Eye Seeker

Karla answered the hunter with her sword, and chaos ensued. The two foreign invaders circled around Surgit while Karla and crow feather cape duked it out. One of the hunters wore a long white robe.

It reminded him of Alfred, the executioner. Instead of wielding the Kirkhammer like Alfred, this one had a peculiar weapon on him. It looked like a serrated club, for lack of a better description. He laid its blunt side on his shoulder. The weapon was clearly heavier than it looked. Its serrated ends glistened against the blazing sunlight above.

The other hunter wore a student outfit, similar to the one those milky bulbs wore in the Lecture hall. He was holding a sword, much like his, on his right hand, a device that looked like a flame thrower on his left.

Surgit tightened his grip around the pommel of his sword. Karla and Gavril were already exchanging blows, while the other hunters watched him and sniggered silently. He carefully followed them with his eyes as they circled around him.

���I didn't know I was taking part in a staring contest," he hissed at them. "Come and get me now!"

The hunter's didn't have to be asked twice. The one with the student garb was the first to move. He dashed toward Surgit, made to attack him then stopped midway through his swing. He immediately jumped back, tense. Fat creases formed on his abnormally large forehead.

"You scared of a puny little hunter now?" Surgit tried to provoke them to attack, to give him an opening. They wouldn't budge, however. They knew he'd covered all his blind spots. He wouldn't let them land a hit without paying them back tenfold.

The student dashed once more. This time, before he reached Surgit, he pulled the trigger on his device and white mist came out. Surgit suddenly felt dizzy. His throat closed in on itself, barring all air from entering or leaving his lungs. He had to jump back or risk suffocating.

He heard the click before the attack landed on his back. He felt sharp teeth plunge deep inside his back. Blood rushed out and the uncomfortable, painful feeling of having one's flesh cut open overwhelmed him. He gasped for air, but the mist wouldn't allow for any.

The two hunters were laughing then, mocking Surgit as he writhed on the ground, helpless. He also heard swords clashing in the distance. Karla hadn't given up, why should he?

He closed his eyes and focused on his aura. After defeating Rom, Surgit had earned a red cluster. Clusters of blood echoes were divided into three. Depending on the strength they allowed their owners, clusters would have different colors. Green was the weakest, blue was neither weak nor strong. Red, on the other hand, was the strongest. It only belonged to the mightiest of beasts.

Thanks to the red cluster, Surgit managed to upgrade his Arcane from Blind to Eye Seeker. His grasp over Arcane was still imperfect, but he could now do what he hoped to achieve against Rom.

He stood, eyes closed. He had activated his insight. He could see the two hunter's red auras clearer with his third eye. He could also feel his own. It had changed from when he fought the vacuous spider.

Against Rom, his aura felt like a sliver of light trying to worm its way out of the vast sea of darkness it was drowning in. This time around, his aura had taken a shape. It felt like his entire body was coated in it. If looked at from afar, Surgit would look like a clear blue blob, humanoid in shape, but with no defining feature.

He willed his strong aura to concentrate around his sword, and it willingly obeyed. He held it down at an angle, as though he was planning to sweep the floor with it. Then he swung it upward, at the student's direction.

A faint blue aura left the sword and travelled toward the hunter like lightning. The hunter let go of his strange device. His sword clattered against the stones that littered the battlefield. He fell, face down. He didn't utter a sound. Death came to him swift and merciful. A rift opened on the ground once more, then swallowed the defeated hunter.

Karla wailed in pain, wrenching Surgit from his trance. He looked around. Gavril had stabbed her in the leg. He was looking right back at Surgit then. His eyes narrowed until they became but thin slits. He twisted his sword and Karla groaned.

"Someone's learned a new trick," he said. Karla tried to attack while Gavril had his eyes occupied elsewhere. The hunter had anticipated her move, however. He kicked her in the stomach and wrenched his katana away. Karla toppled backwards, unable to find a sure footing.

"I guess I'll have some fun with you," Gavril said. He turned to look at the executioner. "Go finish her off," he said in a sharp tone. "I'll dance with this one. Let's see how long you can keep me entertained."

Surgit squeezed his sword's handle. He didn't wait for Gavril to make the first move. He dashed forward. His eyes were glued on Gavril's right flank, his only opening. As he made to attack, Gavril took out his pistol.

With astounding speed and precision, Surgit snatched the pistol from Gavril's hand and whipped him with its barrel. Gavril stumbled backwards. Blood trickled down his right nostril. He wiped the blood and smiled at Surgit. The next second, his smile had vanished. Surgit wasn't done with his offensive.

While Gavril stumbled backwards, Surgit had willed his aura to form around his arm. He punched the hunter on the nose so hard it cracked into tiny pieces. Gavril fell to the ground then rolled backwards. He kept on rolling until he came close to the edge of the cliff. He decelerated however, until he stopped near the edge.

His nose had already begun swelling when he injected himself with a blood vial.

"Do you think you've stopped me when you took away my gun?" he asked. "I too have a special power, you know. Watch this!"

He groaned as he stabbed himself with his blade. "Go ahead, use your insight now!" he told Surgit. The latter used his third eye just in time to watch Gavril's sword leave his body. There was a strong crimson aura coating it. It felt devastating, ominous to say the least.

Gavril spread his legs and took a crouching, eastern stance. He held his sword next to his hips, as though sheathing it. "Let's see how you dodge this!" he said.

He swung the Chikage. Surgit only saw a brief movement of his sword arm. A crescent moon, made entirely of corrupted blood, traveled toward Surgit at breakneck speed. He didn't know how he managed to will his aura to form so fast, but he did it just in time to cut through the bloody crescent moon.

To Surgit's great dismay, his sword broke as soon as it made contact with Gavril's blood attack. The crescent moon cut through him. It felt like millions of miniscule needles had invaded his body. They softly tingled at first. Then they started raging inside him like a storm. It felt as though his body was deteriorating from the inside.

"Us Vileblood have venom in our veins," Gavril told him as the world vanished from sight. "You'd do well to remember that. Find me in the Cathedral if you'd like a rematch." He waved Surgit goodbye as the latter drifted into nothingness.