Chapter 903: A Choice Yet to Come
The group of six travelled along a river connected to the sea they had left behind, and with only one more city before reaching the Regional Capital, they stopped there to spend the night.
The closer they got to the Capital, the fewer chances for combat arose, as the demonic dragon armies couldn’t reach this far into Infernal Devil territory.
Over the three weeks they’d travelled together, they had grown noticeably stronger, with the many opponents they faced, including two other Class 2 Demonic Dragons, serving as suitable catalysts for their growth.
While the Hero Candidates partied at the City Mayor’s house, Elaine slipped away and headed to the river on the city outskirts, quietly enjoying the night breeze.
It wasn’t the first time she’d done this whenever they stopped in a city or town, so the Hero Candidates weren’t concerned, as had been the case the first few times.
Sitting by the dock, she held up her Cosmic Energy Detector, the beeping of the gun-shaped device echoing in the quiet surroundings.
She raised it slightly, pointing it toward the sky and then toward the city in the distance, watching the numbers on the display climb slowly.
’That’s the direction of the Regional Capital, isn’t it? Could the Capital be built atop a hotspot?’
The thought crossed her mind, and considering that the Hero Title Conferment Ceremony was to be held there, Elaine, already assuming it was a special location, concluded that this might very well be the case.
Just as the thought occurred, she sensed a familiar presence approaching, so she slipped the device back into her spatial ring and turned around.
From the shadows of the nearby empty buildings, Knight emerged, his white hair tousled by the evening breeze as he spoke.
"Your ability to detect presences is as sharp as ever, huh?"
"Why are you still surprised by this?" Elaine asked, raising an eyebrow, and Knight shrugged without a word, walking up to the dock and sitting about a metre away from her.
Silence stretched between them, broken only by the sound of the rushing river. Elaine wasn’t one to talk much, so she didn’t mind, though she didn’t understand why Knight had left his partying companions to come out here.
Just as she was about to ask what he wanted, he spoke.
"So, I’m not sure if I should mention this, and I’m probably just being nosy, but I’m curious and more than a little worried."
When Knight said that, Elaine wore a confused expression, not understanding what he was talking about. Still, he continued.
"Three weeks is a long time to observe someone and pick up on a lot of things, and I happen to be the type who observes quite a bit."
Elaine’s confusion only deepened, since there was still no context to his words, but Knight went on regardless.
"Again, it’s probably just me being nosy, but like I said, I’m curious, and I’m worried too, even if the worry comes after the curiosity."
Elaine finally couldn’t stay silent anymore.
"What the hell are you on about?" she asked.
At that, Knight turned his gaze toward her and, in the calmest voice he could manage, began, "Elaine, why do you..."
He trailed off, thinking over how to phrase it, then decided not to bother softening it.
"Why do you avoid killing?"
For a moment, silence stretched between them. Then Elaine blinked, her expression puzzled.
"I’m sorry, what?"
Seeing that confusion, Knight continued.
"The dragon we fought on the day we met. I noticed you changed your spear’s path, turning what should’ve been a direct strike to the head into a hit to the shoulder instead. Then there were the demonic wyrmlings you didn’t kill. You could argue that you didn’t know about their regenerative abilities, but that doesn’t really hold up.
The third demonic dragon we faced had regeneration, too, and none of us knew until you identified it with your life attribute magic and told us. That means you can detect regenerative abilities.
In other words, you knew the wyrmlings could recover, and you still didn’t kill them."
Knight had said he was observant, and three weeks was more than enough time to learn a lot about someone.
Once those suspicions took root on day one, he’d paid close attention to Elaine, and in all the time they’d travelled together, she hadn’t dealt the final blow to a single opponent they’d faced.
Not once had she ended a life.
Every time, she passed the opportunity to another Hero Candidate, as though she knew exactly when an enemy was one hit from death, something Knight eventually realised she might actually be capable of sensing.
Elaine had repeatedly demonstrated detection abilities that even surpassed Archer’s, which had left him a bit depressed at one point. When he finally couldn’t hold back and asked how she noticed enemies so quickly, she had casually replied that she could see life signals.
Over the following days, as Knight reflected on everything he’d observed, he realised that her explanation might not have been complete.
’What if she didn’t just see life signals, but their intensity as well? What if she could tell when someone was close to death, and that was what she was always gauging?
That would explain how she always knew when to leave an enemy barely alive so the next strike from someone else would finish them.’
With all that in mind, he finally decided to confront her.
And despite her inner turmoil when faced with the question, Elaine kept her outward expression composed and asked, "Um, did you forget that I’m a Sovereign, just like the rest of you? You don’t think I was just born at that level, do you?"
She was implying that killing was necessary to reach that Level, but hearing this, Knight shook his head.
"Levelling is the fastest way to grow stronger, but it’s not the only way. I know that well, since my family practised the age-old energy absorption method. It’s inefficient and takes much longer than levelling, but it still works.
And even when it comes to levelling, you don’t have to be the one who lands the final blow. You’ve levelled up with us over these past three weeks without doing so. It’s less efficient, but it still works."
Elaine didn’t have an immediate response, and Knight didn’t give her time to form one. He shrugged and continued.
"I’m not expecting you to answer me, or to admit you avoid killing or anything like that. Like I said, I’m curious, but I’m also worried.
This world is dangerous, and if you’re walking the path of a combatant, there will come a time when you won’t have a choice but to take a life.
I don’t know why you’re avoiding it. I can guess, but I won’t know for sure unless you tell me, and I doubt you will. But..."
He paused, slowly rising to his feet.
"I hope the day you’re forced to make that choice isn’t one where you’re pushed to your limits. I hope you don’t make it in anger, and that you decide only after you’ve thought it through and steeled yourself to bear the burden of taking another life."
Turning away, he started walking off and added, "Take it as advice from someone who took his first life while filled with nothing but rage and grief over losing someone dear."
With those words, Knight vanished into the shadows he had come from.
Elaine watched him silently from a distance, slowly unclenching her fist and withdrawing the magic power she’d infused into her spatial ring.
