Arius and Morgan started their assault. They used the stealthy approach at times and used the brute force to overwhelm, the other time. That became their daily routine. They raided at an average, one group every two days.
One month went by from the time Daren gave the order to attack.
During this time Arius and Morgan have raided a total of 15 criminal hideouts. They encountered around 200 or so people of which 80 have surrendered.
Of the other 120, 80 were killed in action by Arius and Morgan. Of which 50 were of C rank and 30 were of B rank. Remaining 40 were brought back by them for Daren to kill. Of which, 20 were C rank and 20 were B rank.
Morgan didn't know the reason why Daren asked to bring so many of the captives here, if he was just gonna kill them. He didn't ask Daren, but Daren knew such thoughts would arise eventually. And thus to avoid any suspicion, Daren pretended to be interrogating them one by one in a solitary room.
In this great haul, their gain amount to 80 men, about 300 weapon, about 2000 gold.
Daren also gained 41,000 ß and thus was quite happy with the rewards.
Daren has also healed completely. His bones have reformed to become stronger and sturdier. He has reached the peak of bone rank. To break through to the next rank, he just need to create a mental sphere in his mind.
It is said that every human contain an area of endless darkness inside the deepest part of their mind. Inside that area, somewhere, lays a small translucent figure, hiding within the endless darkness. The records mention that it's size is approximately an inch.
No amount of will or determination can make that little figure come out of hiding. Only mental strength can figure out his location. But the problem is, the area it hides in is endless. And thus the only option to find him, is to lure him to you.
The miniature figure gets attracted to mental energy, that's why the records says that only mental energy can find him. But, one has to maintain a constant flow of mental energy at a specific place in the endless darkness, long enough for the miniature figure to reach towards your mental energy.
The miniature figure is the core of your mental sphere. When it reaches your mental energy, it takes control of your mental energy, and uses it to cover itself with it, as if an additional layer of skin has been added to its body.
Then he gathers more mental energy around his newly created lair of protection and use that energy to expand the lair of protection outwards, to form a sphere with the miniature figure as its center. The spherical form of mental energy then solidifies, to form a spherical shield of about a meter in diameter, around the miniature figure. Then a suction force is created by the sphere and the mental energy keeps filling the sphere untill it resembles a ball, with a light shade of blue.
The mental energy keeps filling the sphere, untill it gets completely filled with energy to the brink. At that time the miniature figure shines with bright light and condense all the mental energy that is present inside the sphere and compress it till the energy merge with the walls of the sphere, making it stronger and sturdier.
And thus a mental sphere is formed. The mental sphere so formed is called "THE SEA OF INDIVIDUALITY". But it's casually referred as "mind sea"/"mental sphere".
But the process don't end here.
The miniature figure now, do the same cycle of gathering, condensing and then compressing again and again, till all the mental energy possess by you, is drained out and imbued into the spiritual sea. The more cycles, that the miniature figure performs, the stronger the core of your mental sea becomes.
Once the mental sea is formed. The new mental energy, gets collected at the bottom of the sphere in liquid from, instead of the previous gaseous form. And thus forming a small pond.
For an example, assume 1000 glass orbs are shipped to the same area, in different carriages. Density of the glass used to make those orb are different for each one of them. On a long journey through difficult terrains, orbs with lower density break earlier than the rest. And only the sturdiest of them all, goes the farthest.
It's the same for the mental sea. The sturdier the core, the longer and farther one can travel on the path of cultivation.
Daren, precisely because of this, wants to raise his mental energy to SSS Rank before breaking through.
Else he could have broken through already.
Also if the mental energy falls short, before the first cycle is finished by the miniature figure, the backlash destroys the miniature figure together with the hope of forming a mental sea. That person,even if able to keep sanity, can never hope to walk on the path of cultivation again.
.
.
.
Daren sorted his thoughts and then summoned Morgan.
"Morgan, go buy me a good set of bow and arrow and a sword. Also buy for yourself a higher grade weapon as well. Here take these gold with you. 300 gold must be enough right."
"More than enough Lord. I'll leave for it right away" Replied Morgan with a bow.
"Also send Arius when you leave." said Daren after nodding.
Arius enter after a minute or so and then bows. "Lord, you asked for me?".
"Yes. Guard the entrance while I am inside. Don't let anyone in." commanded Daren.
Arius nodded and left the cave. The other have made temporary tents around this cave.
Inside the cave...
'Status'
*ding*
[NAME : Daren Martinos
AGE: 14
RANK: Knight
CULTIVATION : Bone Rank
CULTIVATION SKILL : 5 elemental indestructible body (1/5)
SKILL : Shadow Leech (lvl 2.)(50%)
Archery (lvl 1)(90%)
SUMMONS: 1/2
ß : 42,305
BLOODLINE : sealed ]
Daren was pleased with his status details. He realised he gain one extra summon for each level he gain.
'Cahya, I want to buy some spies. Can you sort them out.'
*ding*
- one A rank spy-
A top member of the most infamous underground organization. He was the head of intelligence. He was given the title 'Ghost'
Price - ß 40,000
-One A rank spy-
He was a top expert in the art of gathering information. He headed the intelligence network of a whole kingdom.
Price - ß 30,000
-Three B rank spy-
The trio got infamous for gathering information form even the most dangerous places. They never returned empty hand.
Price - 25,000
'Three would help gather information faster, but I don't have 3 summons, guess I'll buy the first one. The amount earned is gone just like this'
Daren sighs and proceed to purchase the A rank spy, Ghost.