Bear School Astartes

Chapter 428: 428. The Bear and the Gryphon

”We’d better go our separate ways.”

In the dim and lightless underground tomb, the air was damp and foul, mixed with the choking smell of dust and some sort of decay. It seemed even the thick stone walls were seeping water.

Though the royal mausoleum was constructed with tightly stacked slabs of marble, spacious and solemn, the recent unexpected heavy rain had ravaged it considerably.

Inside the tomb, two pairs of shimmering cat-like eyes met with caution and alertness.

The cautious voice continued.

”Although I’ve never met you, I’ve heard of your reputation. To put it simply... it’s not good.”

With a ”hiss,” the sparks from a flint ignited a torch wrapped in oilcloth, and the smoke from the burning poor quality oil spread with the light.

The man holding the torch was dressed in medium-weight leather armor.

It was tanned leather from dragon creatures, such as wyverns, glide lizards, and fork tails. It could effectively enhance the efficiency of Chaos Magic Power circulation and transformation.

For a Demon Hunter, it meant an amplification of the Magic Seal.

In the flickering torchlight, his face could be faintly seen. He had a bushy beard, and beneath the thick facial hair were scars from healed chickenpox.

For a Demon Hunter who doesn’t get sick, it was an unusual mark.

A sharp griffon head pendant hung from his neck.

”We’ve all received this mission and all want to earn this money, but that doesn’t mean I’ll trust you. Your reputation doesn’t inspire trust in me. Here, this is a small help I can offer you. After this, we’ll rely on our own skills.”

After speaking, the Griffin School Demon Hunter took out another torch, lit it, and handed it to the person across from him.

As the torchlight moved closer, it illuminated another man.

A tall man clad in heavy armor stood there, appearing to be nearly six feet three inches tall, strong and powerful.

He didn’t have a beard, but anyone who saw him would think: if he grew one, he’d definitely have a rugged appearance.

The heavy armor he wore was similar in shape to Lann’s advanced Bear School Armor, only the protective parts were thinner and less.

—It was a reinforced level Bear School Armor.

A roaring bear head pendant, identical to Lann’s, hung from his neck.

”I have no problem, thanks for the torch.”

The Bear School Demon Hunter, Ged from the Curved Coast, shrugged indifferently.

Being from the Bear School, he was accustomed to having a reputation similar to that of the Cat School.

Though he retained emotions after the Bear School mutation formula, making others believe it was another matter.

Demon Hunters are hunters walking on the edge of a blade, where trust in a poorly reputed peer during an already dangerous mission... a mistake of such magnitude prevented them from even considering it.

As expected, after Ged expressed his thanks, the Griffin School Demon Hunter looked surprised but ultimately chose to cautiously keep a distance facing Ged.

Not until the faint torchlight was about to be swallowed by the massive darkness of the tomb did he turn and stride away.

The Bear School’s reputation among Demon Hunters was evident.

That ’Griffin’ seemed to be called... Kohen?

Ged shook his head to himself, holding the torch in the vast, damp tomb.

The dislike and distrust of ’Griffin’ towards ’Bear’ have historical roots.

Because the split within the Demon Hunter Order was directly triggered by ’ruthless egoists’ like Bear School founder Anahad’s attack on ’simple knightly spirits.’

The Demon Hunters possessing ’simple knightly spirits’ within the Order formed the later Griffin School.

Look at Kohen; even when facing a disliked and distrusted Bear School, he would prepare a torch to give.

In a community of generally indifferent Demon Hunters, even among commoners, this counted as having character.

Hopefully, this ’quite characterful’ Griffin won’t be so unlucky.

Ged thought so as he held up the torch.

Simultaneously, he began to explore deeper into the tomb.

Many of the large cities of humans were built atop the ruins of elven cities.

Like the sewer system of Novigrad, there are rumors that even horse-drawn carriages can pass through it, and the human rulers generally don’t care about such facilities, remnants from the Elf Era.

Sintra is no exception, except its city’s underground ruins were transformed into a royal mausoleum.

”Alright then, a tomb converted from elven ruins... utterly wretched.”

Ged advanced with one foot deeper and one shallower, holding the torch, plodding through mud and puddles.

He spat to the side, muttering with an ugly face.

From experience, elven ruins had many magical mechanisms and traps, and tombs were places prone to monster invasions, making both sites troublesome for Demon Hunters.

And now this task, in Ged’s view, was akin to two piles of garbage meshing together.

”Damn it, the Palace Steward didn’t mention this to me!”

Ged’s left hand held the torch to provide illumination, while his right hand drew a gleaming silver sword from his back.

A dull yellowish sheen covered the sword, clearly coated with sword oil.

Yet Ged’s expression remained displeased.

Because he had applied Evil Spirit Oil for demons on his sword, but what appeared before him...

”Ba-ba-ba!” *N

Suddenly, clamor came from the muddy pit, and several scaly, webbed green hands emerged from the mire!

Following was a tall, hunchbacked old hag emerging from the mud.

This was a group of Water Ghosts and a Swamp Witch!

”Rain? You damn, how could rain bring out these things?!”

Ged’s mouth twitched.

But he realized, avoiding battle was impossible.

A dark and unfamiliar terrain meant getting lost might be worse than fighting monsters.

Therefore, the Bear School Demon Hunter didn’t even have time to temporarily set down the torch and cast a Quen Rune on himself.

He could only rely on his armor to face the monsters.

”Boom!”

Preemptively, Ged delivered a front kick, sending a Water Ghost that hadn’t fully stood from the mud pit flying away.

He must prevent the monsters from forming a collective advantage; otherwise, his reinforced armor wouldn’t withstand a few scratches.

Then, right-handed, the silver sword with the flow of waist, arm, and wrist swung horizontally like a whip!

With a ”swish,” the silver sword made a large gash on the neck of a Water Ghost.

The filthy monster blood sprayed out, and the Water Ghost thrashed and convulsed like a fish in the mire.

After quickly slaying a Water Ghost, Ged immediately waved the torch in his hand twice behind him.

The shrieking Water Ghosts were initially about to swarm, but their fear of the flames made them hesitate.

With this moment, Ged steadied himself after the whipping sword caused a shift in his center of gravity.

The Bear School’s Swordsmanship was well-suited for this.

And just as the monsters faced off with the Demon Hunter again, another group of monsters’ roars could be heard from the ominously dark distance.