Chapter 148 Chasing Tracks

As the workers in the surrounding area ran back and forth in search of safe shelters, Elke unconsciously grabbed onto one of Lothur's arms.

At the same time, this silver-haired man sharpened his gaze, observing the area, trying to understand what was happening.

'That looks like a typical earthquake...' He was thinking about it, but suddenly the energy pulse that Natascha had warned them about came from outside that place.

Such a thing was like a shockwave, without the typical characteristic of matter present in the air, having only the spiritual component.

In any case, this pulse formed a phenomenon that could be seen by cultivators as well as a shockwave formed from an explosion.

Elke and Lothur noticed this semi-transparent wave coming in the direction of this building from somewhere outside the area.

Such a thing made the young redhead hugging one of Lothur's arms tremble, feeling as if her energies had been messed up in a way she could not use her powers.

However, Lothur did not feel the same, only having seen the phenomenon in front of him and sensing the direction from which it was coming.

'It looks like that's coming from the woods on the south side of this city...' He frowned, feeling that this had been too easy.

"Elke, are you okay? Did you feel that?" He asked as he looked at the beauty, who already had a few drops of sweat on her forehead given the tension she had just felt.

She did not seem to hear him, remaining with her eyes closed while she had an expression on her face similar to that of people with headaches. "Elke?" He wrapped his arms around her, unconsciously protecting his woman.

Meanwhile, he observed the surroundings and saw that many of the mortals previously working there had disappeared from the area, but some animals seemed to have passed out.

'That is a great inconvenience. How can they work if every hour something like this comes up?' Lothur wondered when finally Elke stopped feeling sick and looked at him.

"Lothur?" She said in a slightly tired tone, but no longer feeling the effects of that pulse still going through the area.

"Are you okay? What did you feel?" He asked.

"I'm not very well. Just now, I felt like I was going to pass out, but when you hugged me, I felt better." She said, looking into his eyes. "Other than that, I didn't feel anything else."

Hearing that, Lothur realized the problem. 'That must be why Natascha's family hired a mission at the academy. The cultivators in her organization probably couldn't feel what I just realized because of this pulse...'

Lothur had already realized that no matter how powerful the people in his surroundings were, he did not feel oppressed by their cultivation pressure.

Cultivation pressure was something naturally released by cultivators. Those people were like energy reactors with their 'small' energy fields, which could affect other individuals with weaker energy fields.

That was something that, without the use of special techniques or unique artifacts, could not be contained.

Lothur had learned this in his time in the academy library. And since he had never felt this kind of influence before, even when facing Viktoria's furious mother, he knew that he had an ability that protected him from cultivation pressure!

Thus his earlier conclusion!

"Well, I think I've found the direction of the problem, so let's just wait for those effects to end before we continue." He commented as he observed the site, seeing how the cracks in the walls of the area were increasing in size and quantity.

Meanwhile, Elke was watching him, noting how he did not seem to feel the least bit bad in this situation. 'Is that because he is stronger and more talented than me?' She clenched her fists, feeling that she had to try harder not to fall too far behind.

Lothur then felt the effects of the pulse gradually diminishing, paying attention to this to determine more precisely the location he should pursue.

'We will head south of this place until we reach the forest. After that, we will wait for the next pulse to locate more precisely the place of interest...' He planned in silence.

A minute later, the effect ceased, and Lothur let Elke out of his embrace. "Shall we go there? I have an idea where we should go."

"Oh? Really? But..." She looked down at her legs and felt ashamed that she was so weak.

Lothur realized the problem and laughed. "You're tired, right? No problem, I'll carry you on my back."

He lowered himself in front of her, and she watched him in silence, swallowing her saliva in determination before doing what was necessary.

"Ahhh!" Elke cried in surprise after Lothur stood up, with him using his arms to squeeze her legs while she hugged his neck tightly.

He looked at her and laughed before starting to head toward his destination.

...

After a few minutes, Lothur and Elke finally left the built part of Lewerenz, arriving at a grassy area where some somewhat different beings were working.

Elke remained embraced with her lover's neck and said in one of his ears. "Do you see those men with horns on their heads?"

"Hmm, those must be humanoid beasts, right?" He asked, this being his first time seeing one of those.

Elke shook her head in agreement and said. "Yes, humanoid beasts are strong physically. They say that on average, they are up to 100% physically stronger than humans of the same level."

"That, of course, depends on the beast race they descended from."

Humanoid spiritual beasts were a mixture of humans and beasts. That way, there were several types of them since beasts capable of cultivation had countless races with different characteristics.

So, the characteristics of humanoid spiritual beasts varied greatly!

Elke continued. "Due to the strength of humanoid beasts descended from physically powerful beasts, many of them can be seen doing slave labor in fields around human states."

While listening to this, Lothur observed a being with two pointed horns on his head working from a distance from them. He had a hairy body, a necklace on his neck, and a look of disgust on his human face as he fed a bunch of animals.

He then asked her. "Isn't that dangerous? I hear there are a lot of humanoid beasts in Concordia..."

"No," Elke shook her head. "Most enslaved humanoid beasts are losers of battles or wars between other races. So, apart from their families, hardly anyone would be bothered by the condition of these individuals."

Humanoid spiritual beasts had a half-human, half-beast culture. Because of this, they had some traditions, and worldviews, that differed significantly from that of humans.

For example, a family of humanoid spiritual beasts was much more likely to abandon a 'defective' child than a human household.

Obviously, there were those humanoid spiritual beasts who would not do this and humans who would. But this was the exception; as a rule, those beings were much more brutal in their traditions and upbringing than humans.

Because of this, hardly one of them would feel bad that a fellow humanoid spiritual beast was enslaved after losing a battle.

It was only natural that the losing side would be at the mercy of the victor!

"But if a human group enslaves innocent humanoid beast, children, or weak individuals, that would be a problem. Those races despise cowardly and weak acts..." She finished.

"I see..." Lothur stopped watching that individual when they finally reached an area with a higher density of trees.

"Well, let's stop further ahead to check out the area."

"Okay!"

...

Meanwhile, in Lewerenz...

After Lothur left the Herrmann family estate with Elke on his back, a luxurious carriage stopped in front of that place.

There, a person who was in one of the alleys noticed the arrival of that vehicle and ran to its side.

"Well?" A young voice came from inside that carriage, where two young men were sitting.

The person outside the carriage then said. "Young master, those two have set off toward the south. They are being pursued, so if the young master wants, we can follow the hints left by my partner."

"Oh? Did they go outside the city? To the south?" The young master looked at his subordinate inside that carriage.

The minion then looked at the red-haired boy and said his opinion. "Young master, there is a lake near that area. Maybe those two have gone to have fun..."

"Well, she said they were a couple, so that's not strange."

Harris felt that this would be an excellent opportunity to humiliate the mortal who had dared to threaten him earlier.

'He doesn't know with whom he messed with...' He clenched his fists in anger. 'Does he think that just because I'm in Lewerenz, I'm one of those bumpkins?'

'Humph!'

'I'm only here for Miss Herrmann! If it weren't for that, I would be returning with my master to Reinhard!'

Reinhard was the second largest city in Linn Province, where some of the most substantial competing powers of those of Peters City were.

Harry had only found time to visit his family's old city and see his former love interest because of his master's recent passage through Peters City.

Considering this and his arrogance, Harry could not forgive someone like Lothur!

The fact that this fellow looked so much better than him and still had the beautiful Elke at his side infuriated him even more!

He then looked out of his carriage and said. "Come on. I want you to show us the way!"