Hearing that they had company, Arthur immediately stood in front of Levi while holding onto a giant thick log. It must weigh at least fifty kilograms, yet, Arthur was holding it akin to a great sword.
Levi couldn't see what was going on, but he had the assistance of his Ai as she was narrating everything. He used his rich imagination to fill in the rest of the details.
"I can smell them, I can smell their blood, they are close."
Meanwhile, Shia followed the foreign smell of their blood until she stood at exactly the center of their ambush, redirecting their attention to her solely.
It was in a small space filled with dead leaves and tiny rocks, cornered by four oak trees. Shia closed her eyes and controlled her breath while holding onto the pole of her crimson crescent-bladed glaive.
After a few moments of harrowing windy cries, the dead leaves started jumping all over the place as tremors took over the space!
Then, from the depths of darkness, ten giant double-headed hogs emerged with pure viciousness in their eyes as they charged toward Shia!
Oink! Oink! Oink!!!
Saliva was pouring out of their mouths, tainting their long sharp fangs...Their eyes were pitch-black, reflecting the shimmering Shia akin to a delicious snack!
They knocked down trees in their path, creating a loud disturbance in the entire forest. In front of humans, the light, plants absorbed meant absolutely nothing to nightcrawlers even if they were low-tiered and nonintelligent!
Seeing this overwhelming sight, Arthur couldn't help but gulp a mouthful in dread. Just as he was about to wonder if it was fine to leave Shia alone, she made her move.
"Mantra Blood Arts: Blood Ring of Damnation."
She murmured calmly as she started swinging the glaive rapidly once the hogs stepped inside the circle of light produced by her nightwear stripes!
Slice! Slice! Slice!...
The crescent blade flew out of the pole, spinning extremely fast as it sliced the charging hogs, the flying leaves, rocks, and whatever was inside the circle of illumination!
Just like a spot dancer, Shia moved only her arm as she kept swinging the detached pole, taking a mere step back and forth.
"How is she controlling the crescent blade..."
Arthur exclaimed in astonishment as he watched the terrifying spinning crescent blade cut through the hogs with minimum resistance!
"There is a string of sticky blood connecting the pole with the crescent blade." Sergio shared with a faint smirk.
Arthur squinted at Shia's pole, wanting to see the string of blood but to no avail.
The flying blood of the hogs was congealing in midair and following the trajectory of the crimson crescent, making it extremely difficult to see anything else.
In less than a few seconds, the dying squeals of the hogs were no longer heard. Only the whooshing air of Shia's crescent blade spinning around the ten-meter radius, creating a perfect ring of blood with the sliced-up corpses of the hogs...
"Bon appetite."
Blee'der's terrifying mouth manifested on the crescent blade, and it started sucking off the long serpentine blood, sparing not a single drop.
After he was done, he burped loudly and Shia summoned him back.
Then, she returned to the squad and said, "Collect their crystallized seeds quickly, the noise must have attracted other nightcrawlers."
"Good work."
"Brutal as always."
Jamal and Sergio patted her on the shoulder and swiftly went to the crime scene.
"You should go with them to learn how to extract crystallized seeds." Shia addressed Arthur.
Arthur glanced at his brother for a moment and then looked at Shia. After recalling what she had just done to those hogs, he knew he was leaving his brother in safe hands.
"Be right back."
He threw the massive log away and then worked on the corpses with Sergio and Jamal, who started teaching him the most efficient ways to extract crystallized seeds.
Once an owner of a Shadowlife seed dies, his seed get crystallized into a somewhat blue gem. Those crystallized seeds were everything to Daywalkers since they were traded for Solar Aegis coins, which was the main currency for Daywalkers' related markets.
Shia reached out inside her pocket and pulled out two covered lollipops. She placed one in Levi's palm, and he shook his head politely, "No, thank you, I am on a sugar-free diet."
"Sugar-free? How boring is that." Shia shrugged her shoulders, "Suit yourself."
"Cool attack you have there." Levi inquired in intrigue, "Is it an innate ability or a learned technique?"
"It's learned." Shia shared with a lollipop in her mouth.
"You learned such a powerful ability while being a junior Daywalker?" Levi was surprised.
Although Levi's source of information was his Ai and he didn't really see the full extent of Shia's ability, he knew it was extremely powerful.
After all, a Junior Daywalker shouldn't be able to take down ten Tier 1 nightcrawlers in a few seconds without using an innate ability.
He understood that becoming a Daywalker was quite easy, but what truly separated a genius from a mediocre was his resistance/attunement to light and his teachability.
Most rookie and junior daywalkers relied on their innate abilities, which were easily unlocked after passing each stage.
On the other hands, techniques required time, dedication, and talent.
"It's not special, I have been at a junior level for more than half a year now." Shia curled her lips in annoyance, "I didn't know it would be this bothersome to find a Blood Crystal Flower."
"Don't mind me asking, but shouldn't it be easy for you to obtain it?" Levi inquired, "I mean, your family's wealth and reputation should have been more than enough to secure a flower even if it was located in other Holy Regions."
"No thank you, I would rather shoot myself in the head before I ask help from that controlling narcissist," Shia uttered coldly as she made a gun gesture next to her temple.
Levi knew that she was referring to her father as he had heard quite many crazy stories that painted him in a bad light.
If this was his perception of his character from mere stories, he didn't dare imagine what Shia was dealing with daily.
"Forget that old geezer and tell me more about your peculiar spiritual vision." Shia asked curiously, "Blee'der has already told me that you were the one spotting the hogs' ambush."
"Oh, it's nothing special really." Levi smiled, "I have gained the ability to see nightcrawlers and Daywalkers in the real world in their spiritual aura form."
"What do you mean it's nothing special?!" Shia's eyes widened in shock, "You have a freaking superpower without even being a Daywalker!"
Shia's reaction was understandable. She knew that nightcrawlers could exist either in the real world or in the shadow dimension.
Those two were considered physical planes while the bridge of darkness was the spiritual link to both dimensions.
However, they could access the bridge of darkness only from the shadow dimension, whether they were contracted or not!
That's why, Bleed'er and the others were incapable of seeing the Dirt Eater Hogs in the real world through the bridge just like they could not see humans unless they were connected to the bridge of darkness.
In simpler terms, their vision was limited to only nightcrawlers existing in the shadow dimension or the bridge of darkness, unlike Levi!
"I wouldn't go as far as to call it a superpower." Levi smiled faintly as he watched Jamal and Sergio's humanoid spiritual auras, "But, it does bring some humane life into my dim world..."
"You are crazy...How can you downplay such a busted cheat?" Shia spoke excitedly, already seeing the crazy possibilities, "You are like a radar to nightcrawlers! You can see their physical forms if they were in the shadow dimension and their spiritual forms if they were in the real world! None of them can escape your sight."
"Then what?" Levi chuckled in self-derision, "Will this help me become a Daywalker? I have already tried my best to sell it to nightcrawlers, but all of them still rejected me."
"This..."
Shia's excitement died down. She realized that while Levi's spiritual vision was amazing, it still wouldn't change the fact that he could not grow as a Daywalker consistently as the others without eyes.
Sure, he could utilize Growth Totems, but they were too expensive to maintain consistent growth compared to simply absorbing the sunlight directly.
"I mean, while your future as a Daywalker seems grim, I do believe that you can become a great scout using your ability." Shia tried to uplift him, "I, for one, will be more than delighted to have you in my squad. Without your help, the hogs would have made me sweat a bit."
"Thank you for the offer, but I have no interest in giving up on my dream," Levi said calmly.
"Suit yourself, but don't forget," Shia whispered suggestively near his ear, "If you fail to uphold your end of the bargain, I will own you either way."
"I will have no complaints..." Levi replied peacefully.