Chapter 336: Breeze

"What have you done?" Ned angrily stood, clutching both his hands, a spray of blood smoothing down over the surface of his Silk Road. "She is doing just fine!"

"It is enemy," Gogmurch stood eye-to-eye with Ned, looking down. "No more to it. You are human, we are beast."

As the two stood, glaring with each other, the woman's body lies still on the ground, bubbles of red and white gurgling over her neck. It was at this moment that Ned saw a shimmer hidden under her cloak. Ned had to hold himself from expanding too much Mana and energy. For Ned, there was no feeling he felt even after Gogmurch killed her, but it was a life that took him the most. Be it beasts, or humans, they all have precious life. Life given to them naturally—unlike him.

Ned bent and examined the shimmering light under the dead body of the Ghostblood lady.

It was an orb, translucent light filling it. Ned held the orb the size of his fist and raised it higher. Ned focused only to sense Mana leaking off of it.

"Human tools," Gogmurch said, dismissing himself from Ned. As a beast, most likely they do not know about human technology. He left Ned with a smirk visible on her green and wounded face. He at least won against Ned even without fighting.

"Claim," Ned muttered and moved the Claim closer to him. There was nothing inside aside from the Mana. But Ned knew what kind of Claim it was. "Record Claim. Shit. We are being observed."

Before Ned could throw, or break the Claim. The orb of Recording Claim dimmed and turned dull, signifying that whoever was watching, has left or cut off the Mana connected to the Claim. This also means, that whoever was behind the other side, must be near.

"No," Ned mumbled to himself, decided to keep Kurashinpi for a moment. "They must be at least in the city of Bogmoor, which was 3 hours of travel from here."

Setting aside the thought of looking for the person behind the other side of the Record Claim, Ned held the orb and gripped it tighter until a crack was heard and throw it back to the stream behind them.

Ned threw a gaze at the body, now buzzing of a fly, and left together with the two. Detect skill was active for every 20 meters they traveled. Under his display, no lifeforms were detected aside from occasional magical beasts that swayed away from their path the moment they saw Newter walking side-by-side with a goblin.

But Ned was struck with something, the more he walked together with the two, the more he was getting further away from his destination: the Wrath Island. Although he still has 3 days left, by now he must be sailing going there. He needed to make sure he arrived at the island. Presuming there were still ships going to the island. The Hunter Exam has started, by tradition, and the first thing the applicants must do was to find a way to the island.

"Find a way," Ned muttered, rubbing his chin under his mask, one hand resting behind his back. Then his eyes laid resting to Newter, happily grooving before them as she checked each plant and tiny beasts. Ned wondered if how long was she held captive by the hunters, looking curious to everything she saw.

But Naari's words were taking a toll on him. His blood was not something he should just share. It was something that could make other beasts strong, too much concentration of pure Mana leads to them evolving.

Newter circled the two and stopped behind Ned. As though sensing his worry, Newter made a funny face by extending her tongue and wag them like her tail and rolled her copper-colored eyes.

Ned extended his hand to brush her head which made her eyes rolled. She then pushed her head closer to Ned like it was her turn to caress him. One thing that Ned had determined was that, whenever he feeds his blood, the beast could understand him. Likewise, Ned could understand the beast even though they were just gesturing.

The cap of the Du'kki mountain was getting clearer as time passes by, they have been trekking the edge of forests, evading villages, and arguing with Gogmurch, for over an hour. And it has been six hours after the battle of the hill.

And Ned has yet to decide whether he should proceed back to the Hive, or the Wrath Island.

His thoughts decided to go back to the Hive. Yet, he also knew, going back means losing the chance of him setting off a ship. He can't possibly go back to Hunter Quentin and asked for another direction. Ned was, to the extent, a man of pride. He decided, he won't go back to either the Hive or Hunter Quentin.

Newter came rolling between them, sometimes, circling them while she wags her spiky tail. She was so energized, she forgets she just had a battle a couple of hours ago.

Ned came smiling as he approaches Newter, he was determined this time to borrow Newter's powers once again.

"What are you doing, Black Baron?" Gogmurch came protesting behind Ned after he felt something was amiss about Ned.

"Firstly," Ned said, raising a finger while overlooking Gogmurch over his shoulder. "The battle is over, there's no one following us, I'd rather have you call me Ned. Second, Du'kki mountain is an hour away from here if you keep going without stop—by stop, I mean no stopping to kill humans, you will be there soon. Third, I'm going to borrow Newter for a while."

Gogmurch was stunned silence, the first time he met Ned, he was nothing but a wimpy kid. Now, he was the one setting rules and commands. He has never met a human, a youngling, to say the least, that gets so powerful in a couple of months. Gogmurch could only nod as he saw Ned's eyes full of bravery. Still, he could not let go of the thoughts of Ned fighting the Guulvorg, that even he got no chance at all. He swallowed saliva after the nod. The cut of his left arm was etching every time he laid his eyes to the cause. And still, he could do nothing: "The weak serve the strong," he voiced out the thoughts of his mind.

And Ned nodded willingly under his black mask. Dusky blue eyes were visible behind the holes of it. He must maintain the mask for a while even though his Mana sits at less than a hundred, and slowly draining.

Ned bit a skin off the tip of his thumb, the former wound still reddish. Blood leaked and Newter's eyes went wide in delight. She wagged her tail relentlessly while the wings under her forelimbs vibrated. A baby wyvern she was indeed.

Ned fed her his blood.

Newter's transformation went natural as though her body getting pumped up of muscles, and bones getting longer and strong, while her pelt was stretching to accommodate her sudden transformation. Unlike Coco, which was surrounded by the crackles of lightning, Newter's transformation was shrouded in a black mist.

At this moment, Gogmurch had the urge to pounce at Ned and find for himself the kind of blood he has. But the thought vanished as Newter, towering him, towering the trees, flapping her wings. Creating a strong gust of wind which almost pushed Gogmurch away. The last thing he saw from the two was Newter smiling at him and nodding as though saying 'I'll be back, uncle Gogmurch.'

Newter flew.

Flew to the highest she could possibly be. Until they arrived at the point where Ned was overlooking the Bogblot region. Over the horizon, beyond the region, were a speck of black dots, moving like ants marching, commanded by their queen. The curve over the horizon tells Ned that the world of Earflgard was spherical. Which made him smile because in both his life, Ned has never seen a flat planet, especially not Earth.

Ned gently tapped the side of Newter telling her to hover to their right while slowly descending.

Southeast, Ned thought. Somewhere in the southeast was Wrath Island. But the region he was currently in was so vast, at the bottom hundreds of tiny, unmoving dots were visible. These tiny dots were islands, Ned assumed.

Ned recalled the Kurashinpi back to his Ring. Cool breeze of air grazing his cheeks while the fine thread of silver hair playing hide and seek over the playful beams of the sun.

With a thought, Ned produced Anita's Map in his thought. Bluish map hovering before his vision. Ned tried to pinch the part of the map which was labeled Bogblot Region. But to his disappointment, Anita only drew what she could remember, or have seen. And tiny details like O'rriadt, and Wrath Island weren't included.

Ned vanished the thoughts of her unwanted little sister, along with the display of Anita's Map. Rather, he smirked. Looking down at the tiny elongated dots, he produced the Kurashinpi mask once again and let the ribbons of his cloak flutter in the air as they descend.

Sharp whistling of air rushing on both his airs as two descended to the surface of the ocean.

They were thousands of meters away from the Bogblot Region.

Ned remembered exactly as to where he and the Time to Loot crew were last seen passing.

Ned pointed to a part of an ocean where tiny dots were leaving away from the Bogblot Region.

Ned chose one of the ships a good farther away from the border of Bogblot Region and Titan's Cay.

As he was nearing one of the ships, he smirked under his mask and said, "A pirate ship."