Depleted?
The word surfaced in Ruger's mind.
It was a feeling that had spontaneously taken shape, and he even had to dwell on it briefly to explain it to himself.
After Mona's explanation, he realized that far more Wizards were connected to the Merciless Taskmaster than he had first imagined. Their connections spanned a vast stretch of time and a peculiar process of development, encompassing everyone from Wizard Apprentices to High-Rank Wizards, disciples and disciples of disciples. The more he learned, the more staggering it seemed. There were probably a few in every corner of the enormous Cavern World, men and women, young and old. Last time, he had even met a survivor from a fallen, dead world who had likewise received that figure's token badge.
Not everyone wanted to become a Demon Hunter Wizard, and not everyone could.
To put it plainly, membership in the Demon Hunter Wizards was merely a minor perk of receiving that token. Those who qualified and became Demon Hunter Wizards had simply chosen to seize that benefit.
Ruger believed that the people here had already tried very hard. They might even regularly assign someone to keep watch in that enormous hall, a place where every Wizard would voluntarily take out their Identity Badge. They could quickly detect the aura of objects sharing the same origin as those they lived with day after day, just as that young-looking Wizard had found him on the Blackstone Steps.
Yet here, in a place bustling with Demon Hunter Wizards, they had gathered only this many people. From what they had said, there had been just over thirty at most.
Clearly, he was not the only one who had made that choice.
Depleted.
That was exactly how it felt. Gathered here, with the thought of the heavy burden they