Clark of House Root's Perspective:
"Miss Rose, I do not think we should entertain this shopping idea that Thatcher has proposed."
I paused briefly before continuing, "That boy, Cato, gives me an odd sense of uneasiness."
Lady Rose seemed to be deep in thought after my statement.
After all, there was a lot to consider. The boy appeared in this pub as a merchant? That makes zero sense, 'searching for powerful buyers' was the most bullshit statement I had heard all week.
Lady Rose picked her gaze up from the floor and met mine, "We shall go with Thatcher."
I immediately interjected, "But Lady Ros—"
She cut me off, stressing her following word, "However, we shall bring reinforcements to hide in the shadows while we 'buy' things with Thatcher."
Lady Rose continued, "If anything goes wrong with the merchant known as Cato, the three we bring will be able to step in and help."
I nodded in agreement. It was a solid plan, and I had no complaints about it.
The two of us had devised this plan after we had left Thatcher and Cato to drink together. We were not worried about Thatcher; if anything, the pub owner would care for that drunk idiot.
I parted ways with Lady Rose when we arrived back at House Root, and I maneuvered to my quarters.
I thought briefly about whether our plan was too cautious.
'Lady Rose plans on bringing all six wielders into one area.' I thought to myself, my face in my palms.
'But why?'
'I know I felt my body on edge because of his presence, and I know Lady Rose's perceptions are better than mine. But six wielders?'
I sighed, lifting my head back up.
'Well, there's a reason she is bringing the reinforcements. Guess I will prepare for anything.'
As I exited the shower and crawled into bed, I continued to think about Lady Rose's cautiousness.
'Is it essential? Is the boy that dangerous? She even criticized him. She usually wouldn't have even looked in his direction, let alone talk to him.'
I rolled in my sheets as the night drew on, thinking about the mysterious boy who had made it into the infamous 'Tree of Blood' as a merchant.
I shot up in my bed, now sitting up, I thought out loud, "He said he wasn't even a contractor. Was he lying?"
Laying back down, I returned my thoughts inside, 'Could Lady Rose sense a source energy form inside of him?'
As I faded into sleep, I only wondered one thing:
'What form it is?'
~~~
Cato Emberson's Perspective:
I returned to my carriage with my rucksack on my back, drunk and very tired.
Thatcher had kept dumping alcohol into me to the point where the walk back down the bridges was incredibly more complex than the way up, even though I knew how to get home.
I made sure to avoid the platform I had felt the gaze from as I made my way down in the dark.
Once I had arrived at my carriage, I knew I would have to cultivate if I wanted to be in fighting shape tomorrow night.
I reached my carriage and pulled myself up into the back. Landing on my stomach and rolling onto my back, I sat up and closed my eyes.
I attempted to concentrate on cultivation, but the alcohol in my system made this process a little more complicated than it usually was.
Cultivation felt a lot like starting a fire. You needed to make the spark or the embers, but once you made them in the proper kindling. It would run wild.
I had made my spark, and my mind took hold of the cultivation process.
I cultivated throughout the night, staring blankly at the electricity coursing through my energy pool.
My energy pool had reached as wide as it could get and was now continuing to expand deeper.
The silhouettes still lined the perimeter. Occasionally, I would be sitting in my Soulflame, and the horizon would fill with gray shapes before they would disappear and leave the gray bodily forms that were ever-present.
As I continued to cultivate, the permanent silhouettes never moved, and new ones never appeared.
I only sat in my Soulflame, quietly, staring down at the blue lake and the 'people' surrounding it.
I could feel the poison purifying and leaving my system. When I had expelled all the alcohol from my body, I fell onto the floor and slept.
I woke up when the sun was setting, and without the need for food, I was in pretty good shape.
I had given Thatcher the name of the surveillance bay I was staying at, and he had told me he would be arriving at night, whatever that meant.
For the time being, I laid out my items and practiced my swordsmanship.
I imagined that it would just be the three of them.
'Three God Sources versus one kid, they wouldn't bring reinforcements, right?'
I shook my head and continued to fight against my imaginary enemies.
I pictured Thatcher dancing carelessly through a battlefield in my mind as he used wind and root source energy.
'Well, we'll be fighting soon enough. But how should I start this fight?'
'Andreas was easy enough to start a fight with, but then again, that was Andreas, a Beast Tribe member.'
I scoffed at the idea of Thatcher willingly attacking his 'new drinking buddy' and thought about what I should do.
'I could try and kill one of them immediately so that they have no choice but to face me.'
I thought about using my dash technique for the first time in a real battle, but this brought up some uncertainties.
I could test a dash right now before they arrive, but I don't know if I would be able to regain that strength before they get here.
I haven't tested the dash since my energy growth besides in hallucinations, and although I was sure I could use the move more than four times now, I didn't know how my muscles would react.
I decided that I would save my strength, and once they arrived here, I would strike.
As I continued to practice my swordsmanship, I found myself arguing not to kill Thatcher right away. A portion of me wanted to kill the man I met at the table whose name I still did not know because of his unfondness. But, another part wanted me to kill him to bring out Thatcher's rage.
I hadn't fought at full power yet, and the idea made me excited.
~~~
Thatcher of House Leaf's Perspective:
Alright, now that I finished with guard duty, I can find those two losers and bring them to my new pal's place.
Cato gave me the name of the surveillance bay he was staying at, and it was one I recognized, a nice one at that.
'Guess he was quite the businessman, though.' I thought to myself as I skipped down the nearest bridge.
I looked towards the platform I was heading to and saw one of the other wielders on Home Village duty.
It was Red-Eye.
"Hey," I cooed, "How's Home Village duty Red-Eye?"
Red-Eye was a gorgeous wielder who put me, Clark, and Lady Rude to shame not only when it came to battle but almost anything else.
I thought for a brief moment, 'Dear Goddess, I can't even outdrink her, can I?'
I shook the thought out of my head before turning back to the black-haired girl standing in front of me.
"Lady Ros—" She stopped herself before looking around and then back to me and whispering, "Lady Rude, I mean."
I gave her a soft clap in response to her catching on.
"What did she ask for?" I asked the short wielder.
"Lady Rude wanted me to accompany her from the shadows with Blue and Green-Eye." She replied, sounding a little nervous.
"I know I'm good at fighting, but does she really need me?"
"Hey!" I cheered, "You're THE Red-Eye, just tag along with Blue and Green-Eye and work on your stealth because you kind of lack in that department."
She quickly nodded as I continued, "I am going to grab Clark and Lady Rude, so I shall not see you, correct?"
She grinned, "Correct."
She hopped off the bridge and floated into the jungle. I continued down the bridges, making my way over to House Root.
I was slightly concerned that Lady Rude had gathered Red, Blue, and Green-Eye on top of Clark and myself. But, I dismissed the concerns as needless worry.
It was my new pal, I won't stress Lady Rude or Clark, and Red, Blue, and Green can sit in the shadows while nothing goes wrong.
A smile grew on my face as I approached House Root.
'It's Cato. Why would we worry?'
~~~
I was kneeling next to the light blue tarp that Cato had laid out behind his carriage.
Much to my surprise, he had some excellent items for sale that I couldn't help but inspect.
I honestly did not think he would have as many valuables as he did, but this seemed to make his story more credible.
Despite the fact, Clark and Lady Rude were about three meters away from the tarp, staring holes into my back. On the other hand, Cato stood peacefully against his carriage, as far away as he could be from my two companions.
I was diagonal across the tarp from Cato and was looking at his selection of armor.
I poked at a piece I had found quite interesting when I heard the shuffle of a sheath and a sword emerging from it.
I looked across the tarp to see Cato holding a sword with bright white edges and a pitch-black middle. It was extended horizontally out from his hip as he stood in a striking pose, probably five meters away from Clark and Lady Rude.
I started to talk, "Hey, Cato, buddy, what're you doing there?"
Silence.
He only stared ahead at Clark, the man directly in front of him.
"Cato, you should stop it; I'm serio—" I snapped my mouth shut as Cato's pupils turned a vibrant yellow, and he disappeared.
My head turned to follow the streak of yellow he had created. I slowly—centimeter by centimeter—rotated my vision.
I followed the yellow line to its finish, where two halves of Clark laid on the ground, split at the waist.
My hearing went silent as I stared at the pool of blood forming beneath my friend as Cato flicked his sword clean.
Lady Rose was screaming, but I couldn't hear her. I focused solely on the man I had called a friend briefly before he murdered my genuine comrade.
I stared at the boy with white hair as I saw Green-Eye come into vision. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Green-Eye flew through the air, his right fist cocked back and enveloped with roots ready to launch into Cato's chest.
As Green-Eye punched his fist forward, Cato quickly sidestepped to the right of the attack, the roots barely grazing his left cheek and shoulder, before his sword was brought rapidly down on Green-Eye's arm, severing it at the elbow.
Cato followed through and slipped under the shoulder of the falling Green-Eye. He was now on Green-Eyes right, where he was missing an arm, rather than on his left, where he might have had defenses.
Cato immediately spun once he had slipped under Green-Eye's stump of an arm and brought his sword down again, this time on the back of Green-Eye's descending neck.
I watched as Cato decapitated and killed another one of the Nature Tribe's wielders.
A split second after Green-Eye's head and body hit the ground, Red and Blue-Eye were already on top of Cato. Red-Eye was bringing down a barrage of root-clad fists that Cato was struggling to defend. Blue-Eye was staying behind Red-Eye, launching long-range attacks whenever he could.
As I watched the three furiously battle it out, my hearing suddenly returned to me as I felt Lady Rose throttling my shoulder.
Her eyes meant business as they locked onto mine, "We need to leave now. Leave it to Red-Eye."
I gathered enough strength to stand and started to leave with Lady Rose. I could hear the sounds of the battle as I continued to walk away from the 'Merchant Stand.'
I spat onto the ground as I peeked over my shoulder to see Red-Eye jump out of the way and Blue-Eye launch a massive wind attack.
I clenched my fist with the hope that it would kill Cato. However, Cato calmly raised his sword above his head before striking down in the most basic sword form.
His sword ended just before the ground while a white blade shot out from the tip. It looked almost like wind form until it collided with Blue-Eye's projectile.
Blue-Eye's projectile was dispersed almost immediately on contact with Cato's. The blade Cato had launched forward sped up as it approached Blue-Eye.
I saw Red-Eye out of the corner of my eye as she sent a blast of wind to knock Blue-Eye out of the way.
However, she was a second too late. The windblast reached Blue-Eye first but only knocked him far enough to get a portion of his abdomen taken clean off, rather than him getting cut in half.
I stared as a pool of blood formed around Blue-Eye's body. He was gripping his wound as it gushed blood, holding his organs in and trying to stop the bleeding.
I knew he was going to die.
As I came to that conclusion, another yellow flash filled my vision. A rush of panic spread through me as I scanned my surroundings for Cato.
"He fucking ran," Red-Eye spat.
I fell onto the ground in front of her as Lady Rose followed suit.
Red-Eye, the only one who seemed to be holding it together at the moment, spoke, "We either report this or hunt him down. What should we do first? Either way, we have to inform the council about their deaths."
Immediately, a rage spread through me. Cato imprinted the vision of Clark, Green-Eye, and Blue-Eye, all dying in my brain, which gave way to a burning desire inside me.
"Let's hunt this bastard."
Lady Rose finally spoke up, "A-are you sure?"
"Lady Rose, if we don't hunt him down, there are no other wielders on Home Village duty. We need to kill him as soon as possible. We cannot give him time to recover."
Red-Eye spoke next, "Good, it has been decided. We'll kill him."