Chapter 433: Hiding


    ?


    The arrow was sudden and sharp, appearing before Ss so fast that the sound hardly registered at all. And yet...


    Ss reached out and grabbed it. The arrow viciously spun in his palms, but his Aether Skin turned it to ice. The spinning slowed beneath his Ice-Poison Runes and a cancerous growth of blue patterns raced across its surface.


    However, before his Ice-Poison could turn it to ash, his Scorned Wraps were first.


    PA.


    The arrow exploded into a rain of fine powder, obscuring Ss'' visage somewhat before fluttering down toward the ground.


    ''Okay...'' Ss thought silently as he stepped forward into empty air.


    He began plummeting from the skies, seemingly making himself a live target.


    The archer realized this quickly, but Ss was still a step faster. His Gluttony Seed activated first and deflected a powerful arrow to the side. Then he sent out a pulse of telekinesis that seemed to act as an extension of his arm, pushing him out of the way of a second.


    By the time he hit the ground, the archer hadn''t had the chance to fire a third before he was obscured by Mark''s figure.


    Ss raised a finger and the two arrows spiraling wildly in the air, the two that he had just dodged, were forcefully severed from the archer''s control.


    The Sylph''s eyes widened, but Ss was too fast.


    Even without fusing with the Basilisk King, the Physical of his telekinesis was over 600 now with Madness activated.


    And it showed.


    The arrows whizzed through the air, curling so fast around the trees that the only one who spotted them was the archer who had fired them in the first ce.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t speak nearly fast enough tomunicate with the others. BANG! BANG!


    The heads of two wolfmen exploded, only for the bone axes they had been carrying to be easily plucked from their grips and spiral into the chests of two more of theirpanions.


    The eyes of the two remaining Sylphs widened and they instantly sent out pulses of Aether to block Ss'' next round of telekinesis, but that did little to deter Mark, who sent out a pulse of his own.


    A shield bash attack countered, and Bloom''s spear snaked through the air like a streaking silver star.


    Ss drew two fingers across the air and two normal <Chilling Scythes> rushed forward, causing enough of a distraction for the siblings to finish the job.


    As thest Sylph fell, the two stood there gasping for breath.


    They were in quite a sorry state. Mark was covered in blood, presumably having had to take the bulk of the punishment for his sister. However, Ss could see that one of Bloom''s wrists was terribly bruised and she had barely been putting any power into that arm.


    At a nce, it was clear that they were ambushed. But it couldn''t be that simple, or else with the skills of these two, they wouldn''t have been caught so t-footed.


    Eventually, the siblings managed to finally look over at Ss.


    Truthfully, he looked a bit ridiculous by modern standards... or even logical standards, but there was no doubt that he was in the best shape of them all.


    He wore nothing but what looked like a soft, seal-skin skirt. He didn''t have any shoes on his feet or a shirt on his back. His gaze had an icy green hue to it, and although it felt like a trick of the light at first, the more they looked, the more certain they were that his eyes were well and truly glowing... although only slightly.


    Byparison, the two of them were decked out in the best treasures and armor that money could buy at this point in the Summoning. And somehow, they still felt inferior.


    They could feel Ss probe their stats, but they didn''t even have the right to resist.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    [Mark Grimde (FF+)]


    [Level: 21]


    -


    [Bloom Grimde (FFF-)]


    [Level: 21]


    Ss looked at their stats in more detail. Other than the fact their Grades seemed to have ticked up by one, they really weren''t that impressive.


    Bloom''s best Physical stat was her Dexterity, but that was only 453 stat points, while her best stat overall, Intelligence, was just barely over 500.


    Byparison, Mark''s Constitution was almost 600, but he didn''t have another stat over 500.


    However... their stats weren''t everything.


    Not only did these two also have de Aura, the first time Ss met Bloom, he had sensed her Comprehension. Now, he could feel it even more clearly.


    On top of that, there was all the equipment they were wearing.


    Scanning them one by one, their stats were an average of over 600, with their best clearing 700. Mark''s Constitution, shield and armor included, was almost into the quadruple digits. By now, the gap between those with good equipment and without was bing ringly obvious.


    The siblings felt a little ufortable with Ss'' stare. It was very rude to simply scan someone like this, but it also wasn''t something that most could pull off.


    They had counter Skills, Mental protection Treasures, and all sorts of other tricks and gadgets. But they seemed useless before Ss'' eyes.


    Mark was the first to clear his throat. "Ss, we''ve been wondering where you''ve been. Holy hell, you really saved our bacon this time."


    "I was dyed by some matters and got stuck in a Dungeon," Ss replied. "I was only able


    to return now."


    The two nodded, but though he was telling the truth, Ss could also tell they didn''t believe


    him.


    "But this situation seems a bit odd," Ss continued. "What happened?"


    The two siblings looked toward one another and Mark sighed.


    "It''s a long story. We''ve really been getting fucked from all sides. Right now we''re on a Quest to secure a trade route, but as you might expect... things didn''t exactly go as nned."


    Ss frowned inwardly. A trade route? That was most likely between Lucius'' city and the System City. But that attack was clearly headed by Sylphs that should also be from the System


    City.


    Odd.


    These two were hiding something.