Chapter 59 - The Hunter (2)

I was in awe of what I just saw. My head was spinning with what it had to process. Firstly, this guy was able to conceal himself, despite being in a place that was supposed to be so blatantly obvious, no one sensed him, not even his overly-perceptive father could pinpoint where he was. I was only aware of his presence, his location was still unknown to me.

Second, his balance was amazing. The palm tree is not exactly sturdy, and it was already bending. Despite that, he could still sit so causally at the top of it.

Thirdly, his agility and physique are nothing to scoff at. At first glance, he looked like weak scrawny guy. His muscles were barely defined, but they were still there. He was able to do a flip mid air and land from great heights like a cat.

Lastly, that weapon of his was extremely cool! It looked like a energy blade from a movie.

"Astere. I will go settle the beasts. Show our guests to their room. Alright son?" Travis instructed.

"Got it dad." He replied in kind. Travis smiled and walked away, somewhere behind the manor. He then turned to us.

"It is as he says. Come. I will show you around." He said.

He walked through the large double door of the manor and entered the large receiving room. It had animal furs and heads hung up on the wall, followed by photos of the Volance family. Although, I did notice that some of the walls were still tattered.

"apologies for the mess, the OmegaQuake quite some time back is still affecting us and we are trying to clean it up. In fact, we usually house guests in the east wing of the manor, but most of that has been reduced to rubble from the earthquake." Astere explained apologetically as we continued to follow him."

I felt a pang of guilt in my chest. Though this was not my doing, I still feel bad for the amount of damage caused. "I'm sorry. Must be hard." I said

"Oh not at all. In fact, we had it easy to compared to other people. The people of North Ourannos were most heavily impacted by the quakes. Some are still reeling from the calamity. that's why my dad wants to make use of these beasts. He wants to raise funds for our fellow countrymen, maybe help with the repairs." He said, his voice containing obvious admiration for his father.

"How kind of him…" Mr Singford said.

"Yes…"

We continued walking down the corridor in silence for awhile, when suddenly, " Aurora? Was it?" Astere turned to Aurora and asked, to which Aurora only nodded. "You will be participating in this year's Arcanothon again right?"

"Naturally." She replied in a neutral tone.

"Of course. You are the best duellist among all students in Ourannos. I have always enjoyed watching your matches." He said with admiration.

"I see. I heard you are participating your self, Mr Volance." Aurora said in a business like tone. It was obvious that Astere was rather uncomfortable, he probably didn't know that she was this cold.

"Y-yes I suppose." He said, scratching the back of his neck. "Although I must ask, don't you find it frustrating that your school can't wind despite having you participate. You are one of the greatest magician students to ever live. Yet, your school is simply not able to win."

"It is infuriating when you put it that way. However, I could careless. I know that this year would be different." She said with confidence as she smiled at me. I was taken aback from the sudden attention I was being showed. I saw Astere also turn back to look at me.

"Hmm. Forgive me, but I'm not sure who you are." He said politely. However, I could detect a condescending air coming from him.

"Oh. I'm Kaler Dakrun." I said simply.

"Kaler Dakrun? I don't believe I have ever heard your name before." I breathed a sigh of relief, it seems the rumours have not spread to North Ourannos yet.

"Oh. I'm no one special. Don't mind me."

"He's being modest." Aurora suddenly butted in. I didn't respond, but I just looked her with a bewildered expression. 'What the heck man?!' was what I was thinking

"More importantly!" I interrupted before she said anything more about me. "I would like to hear about you Astere! How were you able to conceal yourself?" I asked hastily.

Astere was silent for abit, cupping his chin and thinking. "I suppose I could tell you." he then turned to us. "To begin with, I am a dual elementalist. My affinities are light and nature."

That in itself is extremely impressive. Light element is a rare element and wielding another element along with it.

"Although, my areas of expertise are so niche I could almost be considered a specialised magician." He said as he smiled bitterly. 'Specialised magician' I thought. It's a term I'm familiar with. Specialised magicians are magic users whose powers do not categorically fall into any element. They are good at using a particularly skill and power and are not as proficient at regular elemental magic. Such examples include sounds, illusion and many others.

Regular magicians can become specialised magicians if they hone a particular power to a massive extent. However, these magicians are usually discriminated against, seeing as how they are usually incapable of anything else but their specialised power. When I was being bullied, I was commonly called a "specialised magician" , seeing as how powers only activated when my emotions are at a breaking point.

That said, these magicians regularly turn out to be one of the most powerful and capable. "My more proficient element is the nature element. The concealment you saw was a technique I learned through the light element. I am able to manipulate light rays and particles around my body and make it look like I simply do not exist." He explained. It made sense, our eyes were deceived, but my sense were not.

When I looked back at his face, I saw he wore a satisfied smile. It was truly and impressive technique, something he has the right to feel proud of. However, Aurora looked unimpressed as always. Then, I noticed that the hair covering his other eye moved slightly. I flinched a little seeing the colour of that eye, green. He had two differently coloured eyes…

"May I ask, your eyes. What's up with that?" I asked. He gave me a surprised look, which altered turned to a small smile.

"Ah. You are more perceptive than I thought." He said. I could detect a tinge of disdain in his voice. I grimaced inwardly, knowing that he was looking down on me, which Aurora may have also realised. However, I decided to keep quiet. "Yes, I have one green and one a pale yellow. The green one is the one given to me through genetics. My father also has green eyes. The yellow one is one that is much more sensitive to light rays, allowing me to have enhanced eye sight."

We continued walking down the hall. This guy is certainly impressive. He was not someone to take lightly. He gestured to our rooms. I entered mine and dropped my bags on the floor and dropped my body on the bed.

To my surprise, I heard the sound of the door creaking open a few minutes later, followed by light footsteps. I sat up and smiled at Aurora as she strode to me. She took a seat beside me and leaned her head on my arm. I accepted and smiled at her gesture, caressing her silky smooth hair.

"That boy was looking down on you." She suddenly said. I looked at her with a solemn expression. She was staring into space with a slight frown on her face. "It's not like me to want to show your power. But I can't stand when people look down on you. I hate it. You are infinitely stronger than me. Plus you're a better person. I don't get it. Why do people look down on you so-"

I rubbed the spot between her eyebrows. Her face turned from one of annoyance, to surprise. Her mouth was formed in an 'O' shape and her eyes went wide. She slowly looked at me with that expression as I continued to rub her forehead.

"Don't frown, it will stay like that and ruin your beautiful face." I smiled and pecked her on the cheek. I could see her face turn a healthy red and she looked away, pouting with annoyance. I chuckled a little seeing her like this. "You're frowning again." I teased.

"Ugh whatever." She completely forgot what we were talking about and just laid down on my lap. I smiled at her serene expression, still flushed. She was unbelievably adorable.

****

We rested for about an hour and followed Astere to the back of the manor. There, we saw many cages with animals inside them. Some where big, containing beasts like tigers. Others contained dear. There were even smaller creature which contained avian life.

"Wow…" I said sub-consciously. It was stunning, one could set up a whole zoo with all these animals.

"I intend to set up a shop, Thomas. Probably in South Ourannos. For now, check out the animals and see if they are allowed and let me know if they aren't." Travis Volance said to Mr Singford.

He nodded, walking up to each cage and inspecting them.

Suddenly, I felt a presence. One that was unique to everyone's. This one was wild, majestic, and angry. I was attracted to a cage on the far left. It was covered in a beige cloth. My curiosity was insurmountable. I had to find out what that was.

I released Aurora's hand unknowingly and walked toward the cage. "Kale?" I heard a faint voice call out to me. But the pull of the call of this beast was far stronger. I was like a moth drawn to a flame.. I needed to find out what was behind the veil.