Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 676: Hunting mutants

Chapter 676: Hunting mutants

"How did you know he was experimenting on the villagers?" Victoria asked as she trailed behind Alex, the duo making their rounds around the village in a bid to get a good grasp of their current coordinates in relation to the map they carried.

Alex glanced at the map and then ahead, before replying. "I didn’t."

"Wait..."

"I just made a blind guess," Alex confessed. "I mean, a lone scholar in such a backward place. There are very few options as to what he’d be doing in such a place. Also, I noticed a few specimens in his office belonging to people."

"... I see."

"What?"

"Just surprised that you’d make such an accusation without factual evidence."

"Too much work. Best to poke at the beehive and see what happens. What’s the worst that could happen, anyway?"

Victoria pursed her lips, pondering for a bit before nodding in agreement. "Not much."

"Exactly."

"But what if he convinces the villagers to attack us while we hunt?"

"That is possible," Alex admitted. "I guess we’ll just have to wait and see."

Just then, Victoria glanced back, her eyes falling on an approaching villager.

"Alex." She called out with Alex looking back to discover the individual as well.

Once he was close enough, the villager gestured for them to follow him before making his back towards the village.

Alex and Victoria exchanged looks before following closely behind.

They soon arrived at Archibald’s hut where he was waiting.

"What were you doing?" Archibald asked, his tone laced with a hint of aggression.

Alex replied. "Scoping out the area."

Archibald furrowed his brows before taking out another map.

"The villagers weren’t willing to accept you guys going along but they claim that there’s another hunting ground."

"What’s wrong with it?"

"The food in it is scarce and you might come across some hungry mutants."

"So in summary, we are hunting mutants," Alex remarked because he understood that there was no way a hunting ground with scarce food supplies would have ordinary animals living alongside mutants.

"Exactly."

Pursing his lips, Alex glanced at Victoria. "Is mutant meat safe?"

"Depends on the mutant and the person," Victoria replied. "We’d need to keep the flesh in the open so the aether within can rejoin the Will, else we risk giving more life to our pneuma."

"... I see." Alex nodded before facing Archibald again.

"We’ll take it." He said as he reached out to take the map only for Archibald to grab his wrist.

"You’d best not say a word once you leave this village, do you understand?"

Alex flashed a warm smile as he replied. "Sure thing."

"Tch." Clicking his tongue, Archibald handed over the map and made his way back into the hut.

"Well, that was intense."

"Do we head out now?" Victoria asked. "Depending on the mutant we catch, we might have to keep it out for much longer."

"Let’s get going then. I am starving."

***

Ana’s attempt to make herself luckier worked out well in the end as a caravan approached Nysodosia roughly an hour before the Lightbringer closed its doors.

"Do we head over to introduce ourselves?" Arwen asked, in a much better mood than before, no doubt a result of Nadia and Elena’s joint efforts.

It seemed the two had decided to put their differences aside, considering those differences were a result of Arwen in the first place.

"What are the chances we are attacked?" Nadia asked.

Ana shook her head. "I have no idea."

"You guys should make up your mind quickly. If you don’t move now, you won’t be able to move again." Elena remarked.

"Hah, alright then, let’s go," Ana said, taking the lead to head down from their vantage point to speak with the caravan leader.

Exchanging looks with one another, Nadia and Arwen decided to follow her.

But then, Arwen paused as she noticed Elena wasn’t following them.

"Aren’t you coming with us?" She asked with Elena shaking her head.

"I can’t. I need to check up on Ulysses."

"Oh... I see."

"Take care, okay?"

Arwen nodded. "You too."

And so, Arwen left, quickly hurrying to catch up to Nadia and Ana while Elena let out a sigh, taking a few seconds to rest before disappearing in a golden flash.

She reappeared in Confluence, before getting back on her feet.

Looking around, she laid eyes on doors leading to Eventide, Purgatory, and a few other dimensions she had traversed, only to pause as she noticed that the Abyss was missing.

"Darn it." She cursed as she began a long walk down the hallway in search of the annoying door.

***

Alex and Victoria returned to the village just after the Nighteye began its service as a watchman in the night sky.

They’d managed to get their hands on a Lout, a strange creature that could be best described as a cross between a Sloth and a Stag.

Due to its large bodice and inability to move fast, it was quite good at setting traps, somehow managing to blend into the earth before leaping out once its prey was standing on top of it.

Unfortunately for it, it was only invisible to those that couldn’t sense aether.

To those who could, its pathetic attempt at stealth was almost laughable.

Perhaps that was why it was only seen in Henos, a place that most Mystics and Cryptids would avoid.

In any case, they arrived at the village only to find it quite lively.

Several torches were lit and the people could be seen singing songs while dancing around bonfires.

Alex got Victoria to take the Lout back to begin the complex process of skinning and drying it while he made his way to Archibald’s hut to speak with him.

Surprisingly, the scholar was not in his place of study and was instead seated among a group of men, each one with sideburns that appeared out of place for some reason.

Only now did Alex realize that some of the villagers were quite hairy as well.

Deciding not to think too much about it, he approached Archibald.

He seemed quite happy to be in their midst, smiling widely while indulging in the feast only for the light in his eyes to die down the moment he laid eyes on Alex.