Luna jumped back, barely making it out in one piece. The enormous axe was now lodged in the ground.
"Why are you attacking me!" She shouted at him, confused.
"Are you blind? There is a bounty on your head." Ace threw the piece of paper her way.
She picked it up and jumped back even farther to create some distance between each other.
He was right; the piece of paper clearly stated that she was the target, although the drawing used was that of a toddler.
"It's a picture of a child. Why would you even think that I am the target?" There was nothing she could do aside from stalling for time.
'If only I had my dagger with me, I could have tried to fight him,' she thought.
'Yes, but you don't have one,' she thought.
No, those were not her own thoughts. She could feel a disturbance in her mental space.
"Did you really?" Luna looked at Ace, who finally pulled out the axe from the ground.
"Let's just say that I know what you are capable of. But I have to say that level twenty is pretty high." He dashed her way.
'I can't let him get close to me.' Luna thunder stepped into the forest, bouncing from tree to tree and hanging on one of their branches. Easily being ten meters above the ground now.
"Can't catch me now!" She tried to provoke the bounty hunter, hoping his temper was as short as Morgan's earlier.
Ace swung his axe, chopping down the trees around him with one swing.
"This guy is a monster! Those trees are like five meters thick." Isabella shouted, glued to Luna's scalp.
Luna closed her eyes while falling, relying on her instincts.
While in the mind space, she saw Ace staring at the attribute window.
He didn't expect her to have an ability that would let her enter it too.
She gave him a strong hit on the back of his head in the mental realm.
Then Luna opened her eyes and kicked him in the physical realm, disorienting him, giving herself an advantage.
"Now run!" Isabella ordered.
Those two words were enough to convince her to do that.
Luna ran up to the path, seeing the horse on which Ace traveled, an idea crossing her mind.
***
Clopping of hooves against the ground sounded loudly.
"It was such a great idea to take his horse." Isabella purred happily while lying on its back.
"And I don't even feel bad because he tried to kill me." It felt amazing to travel on horseback. No more exhausting walking, just nice and quick horse riding.
The bags on its sides looked packed to the brim, making Luna curious. One of them opened with a loud pop after barely putting any force.
"So many posters... and some of them are as old as I am." Luckily there was another copy of the one targeting her.
"Oh wow, you looked so cute as a baby." Isabella teased her friend before becoming a little bit more serious. "But why would they hunt an elf from the royal bloodline?"
Luna looked down at the cat. "Royal bloodline? Is that another one of your ramblings? She flicked her finger against her furry forehead.
The power of her flick was high enough to almost throw the feline off of the horse. "Ouch! No, it's not! Look at your emblem for God's sake." Isabella massaged the bruise with her paws.
It came as a surprise to hear someone who had knowledge about her keepsake. Not even Rogard, who had the most information in the fort, knew anything specific about it.
"Can you tell me more about it?" Luna picked up the cat, looking with pleading eyes at her.
"I will... once you help me with regaining part of my power." Isabella curled up into a ball, purring and falling asleep.
Ever since she became a cat, she had less energy. Needing to sleep a lot more every day to regain it.
The rest of the trip was calm, something that became distant to Luna the past few days.
The sun was still up when they reached Bardowik; Isabella was still fast asleep.
It was a huge city, the biggest one she had ever seen. Which didn't really mean much since it was only the third one she visited.
Everything was decorated and symmetrical, unlike huts in villages that were built with speed in mind, not visuals.
'I will go to the Vulture Corps first.' To her surprise, their fort was in the middle of a city, not on the outskirts.
The fact that all of the slayers from under that symbol wore cloaks made them easy to distinguish from normal residents.
Realizing that put Luna in a sour mood as their clothes looked exactly the same as the ones Ace wore.
'It's a popular attire; I can't judge them based on that alone.' She shook her head and went towards their fort.
Compared to the wolf's corpse, this one was way more decorated. Training equipment looked of high quality as well compared to hand-me-downs back home.
Luna went to the reception and was met with a young boy at the desk.
"How can we help you today?" He asked, straightening his back to look taller and more professional.
"You see, my cat and I got lost after boarding the wrong carriage. Would you be so nice as to let us know where we are?" Luna searched for something in her pocket.
The sack of silver coins from Ace's bag would come in handy right now.
"You can just read it from the map behind you..." He exhaled and shook his head.
It was true; right behind her was a map, and on it she was able to see that the portal teleported them to the complete other side of the continent.
But there was something even more peculiar about it. All of the monster slayer corps locations were pinpointed. By itself it wouldn't catch her attention, but a big visible red X on the wolf symbol made her worry a bit.
"Why is that place here crossed out?" She pointed towards her home.
"Uuuuh, you should ignore it." Sweat dripped down the boy's forehead. "Also, we close for today, so you should leave." He hurried the woman outside.
"That was... concerning." Isabella, who just woke up moments ago, said. "Good that you didn't mention coming from there." She added.
"That's true, but I have a bad feeling about this." Luna replied.
Situation between the monster slayer groups has never been the best, but it was unprecedented to see something like that.
If it was a simple mistake or an error she wouldn't be kicked out.
The vulpture slayers around gave her weird looks, making them quickly leave their premise.
"Quick! Dodge!" Isabella alerted her of an incoming attack.
Ball of fire the size of a house flew her way.
[Thunder Step lvl 2]
With a quick dash she dodged it, making it land in the middle of vulpture fort's plaza.
"Yes, long black hair and pale skin mister Ace." One of the mages on the walls said, clearly being fed information from the bounty hunter.
"Run to the horse!" Luna threw the cat across the fort's walls, staying behind to buy some time and tire them out.