102 Unobtrusive, Inconspicuous (1/2)
Finally, she sighed after a while, for once letting her emotions show itself to others. ”Very well,” she said, though she would have helped without him asking anyway. The fact that he did made her feel pleased, however. Even if she would have helped, it wasn't without a price. This way, she was able to see his true colours, as well as get something out of it. Two birds with one stone. Let it never be said that Nine wasn't efficient.
”Loyalty should be rewarded. It is not loyalty to me, but for your people. People like you, who are so selfless, are quite rare in this world,” Nine explained, feeling approval for his actions so far.
Even if Matthew had been a more hardened man, the years had taken its toll on him. Constantly being suppressed, constantly suppressing himself and watching his every word had broken him in some way that he did not realize until this very moment. It was when he looked at Nine, who had a soft glow of light shine over himself, that he felt the stirrings of loyalty for this man before him. How could a person be so…
”Let's go,” Nine said, not wanting to waste time. Another moment gone was another person that was under risk. Every day, the tribesmen crept closer and closer to death without ever realizing it. ”Judging from the state of their bodies, it's not likely that they will last much longer. Most likely, some of the weaker elderly as well as children have already fallen prey to the darkness elements corrupting their body.”
Justin and Matthew looked suitably alarmed at this, mentally steadying themselves most admirably.
Without needing to touch any of the four, Nine blindly warped them to the place where she could sense the concentration of darkness gathering along with the water elements. The High Water Elemental's Blessing was rather handy at times like this. What the System didn't state was that those who had the blessing would be more sensitive to water elements in general, which was what allowed the proficiency and damage increase.
Not to mention, Nine contained the High Water Elemental's Exclusive Trait, which boosted her already high perceptivity of water elements to a whole different level. It was to the extent where should anyone ever send a wave of water spells at her, she would be able to stand there without doing anything and escape without an iota of damage.
The two Vampires and two Weres hovered above the reservoir, which was a sight to behold. The vast expanse of water stretched out for so long that it almost surprised her how the relatively small tribe of Wererabbits had built this solely for their use.
The key word was almost. With an application of magic in this world, a lot of the problems that were eminent on Earth were easily solved.
The moment they appeared above the water, Nine was already in the motions of casting spells over the rest of them, not wanting to give it away with just parting the waters.
The four plunged into the water, not a ripple out of place. Not even the numerous guards hovered and hidden near the reservoir discovered anything out of place. These were the tribe's elite warriors, with the finest and most honed battle instincts that had saved them from saboteurs over again, but none could see past Nine's spells.
The water didn't even cause a chill to envelop them. Instead, their skin was covered by a layer of Nine's magic, stuck closely to the skin. It felt more like a warm summer day instead of chilly waters. Their skin was completely dry, and Nine did not use a spell on herself, due to her trait of breathing underwater.
At the bottom of the reservoir was a small, round pebble that looked like it could have been dropped in by a passing bird. It was so inconspicuous and unobtrusive that unless one was staring right at it, their eyes would have just glided past it.