"Why do we need to learn how to hunt, Master?" Ashe whispered.
Siderius smirked. His eyes focused on the landscape, spotting any possible game. But he still split his attention to humor Ashe.
"I really have never told you what exactly we are. Hunting is one of our primary skills as we will need to use it to hunt down not even beast but monster, creatures and sometimes, even humans."
"We go after a lot of things. Are we some kind of bounty hunter, Master?"
"You are, once again, half correct. There are people with our profession who choose to use their talent for gold. But most of the time, what we truly are…are executioners."
Ashe widened her eyes at Siderius' words.
"We maintain the stability of the kingdom of man and neutralize any threat that may imbalance this equilibrium.
We gain abilities that exceed normal perception. We change our body to reach its maximum potential. We yearn for the perfect in the imperfect.
We are the natural arch nemesis of witches."
Siderius leaned in close to Ashe and whispered to her ears. "We are witch hunters."
Ashe shivered gently to even the idea of it. She stared at Siderius without blinking. It was the very first time Siderius let her know the true path they were walking.
Alchemy was important and essential to every witch hunter. In the beginning, it may be the major of a witch hunter power. But once a hunter gathered many mutations, alchemy would only serve its role as a tool.
A witch hunter reigned supreme in front of any alchemist. A great alchemist could defeat a lot of witch hunters. But a good witch hunter could defeat all of the alchemists.
One was a scholar. While the other was a warrior. The difference was night and day.
There were many thoughts going through Ashe's mind. From what she understood, Siderius had an entire guild of people behind him. And his enormous library of knowledge could only be collected through many generations.
If what he said was true then they weren't simply the arch enemy of witches. They were enemies to the entire kingdom of Eldoria.
For the first time ever, Ashe hesitated. She understood now what she had chosen. She didn't simply choose power. She chose to be on the opposite side of the witches.
"Are you having second thoughts, my apprentice?" Siderius stared at her with a lingering smile.
He knows. Ashe told herself. It's true. She didn't know if this was the right choice. She clenched her fist tightly to the point it turned white.
She wanted power to get back what she had lost. But what Siderius told her meant that she would not get nothing back. She must destroy everything and build herself a new empire. That was the only way.
"I…" Ashe's lips quivered.
"Calm down, now. There is nothing to worry about. Soon, I will teach you how to gain more power. Then you can do whatever you want to do."
Ashe's breath slowed down. "Yes, Master. You're right."
The exchange passed away like nothing happened. However, Siderius' eyes changed in a subtle way. He had understood Ashe more. She was still too soft.
There was no good witch. A good witch was a dead witch. Siderius was sure to show Ashe what the witches were really like and completely pulled her over to his side.
If she couldn't accept, however, Siderius could only do more…permanent methods.
A deer showed up in their vision. It appeared at the edge of the river bank and quickly quenched its thirst.
Siderius put his fingers up to tell Ashe to stay silent. Then he pulled out his hunter's knife.
A bow would be best in this situation. However, he did not have a suitable hunting bow yet. It was what he intended to make by ordering Kraus bought those items.
For now, he could only use a bit of alchemy to cheat this hunt.
The deer was a buck with long antlers on its head.
Siderius whispered lowly. "Do not move."
The buck approached the pair. They stayed still like two frozen statues.
Siderius was still grabbing his knife. His left hand raised up high with the silver bracer already appeared.
The buck was cautious. It stopped a few times looking around, making sure nothing dangerous was within its vision.
The bush hid Siderius and Ashe well, removing them from the vision of the deer. The deer's nose twitched quite a few times, tasting the air and trying to smell anything in its vicinity. But Siderius already made sure they were on the opposite of the wind so it could never detect them.
As he expected, the deer approached closer and closer, having no idea that it had come dangerously close to death's door.
Twenty meters. Eighteen meters. Sixteen meters.
The deer was closer and closer to the pair. They were on its path not due to coincidence but because of Siderius' perfect choice of location.
And when it was closed enough. Siderius prepped to act. But he didn't.
He chose to stay still. One thing that he hadn't told Ashe was that deer's eyes were extremely great at detecting movement. A single twitch of the muscle would have set its alarm off and it would run straight off without any chance of catching it.
So when the deer's eyes were still facing them, Siderius stayed motionless.
He could only hope two things to happen. One was that the deer would turn its head away, allowing a chance for Siderius to act.
Or second, when its vision toward them was blocked.
The deer passed by a tree. The tree was big enough to cover its cone of vision and hid Siderius away.
It was then that his left fingers moved. The sigil of
The buck with the great antlers suddenly dropped down to the ground. It tried to stand up only to fall down again due to the immense dizziness that had taken over it.
Siderius bolted out of the bush. The sound of rustling leaves alarmed the buck immediately. It stood up in panic and ran away.
It could only dart a few meters before its legs gave off and fell on the ground again.
Siderius might not have a bow to kill it from far away but Vertigo could buy Siderius some precious time to shorten the distance.
His alchemical sigil had gotten stronger. Strong enough to neutralize a deer for a dozen seconds.
He jumped on top of it and with one decisive thrust, the knife slid into its heart and killed it instantly.
"Depart in peace."
The deer let out its last high-pitched shriek.