Mixed Blessing System

829  Investigating the Whereabouts of the Companions "Blood, Smoke, let's go back," Lothur said to his two remaining companions, eager to return and deal with the demon that had nearly killed him.

"But already? Wouldn't it be good if we used a different strategy? The demon will use your women as hostages to lure you out, creator." Blood said as she looked into Lothur's silver eyes.

"Yes, he'll probably do that. But if I don't go after him, he'll use them to force me to go to him. So I have no escape. I have to go back and face the wretch. That's the only way out." Lothur said, worried for his women.

Mentally, he wasn't a hybrid who would be ready to leave everything and everyone behind. Lothur was incapable of leaving his women in the hands of that creature, even though they would probably advise him not to follow them to protect himself.

Blood and Smoke were still learning this. But with Lothur's words, they understood that they couldn't suggest that their creator abandon those four.

"So, how do we act?" Smoke asked. "He knows you'll get stronger before you come after him. He'll probably prepare to receive you, creator."

"Yes. But I have no choice." Lothur sighed, wanting revenge but knowing that his situation wasn't that simple.

If he tried to strengthen himself, i.e., absorb the powers of demons and search for his 9th bone, that creature would threaten him with the lives of Rebecca, Viktoria, Elke, and Annaliese.

Lothur's only option was to go after the demon if he didn't want to lose his women!

He said. "Let's return to that place and find out where the enemy went. At my current level, there aren't many things that can get in my way. So I'll fight alone. You will come with me to rescue my women."

With that decided, the two cats climbed onto their master's shoulders without question.

Lothur then distorted space, disappearing from such an area in the blink of an eye.

...

An hour later...

At the same place where the previous battle had taken place, a bathtub-sized chunk of space suddenly distorted, and Lothur walked through it.

Once there, Lothur activated his sight power and looked around, immediately noticing that none of his former enemies were there. Neither his women nor Cykad, something he had expected to see when he arrived in such an area.

So Lothur didn't hesitate to use his One With Nature ability and combine it with his visual ability. In an instant, he was able to get information about beings up to 300 kilometers away from him.

With his level increase, his abilities had doubled or tripled their powers!

All of his abilities had greatly improved!

Blood and Smoke watched their creator's new abilities with open mouths, seeing a river of information flow through Lothur's eyes in a matter of seconds.

'It looks like the bastard is hiding from me... He's planning something.' Lothur realized he couldn't follow a trail back to the level 24 demon.

That demon had used his spatial abilities to flee the area without a trace, just like Blood and Smoke had done earlier.

So, in order to find his women, Lothur would have to search for that creature slowly. But the demon could be anywhere!

He could be in Rablus, or in Norid, or even the Petha Empire, places close to where Lothur was. But he could be in Leopoldine, Thasan, Utrary, in short, anywhere on this continent and even beyond.

Lothur made an ugly expression when he felt it wouldn't be easy to take revenge and save his women.

'Since I can't do much for them in the short term, I'll save Cykad.' He thought to himself.

Lothur had seen the level 24 demon leave Cykad behind. But this beast had not stayed there and died. He had been taken by the Sages of the coalition who had been hunting the young Ritter, probably to answer for his betrayal by allying himself with a hybrid.

Realizing it, Lothur immediately began searching for the Sages who had been in the area earlier.

They also used their spatial abilities to leave the area. However, unlike the level 24 demon, these beings had come to this place earlier without using space to hide their movements. After all, they had been following the demons' tracks for days or even weeks.

That indicated they had left traces along the way, things that Lothur could use to locate them.

'All right, let's see where I'm going with this.' He thought after finding the first tracks and starting his investigation.

Lothur was not a born investigator. But with his skills, verifying information had become extremely easy.

That was quite different from finding someone without tracks. With tracks, he could check them, find possible escape routes, and even signs of enemy communication that might indicate where his current targets might have gone after the previous battle.

With his incredible speed and scope, it would take only four days for Lothur to find a likely trace of Cykad's location!

...

Arriving near a camp where several members of the continent's defense force against hybrids were stationed, Lothur ignored the surrounding barriers and entered the area without ceremony.

Since the strongest in the area was only a level 23 peak Sage, Lothur didn't bother entering the camp and went straight for his targets, using Gravity to pressure all the beings in the area.

With his Gravity appearing even before those humans and beasts understood who he was, Lothur walked through the center of the camp while everyone there felt their bodies become completely immobile.

It was as if they had lost control of their bodies.

'What's going on?'

'What is this power?'

Some of those who didn't have their eyes turned in Lothur's direction wondered, unable to see or perceive him as even their mental probing was blocked.

Lothur glanced quickly at the humans in the group, but none of their Soul Bones caught his eye. So he cut to the chase.

"What happened to the Tyrannosaurus Rex that was next to me a few days ago?" He asked as he looked at the strongest of the about 20 individuals who were looking in his direction.

'That aura... It can't be!' One of the three strongest Sages looking at him felt a chill in his soul as he saw that the hybrid was right before him, but he had already surpassed his previous limits by far.

Unlike the level 24 demon, the members of the coalition hunting Lothur hadn't seen the bone he'd taken with him when he'd fled the battlefield days before. They'd seen the demon destroy the bones of the creatures the young Ritter had killed, so many had no idea he'd escaped with something so valuable.

But seeing him there with a completely different power, the stronger Sages easily understood that Lothur had taken a step closer to completing his Spirit Body.

Now, he was beyond the reach of 'ordinary' experts like them!

Lothur heard only silence as he stared at these stronger men and then smiled mischievously. "Won't you tell me? As much as none of your bones match me, I have people who can absorb them. Besides, my two friends here are starving..."