The three-finned Fishlord suddenly grabbed the blond youngster from the line of prisoners and, with its fang-like knife, sliced both of his ankle tendons. The adventurer let out a gut-wrenching scream, yet without seeming to care about the Elementalist's reaction, the giant humanoid creature tossed him into the circle, right in front of the small Fishlord.

Seth's throat constricted, and his blood threatened to boil over. Taking slow, measured breath, he restrained himself from charging headlong and watched the grotesque scene.

The young man was still writhing and crying out in pain when the small Fishlord—clearly a trainee of some sort—lunged at him with its spear. Already crippled and in agony, the Elementalist could only feebly lift up his hand to defend himself. However, the shackles around his wrists immediately emitted a faint glow and snuffed out the aether gathering in his palm before any spell could form.

There was no honor or decency in that 'fight.' It was pure butchery disguised as training. The Fishlord mercilessly drove its spear into the defenseless youngster, circling him like a predator and striking his back repeatedly as he cried out on the ground, his screams drowned out by the rhythmic chants of the spectating Fishlords.

Then, just as Seth felt the young man would finally succumb to his injuries—now barely conscious and covered in blood—a two-finned Fishlord stepped into the circle and knelt beside him. Less than a second later, aether surged around its clawed hands, and water spurted out, enveloping the bloodied and battered adventurer with a soft glow that began closing his wounds. The young man's pained cries subsided into weak sobs, and the surrounding crowd roared with renewed vigor.

'They're using captured humans as training dummies,' Seth hissed, disgust and wrath making his guts roil as he moved closer, still under the veil of Illusionary Emptiness. 'Healing them to tear them apart again later. No wonder that man asked me to kill him.'

'Those are no arcane beasts,' Nightmare retorted, glaring at the three-finned Fishlord and the two-finned ones beside it.

Seth's nails dug into his palms as he studied the sea of humanoid creatures—there was no way they could rescue any of the prisoners right now. They would have to abandon the man. Again. 'We'll have to pick off the Irons one by one, until there's only that three-finned left.'

Nightmare growled inwardly. 'That'll take too long.'

Seth's golden eyes locked onto the three-finned Fishlord, who tossed the whining Elementalist aside. Over the past eleven days, they had slain seventeen Irons. To free these people, they'd need to quadruple that amount in the upcoming two weeks. And for that to happen, they had to lure the bastards out of the village.

'Get ready to run back to the cluster of rocks,' Seth said, drawing an arrow from his quiver and fitting it to his bowstring. 'I'll make sure they come after us. So we can ambush them.'

Nightmare stretched his legs beside him, claws digging into the wet soil. 'I like the idea. Playing the prey while being predators.'

'Exactly.'

Seth's fingers tingled and his heart pounded in his chest as he took aim at the three-finned Fishlord. The giant creature had just snatched up another prisoner—a black-haired woman riddled with large scars from head to toe. Holding his breath, Seth released the arrow and flickered out of Illusionary Emptiness.

The projectile whistled through the air, crossing the distance in an instant before hitting the Fishlord's left shoulder. As expected, the Copper arrow barely grazed the creature's green skin, leaving only a faint scratch. Seizing the occasion, Seth cast Identify.

Fishlord Lancer

 

Potential: Silver Tier

Rank: 50 (High-Iron)

Affinity: Water

 

Strength: 141

Arcane Power: 99

Toughness: 116

Well Capacity: 75

Agility: 93

Regeneration: 76

For a brief moment, Seth's gaze met the Fishlord's. A spark of surprise and irritation flickered in the creature's bulging eyes. Shifting his focus, Seth glanced at the ragged man he had saved earlier. They would come back—no, they had to come back.

'Run!' Seth mentally shouted to Nightmare, infusing aether into the Nimble Ring and activating its speed-boosting enchantment.

A mild rush of aether surged into Seth's legs as he pivoted and dashed away, the growls and screeches of Fishlords erupting behind him. The ring's boost didn't feel as powerful as before since he was no longer Copper, but it would still do the job. Nightmare's blurred form appeared beside him, matching Seth's pace as they left the village.

Behind them, the swamp churned with movement. Fishlords burst from the murky waters, their elongated limbs thrashing as they scrambled onto land. Some moved with awkward, twitching motions, dragging themselves forward, while others, faster and more agile, bounded after them, their trident and spear slicing through the air.

Seth and Nightmare both tore through the swamp, weaving through dry patches, dodging gnarled roots and soggy pits, and sprinted relentlessly for a dozen minutes before finally reaching the familiar cluster of large rocks.

The beast town was now nothing more than tiny, wavering dots of light in the distance. Catching his breath, Seth began channeling aether back into the ring while scrutinizing the horizon. Since Elena's orb didn't seem to work in the Rift, he would handle this on his own. Odds were her father wouldn't send men for a few Copper Adventurers anyway. Especially not in the Faertis territory.

'Let's rest for a few minutes,' Seth said.

Nightmare crouched nearby, ears perked and senses on high alert. Under normal circumstances, they would avoid nighttime hunts out of fear of being ambushed, but now things had changed. They were the hunters, and the Fishlords were the prey.

Playing with humans' lives comes with a price.

Seth ran a hand over his quiver, feeling each remaining arrow's fletching. 'We'll use Fog Shroud and Illusionary Emptiness to ambush the Copper ones and take down several at once. For the Irons, we'll kill them one by one.'

Nightmare's red eyes glowed with a fierce light. 'They will fear us like death itself.'

Seth nodded, peering out at the marsh ahead where a few torches flickered in the darkness. He knew Fishlords didn't rely on fire for visibility to hunt. Those torches were more likely a decoy. Cunning little bastards.

'Let the hunt begin.'

Over the next two weeks, Seth and Nightmare became the swamp's deadliest predators. Under the cover of darkness, they raided, stalked, and eliminated Fishlords left and right in targeted strikes before retreating to well-hidden enclaves during the day to catch short moments of rest and plan their next moves. Each evening, they snuck back into the village to disrupt the humanoid creatures' despicable training and taunt them to lure them out into the open field.

What once seemed a daunting task quickly turned into a series of one-sided battles. Seth's Fog Shroud, combined with Illusionary Emptiness, allowed them to launch devastating ambushes from the shadows. Like grim reapers, they cut down and killed Copper Fishlords in mere seconds, taking their lives before they could react. Even Iron ones, who only two weeks ago were a greater challenge, barely put up a fight when they were alone. One by one, they all fell to Nightmare and Seth's coordinated attacks.

Every night followed the same narrative, and over the course of those weeks, Seth and Nightmare had eliminated more than two hundred Copper Fishlords and fifty Iron ones. The population of the Lancer's settlement was noticeably thinning, and those who remained grew more cautious with every passing day.

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But Seth and Nightmare were far from done.

As dawn's first rays of the fourteenth day of hunting down the village's Fishlords—the twenty-fifth day total in the Rift—began to color the horizon, Seth and Nightmare found themselves sneaking up on a duo of two-finneds, who were heading back to the village. It was the first time they would ambush two Irons at the same time, but they were now forced to do so. Over the past night, they hadn't seen a single two-finned Fishlord patrolling alone.

'Ready?' Seth asked, sliding his dagger out from its sheath and eyeing Nightmare's blurry figure a dozen feet away from him.

The direwolf answered with a stiff nod. 'Yes.'

Seth raised his arm and cast Fog Shroud, filling the spell's grooves in less than five seconds. Almost instantly after, the air turned heavy, and a fog began to form, covering the surrounding area and reducing all visibility.

'Let's go.'

Seth and Nightmare dashed forward through the fog, nearly invisible under the additional effect of Illusory Emptiness. Seth's core throbbed in his chest as he lunged with his dagger, aiming for the right Fishlord's throat. However, at the last moment, the creature jerked its head away—the blade cut only an inch into its neck. Startled, the creature spun toward him when Nightmare materialized behind and sank his fangs into its slender thigh. A swirl of black smoke from Shadow Bite corroded the humanoid beast's flesh, causing it to shriek in agony.

Alerted by its comrade's scream, the other Fishlord shot a powerful jet of water at Nightmare, forcing him to release the leg and leap aside. Before the direwolf's paws even touched the ground, he vanished into the shadows and reappeared behind the second Fishlord, pouncing onto its back.

'One each,' Seth said, infusing dark lightning arcs into his dagger before slashing the closer Fishlord's arm.

Both humanoid beasts let out repeated shrieks of pain as Seth and Nightmare kept striking and biting mercilessly, not leaving a second for their respective target to cast any complicated spells—like Ocean Armor. The aquatic creatures weren't weak, but with Seth now Iron and his new spells, the advantage was theirs.

Clearly desperate, the first Fishlord swung its trident in wild arcs, hoping to land a lucky hit. Guided by Feral Instinct, Seth ducked low, avoided the weapon, and drove his dagger deep into the Fishlord's belly, sending another surge of dark lightning through the blade. The creature let out another cry of pain, but before it could retaliate, Seth poured a fifth of his Well into his arm and sliced into its neck, cutting through half of it in a single motion. Its body went limp and crumpled to the ground.

The moment Seth spun around, he saw Nightmare dodging the other Fishlord's spear by leaping from its shadow once before knocking the creature to the ground. With a final snap of his jaws, the direwolf then crushed its windpipe, ending its life without so much of a final scream.

Wasting no time, Seth knelt down and began to harvest the beaststones while Nightmare stood guard next to him amidst the thick fog.

'In another day or two, there won't be any two-finned left—' the direwolf began before suddenly nudging Seth. 'Hey, Identify them for their attributes!'

'Oh, right,' he answered, Identifying both corpses.

Fishlord Sentinel

 

Potential: Iron Tier

Rank: 21 (Low-Iron)

Affinity: Water

 

Strength: 62

Arcane Power: 54

Toughness: 37

Well Capacity: 45

Agility: 61

Regeneration: 43

Fishlord Sentinel

 

Potential: Iron Tier

Rank: 22 (Low-Iron)

Affinity: Water

 

Strength: 60

Arcane Power: 61

Toughness: 39

Well Capacity: 43

Agility: 64

Regeneration: 49

'Ugh,' the direwolf muttered, examining the attributes through Seth's eyes. 'We need to kill that three-finned as soon as possible. The stones have been quite bad the past few days. Nothing above Rank 24.'

'You still have the Rank-27 one from three days ago,' Seth pointed out, slicing open both of the corpse's chests and prying out the blue crystals. He then stowed them in his Endless Pouch, still a bit impressed that the thing never changed weight, no matter whatever he put inside.

By the time the sun rose fully, beaming its morning ray across the few clouds, they had retreated to one of their hidden campsites. The journey back was surprisingly peaceful—not a single Fishlord in sight. And they had no one to thank but themselves.

Once they slipped into a secure alcove nestled between towering stones, Seth pulled out two grilled fish and two raw ones from his pouch. After tossing Nightmare his pieces, Seth devoured his own meal and groaned at the enjoyment of filling his stomach, which had been empty all night. When he finished, he then leaned against a flat rock and shut his eyes. Nightmare lay down nearby, letting out a contented grunt as he rested his head on his paws.

Hours passed in a restful haze; when Seth next opened his eyes, the sun was already beginning its descent, casting long shadows across the swamp. He glanced at Nightmare, who was still sleeping beside him, and then plunged his consciousness into the direwolf's Well.

Inside, he sensed and examined the delicate string still connecting Share's grooves to Nightmare's Illusionary Emptiness. Over the last two weeks, he'd studied it meticulously, pulling slightly on it several times, and was convinced that twenty-four hours after being linked, the connection could be switched to a different spell. So far he hadn't yet tried it, given how crucial Illusionary Emptiness had been to their hunt, but the idea of switching to Shadow Step was growing more and more tempting.

Just as he was mulling over the idea, Nightmare stirred awake with a low yawn before turning to him. 'Can I get that Rank-27 stone?' the direwolf asked.

'Sure.' Seth nodded and retrieved the blue crystal from his Endless Pouch. He tossed it over to Nightmare, who caught it with his maw.

While the direwolf jerked and trembled, beginning to digest the beaststone, Seth pulled out his breakfast from his purple bag: grilled fish, again.

Next time, I'll bring more food, he thought wryly.

Once the direwolf finished shaking, Seth Identified both of them in quick succession.

Seth

 

Class: Primalist

Rank: 23 (Low-Iron)

Subclass: Beastmaster

 

Core: Feral Instinct

 

Strength: 70 (63+7)

Arcane Power: 62 (55+7)

Toughness: 55 (50+5)

Well Capacity: 46 (42+4)

Agility: 76 (68+8)

Regeneration: 53 (48+5)

Spells:

- Link [???〜??? (???)]

- Share [???〜??? (???)]

- Fog Shroud [Iron〜Rare (Decent)]

- Dark Shocking Strike [Copper〜Rare (Standard)]

- Haste [Copper〜Uncommon (Refined)]

- Identify [Copper〜Common (Refined)]

Nightmare (Tenebrous Direwolf)

 

Potential: Silver Tier

Rank: 26 (Low-Iron)

Affinity: Darkness

 

Bonded to [Seth]

 

Strength: 73

Arcane Power: 71

Toughness: 47

Well Capacity: 39

Agility: 81

Regeneration: 45

Spells:

- Illusionary Emptiness [Silver〜Epic (Crude)]

- Shadow Step [ Silver〜Epic (Crude)]

- Danger Sense [Silver〜Rare (Decent)]

- Shadow Bite [Iron〜Rare (Standard)]

'Not bad,' Seth said, going through all their attributes. The growth wasn't anything crazy, but that didn't surprise him. Everyone at the Adventurers Guild had said it—the progression speed between Copper and Iron was like night and day. 'We may be slowing down, but I bet we're still progressing way faster than anyone at the academy.'

'But we'll go back to a snail's pace in less than a week once we're out of here,' Nightmare grumbled.

'I know.' Seth sighed, a small part of him almost wishing the director had expelled him a few weeks earlier. Most students began their second year between Ranks 20 and 40, while prodigies like Marine started closer to Rank 50. With eight months here in that Rift, he and Nightmare could likely surpass every single one of them. But there's still so many things I don't know. Especially about spell-crafting. I still need a bit of that knowledge before—

Seth's thought was interrupted by the faint sound of a man's voice in the distance. His head snapped up and he glanced at Nightmare. 'Did you hear that?'

The direwolf rose to his feet, ears pricked. 'Yes.'

Without another word, they both activated Illusionary Emptiness, blending seamlessly into the surroundings before darting out of their hidden campsite. They crept closer to the source of the noise for a few minutes, then Seth abruptly halted, rooting into place.

A prisoner, shackled at both wrists and ankles, trudged forward under the watchful eyes of two adventurers. The first, a bulky man clad in plate armor, carried a massive battle ax strapped across his back, and the second was a slim woman dressed entirely in black leather, her twin daggers sheathed at her belt—they were the duo he'd seen with the blond Elementalist nearly a month ago.

Their voices carried over to Seth and Nightmare, who remained hidden in the cover of their illusions.

"... get at least two vials of Ocean Tears for this one," the woman said, her cold gaze appraising the prisoner like livestock. "Not bad at all."

"But still not as much as we got for that blond kid," the large man in armor replied. "Those creepy fish really go nuts for Elementalist with low Toughness. Wish we could find more of them."

Seth's hands tightened into fists, his nails cutting into his palms as rage surged inside him; all his muscles coiled, ready to burst into action. They were the ones who had captured all those people. They were the reason why those poor men and women were getting lamed, stabbed, and tortured night after night. The reason behind all that suffering.

And they deserved to die for that.

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