Because of the ambush, their carriages and most of their belongings were destroyed.
In addition to them, Lily and Thomas survived.
From the bloodied scratches marring their bodies, the two kids seemed to get flung away as their carriages were blasted by the Fire Primordials but fortunately, they didn't seem to be in a bad condition, only got scratches and bruises here and there.
Of course, both of them were crying from the pain, but the others couldn't do anything.
Delilah was not around to heal them.
Just minutes after the incident and Delilah's absence was already impacting them.
Bob resorted to comforting the two kids while the others focused on their bad situation.
Now that their carriages were destroyed and the horses killed, the group was facing trouble against the cold winter that was getting colder, as the night deepened. Not to mention their supply was burnt completely.
Aside from their coins, nothing else survived the flames.
Going through to their destination would be extremely hard for them now.
Most were thinking of going back to the town but Tobias had another idea.
He knew a nearby town a couple of days away so the plan was to go there and resupply.
Lucivar only listened to them bantering and followed them from behind in silence, he was still not over the incident that happened to them earlier and frankly speaking—most of the others were the same as him.
Only Darwin and Ravenna could continue on strong, discussing plans with Tobias.
As he was walking in silence, he felt something warm from his side.
In reflex, as he was still alert from what had happened, he leaped to the side and pivoted his body to the direction of the warm sensation—with both of his fists, raised. Lucivar feared for another Fire Primordial ambushing them.
Even the others looked over at him, also becoming alert from how he reacted fiercely.
But there was nothing, there was no attack.
"Lucivar, are you okay?" Tobias asked from the very front in concern.
On the other hand, Lucivar was gazing ahead to the darkness with both of his eyes widened.
Only when Tobias called him for the second time did he snap out of his daze.
Easing his tense body, he looked over to Tobias and waved his hand apologetically.
"I'm sorry, it's nothing" He replied lightly.
Upon hearing this, Tobias and the others looked at him for a couple more seconds in concern before they continued to move forward. Lucivar sighed lightly before he looked at the radiant golden sphere beside him.
As it turns out, the warm sensation he felt was coming from this golden sphere.
It was the exact golden sphere filled with ether that he gained from Dorian.
However, compared to the last one, this one was bigger, about the size of his own hand.
A frown crept to Lucivar's face as he looked at this golden sphere, "I got it again, but how did I obtain it? I need to know—there must be a connection between this incident and Dorian. No gold sphere appeared when I killed those dog creatures or the proselyte"
Knowing that this was his path to becoming stronger, he must crack this mystery.
He pondered for a moment as the others began to fade in the distance.
Lucivar recalled that he didn't do anything in particular with the way he killed them, but there must be something he missed, if only now, did he gain a golden sphere, "Does this thing only appear when I kill those who are stronger than me?"
Naturally, this was the best guess he could come up with.
Both Dorian and the Fire Primordial were stronger than him while the others were not.
"Or is it my intention...?" Lucivar thought further.
He didn't forget about the silhouette of light he saw earlier, wanting him to avert his intention from something bad to something good. It was aligned with the options he was given, during his bloodline's awakening.
Regardless if it was the first one or the latter, he couldn't be sure for now.
"I need to test it out," He nodded firmly. "when we reach the town I'll try it out"
Deciding on what to do, he sprinted and chased after the others.
A couple of days passed by gruesomely—it was hard to walk through the road, in wintertime without much to shelter them from the cold. If it started to blizzard then they would be done but fortunately, the weather stayed consistent.
Remembering the foreign emerald power, Lucivar wanted to check his Inner Chamber.
However, his ether was exhausted completely.
Because of that, he couldn't activate his inner eyes and enter his Inner Chamber, and he also couldn't absorb the gold sphere as using the Versatile Blooming Hyacinth technique required ether that he didn't have.
Replenishing his ether was no good either.
He still hadn't learned any meditation technique to do that so he was completely stuck.
Unlike the others who could meditate, he could only rely on his body's natural replenishment.
Soon the group caught sight of a glimpse of society in the distance, they saw torches lining the end of the road and heard the bustling sound of people. Smiles bloomed on their faces, they had finally reached the village after a hazardous couple of days.
Desperate for a warm place to rest, they quickened their pace.
As they got closer to the town, Lucivar saw carriages and carts lining up to enter the town.
From the looks of it, the town was more developed than their previous town as it had many guards clad in steel armor patrolling the walls with bows strapped on their bodies, and also about a dozen guarding the entrance.
Lucivar's eyes were fixed on the town before he saw Tobias slowing down deliberately.
He let the others go past him and walked beside Lucivar.
"Remember, this town is still under the Ashbourne House, so you need to be extra careful to not attract any attention to yourself. Leave the talking to me—and don't let others know you are a Hybrid" Tobias whispered while still keeping his gaze straight.
As he said that, he handed over a black scarf, gesturing for Lucivar to wear it as a hood.
Eventually, the group queued to enter the town.
It took about fifteen minutes before it was their turn to be inspected.
From the looks of it—the town guards charged, a silver coin per adult, and fifty bronze coins for those who are under sixteen. Tobias stood at the very front and put on a friendly smile— "Good evening, I'm here to rest and resupply for our journey"
Upon hearing this, the assessing guard looked at Tobias up and down.
"You don't seem to be poor enough to come here by foot," the guard commented.
Tobias smiled acutely—before he gestured at the others behind him, "A tragedy struck us—a group of bandits ambushed us and we lost all of our belongings. We came only with our lives and coins so here we are"
Casting a glance at Leandra, the guard smirked, "I'm surprised those bandits let you go"
Seeing this, Tobias went ahead and covered Leandra with his body.
Despite already trying to hide amidst the group, her beauty was too eye-catching.
Sneering, the guard moved on as there were others behind them.
"How many of you are there and how long are you planning to stay?"
"There's ten of us. We'll stay for a couple of days"
"Are there any Hybrids?"
"Only me and-"
As Tobias was handling the security process, Lucivar observed the guards in interest.
'I can feel it, all of them are Hybrids and they were not weak either,' He thought, sensing their forms were radiating, with ether. Unlike his home city, there were many more Hybrids here, 'If a town of this size has this many Hybrids then what about the capital city?'
Just as he was observing the place, Lucivar's eyes landed on a couple of posters on the wall.
Immediately after spotting the posters, he pulled his hood lower to hide his face better.
His heart pounded inside his chest as he read the notice offering ten imperial coins that were equivalent to ten thousand gold coins, for capturing an Angel Hybrid—dead or alive. Since he had never gone out of his home city that was about to be abandoned—from the low turnover rate of Hybrids to people—Lucivar was not aware of this.
No such poster was placed in his home city.
Such a sum promised generational wealth in a small city or a life of luxury in the capital.
It was an irresistible allure for anyone.
Worse still, the adjacent poster was a wanted notice bearing his name and a magically drawn sketch of his face. Though not perfectly accurate, the depiction highlighted his unmistakable—unnatural bright golden eyes. Lucivar has a hundred gold coins bounty on his head.
Knowing the bounty on his head, he gulped harshly.
"Don't worry, you would be fine. Just stick close to me," Mirel whispered from the side.
He also saw the posters seconds ago.
Also stealing a glance at Lucivar was Leandra, she saw the posters and couldn't help to look over to him as she saw his name was plastered on a wanted poster. Soon enough, the check was finished and Tobias gestured to them to follow him.
Since there was nothing to check with them having nothing, they were granted inside.
Lucivar felt immense relief when he managed to go past the security.
If he stayed there any longer—he could feel that his heart would explode from pounding too hard. Tobias instantly scanned the town—searching for a hotel to book a room, and let them all rest before they continued their journey again.
Just then, however, Lucivar's heart sank to his stomach.
"Hey, you there, stop!" A guard shouted from behind.
Upon hearing this, the entire group pivoted back, their pulses quickening as a pair of guards approached. All of them tensed when the guard leading the group had his eyes on Lucivar— fearing that he might be recognized from the water poster.
Deciding to do something, Mirel stepped forward, intercepting the guards.
"Is there something wrong, officers?" He asked politely.
Seeing this, the guard leading the group pointed at Lucivar, "I need to talk to him,"
Mirel wanted to say something more—but he knew that if he blocked the guards further—he would be too suspicious. Glancing over to Tobias, Mirel saw him nodding, gesturing to let the guards pass.
Reluctantly, he stepped aside as the guards headed over to Lucivar.
As the guard stood before him, the others unconsciously held their breaths.
All of them anticipated for the worse as it seemed the guard saw a glimpse of his face.
Even for a proper town guard, a hundred gold coins was a lot.
Gazing at Lucivar, the guard tilted his head and asked, "Lift up your head, kid"