make sure the creature was alone. They may be more of these... Pioneers, and if he didn't deal with one of them when he had the chance, he felt he might regret it.
In a blink, Skullius had brandished his sword and swept past the stretch of distance between him, and the enemy. Before a second could tick, he had struck to turn the Fleeting Pioneer into cubes, and prepare for a possible reanimation, which would require other drastic means to inhibit.
Yet...
...!
Skullius felt in his concentrated senses, the beating sensation from the Fleeting Pioneer's heart, the warmth from its flesh, the sturdiness of it bones, and the fierce thrum of its blue core.... all the signs of a living, existing creature he had sensed micro moments ago, disappear when Demion's Dance had its edge to the creature's head!
Only an image remained, one that allowed his sword to pass through without doing any damage.
'What?' Skullius thought, astonished.
He was still suspended in mid-air when he felt the vital signs he had missed just now emerge just below, on the ground.
The Fleeting Pioneer was somehow now on the ground, picking its nose disinterestedly.
Skullius frowned.
'What the hell was that?' he wondered. 'I used [Destined Warp Steps] just now. Even the Retriever couldn't keep up.'
As dazzling footprints appeared in front of him, leading another trail to his swift victory, Skullius attacked again, but by the time his sword was ready to fillet the Fleeting Pioneer, only an image remained once again.
This time, Skullius had paid closer attention.
'Sila, what did you see just now?' he asked the Tower General who had been spectating all along.
'...I'm not sure how to explain it, tomato flinger. It's not easy to see, but it seems your attacks aren't doing the damn thing any harm. After you strike, it appears in another location, perfectly fine.'
Skullius narrowed his eyes.
It seemed even Sila couldn't tell what was REALLY happening here. Sight wasn't a reliable sense with this.
The Hybrid Luman could tell.
It wasn't that this creature was faster than him. Its stats, agility-wise, were a little lower than his.
It wasn't moving out of the way on its own. Something was automatically keeping it out of harm's way. It was like the core features of its existence were transplanted elsewhere right when it was about to injured, and only an afterimage would remain.
'Dammit. Is it another mutation? No, this thing is humanoid. It must have a Class,' Skullius thought.
When rechecking its status, he found that it indeed had a Class, but it was called... Fleeting Pioneer.
'Huh?'
While sorting his thoughts on this creature, the Fleeting Pioneer suddenly raised its head. It looked past the clouds with such an urgency that resembled that which one would get when having forgotten something important.
Before Skullius could say 'sockethole', the long faced creature stormed away, leaping from branch to branch impressive like a famous, hide-adorned man-child from an otherworldly reality.
Skullius immediately gave chase, Sila following behind him. He decided not to approach too close, or use any other offensive means since this creature seemed to have a different influence from the environment, which seemed to mirror its strange, non-violent nature.
'Maybe attacking it isn't the way,' Skullius thought.
But what had it seen that had made it run so suddenly?
Even now, it was still looking up, as if seeing something Skullius couldn't.
For a few minutes, Skullius, with Crude Vision couldn't understand.
However, when a patch of thick clouds that had been fogging the skies split off a little, his eyes widened.
In the distance, was the tall mountain and the GOAL, both of which had been obscured completely by the clouds earlier.
That's where the Fleeting Pioneer was headed?
But then...
But then...
Skullius' eyes opened further when he realised something, and felt his racing feet.
Then joy spread across his face.
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