Chapter 221: Questioning Aelric

Veyrath’s attempt at taking accountability was commendable, to say the least. But despite the fact that he had tried apologizing and repeatedly promised that he would never commit such an indiscretion again, none of the members of the group seemed willing to believe him.

They simply weren’t ready to accept the fact that Veyrath would change his ways merely because of the words he was currently spouting.

As a matter of fact, it eventually reached a point during Veyrath’s apologies where Caelestra simply cut him off coldly.

And upon witnessing that, Veyrath realized that if he was ever going to earn their forgiveness for his trespass, it would take far more than a few promises and carefully chosen words to make them compromise.

Perhaps, far more than he had accounted for.

Meanwhile, as the members of the group continued their beratement and rebuttal, trying to get Veyrath to understand where he went wrong, Regaleon suddenly spoke once more.

"Okay, that’s enough. Now isn’t the time nor the place to settle whatever quarrels and disputes we have amongst ourselves. If anything, I think we should be taking a proper rest, especially after everything we’ve been through today."

When he said that, the others knew Regaleon was right and stopped wasting their strength on Veyrath.

Today had been the literal embodiment of the phrase a rollercoaster ride.

There had been one twist and turn after another, with several unforeseen developments occurring in rapid succession. From the exhilaration of their breakthroughs, to the confrontation with the Black Stalker, and finally, their recent battle against the pack of Animas, everything had happened almost without pause.

Honestly, it felt as though they had been thrown from one crisis into another, leaving them trapped in a mire of chaos; one that was unexpected if they were being honest with themselves.

Therefore, heeding Regaleon’s words, the group abandoned their confrontation with Veyrath because it simply wasn’t worth pursuing anymore. Besides, they weren’t about to waste the little strength they had left arguing amongst themselves.

The atmosphere amongst them was only beginning to settle when they heard Aelric’s voice from a distance.

The green-eyed youth was already walking toward them, one hand tucked casually into his pocket while the other held a crimson fruit that he was leisurely biting into. Upon seeing that the fight was over, the green-eyed youth knew that there wasn’t going to be any more blockbusters so he simply came down the tree he was relaxing on.

Next to him, a smiling Sylveris followed.

The fourteen-year-old girl’s body practically radiated the joy she was feeling, and there was no doubt that, had it not been for the grimness of the battlefield surrounding them, the little girl would probably have been skipping like a child returning home from a festival.

Clearly, it seemed that she was even more excited that the group survived more than the people who were invoked in the battle themselves.

"Well, would you look at that..." Aelric started, his gaze sweeping across the group.

"You ended up not needing my help with fighting the wolves after all. I guess you really are viable and reliable when it matters, aren’t you?"

Although Aelric’s words contained sincere admiration and approval, none of the group were smiling. If anything, the moment they laid eyes on him, their expressions soured. Some frowned while others simply glared.

"Well, it’s easy for you to say when you weren’t one of those ambushed by a pack of savage wolves." Vaelorin retorted sharply.

His fiery red eyes were filled with indignation and resentment, making his displeasure toward Aelric’s earlier actions unmistakable.

"Oh, come on." Aelric smiled. "You make it sound as though I wasn’t affected by the attack. I mean, I was caught off guard as much as any of you were."

The moment he said that, Caelestra slowly looked him up and down before scoffing.

"Well, we can see that." Sarcasm laced her tone with a biting edge. "Besides, you don’t look like someone who was affected by anything. To me, you appear perfectly fine..."

Her eyes narrowed. "...unlike us, whom you left to face a bunch of bloodthirsty and savage beasts."

There was something resentful and accusatory in her voice that made it obvious she was genuinely unhappy with Aelric.

Aelric turned toward her and placed a hand against his chest before feigning a wounded expression.

"Caelestra..." He gasped with mock indignation, his eyes widening dramatically alongside his mouth. "How could you say such things about me? You should understand the reason why I was like this, shouldn’t you?"

Aelric was still attempting to feign innocence and ignorance when Aureleah suddenly spoke.

"Oh, just cut the bullshit."

The curse slipped through her lips like a dagger through silk.

Aureleah wasn’t one to curse. But it seemed that this matter was serious enough that even her usual sense of modesty and decency had momentarily deserted her.

"I have just one question for you." Her cold gaze settled upon Aelric. "Why is it that when it mattered the most for you to fight by our side, you suddenly ditched us and hid?"

She paused briefly.

"And before you answer that question, don’t tell me you had no idea about the movements of those wolves before they arrived. So why, despite knowing about them, did you fail to warn us so that we could prepare ourselves?"

Although it might have seemed that Aureleah was blaming Aelric for something unrelated to their circumstances—something that could simply be dismissed as an unfortunate accident—that wasn’t actually the case.

There were plenty of grounds for her accusations. More importantly, there was an even more solid basis behind them.

Although Aelric had never revealed his true cultivation base to them, Aureleah had already made her own estimation.

If she had to guess, she would place him at either the full-fledged Rank Two Etheryean Realm or perhaps the Initial Stage of Rank Three.

Either way, he was unquestionably stronger than them in terms of cultivation and that was precisely where the basis of her accusations and reasoning lay.

The Rank One Etheryean Realm was a stage in which a practitioner learned to adapt their body to Aether and use it to stimulate and refine their physical constitution.

In simpler terms, the Realm was primarily concerned with body forging and physique refinement and that was why practitioners at this stage were known as Flesh Artificers.

Moreover, each stage within the Realm focused on a different aspect of physical refinement.

The Initial Stage involved absorbing Aether and using it to awaken the dormant Aether Veins throughout the body. Once that process was completed, a practitioner entered the Middle Stage, where they used the Aether flowing through those veins to stimulate and refine their blood.

The Final Stage involved forging the remaining components of the body as a whole and that includes the bones, muscles and every other part that constituted the physical vessel.

Only after completing this process could a practitioner be considered a full-fledged Rank One Etheryean.

Rank Two, however, was an entirely different matter and its focus belonged to another category altogether.

While Rank One concentrated primarily on the physiological aspect of cultivation, Rank Two shifted toward the psychological.

It was within this Realm that practitioners began refining their minds, strengthening their wills and sharpening their consciousness.

As a result, Rank Two Etheryeans became far more psychologically perceptive than Flesh Artificers.

Their physical strength might not differ dramatically from that of a Rank One Etheryean, but everything concerning their mental faculties was significantly more refined.

For starters, they could develop an ability known as Divine Sense, a foundational ability that would eventually serve as the basis for something far greater—the Avatar Consciousness.

But that wasn’t the matter at hand.

What mattered was that the moment a Rank Two Etheryean developed Divine Sense, they gained a form of sixth sense that existed beyond the limitations of ordinary perception such as sight, hearing, feeling, etc.

Through Divine Sense, a practitioner could perceive things beyond the reach of conventional senses, making them considerably more sensitive and keenly aware of their surroundings than any Flesh Artificer could be.

And it was precisely because of this that Aureleah was certain Aelric should have detected the wolves before Veyrath ever noticed them.

In fact, she was fairly certain that he had sensed them long before Veyrath had. And that was what confused—and somewhat troubled—her.

If Aelric had been capable of sensing the approaching wolves first, why hadn’t he warned them?

And even if he had no intention of doing that, why was it that, when they were about to rely on him for at least some form of assistance, he suddenly abandoned them?

Honestly, Aelric might have had his own reasons.

Perhaps there was some explanation they hadn’t considered but Aureleah wasn’t concerned with that.

All she knew was this: Aelric should have warned them and intervened when the situation demanded it.

But he hadn’t. And that was precisely what she intended to find out...