Country Road

The crunching of leaves shatters my rest, informing me of my visitors' presence. Converging on my location, the crackle and squelch of footsteps on mud and leaves grows louder. Hearing their ragged breaths as the two women close in on my resting place, I open my eyes.

'Is everything prepared?' Lifting my head upwards, the crazed grin of Huntress tilts into vision.

'My sweet boy, aren't you going to say hello first? I'll tell you this; it was a nightmare getting here. How I wish you could have been my companion on this journey. Instead, you stuck me with the perpetual nag that is your mortal girl. "Don't kill him. Don't kill her. They just children." Blah! She never gets tired of spoiling my fun. Well, at least I'm finally reunited with you, my love.'

'Is everything prepared?' Exasperated by my disinterest, Huntress groans.

'It's all business with you, isn't it? You have a beautiful woman just dying for your attention, and all you care about is the mission? When are you going to man up and seduce me already? It wouldn't be difficult.' Crouching down to my level, Huntress leans towards me, positioning her lips by my ear.

'One word from you, and I'll be ready to go.' Pulling the cackling lunatic away from me, Rachel takes hold of Huntress' shoulders and drags her to her feet. Releasing her hold, Rachel walks around Huntress and stands beside the tree trunk I'm resting on.

'Why would Nero be interested in you? You've been trying to kill him since you first met.'

'No. I've been trying to kill you since we first met. It's a source of unbearable frustration to me that I won't be able to slice you open for as long as our Spirit Pledge is in place. Still, I'm a patient girl. What's a few more days in the face of true love?'

'Is everything-'

'Yes! Everything's prepared! By Ember's throne! Are you even capable of taking a moment to enjoy yourself?'

Placing my hands to the ground, I push myself to my feet as my back slides up the truck of the tree I had been leaning on.

'Lead the way', I say.

Following the two women, I walk through the forest, passing crooked trees, green streams of fetid water, and the discarded remains of those fools who thought to take refuge from the Tower Breach within these woodlands.

Arriving at a clearing within the forest, I catch sight of a carriage attached by rope to the mighty frame of a land-dragon. At the front of the vehicle, a familiar man holds the reins. Stepping down from his seat, the man approaches me and kneels.

'My lord, I thank you for your continued patronage. It was thanks to your grace that I was able to take my family to safety. If not for your advance warning, when those monsters flooded these lands, my family and I would have surely been the first to perish. I thank you my lord from the bottom of my heart.'

Stepping towards the kneeling man, Rachel puts a hand on his shoulder. 'Our lord is a kind master. If you continue to show loyalty to our lord, he will continue to show favour.'

'Of course, my lady. My loyalty is now and forever with both my lord and my lady.' Standing to his feet, the coachman walks to the rear of the carriage, retrieves steps made seemingly from marble, and places them beneath the entrance of the coach.

It would seem like the coachman has put my coin to good use. The carriage, renovated, lavish. His attire, fitting to chauffeur any high-born Clansman that I've ever seen. Loyal servants are always in high demand and low supply. By saving this man's family and filling his pockets, I can, without question, turn him into something useful to my goals. For now, at least, his use as my personal chauffeur is well worth the investment I have made in him.

Walking the steps, I enter the carriage. Rachel and Huntress follow. Closing the door from the outside, I hear the whip retake his place at the front of the vehicle. With a sharp crack, and a loud snort, the carriage lurches forward.

Sat opposite Rachel and me, Huntress leans forward, reaching out as far as she is able without leaving the edge of her seat.

'Did you like my present?' Raising an eyebrow, I convey my puzzlement to the madwoman's question. 'You must have known it was from me. I asked mother-dearest, and she asked our goddess. Before you know it, the World Witch had sent an Abyssal Wraith just for us. Tell me you loved it. I wasn't nearly as close as you must have been, so I only got to see it in the distance, but by Ember, it was a glorious sight to behold.'

Practically leaping out of her chair, Rachel stands in the moving carriage, staring down at Huntress. 'You sent that creature? You could have killed him!'

'Sit down, girly. This has nothing to do with you. Besides, if he wasn't able to survive a little thing like that, he would never have been worth my attention in the first place.'

'How long is it going to take to get it through your head? He doesn't want your attention.'

Sliding a knife from her ankle, Huntress points the blade to Rachel's throat causing her to fall back into her seat. 'I think it'll take about as much time as it would take to get this knife through your head.'

Holding my arm in both her hands, Rachel returns her gaze to the knife twirling maniac sat opposite. 'Your threats are empty. You know you can't hurt me.'

'Yet. I can't hurt you yet. Time's running out on this Spirit Pledge. As soon as it does, you'd best believe I'm coming after you.'

'Enough!' Retrieving my right arm from Rachel's embrace, I snatch the knife spinning between Huntress' fingers and throw it through the open window of the coach.

'This is how you treat me after I went to such lengths to get you a fitting present? Well, I suppose I do kind of like a man who knows how to take charge.'

Perverted as it might be, unleashing the wraith onto this region isn't the worst show of affection I could imagine. At the time, I wasn't able to look past the clear and present threat the beast had posed to my life. Now that I've had time to reflect, I can see that its presence isn't without benefits.

With the beast roaming the Oswald region, mid, and even high-tier Clansmen in the vicinity will be called upon to suppress it. After all, unlike a horde of low-tier Tension beasts, a high-tier beast poses a threat to even the most powerful of Clans.

With their exemption revoked, the high-born students and staff of the academy will, no doubt, be required to join in the suppression effort, leaving the campus further deprived of security. Though I doubt any of those high-born bastards will actually lift a finger to help, they will, at least, have to display the pretence that they heeded the call to aid. To that end, they'll no doubt leave the academy until it's politically viable to return.

Even still…

For this demoniac to have the backing of such powerful Tension Masters…

It doesn't bode well.

It's impossible for me to leave Huntress alive. Combining her knowledge of my identity with her apparent resistance to reason, she's far too dangerous to let live. She's also far too connected to kill directly.

Even if the World Witch doesn't seek retribution, the Dread Mother is, by all accounts, more than able to annihilate me with a look. It wouldn't matter how much I prepared, or how far I ran, I would never be able to escape the grasp of a rank-five Maverick after my blood.

To make matters worse, considering the level of support the Dread Mother seems to be receiving from the transcended one she serves, it's more than likely that she has the Witch's blessing.

Both mid-tier and high-tier Clans are led by rank-five Tension Masters. What separates the two tiers is that the leaders of high-tier Clans receive a portion of the power held by beings beyond the realms of mortal Tension Mastery. This borrowed power, or "blessing", as it's called, sets them far beyond even those of their same rank.

A Tension Master blessed by an immortal or transcended being can be said to be, in their might, half a step away from divinity.

If such a person were to see me as their enemy, rather than counting the rest of life by years and decades, I'd be able to count it by weeks and months.

Huntress…

I can't kill you, but...

I can't allow you to live…

The sudden acceleration of the carriage pulls me from my thoughts. Glancing out of the window, I see the last of the trees rush by. Without the obstructions of the forest, the land-dragon drawn coach charges forward.

It's a day's travel back to the academy from here.' I say. 'I'll be spending this time in meditation. Unless absolutely necessary, do not disturb me.'

From my pocket, I withdraw my wooden box. Removing a body refinement potion from within, I uncork the bottle and drink. Closing my eyes, I enter into a meditative state. By the time I reopen my eyes to consume my third and final body refinement potion, the sun is shining brightly through the windows of the stationary carriage.

Grunts and laughter greet my ears as my consciousness reasserts itself. Glancing outside, I see Huntress cutting down beast after beast with a dagger held in each hand. Rachel, seemingly unconcerned, sleeps soundly, rested on my shoulder.

It seems Rachel is familiar enough with Huntress' capabilities to rest assured in her ability to defend us from this hoard. There's no need for me to concern myself with this.

Taking the final body-refinement potion, I down the content and allow myself to drift into timelessness.

***

With my mind, I probe my muscles, organs, skin, and bones. Perceiving within myself the fortification of my body, as if recalling a memory believed to be forgotten, an awareness of my advancement streams into my consciousness.

Point-two-percent gains. Not bad.

Though seemingly insignificant, to have made such progress with meditation alone would have been impossible. Without the use of the body refinement potions, I would be lucky to see such advancement over the course of an entire year.

Satisfied with the effects of my cultivation, I open my eyes.

Moonlight slips through small gaps in the curtains of the carriage. Its delicate rays refract through the glass windows, painting the coach's interior a spectrum of colours.

The gentle buzz of snoring fills the coach. Still leaning on my shoulder, Rachel doesn't seem to have moved an inch since I had last exited my meditation. The snoring, however, isn't coming from Rachel but rather from the woman sprawled over the settee opposite. Slowly opening her eyes, Huntress yawns the sleep from her features and straightens herself on her seat.

'I could really get used to waking up to your face in the morning. Though, I suppose "morning" isn't quite accurate.' Leaning forward, Huntress pulls open the curtain on the left of the carriage. Sliding the window up, she sticks her head out and breathes deeply of the midnight air.

'We're getting close. I can smell it. Are you excited yet? I surely am.'

Stirred awake by the sound, Rachel lifts herself from my shoulder. Turning her face towards me, her cheeks flush red and she quickly looks down.

'I'm sorry, my lord, I… I didn't…mean-'

'It's fine', I say, cutting her off before she's able to stumble through the rest of her explanation.

'It most certainly isn't fine!' Glaring malice towards the girl at my side, Huntress exhales deeply through her nose. 'I'm not the kind of girl who likes to share, mortal. Act so brazenly in front of me again, and Spirit Pledge or no… Well, let's just say, should I accidentally trip and slice open your stomach on my fall, I could hardly be held accountable for that, could I?'

Holding each other's stare, the two women exchange unseen blows before they break eye contact with a mutual huff.

The churning of grass beneath wheels slows. Gently, the carriage comes to a stop. Standing to my feet, I open the carriage door and jump onto the ground below. Taking a breath of the crisp night's breeze, I chase the stagnant air from my lungs and turn back towards the coach. As Rachel attempts to disembark, I hold out my palm, blocking her exit.

'What are you doing?' She says.

'You've done your part.' I say. 'You're not coming with us.' Pushing past Rachel, Huntress jumps out of the carriage.

'That's right, mortal. We have no further use of your menial skills. Reaper and I can take it from here. Without you to ruin our fun, who knows what could happen.' Winking my way, Huntress moves towards me.

'My lord?' Rachel begins. Turning away from the girl, I address the whip.

'Take her and go back to wherever you've kept your family.

'Yes, my lord.'

Tossing a golden coin to the coachman, I look back to the moistened eyes of the girl standing at the entrance of the coach.

'You can't do this!' She says. 'You can't leave me behind!' With Huntress by my side, I turn my back to Rachel and walk forward.

'Take me with you!'

Her cries in vain, I keep walking.