Daren's group moved quite fast while they were travelling through the woods. Their destination was in the wasteland.
Arius and Morgan have mapped the whole area, so it was easier to avoid obstacles and move faster.
They reached the wasteland after few hours of travel. The wasteland was vast. They also lost the element of surprise as the didn't have the cover of forest anymore. Enemy, ally, all were in the open.
With the help of the map they traveled even faster in the wasteland as they had no obstacles. The map also helped them avoid the areas that may contain potential lifeforms. Thus making the trip to the destination even faster.
When they were about 5 kilometer from their target, they stopped. Morgan ordered few men to scout the situation ahead.
When the men returned, Daren inquired "How was it"
"As per prior information, the targets are around 30 bandits. Currently 13 could be seen in the vicinity. Also only one house seem well build. Other are open on one side, so their purpose seem to just to provide shade."
Replied one man who went ahead to scout.
" Good work. Now split into 4 teams of 10 each. Take one direction and surround their hideout. Make sure you are far away from their vision. I'll take the south. Morgan will take the north. "
"Remember, at dusk we will move 3 kilometer forward, make sure you are all 2 kilometer away from their base. Then, when the sun sets, we strike. Make sure your each strike takes one life. Move out. "
Daren explained the plan with vigour.
.
.
.
Everyone was in position. Everyone has their eyes on the setting sun. They were hunters, waiting patiently to strike the prey.
" Now". Four man shouted form four direction and rushed towards the hideout.
20 men surrounded the hideout and another 20 rushed towards the bandits. They didn't attack immediately. They were not here to kill after all. Their purpose was to recruit. A domineering voice reverberated throughout the area.
"Surrender.... Or die." Morgan declared.
The bandits panicked. At this point, Their leader came out of the only intact house. Seeing him, the fear and panicked bandits became calm.
Daren and Morgan were surprised.
'Seems like the information was wrong. He is actually an A rank expert. But he is still going to die.'
"Fear not men, we will prevail!! They dare to trespass in our territory, make sure no one leaves alive. Kill them all!!"
Announced the bandit leader with gusto.
Morgan charged towards the leader. Daren took out his bow and started shooting at those bandits.
20 of Daren's men engaged 30 bandits. While the other 20 provided support from the back. Daren was among the support.
His each shot took one life. Morgan was also subduing his opponent. When it looked like he has seen all the tricks of the bandit leader, he released his aura. The bandit leader frowned, before he could say anything, Morgan's sword pierced his throat.
The leader died, just like that.
The bandits seeing this panicked. Some began to run away, others surrendered. The one's who tried to run, were disposed off by the supporting group.
The fight came to an end in less than 15 minutes.
Daren ordered his men to take the one's, who have surrendered and loot the place of anything valuable.
Daren killed a total of 4 bandits. All C rank. A total of 7 people surrendered. Rest were dead.
After everything was done. They returned to their base.
They have shifted their base to the lone hill in the wasteland. The hill was about 1000 meters wide and about the same in height. It was the only thing in whole wasteland that had vegetation, though the trees could be counted on both hands. It was the same place where Daren took over this body and started his journey.
Daren secluded himself at the top of the hill. He was on the verge of making a breakthrough in his mental strength.
Arius has returned and was managing the people. Morgan was guarding Daren.
About 2 days later Daren opened his eyes.
"Finally, my mental strength is as vast as a SS rank expert. Just one more level and I can attempt form my mental sphere."
His archery has also leveled up. And his shadow leech also showed improvement.
Also the his kills and his subordinates kills, also provided him with good amount of black currency.
'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.)(60%)
Archery (lvl 2)(5%)
SUMMONS: 2/2
ß : 9905
BLOODLINE : sealed ]
He came out of seclusion. He then took a bath and then went to meet Arius and Morgan. They discussed about their future plans. And then they implemented it in their routine.
They continued with their routine of conquering bandits.
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Time passed by...
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.
9 months have passed by. Together with the previous time spent on training, it has been a year since Daren came to this world.
During this time, everyone had made progress. Also all of the wasteland had been conquered except few bases, which are situated at the border between wasteland and the woods.
Also during this time, Boaz has broken through to S rank. Morgan is about to break into SS rank any day now.
Arius also had improvements in his abilities. His breakthrough still needs time though.
Daren has also gained a lot. His mental energy has broken through and he has decided to create his mental sphere and thus has entered seclusion.
Arius decided to remain behind to guard Daren. And thus Morgan and Boaz has taken one team each to raid the hideouts .
Daren pushed his mental energy in the endless darkness. Constant supply of mental energy to that place, kept depleting his reserves at high speed. But, if compared to the amount of mental energy he have, that consumption was minuscule.
The miniature figure appeared and took control of his energy. The sphere took shape, soon the energy was compressed and the first cycle was complete.
But it didn't end there. More energy was sucked in. The sphere increased in size as it kept sucking energy. Even the size of the miniature figure rose from one inch to 2 inch. The sphere stopped growing when it reached 3 meters in diameter. The second cycle was complete.
The process continued. The size of the miniature figure and the sphere kept increasing with every cycle.
One cycle... Two cycle... Three cycle... It only stopped when it has completed seven cycles.
That's the highest number of cycle one can achieve. But only 1 of every million is able to achieve that.
The best mental sea one can wish for.
The sphere expanded to a total size of 30 meter. And the miniature figure expanded to a height of 1 ft.(12 inches).
The new mental energy started accumulating at the bottom of the sphere. Hours passed by, but his mental energy still kept recovering. The area at the bottom of the sphere, got converted into a small pond. And it was still increasing.
The process came to an end, only when the small pool was converted into a small lake. Daren's Mental Sphere formation was thus completed.
'THE PERFECT SEA OF INDIVIDUALITY.'