SPIRIT SOUL

Their first hunt had already been bountiful.

It was not even afternoon and not one but five souls at the peak of the Fortification stage were killed.

But they were too much for his body to devour at once.

Because of that, Kyle decided to tend to Gaby's wound.

With a better sight, she could hunt even more efficiently.

Furthermore, her motivation would be much higher if she were to know that her hunt gave him more than the beast corpses to sell.

The souls that Kyle received from dead bodies allowed him to utilize his ability to heal her.

It was eerie and somewhat weird for Gaby to see Kyle jump over the corpses trying to grab empty air.

But as she looked at him with a confused expression, he just told her that his ability had recharged.

This was the easiest way to explain something about his ability without actually saying something.

She only shrugged her shoulders at that.

As long as he could help her, she wouldn't really go into the details of how his ability worked.

Gaby would respect his privacy and be just thankful for his help.

Just a simple brush of his hand had been enough to make her feel energized like never before.

He had managed to marginally unclog her veins.

The accumulated, and impure blood of the blood Nasga that had clogged her veins had receded a little bit, helping Gaby a lot.

In the end, the Blood Nasga's blood had fused with her eyes, further damaging them during the last three years.

Following that, the infection had caused her eyeball to rot away.

As such, she had long since accepted that one day she would turn completely blind.

That was until Kyle had shown up and decided to help her.

When they had stored the corpses, Kyle lifted his hand.

His emerald-colored eyes gleamed vibrantly as he got ready to absorb more souls.

Thus, the three souls at the peak Fortification stage channeled into the Nurture ability like water gushing through a broken dam.

Gaby flinched when his hand reached for her head but Kyle remained calm as he reassuringly said,

"Please hold still. The potency of my ability should be better when I touch the area closest to the wound!"

'Should be?' Gaby thought, in surprise but managed to not blurt out.

Somehow, she couldn't help but think that he was either teasing her or experimenting with her.

Yet, considering the situation, Gaby hoped it to be the former.

She relaxed when Kyle's index finger and middle finger touched her forehead, right in the center of her brows.

A soothing sensation spread from his fingers, seeping into her face.

It enveloped the area around her eyes which she closed out of reflex.

Within seconds, the energy he had gained from three peak Fortification beasts was used up.

Thus, after he had partially healed Gaby, he turned to Selene.

His eyes were still gleaming vibrantly as he faced her with a faint smile.

"I didn't forget you, Selene. Come here!"

She jumped towards him with an overjoyed expression, while slightly bowing her head in front of Kyle.

"Eh...Selene, you know that I don't need your head, right?"

Kyle suppressed his chuckle while trying to remain serious. Selene frowned at that as he grasped one of her arms.

Releasing the remaining energy within the Nurture ability, Kyle directed it towards Selene.

Though this wasn't the first time he was healing her, she exclaimed in joy.

The calm and soothing energy that spread through her was several times more potent than the small bursts she received normally.

? This was obvious and Kyle couldn't help but think that Selene was squealing like an excited puppy. Yet, he was unable to prevent smiling at her.

A moment later he noticed something which caused him to take out a small piece of cloth.

"Is that the blood of the Blood Nasga?" Kyle asked, looking at Gaby.

Two thick droplets of dark-red blood had trickled down her cheeks.

She just nodded her head in response, and only muttered "Thanks" in a soft voice.

Taking the piece of cloth, she wiped her eyes gently.

Despite acting as if she was unbothered, her expressions gave away her true feelings.

Kyle could see a faint smile on her face which she was trying to hide by all means.

But, he refrained from commenting and let her adjust to the slight changes in her body.

'Well, it's understandable for her to be so happy!'

Had Kyle been in her place he would have had a similar reaction.

He could understand how Gaby must have spent the last three years in despair and what his offer must have meant to her.

In the end, he was but a stranger who had suddenly appeared and offered her something that she had given up on finding.

Not only had he proposed to heal her disease, but he actually proved that he could do it.

Kyle, an ordinary-looking young man, who she had never met before could do what the town's healer couldn't.

But, they couldn't dwell on the short moment of joy.

Time was ticking and they had to hunt lots of beasts until late at night.

As such, Kyle could only interrupt the two overjoyed women as he asked,

"Shall we continue our hunt? We don't have all day!"

Kyle smiled, thinking that he had cracked an amazing joke.

However, Selene just squinted her eyes and meekly followed her master.

In the end, Selene had yet to come to a conclusion about her relationship with Kyle.

She wasn't sure if he was her master, an ordinary companion, her savior, or more.

She had never been in a situation where she could make a choice about anything.

Fate had been cruel to her but seemed to finally give her some respite in the form of Kyle.

As such, she wanted to stay with him forever, but was that what Kyle wanted?

He may say that he wanted a companion to adventure with, but was that really the case? Selene didn't know for sure!

Having lived the majority of her life as a slave, she knew little about the world or its many mysteries.

It was only Kyle's unwavering trust that had revived some hope in her.

The way he had casually shared his unique traits made her believe that he depended on her, somehow…

Despite that, she felt uncomfortable just by the thought that Kyle could abandon her.

Since the incident of her first failed hunt, Selene had been able to hide her insecurities.

But she had just pushed them in a far corner like one would sweep a pile of dirt under the rug.

Hiding them didn't mean they had disappeared.

Thus, her insecurities would reappear at the oddest of times, without any warning.

It would make her lose faith in herself all over again but one look at Kyle would give her the strength to fight them.

Her master was oblivious to the internal struggle that she fought on a daily basis.

But Selene's past had left more scars than he could ever assume.

Some wounds never truly healed, even with something as distinct as his Nurture ability.

Thus, she listened to every single word spoken by him intently.

She did not voice out her own opinion as long as he did not specifically ask for it.

Selene followed Kyle quickly, leaving Gaby behind.

She was still trying to hide her joy, only to see that the other two had already left!

'I won't be able to hunt much faster just because you push us around, you know?!' She grumbled to herself but refrained from commenting.

Gaby didn't want to risk annoying Kyle and losing the opportunity she had desperately sought for the last three years.

'Once I'm fully recuperated, I will be able to find out the entire truth about the Blood Nasga's attack.

That is when I would also find evidence about Dirk's schemings!!'

With that thought, she followed Kyle and Selene hastily.

Doubt had been eating at her ever since Kyle had revealed his secret trait. She couldn't keep it to herself and blurted out,

"If you don't mind me asking, will your ability work better if I kill stronger beasts, or does that make no difference?"

Gaby seemed to have comprehended the gist of his Nurture ability.

And the answer might as well motivate her to hunt even stronger beasts.

But that would depend on whether he told her the truth or not.

And her smile faded when he gave her a very vague answer.

"You could say so."

In the end, Kyle had to pay attention to whom he could trust and who he had to be careful of.

There was always the possibility that others might want to exploit his ability. As such, they would use their higher cultivation base to manipulate or control him.

Due to his low strength and cultivation base, Kyle could be forced into being their subordinate, or even slave.

Nevertheless, Gaby already knew a lot about the Nurture ability.

His vague answer could motivate her further as he hadn't denied the possibility.

It had been a risk to reveal his well-guarded secret to her.

Kyle was, by no means a samaritan and even he knew how to play his cards.

Kyle was of the opinion that he could earn more by giving Gaby the credits.

It was a way for him to ensure that she wouldn't expose his ability.

And, as long as she did not turn greedy once her goals had been achieved, it was fine with him.

Fortunately, in order to take her revenge, she had to be fully prepared which would take some time.

This was something Kyle had already taken into consideration. It was the reason for his confidence that Gaby wouldn't even have time to tell everyone about his ability.

She shouldn't even have someone except the Guildmaster to rely on either way!

At least that was how Kyle assumed her relationship with the others.

In the last few days, he had noticed that her ice-cold behavior had made people want to stay away from her.

As such, she probably didn't have people she could be close to.

While walking through the Sadorla forest for half an hour, Kyle seemed to have a particular direction in mind.

He wasn't roaming around but walking straight ahead which Gaby noticed.

In the beginning, this had been uninteresting to notice.

She had simply that Kyle knew the rough direction in which stronger beasts were hiding.

And her assumptions were proven to be true in just an hour.

They encountered a total of 5 large beast packs at the peak Fortification stage after following Kyle.

This made her realize that Kyle had planned everything!

It was also not a coincidence that every pack was larger than the one they had encountered a few minutes before.

The difficulty was slowly increasing but it had its perks.

Each time they defeated the ferocious beasts with the help of Gaby's archery skills, Kyle used his ability to tend to Selene and Gaby's wound.

Gaby's share of his ability was slowly decreasing as he had focussed on Selene first.

Kyle wanted to make use of Gaby's strength in order to finish his tasks first before anything else.

She could be healed later too, but the faster Selene was fully healed the better.

While doing all this, Kyle didn't forget about his Spirit Soul.

The Emerald Fox's mutation and the potential path had to be nurtured as well.

Thus, its priority was higher than tending to Gaby's wound.

Thus Gaby's portion remained at a share of at most three devoured souls at the peak Fortification stage.

This made Gaby believe that the number of beasts she killed didn't matter.

Rather, it was the cultivation base of beasts that was the deciding factor on the Nurture ability's potency.

Owing to this, he used psychology to play with her mind and she seemed to take the bait.

Her determination to hunt beasts at the Vitae stage soared.

When Kyle noticed this, he knew that his plan was working. And by looking at Selene he realized that she would be completely healed soon enough.

Based on the faint trace of soul particles left to empower his Nurture ability, he realized that there was not much left to be tended and vigorized in her.

Soon, she could be nurtured normally and the fact made him happy.

It was something Kyle would do once he had solved everything else.

His plans were progressing rapidly and everything was playing into his hands.

This allowed him to make use of every single advantage he was gaining.

Averting his attention to Gaby, he looked into her eyes.

They had regained some of their vigor while small droplets of impure blood continued to trickle down her cheeks.

Kyle couldn't prevent smiling lightly as he noticed that he had gained Gaby's full attention.

Her attitude towards him had completely changed.

No longer was she indifferent and cold to him.

'I got her hooked, I see!'

"Now that you've practiced archery for the last hunt and regained your lost touch, shall we hunt a beast at the Vitae stage?"