Book 2 Chapter 76

Two figures wandered through rough mountain trails, one of them using her eyes to search for a potential quarry, and the other using her spiritual senses while surrounded by a small group of spirits. Willow felt it was a nice day to walk around in the wilderness with the majority of her friends floating around her. Calypso was barred from participating due to her tendency to wander off, and the twins stayed hidden on the off chance their presence would scare off their hunt target.

So far, not much had been found. Willow had of course sensed some small forms of life, but Grandma Thea wanted to bring home something bigger for the group.

Her grandmother eventually broke the slightly awkward silence between the two of them. “If your sister had joined us we would’ve covered far more ground by now.”

The two of them had asked her, but Maple had said that she wanted some time alone for now. She’d also tried to talk Willow out of going on the impromptu hunting trip, but the girl had refused. She wanted to spend as much time with her grandmother as possible, and this seemed like a great opportunity.

Though her sister’s absence did make the trip a bit more difficult for them.

“I hope she feels less grumpy soon. I don’t like it when people fight.”

It certainly didn’t help that she could feel the emotional states of both sides in any particular argument, but mostly she just preferred when the people around her were happy, or at the very least not upset.

“Most people dislike conflict between family members, but I feel your sensory abilities might be a contributing factor for you?” Her grandmother had been asking questions of a similar nature for a while now, trying to get a better grasp of what her granddaughter’s capabilities were. However this was the first that touched on her sensing the emotional states of others.

Willow nodded hesitantly. “Kind of? I figured out when I was little that how people’s qi move in their core is based around certain emotions. It was… helpful in letting me know how others felt, but it comes with some downsides like knowing how upset both sides are in an argument. I seem to have a bit of trouble figuring stuff like that out otherwise.”

She was just a little bit broken that way, but she tried not to think about it like that anymore.

Madame Park’s lessons had helped immensely in teaching her why people often behaved the way they did, but they unfortunately hadn’t had enough time together for her to learn every single edge case.

One of a couple different reasons she was upset that she had to stop her training with the Madame partway through.

Her grandmother hummed in acknowledgement. “I wonder if the two things are linked in some way? I’ve heard of a few others who are a bit odd in their mannerisms, but have some sort of talent or ability that makes them too valuable for their families to disregard them outright.”

She looked at Willow a bit closer. “Such tendencies aren’t common in my family to my knowledge though. Perhaps it’s more common on your father’s side?”

Her brows knit in concern for a moment before she shook her head, as if she was shaking loose an unpleasant thought.

“Nevermind, if you’ve found ways to make up for your eccentricities then it’s fine. Besides, if you manage to walk your rather… unique path, then you’ll be powerful enough that people will no longer question your oddities.”

Willow was unsure how she felt about the way her grandmother had phrased that, but decided to accept what the older woman had said at face value.

If she was strong, then people would be more willing to accept her.

Another reason she couldn’t slack off on her training.

Which reminded her…

“Grandma, can you use that pressure technique that you do when I train my martial forms later? I’m used to using weights when I do it, but I don’t have any of my own.”

Her grandmother was quite amused by the question, giving Willow a bemused smirk as she replied. “If your mother was around to hear you asking for that, I’m sure she’d be shocked. She absolutely hated the weight training I had her do.”

Melancholy touched her core for a moment, before being shaken away. “It would be no issue. I was planning on being thorough in your training anyway, and while I’d already assumed you’d been taught some sort of martial style from that shield on your back, it’s good to get that confirmed.”

Willow was planning on explaining more of her combat style, but she sensed an oddity at the periphery of her senses, and dedicated the majority of her focus on that instead. The shape of it felt close to one of the goats she’d seen on the way to the mountains, but far bigger and absolutely bursting with earth qi.

She relayed what she was sensing to her grandmother, and the older woman immediately stilled, likely recognizing what she had found.

“That’s likely one of the tremor goats that live in the area. Good source of meat, and their cores can be used to make those light crystals in my home.” She gave Willow an appraising look. “Though it might be a bit much for a first hunt. As their name suggests they shake the earth to attack, which makes footing treacherous and can cause landslides or cracks in the earth if they’re powerful enough.”

Willow undid the straps keeping her shield on her back and went through the steps to fasten it to her arm, and with a quick sending to Xandra the reflection entered it. She then gave her grandmother as confident a look she could muster.

“I can keep myself safe.”

She could also make use of her offensive techniques without worry against such a spirit beast, but decided that her grandmother was probably more worried about her safety than she was about her capacity for violence.

There was a part of her that felt bad for the goat, this was likely his home after all, but her family needed to eat, and she’d make sure that nothing would go to waste.

Grandma Thea seemed satisfied by her granddaughter’s confidence, but still set some ground rules.

“Stay back and focus on your safety for now. If I say run, then you run. No arguments, understood?”

Willow nodded and the two of them carefully made their way over to where she’d sensed the spirit beast.

They found the goat grazing on a sparse hillside, its horns and hooves were made entirely from stone, and its pelt looked rough and coarse. The beast was as tall as Rotter, but not nearly as wide.

It noticed the two intruders fairly quickly and grew alert, stamping its foot on the ground in warning.

Willow doubted that she’d be able to close the distance between her and the spirit beast fast enough to deal any damage before the goat could retaliate.

Grandma Thea didn’t have any such issue. With a stomp of her foot and a pulse of heavy qi she was essentially dragged by the ground at high speed in a surprisingly controlled manner. She then released that heavy pressure on the goat, causing its legs to buckle to the ground where a spike of earth pierced its skull, ending its life after its body thrashed for a few moments.

Willow was shocked that it took so little time for her grandmother to dispatch the spirit beast, especially after how much she’d emphasized how dangerous it’d be for her.

Though she supposed if things hadn’t gone to plan then things could’ve gone catastrophically wrong. She’d felt the beast preparing an attack of its own, and who knew what it could’ve done on the hillside they were on.

Her grandmother confirmed as much with the relief flooding her core after she verified the goat’s demise, though she didn't vocalise it at all.

Instead she just made a small sled of stone under the carcass and gestured for Willow to follow her back home.