Decompression started as a silent affair, one that gradually morphed into something more.
A few dozen meters away from them, the stag still rested, unconscious. Lev had made sure to cover the boss and themselves in his strongest wards, and they seemed to be working so far.
Lulled by the sense of security, he made the campfire a bit larger and moved slightly further away to summon an enchanted bed. It was one of his most prized possessions.
That had attracted a few odd glances, but ten minutes later, everyone was seated on comfortable furniture, even the Hunter. Lev had created a nice little cushioned sofa for it, one that wasn’t little at all. All of the humans combined would easily fit in the same space that the Hunter used to stretch its legs.
Regardless, the atmosphere now felt more like a camping trip. Steaming food was passed around from his ring, for it was the only one large enough to waste space on such mundane things.
If only the poor sods knew that only a tenth of his ring was full.
Oh, that reminds me.
“By the way,” he sent during a lull in conversation. “The Lightbending Serpent’s corpse is sort of intact. I already harvested the core. The scales and flesh might be useful.”
Only a lukewarm response met his suggestion, so he dropped the matter. They weren’t exactly lacking in wealth, anyway. Personal power allowed them to go out and earn more whenever they wanted.
“What would you use the body parts for, Blessed Lev?” the hunter asked.
“Me personally? I wouldn’t even keep them. After selling them to a crafter, I’ll store the money until I find something worthwhile to purchase.”
“… What is this ‘money’ you speak of?”
Oh boy.
That derailed the conversation very far off track. Lev spent the next hour or so explaining the concept of currency, barter, and the evolution of buying and selling. Then they reached the idea of using precious metals as wealth, something that both confused the Hunter and also made a surprising amount of sense to the being.
“But why metals? Why not cores or carcasses? Or even food?”
“What would we do with food?” Lev asked with interest.
“Do you not know? The flesh of monsters can be prepared with the right skills and willpower infusion to accept and store pure mana. Over time, it can become highly nutritious and also provide minor but permanent bonuses to one’s body. Granted, it is something only third-threshold beings can accomplish, and only after ages of practice.”
“We don’t have any Exalted cooks…”
“Oh? These cooks are responsible for dealing with meals?”
“Yep.”
“I understand,” the hunter nodded. “What about the rest I mentioned?”
“Metals are just more convenient. Not everyone wants to go out and fight monsters for a living, which would not allow an economy focused on their harvests to be sustainable. Moreover, at higher costs, most people resort to trading runes, cores, items, favors, and even other possessions such as hidden locations and information. Metals are more suited for daily life dealings and retain a lot of value.”
“To think a race born at level zero is so proficient in trade,” the Hunter mused, a hand on its chin.
Hey, that’s rude. We’re not that weak… never mind.
Before Lev could ask about what the Hunters needed cores for, a presence became noticeable. It was incredibly far away, though at her speed, she was going to reach them in a few seconds.
Fortunately, Drakys must have relayed Lev’s warnings about the stag, for Sherron slowed down greatly by the time she became visible on the horizon. Sunrise followed her approach.
When she finally landed amidst their small camp, the first sun was peeking over the horizon, illuminating the flat patch of grass they were resting in.
Her eyes roamed over everyone, observing every little detail, before they swiveled towards the Hunter.
I don’t think this is going to end well… Lev thought with a gulp. Their gazes were locked in a tense standoff, during which the Hunter didn’t even bother to prepare itself for a fight.
Either it had complete faith in Lev’s acquaintances not to be aggressive, or Lev had severely underestimated the being’s strength.
“I have guarded the Blessed of the Sanctuary with my life, Mage,” the Hunter intoned with a severity that Lev had yet to hear from it. “You need not look at me with such suspicion.”
Sherron didn’t lower her guard, though after another few seconds, she inclined her head in a nod. Then she turned towards Lev, and he debated running away until she calmed down.
Unfortunately for him, she would’ve caught up to him with her eyes closed.
“Uhm,” Lev cleared his throat. “I can explain.”
“One week,” Sherron began. “Just seven days. How many times did you risk death during that?”
“Not that many,” he replied, not meeting her eyes. “You know how it goes whenever I enter a dungeon. This time I even came out with two friends!”
Someone stifled a laugh, masking it with a cough. Sherron turned towards Melvine with an icy look, which only seemed to empower the hybrid warrior.
“What? He’s right, you know.”
“Your feedback is not needed.”
“You will have it anyway,” Melvine shrugged, evidently enjoying the situation.
Sherron just gave her a flat stare and turned to look at Lev. He might have squirmed a bit with a nervous smile, which finally cut through her bad mood.
With a sigh, she took a few steps and wrapped him in a hug, which he wholeheartedly returned. Even if no one would ever hear him say it out loud, he had missed her quite a bit, partly due to how much her strength would’ve helped.
“There there,” Lev grinned, patting her head. “Stop worrying so much. I had it mostly under control.”
“Did you?” she remarked, and something in her tone made him drop the act.
“No. Not at all. But we made it out alive, didn’t we? That’s what matters at the end of the day.”
“Idiot,” she whispered.
“Always,” Lev commented, unable to hold back a smile.
The reunion was interrupted when the Hunter moved slightly, turning its head upwards.
“What’s wrong?” Lev asked out loud.
“Another human is observing us, Blessed Lev.”
Who the hell? Lev wondered and followed its gaze, which turned into another reminder of the Hunter’s great strength when he found nothing.
“It’s Drakys,” Sherron informed them, connecting to Isabella’s communication item. “He’s wary for obvious reasons.”
“Can you tell him to stop with the mental probes, Mage? Any other being would’ve taken great offense to such transgressions.”
Sherron considered the implications before summoning a communication tablet. The Hunter relaxed almost immediately after, leaning back into its seat.
Mental probes? Lev wondered. Is that mind magic? What else could it be?
He hadn’t ever heard of that beyond some incredibly dangerous monsters making entire teams disappear. Where had Drakys gotten his hands on such runes?
The answer was surprisingly simple and also present on his status.
“Let’s be civil, shall we?” Lev voiced before tensions could develop. “You can have my word if you still don’t trust the Hunter.”
“It’s not a matter of trust,” Sherron replied, sitting down on his bed. “We simply cannot take any chances.”
“For what is worth, I do not mind this slow procedure, Blessed Lev,” the hunter piped up. “It is only natural to be careful.”
Wow, if I wasn’t thinking too deeply about them both, I would’ve missed the verbal barb… or maybe the Hunter didn’t even intend to instigate anything like that.
Sherron, however, betrayed nothing. Her eyes were calm now, hiding all of her thoughts and emotions.
A short while later, Drakys got close enough for everyone to see, and he wasn’t as reserved as Sherron. The Hunter, too, stood up when the Exalted human landed in front of it.
Lev’s worries spiked, then morphed into confusion. A smirk slowly emerged on Drakys’s face, and to Lev’s immense surprise, the same emotion was visible on the Hunter’s beastly face.
“I was not expecting to ever see you again,” Drakys initiated the conversation, head tilted slightly. “I see you are far from the same.”
“Same to you, human. I still remember snippets of fleeing from your incredible skill in hand-to-hand combat. To think I am so thoroughly outclassed now.”
Drakys extended a hand. The Hunter grabbed it with his own clawed fingers before shaking it.
And just like that, all of the remaining tensions dissolved. Even Sherron was looking on with surprise, reconsidering her stance.
“The name’s Drakys, and you’ve already met my fellow Exalted, Sherron.”
The Hunter dipped its head in a greeting. “I’m afraid I don’t have a name to give, Drakys. My identity is limited to my existence as a Veil Hunter.”
“The Veil…” Drakys echoed, oddly nostalgic. “Is that place still standing?”
“I do not expect it to ever fall, Brawler. Most simply do not have what it would take to bring it down.”
Drakys merely nodded. “I see, I see. And I also hear about some incredible adventures with our young Lev. Shall we discuss those and the implications at length somewhere else?”
The Hunter turned out to be surprisingly receptive to the hidden meanings, not hesitating in agreeing. In a blink, Drakys vanished from sight, just as the hunter dove into the ground to follow him… somewhere.
Lev blinked, and they were gone.
“What the fuck just happened?” Elias whispered.
“For once, I don’t think anyone here knows,” Lev chuckled and poked Sherron’s side. “Did you?”
“Nope.”
“Glad it turned out well though,” Melvine remarked, looking disapprovingly at Sherron. “And you, stop being so paranoid. We were all lounging with the Hunter for a reason. Without it, none of us would be alive.”
Sherron remained silent, only looking back. Then she exhaled deeply and conceded the point and turned to Lev.
Lev remained silent.
“Do I need to ask?”
“You’re not Alec.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m Sherron. Do I not get special privileges?”
“One hug per question.”
“Heck off.”
Lev laughed and grabbed her in a side-hug. “Alright, alright. What do you want to know?”
“How was it, really?”
“Very bad,” Lev snorted. “I jumped in front of a different Veil Hunter’s claws to save her,” he said, dipping his head towards Melvine, “and immediately had to prepare myself to face several third-threshold monsters. Looking around also revealed that there was no portal to escape through, so I had to improvise and prepare myself when Melvine entered, and my bubble followed.
“Things turned out pretty well, and thankfully, we were spotted by the Hunter immediately. Still, it didn’t contact us for a while, and only after I started scouting the dungeon with my bubble.”
Lev paused for a moment, then shook his head. “The boss was right in front of us, if quite far away. You can imagine what kind of a shock that was.”
“And you guys decided to prepare for battle instead of looking for an exit or waiting for help?” she asked with a frown, reciprocating the side hug.
“No, the Hunter came to us once we returned to our hideout and explained the situation. It is a very good thing that it did, or we would’ve perished not long after. The stag is very, very strong.”
“How do I compare?”
“I don’t think anyone other than Hakim can be compared, to begin with.”
That was not what she was expecting. Her slight widening of eyes and stiffening of shoulders were dead giveaways of Sherron’s shock.
“And you guys… somehow survived?”
“Oh, it didn’t come down to a fight. The initial plan was for the Hunter to distract the stag while we gained levels. Well, the stag somehow managed to retain its sapience and overpowered the curse turning it into a monster. It also offered its neck for me to put it down, but uh, I ignored that, of course. That would’ve been no different than killing a human.”
“Good,” Sherron nodded. “We would’ve had some very lengthy discussions if you had taken it up on that.”
“Naturally,” Lev agreed. “Other than that, I somehow killed a very strong butterfly. It wasn’t exactly focused on defense. At the end… well, more monsters kept showing up from somewhere, but it turned out that portals were forming to other instances. When one of them formed close to the stag and a Veil Hunter almost stepped through, the boss finally made a move.
“The portal snapped shut, bisecting the Veil Hunter. The stag killed it with a single kick, and the same fate befell everything else as it ran to a corner of the dungeon and faced a…”
Lev trailed off, hoping his eyes would convey the message. Sherron looked into them deeply, recognizing the fear after a second.
She panicked briefly, standing up from the bed and scanning everyone. The Masters flinched from the intensity of her gaze. Backed by her aura and willpower, it felt like a storm itself was looking at them, prying open their secrets one after another.
The sensation passed not long after, for she turned to Lev again. He let her presence wash over him with a small smile, feeling the care and affection in the gesture, as well as the depths of her worry.
“It’s alright,” he also stood up and held her hand in his. “I didn’t let anyone get close.”
“You…” she pointed a shaky finger at him. “I swear to Monarch if one day…”
“I won’t let that happen,” Lev said gently after seeing her trail off. “No matter what happens, I will not fall. Not to something like that.”
Both of them just looked at each other. For a small, horrifying moment, they imagined finding the other marching against humanity, possessed by a malicious force beyond their comprehension.
That was enough for him to grab her in a tight hug and thank Monarch and Kassavin for keeping him alive against Chaos. Again.