~about an hour ago~
*ding*
[ The system is online.]
Daren was pulled out of his daze by the sudden system notification. What he heard was a gentle and soft voice instead of the usual crude voice of the system. Thus he asked.
'Is that you Cahya'.
[Who else would it be?] An image of a little girl dressed in light pink pyjamas and a T-shirt holding a pillow half her size popped in his mind. She pouted as she replied to him.
'Why are you dressed like that.' asked Daren curiously.
[Because I just woke up.] Said Cahya with a yawn. [Well if you have nothing else to ask, go away, let me rest.] She continued.
Daren was thinking whether he made a good choice by switching to AI or not. ' Oh well nevermind, what's done is done.' Daren shook his head while thinking.
'Well let's get to the point. Cahya tell me how to use my skill shadow leech'. Asked Daren.
[It's simple, just visualise your shadow. You will feel a connection with it in your mind. Then visualise to move a part of your shadow to the desired target.]
Daren started to visualise. He then shifted a part of his shadow to Arius shadow. As he completed that Daren had a little pain in his head and he was starting to feel weak and dizzy.
'Cahya why do I feel such way. Does using the power has side effects?' Daren asked gritting his teeth.
[It's just that your mental strength is weak and you are not used to such excessive drain of power . The pain will go away after you get familiar with the skill. Now stop bothering me. I am too busy you know. I need another beauty nap. ]
Daren didn't know to reply. In the end he just nodded.
~back to current time ~
Arius has tied the bandit leader up and then came to support Daren.
"Arius, there are some changes to the plan. We are not going to the capital anymore. Take the money form the merchant and ask him if he have some food. Tell him that we won't be able to accompany them to the next city. Thus the other rewards he promised us, can be used as compensation against our failure to accompany him. " said Daren calmly.
Arius nodded and placed him under a shade and went to talk to the merchants. Daren was feeling weak and fell asleep.
When Daren woke up it was already night. He saw Arius sitting next to a fire and the bandit was next to him, conscious but all tied up.
He saw some notifications left unread. He has asked Cahya to make them stop popping in middle of the battle. He opened them.
Different screens popped up. He saw each screen as little girl dressed differently in each screen. And posing differently in each screen.
[Yay! Your minion killed a C rank bandit. I award him 100 ß. How manly] A picture of a cheerful little girl, with a round scorecard in her hand displaying the awarded number, was on the screen. The voice seem to be recorded at the time of the event itself and it plays everytime he open the notification.
Arius killed seven C Rank and three B rank bandits. Amounting to a total of 1300 ß.
Daren wasn't pleased as he realised that if he had killed them himself, he would have gained 6500 ß.
' I need to get my legs healed as fast as possible. According to Cahya, my injuries can be healed by my current cultivation technique.'
Daren was reminded by Cahya that since he is deemed unable to cultivate, if the people responsible to cure him thought that his injury is incurable and replaced his legs with duplicate ones, He would never be able to repair them again.
This of one of the reason he decided not to go the capital. Second one was that he didn't have a faction behind him, So this place seem ideal for him. He can either get followers or money by killing the criminal groups .
'Status'
*ding*
[NAME : Daren Martinos
AGE: 14
RANK: Knight
SKILL : Shadow Leech (lvl 1.)(10%)
CULTIVATION : Flesh Rank
CULTIVATION SKILL : 5 elemental indestructible body (1/5)
SUMMONS: 1/1
ß : 1305
BLOODLINE : sealed
(body currently injured) ]
'Cahya' said Daren.
'What!!' an irritated voice replied.
'What is that 10% beside my skill?' Daren got used to her character and just ignored her disinterest in him and asked.
'That's your progress in that skill. It must have increased after you used it.' said Cahya.
'Oh so I can increase it with practice. I shall experiment with it later.' Daren thought for a while and then after he was done he called Arius. "Arius, being me to him."
"Lord you are awake." said Arius and moved forward to bring him near the fire.
Daren sat next to the bandit leader. He sat silently for a while and then asked. "What's your name?"
"Morgan Stinson". Replied the man slowly, devoid of any feeling, as if he has lost all hope of living.
He was quite young, about 22 or so in age. A normal figure with average facial features. He had some scars on his body. But he was at A rank though.
"With your cultivation, you can have been a captain in the army. Why choose being a bandit." asked Daren.
Morgan remain silent for a while, as if reminiscing about the past, then he spoke softly.
"I am from the kingdom of Light. I was to become a captain after I successfully complete my last mission. It was a secret mission, to meet a person in the kingdom of Astina and help him, then bring an item back from him as a reward for the help. I completed the mission and returned to the kingdom. Then I reported about the mission to my superior. But apparently he has other motives. He took away the item and placed me in solitary confinement. I realised that would be framed for someone else's crime and disposed off. A friend of mine informed about all the schemes against me and helped me escape. My superior desired the item so it took it for himself and blamed me for using the item. Realising that I can't prove my innocence, I came here to hide and took on an identity of a bandit." explained the bandit without even looking up.
" Do you know, It was your superior that allowed you to run away. " said Daren after a short pause.
" What?.. Now way. " Morgan looked at Daren with a shock and refuted. Only to see a calm smile on the latter's face.
" It's simple really. You are young and talented. In few years you may have replaced him to become the new head. He made sure only you and him know about the mission when he assigned it to you. But many people were made aware of it by the time you returned. He framed you after that and told about the loss of item to his superior or the person who assigned the mission. They needed the item, so they asked him to retrieve the item at any cost. He then let you leave the kingdom and gave the item to his superior, thus gaining favor of the kingdom for getting back the item and getting rid of any potential threat to his position as well and eliminating all proofs against him by sending the only proof away before anyone can interrogate him. And it will also reduce the doubts people have regarding this incident, as running away is like admitting your crimes." Daren narrated, smile never left his face.
" That bastard, I'll kill him." Morgan roared gritting his teeth.
Daren put a hand on his shoulder as asked with smile "So, what do say about joining me."