137. Development - 33

137. Development - 33

As I left the headquarters, both Karak and Mahruss were on the floor, doing their best to stay conscious. The training was harsh, but neither of them gave even the slightest hint of a complaint, allowing me to work with them intensely, stopping only when Zolast and the rest left the dungeon.

Pity this time we weren't able to collect enough Experience for me to level up.

By the end of our training session, Karak was much better at splitting his attention between the immediate needs of his melee range and his surroundings; and Mahruss managed to learn not to react against every single clue that was provided by his Perception.

Though, I had to admit, his new class was surprisingly convenient. Once he learned how to use it properly, Perception would help him greatly in managing the casinos.

As I left them behind, I found myself facing another choice. What to do?

Admittedly, I thought about starting to target the cultists, maybe even experimenting with the Destruction mana to see if I could trigger that process of turning into a monster again.

Tempting.

Too tempting.

I could see the risks inherent to that process, but ultimately, it was my conscience, however shriveled, that stopped me from doing so. I had always believed in the existence of souls, but until the start of my magical adventure, it was just another piece of information from my raising, a theoretical concept with no real-life implications, relevant only after death.

What I had seen during the Promotion suggested that souls might have some relevance before death as well. I didn't know if what I saw was something that allowed people to actually live after death or if it was just the magical equivalent of blood

I didn't have any evidence, but considering the wholesale rejection of the transformed individuals from the System, it wasn't hard to guess that such a transformation had more implications than just the physical ones.Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

I had no evidence, but I'd rather play it safe and assume the soul was the immortal kind, and the transformation changed it irrevocably.

Of course, that assumption brought about a very inconvenient conclusion. I couldn't go around pushing cultists until they transformed just to increase my Authority.

Even in my darkest period, I had my rules. No targeting civilians, no hard-drug trade, no human trafficking.

Adding no potential destruction of the immortal soul was not exactly an overreach.

Of course, this meant that, for once, I had nothing urgent to do.

Maybe, I could rest for a while.

Of course, that thought was a mistake. Not even a second after said thought crossed my mind, one of the message stones in my pocket warmed up, signaling an urgent situation. It was from one of my employees from Iron Trust, signaling something important was happening in Town Maell.

The fates really didn't wish for me to rest.

Fifteen minutes later, I was once again in Town Maell, dressed as a random warrior with a bow and a sword, though my bag had several other disguises that could be used as necessary. And, if they weren't enough, I could always steal one.

However, I took the long way around as I went to visit my employee, trying to get a sense of the changes that had affected the town.

The outer town was listless, which was not surprising due to the reckless response of eradicating the black market operations. The economy and property prices had recovered somewhat after their initial drop, but it was nowhere near the previous peak.

Even considering their connections with the military that turned a blind eye to their activities, this didn't make any sense.

They were crazy, but assuming crazy meant stupid was never a good idea.

I was tempted to sneak into the town, but after some consideration, I decided against it. The wards that they had built to keep themselves safe from the beasts were strong enough to hide several other problems in their nature.

I limited myself to watching them from a distance, hoping to find evidence to show that I was being paranoid.

For once, I was hoping that things would go smoothly without my interference.

Was that too much to ask?

Apparently, it was too much. Around the hill, I saw many cultists, obviously crazy and undisciplined, the kind that could easily be cut down by a dedicated military force regardless of their individual strength boost.

However, that pattern didn't apply to the cultists at the center of the formation. From the great distance I had been observing them at, there was not a lot I could see even with my Perception. However, some of the details, like their skilled and confident gait could still be discerned.

Or the fact that, under their rags, they were wearing armor.

A nasty trap.

I needed to go and have a talk with Zolast to come up with a plan. But, before that, I needed to slow down the approaching military force.

Of course, not by walking to them and having a talk. An indirect warning would work better. I picked a nice hill, about half a mile away from them, and pulled a red mana stone from a sealed pouch. The moment I pulled that, the beasts around me acted agitated, ignoring the Charisma trick I had been relying on as a method of concealment.

After several extended practices, it took me less than a second to drain the mana.

[Archery of Destruction (7/X)]

Before the first beast could even get near, I nocked the bow, and let my Skill do its work. A red arrow flew, far faster than anyone could react, passed right next to the head of the baron, giving the perfect impression of a lucky escape as it buried to the shoulder of one on the bodyguards.

Of course, it was not an accident. My Perception had allowed me to read the wind perfectly. Combined with the expertise given to me by my skill, a trick shot against a target moving on a straight line was almost trivial.

Just to be sure it held, while the archers pulled their bows to send a blind rain of arrows to my current station, I hit the crowd with a wave of Charisma, triggering a wave of blind panic. The soldiers were strong and experienced enough to ignore it.

Their horses, not so much. The Baron might have had the necessary skill to control the situation, but his near-death slowed him down just enough for them to lose most of the horses, giving me the precious time I needed to strategize with Zolast but not without making a stop by a certain location to prepare another surprise.

Luckily, they were close enough for me to make it there in good time.

Meanwhile, Baron Maell, in his anger, ordered several guards to my location to find his assailant, but it was meaningless. With my Speed, I had already left that location before the arrows touched the ground.

I run, hoping that a mysterious assassination attempt from a mysterious cultist would be enough to warn them about the extraordinary situation, enough to prevent them from just barging in.

Hopefully.