After distributing all of the weapons they began walking towards the village. Turning and looking back at Hunter, Orion asked, "How far are we from the town know?"
Hunter leaped into the air before quickly scaling a tree, shocking both of the girls, before smelling the wind and calling down to the others. "We're about 5 kilometers away. Since we have our hands full with the weapons and cores making it so we can't carry the girls, it'll be about 3 hours before we arrive at the town."
Sylvia looked at Spartacus and, while still walking, said gloomily. "That will leave you 2 hours before all the businesses close for the day, and 3 hours to save our friends. However freeing the others will be difficult as the man is the local lord and is having a celebration tonight. Lord Zigan already had 30 guards but with other local lords and nobles coming there will easily be 300 guards. What's more is that there will definitely be some of the slaves inside the hall."
"Haha. Don't doubt anyone of us. Anyone of us could easily handle them, but Hunter is the most fitting for the job thanks to his unique abilities. Don't worry about your friends, they'll be safe. Oh that's right, how many of you are there? We also need to figure out what we're gonna do after freeing them all." Spartacus put his hand to his chin in contemplation as he began to think about the freed slaves.
"Can we all stay with you big brothers?" Quixi questioned as she clutched Orion's shirt while looking up at the boys. The 4 boys look at each other before nodding their heads in agreement.
Kneeling down, Spartacus got eye level with Quixi. "If you and your friends are willing, we will gladly let you stay with us." Quixi smiled before rushing forward and embracing Spartacus in a hug. "Thank you big brother," she whispered happily.
"There are 17 boys and 15 girls still trapped in Lord Zigan's Manor. It's a mix of beastmen, elves, and human children no younger than 5 and no older than 15 years old. If I'm not mistaken, he was planning on selling the two 15 year olds tonight at the party." Anger flashed on Sylvia's face and as she looked up she saw a shadow flicker across Hunter's face.
"No one will be sold tonight. If anything those nobles will be making payments...Payments with there souls." A sinister smile slowly slithered on Hunter's face, and his blue pupils begun to darken to near black as he stared in the direction of the village. Sylvia and Quixi shuddered as a deep chill crawled down their spines, while the other three brothers looked at each other and smiled wickedly as well.
"Hey boss, leave me two feral cores. I wanna get some things before I go party crashing tonight." Hunter spoke, startling everyone, while he continued being lost in thought as he stared at his hand in contemplation. Orion handed him 2 Feral Cores as they continue walking. Out of nowhere a loud rumbling sound can be heard coming from the back of the group. Turning to look behind them everyone could see Quixi with a face as a red as a tomato while she looked at the ground and was unwilling to make eye contact with anyone.
"Sounds like someone's hungry." Orion snickered before tilting Quixi's head up and winking at her.
"I can get the food if boss can get a fire going." Hunter remarked as he begun looking into the woods in full alertness. In an instant he disappeared, rushing into the foliage without making much of a sound. Spartacus quickly cast CINDER before picking up sticks and leaves to continue feeding the fire. After a couple of minutes Hunter reappears, holding two dead rabbits by the ears.
Looking at the rabbits in hand, a blush spread across his face. "Uh. I just realized, I've never gutted an animal before so I don't know how to do this." He gives a quick glance to Sylvia and catches her smirk before he sets them down and turns away with a humph. Sylvia glanced around at the other boys, and seeing the shame and awkwardness on their faces, begins to laugh hysterically before stepping up and tearing both rabbits in half.
"You telling me that you powerful kids are nothing more than rich city boys? And here I thought you were some badass brotherhood that believed in being a man. Wait can you even call yourselves as men? I mean I know Hunter's a man since I've seen him fight the goblins, but the rest of you? I'm beginning to have my doubts... By the way I tore the rabbits in half cause I don't want to use the knives taken from the goblins. We haven't properly cleaned them yet, and well I don't think the goblins took good care of cleaning them." As she speaks, she begins pulling out the organs and some of the bones while laughing. Seeing this scene Spartacus runs off behind a tree before hurling. Orion, Ian and Hunter sit there grim faced, trying to learn how to gut and clean rabbits. As to whether it was for survival skills or to prove that they were men, well only they themselves would know their thoughts.
After cleaning out the inside, Sylvia then begun tearing off the top skin layer along with the fur. She then handed the skinned and gutted rabbits over to Ian so that he can set them on the fire. After a couple of minutes dry skinned, with juicy inner flesh, rabbits are pulled off the fire and distributed out to everyone. Even though the food is clearly not the best, they gobble it down quickly since no one had eaten yet that day. After finishing their meal and putting out the fire, they begin walking towards the town again.
After walking for nearly 3 hours the party crests a hill and can see the town on the next hill over.
"Okay, everyone will split up like they should. Orion, once you and the ladies find a place were we can hide out focus on getting basic necessities set up. Hunter will lead us to you, so you don't need to worry about leaving a trail. Hunter, Ian and I will go handle the items and will explore the town, you go scout out the manor. We'll meet up in 2 hours at the town square to come up with a plan." Spartacus looked at everyone before walking down the hill towards the town walls. Ian ran to catch up to Spartacus while Hunter split off and ran towards a distant part of the town wall. Orion looked at the two girls before he shrugged with a teasing smile playing across his lips, and then began leading them in to the woods.
Nearing the wall, Hunter looked up to see that the wall was at least 3 people tall and made of dried mud bricks and stone slabs. It was definitely not a work of art, more like a slap job to retaliate against a new threat. With his heightened senses of smell and sound he could tell that there weren't any guards patrolling this area as of right now. He quickly put his hands to the wall, using only his finger nails to find "handholds" to quickly scale the wall in a matter of seconds. Upon reaching the top Hunter crouched down, hiding behind a merlon, before peaking out and seeing if there was anybody in the street below. Noticing that there was a number of people crowded in the street he quickly crouch walked until he came to a spot where he could drop down into a deserted alleyway.
After reaching the street level unnoticed Hunter quickly snuck over to where the crowd was and walked up to an elderly lady. "Grandma what is going on here?"
Looking at the cute and smiling little boy in front of her, the elderly woman smiled while reaching out and patted his head. "The people are protesting against the lord." Seeing the confused look on the boy's face the elderly lady leaned in, whispering in his ear. "Feniri were spotted not long ago and the lord is planning on leaving with his guards in 2 days. That will leave this town defenseless and we will all become food for those beasts. What's worse is that there were also goblin sightings a couple days ago as well. There's supposedly a goblin king among them which means that there's lots of them and they have wolf riders."
Her eyes become unfocused as she sadly gazed off into the distance. "I've called this town my home for nearly 70 years. It's such a shame that this place lost it's beauty after the old lord passed away. Since this town's on the border it was quite lively with all the species and traveler's that would pass by. Now there are only humans and even then most of us are treated as nothing more than rats and dogs. And now this town won't even survive the month."
"Grandma what are Feniri? Also do you know where I can buy yarn from?" Hunter looked at the elderly lady, using his childhood face with affection on it to get the old lady to keep talking.
"Feniri are level 6 Wolf Feral Beasts that are descended from Fenrir the Savage Wolf. They are bigger than a man and have 2 rows of dagger like teeth along with a snake for a tail. A decent pack, like the one that's coming, can easily hunt and slay a Wyrm. As for the yarn, my daughter owns a shop. Why don't you come with me, I can get you a discount since your such a smart and cute little boy." She gently squeezes Hunter's cheek before turning and leaving the crowd. Hunter takes her hand and follows her to her daughter's shop. Upon walking in Hunter could see the walls covered in yarn, yarn spools layered neatly on tables, and the shopkeeper who was using a hand spindle
"Ma, I thought you had gone to watch everything unfold at the protest. What are you doing back so soon?" The young and kind looking woman looked up as she stopped working on the hand spindle.
"This young lad was looking for some yarn so I brought him here since he's such a kind boy for wanting to spend time with a dying woman such as myself." The elderly woman smiled as she gestured to Hunter standing beside her.
"What kind of yarn are you looking for little one?" the shopkeeper smiled as she got up and walked towards Hunter before putting her hand on his head and rubbing his hair.
"I need two spools of the most durable yarn you have. They need to both be 25 feet long please." He looked up, smiling sweetly to the shopkeeper as he made his request.
"That's gonna cost you 1 silver and 50 copper since the yarn costs 3 copper per foot and you asked for 2 spools of 25 feet." She said as she stuck out her hand for the payment.
"I'm sorry, I don't have any money. However I do have these. Will they do?" Hunter pulled out the 2 Level 1 Feral Cores and handed them to the shopkeeper. Looking up he noticed shock appear on her face as she stared blankly at the cores.
"Lad. Where did you get those cores?" The elderly woman took one of the cores and began studying it as her breathing began to become sporadic.
"I found them out beyond the wall when I snuck out earlier this morning. If it's not enough I'm willing to try and find more and if I can't find any I'll work off the rest of the payment." Hunter sheepishly replied as he looked away from the two.
"N-No. It's enough. If anything it's more than enough. One Level 1 Feral Core sells for the average price of 5 silvers. Here's your one Feral Core back and I'll go and scrounge up the change for the rest of the core." The shopkeeper began to hand back one of the Feral Cores when she felt Hunter push her hand back.
"I have no need for it, you do. Keep both of them and don't worry about change, I just need the yarn I mentioned."
"T-Thank you." The shopkeeper stammered as she put the Feral Cores in a safe place and then grabbed the yarn for him.
"Can I trouble you with borrowing a bowl and putting the two spools in the bowl?" Hunter asked as he took the 2 spools of yarn. The shopkeeper quickly went to the back room and came back with a clean and empty bowl for him. Hunter set the two spools in the bowl than set the bowl on the table.
"You might want to look away away." He glanced at the shopkeeper and her mother before pulling out one of the bone knives. After aligning the blade to his wrist he quickly pushed down, fully severing his hand from his arm. Blood spurted out from the injury like a raging torrent. Aiming his arm into the bowl, he sat like that as he let the yarn become fully submerged in his blood. Once completed, he willed his arm to stop bleeding and quickly a hand began to sprout from the wound. It started with only the bone quickly growing back, but then muscle tissue and blood vessels began sprouting all across the skeletal hand. Finally the top skin layer covered his hand and it looked as if he had never cut off his own hand. The only evidence was the bowl of blood, and the severed hand lying on the floor.
"W-What a-are you?" The elderly lady, clutching her chest in fright, took a couple steps from the little boy standing in front of her as her daughter fell backwards in shock.
"I'm just a nobody, can you burn my hand and the extra blood that is in the bowl? Also it would mean a lot if you don't go telling anyone what you saw today. The world isn't ready for my appearance yet. All you need to know is that I have no ill will towards the innocent like you." Hunter smiled gently towards the two women before pulling out the two spools of yarn and wrapping one spool around each of his arms. He then tucked the knife back under his shirt and walked towards the door, stopping and looking back. "Oh, may I ask where I can find the local lord's manor, and can you help me with getting a hood?"
"Y-yes. T-the lord's manor is on the Eastside of the town. If you wait I can give you a cloak I have in back." The shopkeeper quickly got up and then ran to the back room again before returning with a plain black cloak and giving it to Hunter.
"Thank you. Now don't forget to burn my blood and hand. You should also think about forgetting my face and what ever happens in the coming days stay quite. As long as you don't do anything out of line I won't have to come back and terrify you anymore." Hunter quickly put the cloak on, pulling the hood over his head as he stepped out the door. His cold voice lingered in the room, seemingly echoing inside the two women's heads.
The shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief before turning to her mother. "The times are changing. The world is going to change as to whether or not if it's for the better. Well we can only sit tight and see." The elderly woman looked at the door as she contemplated what she had witnessed before shaking her head and turning around to find a chair to sit in and calm her nerves.
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Upon arriving on the Eastside of the town, the streets became wider while the houses became bigger and in better condition than the Southside. At the end of the street was a huge manor with a spacious yard. Having three stories and many large windows, the house was not only extravagant but intimidating. Coming along the decorative metal fence that protected this manor, Hunter quickly got off the street and found a secluded spot where he could jump over without anyone seeing.
After jumping the wall he quickly crouched in the big bushes that were trimmed and cared for. Looking out Hunter could see many servants bustling about as they worked to finish the preparations before the party began in a few hours.
Keeping hidden in the foliage, Hunter began to move along the perimeter of the estate; stopping every now and then to listen for where the children where being held. Unable to discern anything with hearing alone Hunter snuck up to the manor, staying low and moving quickly. In a fluid motion he began scaling the manor just as he did with the wall, however he moved as quickly as possible so that he could get to the roof without anyone noticing.
Now at the top of the manor Hunter sat down cross-legged in the center, closing his eyes and concentrating on only his ears and his nose. "I need to hurry up and find these kids so I can punish those bastards," and with this thought in mind Hunter heard a loud crack come from within him. As soon as the crack happened both Hunter's sense of smell and hearing increased. He was now able to tell instantly whose scent was what and what the building looked like on the inside thanks to being able to constructive a mental image based off the sounds he heard.
He was quickly able to construct the manor in his mind. The only difference between the manor in his mind's eye and in reality was his manor was missing color; however it did show him where the kids were locked up. The manor had a separate basement and he could hear the children crying, however it appeared that two of the girls were missing. With his sense of smell Hunter was able to gather that the two girls that were missing were the 15 year olds that were being sold tonight. He quickly began scanning through the house until he came to the lord's bed chambers. In his mind's eye he could see that they were both elves and one was tied up while the other was on the bed along with the lord.
Hearing their cries Hunter's blood begun to boil with rage and in an instant another loud crack could be heard coming from his body. Hunter made up his mind that tonight he would make this lord suffer for all the pain he caused on the innocent, no matter the cost. Looking at the sun he realized it was nearing time to meet up with the other two and as he began to get up, his sight became filled with his Divinity.
His Divinity line had not grown wider; however it had grown brighter than what it had been and there was even a tint of red in the bright light. As he reached out he discovered that his Divinity had become strong enough that he was now capable of ripping the Divinity out of other people. At first Hunter couldn't figure out how or why he had this ability however, immersing himself in the Divinity he gained knowledge that showed him how to rip Divinity out after killing someone. He also learned how to separate Divinity and with his heightened sense of smell he could now tell who the Divinity belonged to.
He quickly opened his eyes and jumped down, landing silently before taking off and disappearing without a sound.
Arriving at the town square, Hunter saw Spartacus and Ian waiting for him off to the side. "We don't need to discuss our earnings yet, let's first come up with a plan and rescue the slaves." Ian quickly stated as he noticed Hunter's scowling face.
"I want personal dibs on killing that bastard. As I was scouting it out I found him r*ping the two 15 year old girls. The other children are locked in the basement with the access point at the stairs on the Northside of the manor. The stairs are three hallways away from the ballroom and there is a servants door not far from there. Since most of the guards will be outside in the yard and hallways if we have one person attack the ballroom directly while another one causes a distraction at the main gate the third person can free the children in the basement."
"Okay, Ian since you have stronger body resistance you can handle the guards outside. Hunter and I will sneak in, I'll go free the children while you handle the ballroom. We'll meet up at the servants door than break out through the back wall. I'll set the building on fire so you know you can leave and meet up with us Ian." Spartacus looked at Ian and then Hunter before shock quickly appeared on his face. "Hunter how is your Divinity so strong? We've only been here one day and yet yours is already so condensed."
"I don't know, I just know that when I was worried about being able to find the kids my Divinity grew and then I was able to find them. Then when I found that bastard raping them my blood boiled with rage and my Divinity got stronger again. Now I'm able to take people's Divinity after killing them. As to why and what benefits I get from doing that I don't know."
"Damn you're one lucky bastard being able to strengthen your Divinity twice and on the first day too. Maybe it's because of that passionate demon blood you got in you." Ian jabbed Hunter in the side playfully as he teased him.
"Hahaha" Hunter laughed sarcastically with an eye roll as he lightly punched Ian in the shoulder, "I'd be careful cause I can kick your ass most definitely now."
"Well than why don't we go find out what you can do now." Spartacus began walking towards the manor while shaking his head.