Molc and the invader stared at one another without moving for a few moments, they merely stayed in place, whilst he was surprised that there was someone on the other side that could actually see as far as he did… Since when had they been observing him? He knew already that the enemy had been first to notice his presence, but Molc questioned just how many times he could have been killed in the span it took him to realise that his position had been compromised.
'That was an amateur's mistake, I am too confident because the barrier protects me… If it hadn't been the case, I probably would have shot over a dozens times for my inattention' he chastised himself and focused, this enemy was clearly not a grunt, from how they dressed to their ability and the mere impression they gave off, it was obvious that this was an opponent that could give the defenders of the realm a run for their money.
Carrying a sort of long, metallic object that was longer than the arm and partly resting upon the shoulder, it reassembled the heavy crossbows that Molc had once seen used by the soldiers defending the royal palace of Tamaris, which looked like rectangular pieces of wood with the mechanism hidden within, capable of firing bolts of incredible power, only that this one was much longer and thinner on top of being made out of some sort of metal.
The invader was a woman, perhaps even a young girl, the crossbowman wasn't quite certain, slender and gaunt, she was taller than he was, and her musculature was obviously focused on the arm carrying her weapon, in fact, her arms in general seemed to the more trained parts of her body, but that might be because unlike the rest, they were exposed and not covered up by anything.
Elsewhere, pants, boots and a shirt featuring a high collar wrapped her body in sublime whiteness, it was actually rather strange that he had not noticed her before, although dressed in white like the rest of the soldiers, she was clearly dressed even more brightly than they were.
Eyes a bright blue, an expression of utter nonchalance, somehow, her gaze felt like an open provocation, and this was confirmed once she pointed her weapon at him, and mimed the action of firing, clearly telling him to shoot his shot and try to kill her.
Molc frowned, it looked like a trap, but somehow, he felt that she really just was challenging him to just try, as though the invader wanted to check something on her own end.
The crossbowman raised his trusty weapon, although deciding to play along, he definitely wasn't just going to demonstrate the best he could do, or even allow for even a glimpse of the true extent of his abilities to be peered at, he merely took aim, focused, and fired a powerful bolt directly at the young woman, aiming for the center of her mass.
And in response to the rapid bolt, she raised her own weapon, and without an ounce of recoil, fired a bolt of her own, knocking Molc's out of the air halfway across the distance separating them, the two projectiles cancelled one another out.
'That was accurate… Didn't even hesitate for a moment, she just seemed to know exactly where to aim to do that…' he thought to himself, raising an eyebrow as the mask of nonchalance broke apart as she turned her hand into a fist as though congratulating herself for hitting the target, then, the invader walked away, disappearing behind trees.
'...That was weird, that wasn't the normal behaviour of those soldiers in white'
Usually, they behaved almost like golems, the only hints of emotions they allowed out was either when they died and experienced extreme joy, and extreme fear in quick succession, or when they were really pushed to the brink, then only would you see them lose their temper or laugh like normal people, but that girl, she had just wanted to try something out, like a child who had finally been allowed out to play.
Molc almost felt bad for a second, considering that it had really been a young girl that just happened to be very tall, but he shook his head, that couldn't be the case, and even if a child showed up, they would have been sent by the undead, so if anything, he should probably be even more wary of this girl than of the other soldiers.
If anything, that was proof that the training regimen had been different for that one.
"You seem deep in thought, Molc"
"Herald Zilania" he greeted politely whilst standing up, the eldest of the Emerald Herald merely raising one hand to signal him to not bother with formalities.
"I merely spotted an invader that seemed different from the rest, it seems like the undead have really brought out elites, I fear that fiercer conflicts are soon to arise" the crossbowman explained, the herald stepping closer to the edge of the balcony, her bright white air fluttering in the wind.
"To be frank, I too have spotted quite a few odd faces amongst the ranks of our enemies, they don't seem to realise that we sun worshippers can extend our senses through the glorious emerald light of our kind sun… They make no attempt to disrupt us, or perhaps they simply cannot… Did you perhaps see a young-looking lady whose military stoicism clashed with a candid expression of her emotions as though having fun whilst also feeling burdened by the weight of responsibility?"
"That… Is awfully specific, Herald… But yes, I suppose that is a most apt description…" this made him wonder just how much the sun worshippers could know through the light.
'They must keep all the juicy information to themselves for future pranks…' he thought to himself, the herald forming a small smile at him, she knew exactly what he was thinking, Molc had no doubt.
But thankfully, the eldest herald was perhaps the most well-behaved of them all, so she did not torment him, for now.
"Maybe we saw the same, the one I just spotted was tall, and had greyish hair tied into a ponytail"
"Never seen that one actually, the ones I saw were a small gal with small pigtails and blonde hair, red hair down the shoulders, and short, messy brown hair… Quite the cute girls I must say, almost making me nostalgic of my younger years"
"You are still youthful though"
"Are you hitting on the old hag? Quite brave of you, little Molc, Artazun and Artazim will get jealous if I tell them that I still have the favours of a young man…"
"Don't look so embarrassed, I am merely jesting… Or is it that you really see me that way? Mmh? Me and my old bones, still so charming?"
Molc considered jumping off the balcony to escape this situation for a moment.
"But let's continue this conversation another time- In my room perhaps? Just a joke… For now- Tell me about that invader you saw in more detail, why don't you?"
'I should have kept my mouth shut…'