Chapter 196 About Party Leaders [Part 2]
Raven Light Kageyama.
Raven Light Kageyama.
Raven Light Kageyama.
The words continued to ring inside Northern's mind, bugging him heavily, causing him to rife with so much worry.
'Raven is from the Kageyama clan? The same clan as Shin?'
Although his father changed their clan name and rarely mentioned his original clan, he didn't particularly hide it from Northern.
First of all, the clan flag and sigil were folded somewhere in a box, and Northern had managed to stumble upon it once.
Other times, Shin had senselessly bragged using the name of his clan.
'The great Kageyama clan,' he would say.
Another thing was, during practice, he used strange footwork that was sharp and ruthless in execution, but he never taught them to Northern.
He also never used them on hunts... even when his life depended on it.
Northern remembered asking him several times why that was the case.
Why bother training a battle style you never get to use?
But Shin's response was:
"A day will come where I will have to confront my destiny. Since I have a family now... you and Eisha, I can't keep running away, can I?"
His words always sounded burdened with so much weight that Northern hated asking the question.
Also, it was quite weird how his answers were always consistent, and he never complained that Northern was bugging him with those questions.
Of course, Northern didn't know what he meant.
He just figured that Shin probably still had some family business, one that he had been running away from.
His thoughts seemed to blur the more he thought about it.
'Raven and Shin are from the same clan...?'
As awe-striking as this revelation was, and as much as he wanted to know more about it, he had to control and bury the urge.
There were more important matters to tend to, after all.
"Are you fine?" Annette asked just as he brought his focus back to his surroundings.
Nodding his head, he gave a curt response.
"Yes."
"Alright then, like I was saying, Raven is the first party leader, and I think she's the strongest person in this stronghold."
'I'm not surprised.'
"The second party leader, of course, is me." She pointed to herself with a smug grin.
"Is Raven stronger than you?"
Annette's smug grin disappeared instantly as she scratched her hair thoroughly.
"You do know how to ruin a mood, don't you?"
"I think Lady Raven is stronger than everyone in the stronghold, except Sage Gilbert of..." Ellis froze before he could complete his statement.
Two scornful gazes were shooting lasers at him, making him wish he hadn't spoken.
Northern and Annette hissed simultaneously and took their eyes off him, facing each other.
"I can't say for sure since we both have not fought. But I can't also say that I am capable of defeating her."
Annette exclaimed her next few words with an almost frustrated tone.
"That girl is a monster! I don't understand how someone so young is so rigid and scary. But then, when I remember she is from the Kageyama clan, it makes some sense."
Northern reared his head back slightly.
"Why? Are the Kageyama clan famous for making monsters or something...?"
'That might not be far-fetched, considering Shin. I know he's very strong but hides it a lot of times.'
In fact, Northern suspected that Shin probably asked him to run away that day he awakened because he didn't want him to witness the true Kageyama battle style.
And although Northern was at that moment very worried, he really wanted to see for himself how Shin was going to defeat the monster.
He wasn't sure if he got to see anything or not; there was no way to tell since he wasn't particularly vast and knowledgeable with battle arts and styles... as at then.
Nothing even now.
But there was a slight difference between then and now.
"Anyways, after me, I can point to Ayu and Myu. Ayu is the party leader for party three, and Myu is her assistant."
Northern didn't know their names, but he could guess from how alike they sounded.
"The twins?"
"Yes, the twins."
Annette stroked her jaw slightly.
"And I would say both of them are the third strongest. If I'm to separate them, they are weaker individually. And you never almost see them apart."
"All of you guys are the first set of drifters I met... at the citadel."
Annette smiled ruefully.
"I remember, who would have thought this is what would befall us."
Northern narrowed his eyes a bit and raised them to Annette.
"I never got to ask... how did you people end up here?"
Annette was silent for a few seconds, but it didn't look like she was hesitating, neither did she look like something was wrong.
If she did, Northern would have picked it up instantly because he was very suspicious of everyone from the citadel and thought Annette and the twins were also in on it too.
Although he was still skeptical and wasn't sure if he was right.
But he knew for sure that he was right about Gilbert's involvement in whatever had happened to them and brought them here.
"Me saying that right now will cost you those three cores. You could wait for another time, but right now, we should focus on what you paid me for."
"Smart of you to do that..."
"I'm just meeting your expectations, that's all." Her lips curled up like that of a fox.
Northern ground his teeth internally; he wanted to know so badly, but at the very least, he could tell that Annette didn't look like she was hiding something.
But he also didn't intend to trust that notion, not his instincts, not what she portrayed.
He didn't trust any of them.
Annette's voice resounded in the room, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"Well, for the fourth strongest, I'd say Ryan Johnson. That kid is a prodigy, and his talent is ice manipulation. It's insane. He is so strong now already, and he isn't even a master."
Northern's brain clicked in that moment.
'That must be it! The guy whose talent cost five thousand talent fragments!!'
"Interesting..."
"Yes, then I think Arlem Phebe should be ranked the fifth. He is incredibly strong with an impenetrable wall of defense. Then I think Braham is ranked the sixth... well, you've met Braham already."
Northern downturned his lips in utter disgust and glanced at Ellis, then he commented:
"That nutjob."
"Sure, whatever you think, but that guy is the only healer we have in this stronghold. Braham's healing ability is so significant that he can even heal an amputated hand."
Northern's mouth fell open.
"You've got to be kidding me."
"No, I'm not. This is why Braham is the most precious and pampered party leader in this stronghold. No matter what you do, nothing can happen to him..."
Northern's eyes went out of focus, "I understand when you put it like that. Healing talent abilities are very rare. And having that in this desolation places him on a pedestal far higher than just anyone. No wonder he is so cocky."
"Well, that is that. The seventh rank is Atticus Pemberton, a prodigy too, but his arrogance gets in his way a lot of times. The eighth rank is Vida Beason, the dark skin lady you met with me the other day. The ninth rank is Esmeralda Humphrey. The tenth is Bertram Standish...