Northern and Ellis stood silently against each other for a couple of seconds.
Then Northern released his grip on the poor guy, looking down as he crumbled to his knees.
“What was that? What ability was that?”
Ellis’ eyes widened instantly, he raised his head with trembling pupils.
‘No way, he managed to see through my talent ability?’
Ellis’ widened eyes transitioned onto a deep frown.
Seeing this, Northern extended his hand, materializing a black stiletto.
“This can either go two ways for you. You speak, or you speak but with your teeth broken and deep wounds playing here and there around your skin. I’m not sure I will do it well maybe I’ll call Dark Terror to help me with that.”
He paused, stared intensely at Ellis and added slowly.
“You’ve met him before right? Dark. Terror.”
Ellis nodded his head vigorously in response then he bowed his head and screamed:
“Please spare my life!!”
Northern stood with one hand akimbo, the other was twirling the dagger playfully, its onyx blade sinisterly gleaming in the afternoon light.
“If you want me to spare your life, then we will have to take this slowly… I ask, you respond…” he looked to his left and softly summoned:
“Dark Terror.”
A dark cloud of flames emerged and revealed the devil.
“Anytime I speak and this guy does not respond move on to break his fingers in the most vicious way possible.”
Ellis trembled, his face paled and his thoughts became disoriented.
He had thought of the possibility before…no, he sort of knew Northern was linked to the ominous creature called Dark Terror.
But seeing it happen before his eyes caused thorns of fear to grip him all over his body. He was basically shivering as if he had caught a serious cold.
‘Yes, that’s just the amount of fear that I need,’ Northern smiled inwardly.
“Now, you’ll start answering my questions.” His voice came out coldly. “What are you doing here?”
Shivering, Ellis responded:
“I-I h—had no other c—choice, t–t–they are going to kill me.”
Northern was silent for about a dozen seconds, before pressing his inquiry.
“They who?”
“Him, and his guys! I—I kno—know you helped me but it’ll only get worse from here. They’ll find me and they’ll beat the sh—shit out of me!”
A slight frown folded upon Northern’s brows as Ellis’s words settled in.
‘That’s true…’
He had sent Dark Terror as a temporary solution to Ellis’s problem.
Now, that he had interfered, there was bound to be a consequence of some sort.
That consequence now was Northern’s big cup of tea to drink, since it involved Dark Terror.
It was also why Ellis could not stay back in the castle. This ‘him’ will come straight for him and do whatever to have his answers.
‘Still, to come to this place… did he not know it is filled with monsters?’
Northern discarded that thought immediately. Ellis had come through the back which means he was well aware of monsters.
And the fact that they were not too many in this region.
‘That sense of awareness is amazing…too amazing,’ Northern squinted his eyes and took one step closer to Ellis.
“You… why did you pass the back of the estate?” He inquired.
Ellis fidgeted, he hesitated but with the malicious devil standing behind Northern, he couldn’t for long.
“It’s my attribute…”
Northern’s eyes widened.
“Your attribute?”
Ellis nodded timidly, “Yes.”
Northern was silent for a while, with his eyes out of focus, as he processed a couple of things.
He then looked at Ellis and opened his mouth.
“Let me get this straight.” He said, “you have an attribute that allows you to be able to perceive your surroundings?”
Ellis nodded timidly again.
“Explain,” Northern’s harsh tone rang out, inquiring sternly from him.
Ellis was silent for a while, debating whether he should speak or not. Northern was in front of him, Dark Terror was in front of him too, looking eager to spring into action.
Maybe any later than this the monster could even move.
And he promised his parents not to reveal his talent…
‘Mom, dad, I’m very sorry. I have to think about saving my life first.’
He sighed and started:
“My talent is called Soul Eyes.”
“Oh, I see…” Northern was not surprised to hear the word, although he was quite happy to see that he was indeed correct.
Now, he just needed to know the remaining information about the skill so he’d judge if he should copy it or not.
“Wait, is that it?” Ellis asked, shocked at Northern’s reaction.
“What else?” Northern asked with a scowl.
Immediately, Ellis looked away, almost squirming.
“It’s nothing…”
“Continue,” Northern demanded harshly.
“With my talent being Soul Eyes, my talent ability is See and my attribute is Sense.” He paused, looked at Northern’s face and continued.
“See allows me to appraise anything, human, items, monsters, I can see their talent, talent abilities, although it doesn’t work with their true names and attributes, I also can’t see for anyone stronger than I am.”
Northern froze… ‘Crap! It’s amazing! This is it! This is what I’ve been searching for!!’
He quickly recomposed himself and peeled his gaze on Ellis. “So, just now, you were trying to appraise me? Is that why you were bleeding in your eyes?”
“Yes…” Ellis nodded and slowly frowned, “but something was different.” He raised his head to Northern who folded his arms in response, listening.
“Usually, I don’t just know it for other people, I’ve tried it on even Sage Gilbert before… it has never backfired on me. Which is why this is strange, you are a drifter rank, the recoil in my eyes felt like I was trying to peer into something more than myself… something chaotic.”
Ellis’ explanation was delicate, it could be seen from the intense expressions he weaved across his features as he explained, each time searching for the perfect word that would carry what he meant.
Hoping Northern best understood him.
And Northern really did understand him, in fact, more than Ellis understood himself.
‘I guess this is because of chaos and void…’
There was no other explanation, since Ellis said it looked like he was trying to peer into something bigger than himself.
A small smile formed on Northern’s lips, ‘Does this mean I’d be shielded from uncomfortable scrutinizations like this in the future?’
‘Nah, I can’t be sure… for now, I should focus on the ability in front of him. Being able to appraise everything is enough for me to copy it. It has everything I need! Everything!’