Spirit Soul

The male Lohar must have thought that Selene would be able to help him.

Seeing one of his own must have given him the reassurance that he was safe.

However, Selene was merely watching the unconscious Lohar like a curious bird.

It looked like she was feeling no empathy for a fellow Lohar.

This astonished Kyle a little.

But, after giving it some thought he realized that her reaction wasn't all that surprising..

'She doesn't hate them per se. However, having been ridiculed and also hurt by Lohars seems to have made her dislike them, just like the Nasga… I see.'

Gaby had sensed the unfamiliar energy fluctuations as well.

So she had approached Kyle and Selene hastily thinking that they were in danger.

Yet, when she reached them, she saw that Kyle was bending over a stranger..

His hand was stretched out, and she knew that he was using some of his mysterious ability to heal the injured Lohar.

Kyle used some of the remaining soul particles to empower the Nurture ability.

As he used it on the Lohar, the deep gashes slowly began to heal.

The torn skin began to stitch itself and his body started to recuperate at an extremely slow pace.

Owing to her partially healed eyesight, Gaby could see how his ability was working its 'magic.'

So far, she had only sensed her eyesight which had gradually improved.

However, seeing the wounds heal on their own in front of her eyes made her stare in awe. Kyle's ability was no less than a miracle to her.

She was grateful for being able to see many things that had been hidden from her before.

A moment later she appeared next to Kyle, after taking a moment to overcome the shock.

She then released faint mana currents to investigate the heavily injured Lohar's situation and the cause of his wounds.

"He has been tortured, and he is severely injured. It looks like your ability barely saved his life! Let's take him back to the town, and let the healer take care of him.

After he regains his consciousness we can ask him questions!"

When Kyle heard Gaby's words, he couldn't help but feel that the former guard captain had returned to her old occupation.

However, instead of commenting, he just nodded his head in response.

Meanwhile, Selene's ears twitched as she suddenly announced.

"We're not alone!"

She had circulated primordial energy through her ears to enhance her hearing.

This allowed Selene to pick up the quiet footsteps of a bunch of bipedal beings.

Additionally, she also heard some noises she was overly familiar with.

"Nasga, several of them!"

Gaby hadn't heard them because she had been focusing on the Lohar in front of her.

As such, it was great to have Selene next to them.

Her warning allowed Gaby to react in time.

Thus, she quickly nocked an arrow before she pulled back the bowstring.

Now that she focused on her surroundings, Gaby was able to hear the noises Selene had picked up earlier.

Similarly, she could perceive their bloodlust and cultivation base that was relatively high.

Based on her acute senses, she could tell that half of the Nasga were at the Initial Vitae stage.

The rest of them were at the peak Fortification stage.

And all of them were about to advance through the thick cover of bushes at any moment!

Gaby had her eyes trained on the bushes with her arrows pointed at the Nasga.

Meanwhile, Kyle, who was still tending to the Lohar, remarked.

"We need one alive. I don't know if I can save the Lohar, even with my ability!"

In the end, Kyle felt nothing even after saying these words. This was weird, and he was astonished by how calmly he could talk about the life or death of someone else.

After having killed hundreds of beings, he was not sure how to feel about death anymore.

Nevertheless, they needed information right now.

He didn't have the luxury to dwell on trivial things.

If the Lohar were to succumb to the wounds he had received, they would have to capture someone else.

Preferably, a Nasga was the perfect choice.

Gaby just nodded her head before she released the first arrow.

Her fingers freed the arrow that flew across the forest, cutting through the wind. What followed was a loud thump and the painful squeal of a dying rat.

Both the sounds indicated that Gaby had hit her target.

However, she wasted no more time on listening to the shrill cries of the heavily injured Nasga.

Instead, she decided that it was more important to hasten up the killing process.

Not knowing whether the Nasga were professionals or not, Gaby couldn't risk endangering Kyle and Selene.

Both of them could barely fight against beasts at the low Fortification stage!

If they were to be injured because of her negligence, it would be her doomsday.

She could vividly imagine both Mell and Gard knocking on her door as if they were the Grim Reaper in person.

As such, Gaby decided to use far more lethal attacks.

Thus, instead of drawing back her bowstring once again, she hung it across her back.

Moving her hands in a rhythmic pattern, Gaby conjured more than 20 icicles.

It drained the majority of her mana but she knew it wouldn't be a waste.

Hence, she aimed straight ahead and shot them through the thicket without hesitation.

No sooner had she shot the icicles, did she hear her plan's success.

It was in the form of painful squeals of several heavily injured beings.

Their high-pitched cries resounded through the area, only to go mute a few seconds later.

Kyle found it interesting to observe her fight yet again.

He was impressed to see how fast one could use one's affinity while being at the Vitae stage.

Kyle would have continued daydreaming of the strength of a Vitae stage being if not for something that flashed before his eyes.

Through his great eyesight, he caught a glimpse of a detached soul through the small hole the icicles had created in the thicket.

Thus, he shook his head and rushed forward to grab it hastily.

After devouring the souls of six deceased Nasga, he rushed back to the heavily injured Lohar.

He didn't even look at the remaining two Nasga that were heavily injured.

They were too weak to run away and he could kill them later.

For now, he wanted to save the injured Lohar on priority.

Using his ability once again, Kyle didn't care about restricting the amount of energy he used.

His hand touched the injured Lohar's injury and the blood gushing out of his wounds slowly stopped.

This astonished Gaby, who couldn't stop marveling at his unique ability.

All this while, she had been under the impression that Kyle's ability wasn't all that great.

She believed it could only be used for minor flesh injuries and disease as she and Selene had.

'The Lohar was close to death, and his ability stopped his bleeding, just like that?'

Even if she was astonished, there was no need to be suspicious about Kyle.

Only now, could she understand why he had given her vague answers.

An ability like this needed to stay well-hidden at all costs.

If not, his extraordinary abilities could become the reason for his doom!

Power-hungry races wouldn't even think twice before turning Kyle into their puppet.

Gaby gave the trio one look and decided to pay attention elsewhere- on the incoming danger.

Kyle was busy tending to the injured Lohar.

Meanwhile, Selene was simply staring at Kyle and the unconscious Lohar with an unsure expression.

It was far better to have defensive measures in place.

Thus, Gaby focused on the Nasgas that had appeared out of nowhere.

As per her knowledge, there shouldn't be a Nasga tribe nearby. Furthermore, the closest town of another race belonged to the Lohars.

Stepping through the thicket, she released three icicles.

All of them were shot at the heavily injured Nasga at the peak Fortification stage.

Her lethal attacks ended its life before she looked at the other Nasga which she hadn't killed intentionally.

After forcibly pulling out the arrow from the Nasga's body, Gaby used her ice affinity.

With that, she closed the wound after which she unsheathed a small knife.

Using the small knife's sharp blade, she thrust it into several vital points.

She made use of her knowledge and cut into the Nasga's cultivation veins.

In the end, this was not a permanent injury.

An injury to the cultivation veins could be healed.

But it would take time, resources, and lots of funds to procure the necessary medicine.

And that was only because she didn't sever the cultivation veins completely.

Gaby stored away the seven corpses carefully after which she threw the injured Nasga across her shoulder.

Carrying him on her shoulder after knocking him out, she returned to Kyle and Selene.

Meanwhile, Kyle had already used everything possible to properly tend to the Lohar.

He had used both a recuperation potion and the anti-inflammation paste for the injuries.

After that, he used a piece of clean cloth to securely tie the injured Lohar on his back.

Selene helped him do that without saying anything.

She neither complained nor was she proactively helping out.

But that was something Kyle hadn't expected, to begin with.

If someone was not sure how to act, most wouldn't do anything.

They would simply stare into nothingness while trying to come to a conclusion.

Only after hearing his commands did Selene start to help him.

Gaby didn't say anything about that and instead concluded the hunting trip.

"We should end the hunting trip for today. According to my intel, a Nasga tribe has never been around here.

Also, it's quite uncommon for Soldiers of the Nasga to be even close to this area, let alone pursue someone so far from a tribe.

The Lohar race's town is also several days away from Vila town. I have to report the incident to the Guildhall and town chief as quickly as possible!"

Kyle nodded his head, and the three of them returned to the town without wasting any more time.

Selene was still struggling to get a grip over herself.

She was being tormented by her own thoughts and had momentarily forgotten everything else.

The question of whether she hated the Lohars or not was all she could think of but got no satisfactory answer.

Her confusion was visible on her face and Kyle could only look at her with a dry smile.

Ideally, she should hate them for abandoning her, for not caring about what would happen to a child that was in pain because of her disease.

However, somehow she only felt empty at the thought of the Lohar race.

They simply didn't matter to her anymore.

Only Kyle and those that were nice to her were important.

Their race nor their past mattered!

With this mindset, Selene would be able to live properly.

But at the same time, she wouldn't be able to overcome her trauma.

'Let's give her some time.' Kyle thought.

His thoughts then drifted to the tortured Lohar on his back and the few Nasga that had pursued him.

Something was off, and Kyle had a nagging feeling that it was more important than he initially thought.

Gaby seemed to be in her own world too, and two hours later they parted their ways.

Kyle and Selene decided to go to the town's healer, while Gaby immediately left to report to Laila.

However, before they went their separate ways, Gaby took off the three spatial rings.

She handed them back to Kyle as per their arrangement.

"I don't know if I'll be at the counter tomorrow. You can do whatever you want with the carcasses, including the Nasga corpses. Their equipment should also be worth quite a lot!

After selling everything, you can tell my colleagues that the spatial rings belong to me. They'll know what to do!"

Saying so, she wanted to leave Kyle and Selene, only to quickly add a word of caution.

"If possible, don't spread rumors around. This will only make the investigation more difficult!"

Not even waiting for a response, Gaby vanished after saying this. Kyle could only shake his head as he remarked,

"Did she somehow forget that she is carrying around a Nasga at the Vitae stage...through the town's most crowded streets…. on an afternoon? The injured Lohar is nothing in comparison to Gaby's sight!"