The moment Simon moved his head to the side, an arrow whizzed past his face, and it nearly nicked his cheek.
His instincts warned him again, and his eyes flashed with a cold light.
He quickly turned, saw another arrow coming for him, and he wanted to dodge it again, but his beastial instincts warned him that doing so would still cause him harm.
He frowned, then his decades of experience on countless battlefields made him realize why his instincts warned him of this.
His right hand moved, and he grabbed the arrow midair, turned it with a slight movement of his fingers so that the tip of the arrow could face Aruzith and the rest.
A second later, he threw it at the group of five.
Aruzith’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief, and he quickly jumped forward.
The arrow struck one of the four in the chest, and he staggered backward. Before he could make another movement or make a sound, the arrow exploded and so did the unlucky candidate.
BOOM!
The three other candidates were close to the explosion which was like three grenades going off, and the shrapnels, shards, and extremely hot liquid of the arrow struck them.
They screamed their last.
The frightened candidates all took several steps back in shock, and the fear they already had toward Simon increased when they saw this.
Step
Simon approached Aruzith who quickly got to his feet when he saw Simon approach him.
He nocked his arrow and fired it at Simon, but Simon indifferently dodged the arrow, allowing it to whizz past his face.
The arrow struck an unlucky frightened candidate in the neck, killing her.
"Damn it." Aruzith cursed, then he tried nocking another arrow, but Simon appeared in front of him and he dropped it and launched a fast attack with the dagger he had kept hidden.
He went for Simon’s neck, but Simon indifferently slapped Azurith’s hand away with the back of his fist, then he punched him in the face with his free hand.
Bam!
Azurith staggered and dropped the dagger, and Simon took a step forward and punched him in the face again.
Azurith staggered once again, and Simon kept on punching him in the face even when Azurith tried fighting back or defending himself.
He was like a child before Simon, and Simon treated him like one.
Azurith grunted, cursed, and roared, but he accomplished nothing.
Grab
Simon held his robe and stared at the poor soul.
The reason why Simon referred to Azurith as a poor soul was not because of how he treated him, but his current appearance.
Irkalla’s were hunters. The forest was their domain, and fighting a trained Irkalla in a forest could cost one their life.
Apart from their excellent hunting senses, Irkalla’s had a very good eyesight and a third eye that allowed them to see even more than normal.
Their third eye could see through objects almost like they weren’t there, and it could even see two seconds into the future of a living being.
Many humans who encountered the Irkallas in his time died because the Irkallas always seemed to know their next move.
They were snipers who knew what your next move would be.
Simon had also suffered his fair share because of them, but he was experienced and he understood how to defeat them despite their ability.
Irkallas could see two seconds into the future of a living being, which allowed them to predict what their enemy’s next move would be.
The solution Simon came up with for himself is to think three or even more steps ahead of what could happen.
This was not an easy feat, and it was where experience came in.
Aruzith was seeing every punch he was about to release even before he moved his arm, but whenever he tried to react, Simon would change the directory of his fist and still hit him in the face.
Aruzith felt like he was running mad, but Simon did not care.
If he was battling an Irkalla with experience, it would not be so easy, and his physical attributes and reflexes would become the most important tools for him to survive and win.
Once again, this was not why Simon called Aruzith a poor soul.
The main reason he called Aruzith a poor soul is because his current appearance was vastly different from that of the Irkallas.
His arms and legs looked like dried up barks of trees, and his face was even worse. Half of his face was normal, while the other half was lifeless, not moving, and looked like a dead tree bark.
Whenever Aruzith spoke, only one part of his mouth moved, the other part did not.
Even his eyes had transformed into wood, but Aruzith did not seem to notice this as he glared at Simon.
’This is what happens if one eats the Longevity Fruit of the Odrasils. They turn into puppets who would do anything for the Odrasil.’
Despite the terrible memories he had of the Odrasils, his expression remained indifferent as he stared at Aruzith who was a victim of an Odrasil.
He did not care about the child one bit, and he was also not here to save him.
He just wanted to kill the Odrasil.
"Where is he?" Simon asked, and he was not surprised when Aruzith laughed and nearly spat on his face.
He immediately grabbed Aruzith’s neck tightly, preventing him from spitting on his face.
"Hehehehe!"
Aruzith laughed madly, and Simon shook his head with a disappointed expression.
Without saying anything else, he raised his left hand and stabbed Aruzith’s heart with his claws.
"A shame. If you were not amongst the first to have eaten the fruit, you’d have lived longer."
When Simon saw how much Aruzith had transformed, he knew that the chances of getting the location of the Odrasil was miniscule.
"At least I know his name is Varreth." Simon said softly, then he turned and looked at the remaining candidates who trembled at his gaze.
"Now, does anybody know where your master is?"
The candidates remained silent, and Simon sighed.
He was about to speak, but Thorgan’s voice rippled through the air, causing Simon and the others to look in his direction.
"Brother! A little help!"