Sneaky?

Feeling the sun start to hit his face he opened his eyes as he breathed in the morning air. "Looks like we're still safe." He had tried to stay awake the whole night but that failed him for the most part a little over halfway through, at least he was able to keep his Astral Energy set out for detection nowadays so he was able to sleep without too much worry. Untangling himself from Xelfia beside him he sat up and looked around for a bit before seeing Relia awake by the tree not too far away.

"Good morning."

".....Morning.."

Hearing her voice back to normal along with her aura he was pleasantly surprised.

"You okay now?"

"...Fine..."

"I see, well that's good, today we have a lot ahead of us."

"....Scared?"

Taken aback by that question it took Xilo a second to respond to it.

"..no, Don't worry about it."

"Mhaaawww, Morning."

Thankfully before Relia could ask anything else Xelfia woke up and began to yank his body as she pulled him in for a hug while keeping him there. "This is new." But he wasn't complaining and after letting it continue for a couple minutes, he detached himself while saying morning to her before Standing up and stretching his body. Seeing him do that the other two followed his example as they all got ready for today. Once that was done Xilo looked towards the mountains as he began to think.

"There's no way they've given up already, so taking the main road isn't an option. Most likely we'll have to sneak into the area from a different angle and hope it's less guarded however the biggest question is how did they find us so fast the last time? Was it just luck or something else." Yet he didn't have the exact answer to that kind of question, only vague guesses that weren't exactly helpful. Regardless of the answer though they'd have to take this approach differently than the other times. They were being hunted by humans now after all.

"Come on let's go."

Walking Xilo directed them towards the left side where a couple of trees were to hopefully give them some cover and keep them as far away from the main road as possible while the three of them made their way towards the foot of the mountain. After a couple hours of walking with no obstacles in sight they eventually made it back again however Xilo noticed more Astral Beasts circling the mountains in different spots this time around. "Weird, why is there more?" Taking note of that he looked towards the trees on the ground level where he noticed a group of three patrolling the area as he crouched down low along with Xelfia and Relia.

"Do we want to take them out or sneak past?"

"It's your choice, I don't mind either way. Though Killing them would be the easiest."

"Relia?"

".....Up..to you."

"Haaa...."

That wasn't exactly the answers he was looking for but it was enough. "Xelfia's right, Killing them is probably the easiest." Thinking that he made his choice as he kept the guards at about fifty meters distance while he began to make his way towards them without being noticed. Unfortunately Stealth against humans was a lot harder than stealth against Astral Beasts especially with two other people who weren't the best at such things. After about twenty meters or so he heard the quiet sound of a branch snapping behind him that alerted the patrol group. "Fuck, Guess stealth isn't an option at this point." Panicking he rushed out as a Ice dagger shaped in his hands along with Xelfia as they dashed the rest of the distance ending up behind them as they turned around unprepared only to receive holes in their chests as a result.

"Thankfully they seemed to be weak."

Watching as Xelfia removed her hands from two of their stomachs Xilo sighed in relief as he pulled his dagger out from one of them as their bodies fell to the ground dead. "That was close." Turning around he looked at Relia as guilt filled her face while a couple tears started to form in her eyes. Seeing that he walked up to her as he heard her soft mumblings of sorry. Raising his hand upwards he watched as she flinched in recoil while awaiting what he'd do but he just simply ignored that as he began to rub her hair.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Mistakes happen."

"...But.."

"Don't worry about it okay?"

"..."

Seeing her not respond he continued to rub her hair as he smiled, while she started to stop crying. "she's a surprisingly tough girl," Thinking that he spread out his Astral energy to make sure no one else had been alerted but within a hundred meters he couldn't find anyone who seemed to know about them. "At least our cover isn't fully blown." Letting his hand down he watched as she slightly smiled while he turned around and walked back to Xeflia.

"Ready?"

"Yeah, Try and be a little more careful this time around alright?"

"...Okay."

With that the three of them went from sneaking around the forest while making there way to the top of the mountain. Weaving through trees they avoided most group they found as Xilo was silently shocked at how many people had already showed up in comparison to the day before. "what is going on here, seriously" To be able to get this many Fourth and Fifth Stages along with a couple Sixth Stages to this place in less then a day wasn't something just anyone could do. Yet nothing came to mind as they continued forward taking out a group here or there when they needed to as they made their way to the top. "This is weird." Thinking that he felt the air change around him as he saw the top coming into view as he felt his blood freeze while an Astral Energy pulsed across the lands.

"Stay still now!"

Quickly halting the two behind him he felt his breath get caught in his throat while that pressure just barely missed them but Xilo could feel it. "So strong." Whoever sent out that Astral Energy wasn't like any of the people patrolling around the mountain.