The next day.

Eren took a nice bath after finishing up his workout session. The guild had the same workout facility here in Gilaahan as well. He had decided to read up on Hexers and know any other information about them he could get from other sources.

He would then locate the merchant Miranda had told him about to get rid of stuff and obtain money and other resources for them in return.

Eren visited the guild's canteen placed at the back of the premise and ordered a simple Rank 1 beast's beef stew for himself along with some mortal cuisines. The canteen was mostly empty with only a few rankers he didn't know occupying tables away from each other.

Eren followed the pattern and sat on a lone table placed in the corner as he waited for the order. He then accessed his spectral screen to access the material that he had brought from the guild's library.

Eren started reading while ignoring the ambient disturbance around him.

'Hexers.

Hexers are a special type of rankers who prefer unconventionally using mana. They use normal forms of magic and spells only as a supplementary addition to their usual way of employing the mana.

Hexers use various spells and gears that are not kingdom-sanctioned or kingdom-controlled. Hence, they are looked at suspiciously by everyone. Some Hexers are still active openly as adventurers and rankers while the others work in the shadows and underworld of Gilaahan.'

Eren read till here and was reminded of Mia's point of view on Hexers. His attention was divided further when he saw that his food had arrived.

Eren only started reading ahead when he was half-finished with his rankers-only beef stew.

'It is imperative that we understand what Hex is before understanding any more about Hexers.

Hex is magic that doesn't use conventional spell casting. It uses or prefers using various other mediums to cast spells that don't involve the employment of mana circuits. Or it employs mana circuits to their minimum while basing the execution of spells largely on other mediums.

These mediums can include spectral arrays, scroll-release spells, potions that act as the container of spells, runic signs, and other such mediums. Hex can also be used by combining multiple such mediums– making Hex magic more complicated and stronger than conventional magic.

historical

A Hexer only uses his mana core to power up the Hex. Their usage of mana circuits is mostly restricted to movement spells and weapon arts. Although they can use normal spells and techniques, the usage of such spells is kept to a minimum.

Since their mana circuits are not burdened with spell castings, their weapon arts become deadlier than the rest of the rankers. They also become good at using their respective movement spells, which may or may not include mana circuits.'

Eren raised his eyebrows when he read this part about Hexers. As far as he understood, Hexers were a select group of people that preferred other mediums to cast their spells over normal means. This was the main difference that set them apart from normal rankers who were more dependent on their mana circuits than any external influences.

Eren finished his meal and started walking out of the guild's premises while he pondered over many things. He hired a colt from colt service located at the city gate.

His destination was the City of Dafur which was located 6 hours of colt ride away from the city of Ludan. He already had coordinates on his spectral screen.

Eren resumed his reading session as he rode on his colt at a medium pace.

'There are various long-forgotten legends about Hexers that describe them to be superior rankers than the normal populace. Some legends tell that they could fight rankers way ahead of their ranking status, thanks to their use of unconventional mediums. Other legends paint them as heretics who would use death and sacrifices as a way to progress ahead in their ranking journey.

Hexers are very secretive about how they operate. They are mana contract bound not to share any information with the rankers who are not Hexers. This code of conduct has turned them more as a secret society than being seen as normal rankers.'

At this point, Eren had considered the guy whose body had been found by him to be a Hexer. The gear he had worn on him fit the bill of it being a Hex.

Finders keepers. Of course, he had taken the gear from the guy. However, he would only use it after ensuring he read through everything there is to know about Hexers.

Eren continued riding his colt and sorted his thoughts before resuming reading the rest of the book.

'There are various creeds of Hexers that define their way of approaching alternate forms of magic. The creed also defines their battle styles and ways of life. Each of these creeds has a distinct method they use to train rankers into becoming Hexers.

Each creed has its code of conduct that is similar for all the Hexers for certain points. It can also differ based on the respective creeds.

However, there is one common thing about almost all the Hexers. They use their gears and artifacts to make themselves compatible with their respective Hexes.'

Eren's eyes shined when he learned that Hexers were dependent on their gears and artifacts. He couldn't help smiling when he realized that his problem could be solved by studying Hexers.

He hurriedly read the next block of text.

'There are seven known creeds of Hexers whose members are currently active in various capacities. They are as follows:

The Crane's Creed

The Cat's Creed

The Eagle's Creed

The Bear's Creed

The Snake's Creed

The Scorpio's creed

The Wolf's Creed

These creeds define the Hexers as individuals. What is interesting about them is the fact that..'

Eren didn't read the following after he read the particular item in the list of creeds Hexers had. He took the coin he had out from his storage before murmuring to himself.

'The Bear's Creed, huh?