The Whisper of the Nightingale

Chapter 24: ...Or Not To Help?

Raven cursed. With Hog pursuing the bandit she wouldn't be able to act without drawing attention to herself.

The man with the chest had entered the forest not far from Raven and Hog soon rushed by her as well. Raven considered her options for a moment but after a quick glance back at the battle taking place in the campsite, she made up her mind and swiftly descended from the tree. Silently, she started running after Hog and the escaping bandit. Even without any Divine Skill, Raven barely made any sounds as she rushed through the forest; her feet pattered lightly against the forest floor and her breathing was practically non-existent, despite pushing her muscles to their limits.

'The distance is growing..' Raven frowned.

She had hoped that she would be able to keep up by relying on her physique alone but clearly that wasn't the case. At the moment there was roughly a hundred meters between her and Hog - and an additional seventy meters or so to the bandit - but the distance was slowly growing. She could feel the spirit essence the Hog in front of her had activated; most likely both of them were using agility type Martial Skills to increase their speed, just that the bandit was using his odd movement skill from before and therefore couldn't be sensed.

'Well, they shouldn't notice my spirit essence at this distance.'

Raven's red spirit core stirred and strong spirit essence flowed to her legs and feet. Milliseconds later, Raven's figure grew hazy as she dashed forward with sudden speed. Shadow Walk might not be a skill made for long-distance running, but it was enough for Raven to catch up a bit and keep herself at a average distance of just over sixty meters from Hog.

The chase continued for another twenty minutes before the bandit suddenly came to a stop. Raven noticed his abrupt halt before Hog did and immediately slowed down, but instead of following behind Hog, she started to slowly move towards the bandit's left flank.

'Why stop now?' wondered Raven as she moved to the left.

Either the bandit had grown tired of running and decided to make a stance or there was an other reason for him to stop running at this time and place. She used all of her senses to try and figure out why the bandit had stopped here of all places, but noting was out of the ordinary; the area was just like any other part of this mountain forest - a sloping land covered with densely packed trees. However, the bandit didn't seem very tired which forced Raven to suspect the later option nonetheless.

While Raven silently moved to the side, Hog had already caught up with the bandit and they were now standing less then ten meters apart.

"Well then, it was a good strategy but ultimately you were caught." said Hog with a steady voice that was seemingly unfazed by the intense chase that had just ended. "Hand me the chest and I will let you leave unharmed."

The bandit sneered. "I think you've got it the wrong way around, sir mercenary. Leave now and I won't kill you."

Hog raised an eyebrow in surprise before he shook his head. The bandit in front of him looked fairly viscous, with a long scar running down his right cheek, but he was clearly not older than, at most, thirty. Considering the bandit's occupation and age, it was doubtful that he had a higher cultivation than Hog himself - Hog was considered fairly skilled in this area, he had after all managed to become a peak Adept despite only attending a low level spirit academy, he even could have joined one of the imperial army as a soldier if he had wanted to.

"I warned you." Hog said as his spirit essence surged into his sword.

Of to the side, Raven smiled ruefully as she felt the pressure of Hog's spirit essence flow over her. 'There really is a big difference between low Adepts and peak high Adepts... his essence is so much denser than mine. He would be a very tough opponent for me.'