Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Conditions Met

“Rania calm down!” Wolstan said as she thwacked another Drenid on the skull. The Drenid fell and twitched on the ground before going still. 

“Calm down?” Rania said rounding on Wolstan. He took a few steps back. “That bitch looked down on me! She was so much stronger than me that she had the nerve to keep looking away!” 

“I honestly think she was just worried about her friend rather than looking down on you.” Wolstan explained for the ninth time.

“Same difference!” Rania said and resumed looking through the trees for more Drenids to beat up.

Wolstan sighed in defeat. She’d been fighting like that for days now, just beating any and every Drenid that dared cross her path regardless of their level. According to her, her victory against Desa didn’t count because the [Lightning Walker] hadn’t been paying total attention to her. Rania’s pride apparently knew no bounds.

To her credit she still proved invaluable to their survival out in the wild. She knew how to perfectly build camps and shelters from trees and plants. Due to the debt Wolstan accrued at that hospital they couldn’t afford to buy food on their way out of Gelia but Rania had a knack for finding edible fruits and berries and thrice kept him from being poisoned.

Not to mention the training paid off. He pulled her stats up to check just how far she progressed though most of it came from Desa.

Drenid Name: Rania

Hunter: Wolstan

Tribe: Forester

Form: [Fighter] (1st stage)

Class: Warrior

Level: 11

Strength: 12

Defense 10

Intel: 11

Agility 22

He was still getting the hang of how her stats worked but it became completely obvious how much she depended on speed regardless of her class being a warrior. He didn’t quite understand why that was but it helped them come up with tactics when Rania didn’t just go in gung-ho.

“Give me the word and I’ll make her sleep.” Esta said as screams rang out through the trees. Rania found another victim.

“I’ll just pull her back if she gets too crazy.” Wolstan said. Her rage was better directed at random Drenids than them. “So what exactly is the plan here? We’re not just wandering aimlessly are we?”

“No, we’re going to Wrebert, the land of the noble Brijir. The alternative way to open the walls of eternity is through six keys the nobles of the six territories hold. That was the agreement they made with the Diamarta king of that day for them to agree with the wall’s construction.”

The idea that six families in the kingdom had enough sway to make a king consider installing a backdoor into his defense system still felt absurd. The only ones Wolstan thought should have that kind of pull were the Dregux and they were a family of geniuses responsible for so many of the kingdom’s inventions they were basically royalty themselves. And the craziest thing was they weren’t one of the six.

“So, we just walk up to the head of the owner of this territory-” He started.

“Brijir.” Esta said.

“Right, and we ask him for his key?”

“I have a feeling it won’t be quite that simple, but that’s the crux of it. If he doesn’t want to give it up we can find alternative ways to negotiate.” Esta said and flexed her claws. 

Wolstan shivered. He didn’t want it to come to that.

“Human!” Rania called from between the trees. She didn’t sound hurt but Wolstan kicked himself into gear and ran to her. 

He found her quick enough, she stood beneath a canopy of branches glaring at a man leaning against a tree and a Drenid with a wicked looking blade on his hip. Esta sniffed the air and raised a brow but Wolstan didn’t smell anything.

The man smiled. At first glance Wolstan nearly confused him for a woman. His strawberry hair reached down to his butt and he looked much too clean to have been traveling the wilderness. His eyes were a hazy gray that reminded Wolstan of the moon on a cloudy night. 

His Drenid on the other hand had spiky black hair and stood taller than his hunter though the man was in no way short. He watched Rania with the same piercing stare Conrad had when he watched Esta. 

“What’s going on here?” Wolstan asked.

“The human said he won’t let me fight his Drenid unless you were present.” Rania said.

“Then how about you don’t? Have you honestly not had enough yet?” 

“Of course not! And this ones different, he’s stronger than the weaklings I picked off!” 

Wolstan didn’t get how that made any difference and the way the hunter silently watched them creeped him out. He was going to tell Rania not to fight when Esta stepped beside him.

“I think she should. It’ll be good for you.” Esta said though she too watched the hunter closely.

“Good for me?” Wolstan asked.

Esta nodded. “You’ve never fought another hunter. If things do come to blows on the way to where we’re going you might have to fight someone that has Drenids of their own.”

The other hunter laughed. “You’ve got a smart Drenid there. She’s good at hiding your secrets.” He said. His voice was smooth and elegant in a way Wolstan recognized at once. No one in Zertold spoke like that. “And she’s right by the way, not many people have Drenid fights anymore but if you’re doing something dangerous it's worth learning.”

Wostan took note that he referred to Esta as ‘she’ and judging by the smile on her face she noticed too. “But is fighting against hunters any different from fights against wild Drenids?”

“We grow stronger quicker when we’re with hunters and skills come easier to us when we get caught. If you found another [Fighter] like Rania in the wild it’s possible they’d still be weaker than her even if they were the same what you humans refer to as ‘level’.” Esta said. “Otherwise we would have dominated your species long ago regardless of you being able to catch us.”

Wolstan’s cheeks glowed red. The dearth of knowledge he didn’t have about Drenids started to weigh on him. Most of it wasn’t his fault but down in the library’s cellar he had a chance to take a book or two even if they weren’t in the best condition.

“Well, what do you say?” The hunter asked. 

Rania looked at Wolstan expectantly and he didn’t feel he could deny her.

“Let’s do it. But first, is there anything else I need to know?” Wolstan asked.

“Well, there's two ways to win a fight between hunters.” Esta explained. “The first way would be to incapacitate or kill the enemy Drenids. Or you could just kill the enemy hunter, their Drenids should freeze up for a moment afterwards.”

“Let’s avoid killing shall we?” Wolstan said quickly. 

The other hunter nodded and his Drenid got into position in front of Rania. “I’ll tell you now since you haven’t scanned either of us, Joben is a spirit [Bladesmith].

The [Bladesmith] drew a long curved, blackened blade with a circular guard. 

Rania summoned her wooden sword in response. It looked like a kid’s toy in comparison. 

She made the first move. Dashing across the field to the [Bladesmith] she slashed at his side only for Joben to block it with the flat of his blade. She jumped back and struck again and again taking full advantage of the open space around them. 

The [Bladesmith] resolutely blocked everything she dished out without giving up an inch. It was clear he was nothing like Desa, Wolstan doubted anything could distract him from fending off Rania’s blows. 

“Joben.” The other hunter said lazily. 

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Joben gritted his teeth, stepped forward and slashed towards the sky. Rania stopped in her tracks and dashed backwards as if she foresaw the attack. Her neck had just been where Joben struck.

Joben wasn’t done though. He kept slashing at Rania but her speed was greater than his. She jumped out of reach of his sword sometimes merely seconds from being cut. 

It looked as if neither had an advantage as Rania couldn’t break Joben’s defense and he couldn’t catch her. 

“Creation.” The hunter said. 

This sparked another change in Joben. He roared and struck the tip of his sword into the ground. At first it appeared nothing happened and Rania reared herself to strike him while he was defenseless but then screamed. 

She ran from the spot and Wolstan saw a bloodied blade sprouting from the ground where Rania’s foot had just been.

More swords sprang from the ground beneath Rania as she hurried to keep moving whilst keeping pressure off her injured foot.

“What the heck is that?” Wolstan asked. The bladesmith looked like a regular Warrior class Drenid, but had powers he’d expect from a Mystic or Mythic Drenid. Did that mean Rania could do something like that?

“If you have time to ponder, you have time to order her!” Esta said. 

“Right! Um, Rania get in closer and strike!” Wolstan advised. Esta shook her head and the other hunter laughed but it was all he could think of.

To his great surprise Rania vanished the second both her feet hit the ground. She reappeared behind Joben looking highly confused but she still had to obey the rest of Wolstan’s command. 

“Joben watch out!” The other hunter cried.

But Rania already cracked him across the side of his head, throwing him and his sword across the forest floor. The other hunter stood upright as blood flowed from Joben’s ear.

“What was that?” Wolstan asked though he was more excited he somehow managed to help. He pointed his Dredot at Rania and clicked more to see her skills.

Skills: Weapon Materialization, Backstab, Flurry, Light step

Light step, that had to have been what she did. Judging by Rania’s reaction she hadn’t expected to do it no more than Wolstan or Esta had. 

“How do you feel Rania?” Wolstan asked. 

She clenched her fists. “Great. I could probably do it a few more times, keep it up human!” 

Joben got up seething as he clutched his ear but dropped his hand to take up his sword once again as Rania leaped at him. He blocked each of her attacks but refused to bury his sword in the ground again. He was determined not to leave himself open while Rania tried to savage him. 

Wolstan watched the other hunter waiting for him to pull another trick but it never came, he just watched Joben close, probably waiting for an opening the same as Wolstan was. And Wolstan definitely saw it.

Joben wobbled oddly every time Rania struck at him; the wooden blade did more damage to his head than Wolstan first assumed. 

With that in mind Wolstan took the risk and yelled, “Light Step into Flurry!” 

This time Rania was ready as she disappeared and reappeared at Joben’s side; she didn’t hesitate as she unleashed a torrent of strikes to the [Bladesmith]’s head, neck, and face. One blow in particular struck him in the mouth and Joben fell. 

Rania loomed over him with her bloodied sword huffing but smiling wickedly. “And that’s another one.” She said.

Wolstan’s Dredot vibrated, Rania’s dot glowed white. He would have checked it right away but he was stunned into confusion as the other hunter clapped for him even though he lost.

“Gaining new skills on the fly, and winning without even scanning your opponent! I thought you were just being arrogant but you have the skills to back it up.” He said.

“Er, that’s not it. I ran into issues scanning someone's Drenid without asking so I try not to anymore.” Wolstan admitted remembering his first encounter with Aki and Desa.

The other hunter nearly doubled over with laughter. “For future reference most people won’t mind, it’s all public information anyways.” The hunter said, wiping tears from his eyes. He double tapped a dot on his arm and Joben coalesced into a bright orange flame that jumped to the hunter’s arm. He tapped a different dot and a blond Drenid bearing a red owl sigil on her shoulder appeared holding a large double-bitted battle axe inscribed with runic symbols.

Esta grinned and splayed her claws at the new Drenid, even Rania took a step away from her. If Esta responded that way, Wolstan couldn’t imagine the Drenid’s power.

“It doesn’t matter how you did it, you still won.” The other hunter continued. “The number of people willing to let their Drenid’s fight shrinks by the day, I’m glad I met you.”

“Is that why you’re so happy even though you lost?” Wolstan asked.

“Wouldn’t you be happy to meet like-minded people? Not to mention, someone traveling with the late king’s Drenid.” 

A creeping chill spread through Wolstan’s body. His eyes darted to the hunter’s hand which was pointing directly at Esta who made her claws even longer. 

“Rania-” Wolstan began but Esta put her hand across him.

“He brought that Drenid out for a reason, Rania’s no match for it.” Esta said, still grinning.

“I hate to admit it but she’s right. She’s on the same level as the monster beside you.” Rania said though the expression on her face said she still wanted to try.

The hunter’s Drenid giggled, twirled its axe and the hunter put his arm around her shoulders. “I’ve always suspected something changed with Evrouin but I was a kid when I first noticed; no one would have believed me.” He shrugged and turned around to leave. “I have no idea who you are, Wolstan, or why you’re traveling with Evrouin’s assassin and to be honest it has nothing to do with me. I’ll just ask whatever it is, make sure it doesn’t interfere with anything regarding Ventset. Okay?”

“Scan him!” Esta urged as the hunter and Drenid made their exit. Wolstan did as she said and read.

Hunter Name: Isadore Dregux

Sigil: Red Horned Owl

Registered Drenids: 28

“Dre-Dregux!” Wolstan blurted out as he watched Isadore disappear between the trees. His arm nearly dropped in amazement until he remembered his arm vibrated after Rania’s victory. He checked her stats to try and settle himself. 

Drenid Name: Rania

Hunter: Wolstan

Tribe: Forester

Form: [Fighter] (1st stage)

Class: Warrior

Level: 13

Strength: 14

Defense: 12

Intel: 13

Agility: 26

[Conditions met! Form Change Available!]

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