Chapter 189 Full Of Surprises
For the next couple of minutes, both of them continued in silence.
Since it was a straight journey to this point, there was not much to navigate about the road.
And the monsters that would have served as a threat had either been exonerated by Northern or Dark Terror, or had seen the necessity for serious migration.
So, it wasn't strange that there were no monsters when they were going, and even now that they were coming back.
By this time, the warmth of the daylight star was getting cooler as compared to its state when they were walking here. Ellis had even sweat then, but now he was very fine.
'He seems like he lacked stamina...'
It wasn't like he himself boasted of an amazing level of stamina, but it was beyond average.
Average wouldn't have been able to hold on all night against a massive horde of monsters.
Although that fact was also owed to several reasons. But the entire point was, he did hold on.
And that was owed to his time spent in the rift.
Those treks, that strenuous mining, they might have been suffering, but they achieved something in his body.
Ellis, however, was like a wimpy kid. And strangely... he was beginning to get worried.
Northern shook his head, 'Come off it. Carrying myself is a lot of hassle already. I mean, look at how lacking I am. Worried about another person? Tch, get a grip on yourself.'
"Umm... so..."
Interrupted by Ellis's timid tone, Northern glanced to his side as they both walked forward.
"So... where are you going?... sir."
"I don't know the details, but it's supposed to be some sort of expedition with Raven."
Ellis's eyes lit up with golden sparkling lights.
He quickly got in Northern's front and stopped him, exclaiming:
"You're going out with Lady Raven? Can you take me along? No. You should take me along."
A slight frown crept upon Northern's brow.
"What is this? Are you okay?"
Ellis, however, did not even care what Northern was saying at the moment, his eyes went out of focus as he thought aloud.
"Wait, if I can fit into that your spacious bag, it should be possible, right." His eyes came back to Northern, "Or you could tell her that you want to go with me." He held Northern—
—whose eyes slowly drifted down, to the point of contact between the two of them.
Ellis didn't need to be told before he slowly removed his hand.
"I'm sorry, very sorry." He helped Northern dust his shoulder where he had held him.
"You know, I'm just saying... Lady Raven is a very amazing person."
Northern hissed and walked past him.
'Amazing my foot, that manipulative black fox!'
"Come on, wait up!" Ellis quickly ran after him, begging:
"Seriously, can't you do this one favor for me? I'd be indebted to you for life!"
Northern paused and turned his gaze to him, "You have not yet earned the right to ask for another favor from me. So far, so good, favor has carried you to this point."
Ellis' expression slowly fell. Once again, he was made to remember how pathetic his state was before meeting Northern.
While he didn't feel good hearing that he didn't earn his current place with (from his point of view) such an amazing, strange and strong person as Northern, it was the truth he needed to hear at this moment.
Because upon everything, Northern was still trying to look out for him.
Even though it was an agenda to make Ellis finally be of better use to him.
But in the end, was it not to Ellis' own benefit?
"I'm sorry..." Ellis said in a somber tone.
A tone that suddenly left a bitter taste in Northern's mouth.
"It's good that you know." Even though he felt bad, he didn't care; this was Ellis's reality, sugarcoating anything wasn't going to help the poor guy.
'I'm obviously never going to say pleasing things because I feel bad saying the hurtful truth. I don't care about the crap going on inside him. If he keeps going like this, he's just going to die.'
Northern turned to his front and continued walking.
The silence continued with them until they got back to the estate.
Even in the forest that surrounded the mansion, there were no monsters... well, Northern had dealt with those ones earlier on.
There was probably only one remaining monster in this estate.
Northern's neighbor.
Northern stopped in front of the entrance to the mansion.
Ellis, observing the strange difference in his composure, asked.
"Is something wrong?"
Northern suddenly seemed more calm than usual, his expression was stern, and his eyes were slowly glowing.
The glowing eyes were not common but were also not a strange thing. It could be found on rare occasions in powerful drifters since it is highly believed that the eyes are a core organ that connects one's soul to the environment.
It's possible for a drifter's eyes to glow; it just proved how skilled they are at handling their soul essence.
Of course, he never thought the cause for Northern's own glow could be a practically impossible and unheard reason—powers that were tied to the history of one's bloodline were incredibly rare.
Impossibly rare, in fact.
"Ellis..." Northern's hoarse voice came out so cold that it made chills walk eerily on Ellis' skin.
"Yes...?" He responded...skeptically.
"Today, I will show you something. A fraction of my strength."
Ellis gulped.
Northern looked at him; he still had that stern look, but a small smile graced his lips beautifully.
"It is not to make you fear me or anything. I just want to tell you to never be comfortable with being weak and useless."
'Ouch...'
While that did sting, Ellis paid unwavering attention to the things he was hearing.
Northern stretched his hand up, stretching his body to the left and to the right.
"Crap, after fighting the entire night, my body feels a bit sore."
Ellis scrunched up his eyes and looked inside, then he sharply swung his eyes to Northern.
"Wait, wait, don't tell me..."
Northern cocked his head to the side, his brows knitting in confusion.
"Tell you what?"
"You finally want to fight that thing?" Ellis pointed towards the monster in the mansion.
Northern scoffed, "Finally?"
Ellis narrowed his eyes, trapped in a few beats of silence before his voice managed to break free.
"Wait. You've faced it before?"
Northern nodded, "Yes."
"And you couldn't defeat it and had to run away?"
Northern narrowed his brows in disgust, "No... no way."
Ellis tilted his head back a little and squinted his eyes at Northern, trying to make sense of the things he was saying.
But he only got more confused.
Eventually, he had to ask.
"I don't understand, if you've fought it before... and you didn't lose and run away... did you give up mid-fight?"
Northern shook his head, "No..." A wicked grin slowly formed on his lips. "It surrendered... so I spared it."
Ellis felt his heart drop.