531 No Mana

With azure-blue scales covering every inch of his body, a dekan warrior performed a slow and delicate motion as if he were performing a dance or perhaps it was a set of predetermined movements like a karate showcase would employ. Regardless, at the end of his elaborate motions, his forefoot launched in great speed like capoeira, as a blast of magical-energy coloured equally blue flew a few metres forward before puncturing through its target.

The poor human who had been strapped to a wooden post dressed in full templar plate armour was torn into two, from the midsection down, his legs collapsed upon the floor as life quickly faded from his vessel.

The surrounding blue-skinned dragonkin cheered and roared as yet another human was slaughtered like a pig. Confidence and sheer-belief in their prowess and advantage over the species called humans fuelled their minds as the supposed elites of humanity failed to withstand a single attack. No matter how thick their steel-plates were, no matter how many shields were strapped to their chest in addition to their usual defence. The prisoners died one after the other, as they were utilized as a showcasing of their inadequacy to rule the continent as the dominant race.

Robin Sol and Asai de Trichia, the two forced to endure and watch the live-propaganda, as the templars were equally relinquished of their mana which was the greatest defence available to them, felt incredibly helpless as they remained entirely still, upon the roof they laid upon.

It was only after hours of celebrations, feasting and slaughtering of other races to prove themselves the top-predator upon the global food-chain, did they begin to disperse.

Disgusted by their means to encourage and to rally their military to live within a fantasy that valued military merit above all else, even someone as cold-hearted as Asai couldn't stop his body from vomiting a spoonful of stomach-acid. Something he had no choice in the matter, as he could only forcefully swallow the burning-fluids back down.

Perhaps it wasn't just their deaths that filled him with revolt, but the fact that their corpses, their bodies which had undergone a lifetime of discipline, training and service to the royal-family and kingdom were desecrated no better than pigs. Unable to sympathize with their emotions, the sheer-joy and pleasure they took in eating every piece of meat, on top of drinking and consuming the crimson-red liquid that flowed.

Asai swore to himself, that even if it were the last thing he would do within his lifetime, he would ensure the race of dekans suffered dearly for their crimes against humanity.

..

Since the vicinity had returned to normal, with only minimal patrols walking the walls as their confidence led them to believe their capital kingdom and royal-castle to be the safest and most secure location upon the continent. They had zero cause to up their security, as the only threat currently was only the off-chance of their goblin farms revolting in defiance of their shepherds and masters.

Utilizing their over-confidence, Asai ensured Robin would only engage as a last resort, to prioritize stealth and shadow to their utmost.

Unfortunately for the duo, Robin had never actually trained to crouch, to sneak, to traverse the shadows at a snail's-pace, as someone who had always relied upon [Winged Foot] to literally remove any chance of her emitting any footsteps or vibrations, whilst [Disappear] cloaked her body with mana that concealed her entire body, clothing and the soft-vibrations that would naturally occur from her breathing. Thus, in a long time since awakening her mana, she was filled with nerves that threatened to relinquish her of her meal and hands that shook in sweat as her mind crumbled in dismay. Once more, believing herself useless and only being a burden to her man.

Whilst not exactly the perfect-rogue, Asai was at the very least competent in utilizing stealth, as it had been his bread and butter from back in Trichia Orphanage days, when he had to sneak through the halls at night on a near daily-basis.

"Robin, calm down. Believe in yourself. You're level 95. Do you know what that means?"

Whilst she knew that the higher the number the better, as a being who belonged in a world without electronic games, or having a system of her own, she failed to see where he was going with his question.

"The higher your level, the better you are, the stronger you are. Your stats, your dexterity, agility, stamina and speed also increases in correspondence to your level. Those stats I just listed relate to sneaking and stealth, so trust in yourself and keep calm. The only thing that would give us away is heightened breathing."

Planting a kiss upon her forehead, he stared into her eyes for a few seconds to ensure she saw just how confident he was in her, and her ability to perform.

Fortune favoured the two, as Asai was naturally gifted in the art of stealth, as his bloodline was dominantly dhan over human. In Robin Sol's case, her class was one built and centred around light-footed speed, agility and dexterity, traits naturally found in rogues and archers.

Performing final checks, and removing the golden accessories from their persons, such as removing their clips, golden-buttons and even cutting off parts from their cloaks that weren't black. The two did a thorough counting of their items.

Asai had his two golden-fangs, a pouch that contained just two vials of HP and SP potions as he would usually just use [Inventory]

Robin Sol was much more prepared, as her [Storage] ring didn't present her with infinite capacity, she had four vials within her pouch, in addition to 2 sets of daggers and 5 sets of throwing-knives hidden throughout her clothing; within her knee-high leather boots, belts upon her thighs, sets upon her hips as well as her lower-back. Whilst her rings were now unresponsive, the two mithril daggers she had been holding now had no sheath to return to.

Somewhat glad to having been prepared for nightmarish-scenarios, Robin uplifted her mental by a little, but couldn't help but wonder whether such small throwing-knives would even prove to be useful against the scales that naturally existed upon the dekans.

His eyes on the tunnel that led underground, without a guard in sight as the sounds of heavy-footed patrols were near out of ear shot. Something they horrendously failed to control, as their larger bodies naturally equalled more mass, weight and louder foot-steps.

"Ready Robin?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

...

[Asai de Trichia: Lvl 98]

[HP: 180 MP:N/A]

[Title: Monster]

[Robin Sol: Lvl 95]

[HP: 100 MP:N/A]

[Title: Saintess]