At dawn, we left our room.
We tried to pay for it, but we couldn't find the owner so we just threw a silver coin on the counter.
After a quick meal at the tavern, nothing fancy just some bread and water, we tried to look for a place that was selling equipment.
"This must be the place."
It was a dirty little house like the others, with the only difference of having a sign on the door saying, blacksmith.
The inside of the shop was filled with weapons and armors of warrant quality and shape.
We went directly to the owner of the shop.
"Excuse me, I am looking for some light armor."
"We have some at the back. Follow me."
He brought us to a section of the shop that had leather clothing.
"This is made from red orcs skin. Very durable and hard to cut."
"What is your best work?"
"MY best work? Well, I can offer you this one."
He showed us a black one." It's made out of night wolf skin. Extremely light and durable and has a special ability to make the wearer blend into the shadows when it's worn."
"I take it! Also, can I ask you to bring me a belt that I can carry my daggers in it?"
The shop keeper, who was smiling wildly from the sent of money, nodded and went to look for the item.
"Right, do you want anything?"
'I guess a new belt and a battle axe would be welcome. But how are we going to pay for all this stuff?'
"Trust me. I have my ways."
She also asked for the items that I wanted. The shop owner was so generous that he even gave us some extra knives.
"This will make 40 golden lai."
"Before I that can I show you something?"
"Well, I can't see any harm in it."
She smiled then quickly her trumpet materialized in her hand.
"Music Magic: Not of Wealth."
A piece of gentle music started to play around us, promising happiness and fulfillment.
The shopkeeper seemed surprised by this but the more the music went on his exes became foggier till saliva started to drip from his mouth.
"Give me all your money and a world map."
At her order, we received a huge amount of 100 golden lai and a map.
When we left, the man at the counter was still hypnotized.
'So, we actually don't need any money.'
"Yep, but I don't want to use this trick if it's not necessary. It's so embarrassing when it's not working!"
We went to our caravan to put our stuff on it.
"Ok so now we have some equipment. Do we need anything else?"
'Well, you can buy some food and a tent if for yourself since I don't need either of them.'
"I only do those because they feel good! I can easily skip them!"
'Still, you are the only one who can drive the carriage, which means that you will be the one out the most. So, all things considered, you should buy things that will make you comfortable.'
"... Fine but not here. I don't like the way they are looking at me."
Right, the atmosphere here is indeed very unpleasant. The townsfolk around us were eyeing us for a while as if determining whenever we worth something.
"Let's go."
We hopped on the carriage and left the place through the gate at the other side of the town.
'We are being followed.'
"I noticed."
'Want me to deal with them or you want to handle it?'
"…I do it. I haven't really used offensive powers anyway."
We continued our travels on the dirt road for the rest of the day, till the night time came.
"They are close, I should prepare."
She tried to take off her dress, but the fabric was actually her own skin, making the experience quite painful.
"Damn it Right, help me!"
'… Ok. Mimic Shell.'
Using limited power, I managed to make her dress fuse with her body.
"….You know, your power is really convenient. When we separate I should really find someone who can do this."
'I am flattered.'
She put her armor on and we decided to wait in the darkness for the ones that were following us. Driven by curiosity I tried to activate my [Presence Concealment] skill for extra protection. When I turned it on, for the first time I felt a shiver.
"What did you do?"
'I turned on a skill that makes you hard to notice. I guessed, pairing it with your equipment would give you more protection.'
"Next time, tell me, it almost gave me a heart attack."
'Noted.'
We waited for a solid hour when we finally saw the peoples that were following us.
It was a group of men, wearing similar leather armor and carrying rusty swords. They looked famished and weak.
In total, they were an easy target for us.
"Music Magic: Note of Wealth."
With the same power, she sed on the guy in the shop she quickly made them harmless.
"Lighting Magic: Electric Bolt."
From her open palm, a ray of yellow electricity spread out, covering the bandits that followed us.
When the ray finally ended there was nothing left of their body nor of our caravan except for a big pile of burned stuff.
[30 EXP received]
[20 SE received]
'You.'
"What? I took care of them."
'By destroying our caravan with the horses! And why did you kill all of them?! We could have asked them for information! And why didn't you used this thing against that frog, to fry it!?'
"First, I couldn't because then I just came back from death and I felt a little wobbly. Second, don't worry your axe is definitely in one piece."
'That's not the problem, you... Sigh. Can we at least change places so that I can eat their cores?'
" Humans don't have cores."
'What? I killed a human not long ago and it had a tasty one.'
"Maybe when they make a contract with a spirit it might appear as a mutation, but I would be surprised that any of these guys would have one. "
God damn it, this day is getting worse.
[ NAME: MR Right (None)
RACE: MODIFIED MIMIC BODY (+SENTIENT MAGIC CORE) (Possessed by: {Weakened Duchess})
Lv: 1 (Lv:1)
JOB: NONE
DP: 50/50
HP: 60/60 { + 300}
MP: 30/30 (+37/37) {+ 300}
DEFF: 40 {+ 200}
ST: 37 {+200}
SP: 29 {+100
INT: 4 (+75) {+ 100}
CH: 0 {+400}
LUCK: 8 {+ 100}
SKILLS: [RECONSTRUCTION +] [SELF VIEW] [UNNATURAL BODY] [MANA SYPHON] [PRESENCE CONCEALMENT] [LESSER BATTLE AXE STYLE] [MIMIC SHEL] [ClAW CREATION] [LIMB STRECHING] [BASIC MANA MANIPULATION] { Music Magic (Possessed)}
TITLES: [BLESSED BY THE VOID] [SURVIVOR] [SPIRIT EATER] [Arcenist] [Degenerate] [POSSESESD] [SERVANT OF THE VOID]
I checked my states, noticing no change.
'Hey, how big is your level?'
"Right now, I am level 20. Because of dying and being dead for so long I lost quite an amount. Even my best state is only 400!"
So, my hunch was correct. The state boosts are from her. Which should mean the stronger she gets, the boosts will increase, making me stronger.
'I wonder what the capital will have potions and such that can boost our performance.'
"Were those that come from?"
'Just thinking.'
"I never heard of any potion that can make someone stronger. Drugs, on the other hand, are the real kickers."
'Drugs can make you strong?'
"Yeah, there was that red dust thing. Made a level 20 adventurer bend metal. He died shortly after it due to overdose, but it was still impressive."
'Drugs. What a scary object to have.'
"I know, right? And there is a lot of humans using it to feel good and such crap. It's ridiculous!"
'It's understandable if you are weak and desperate.'
"If you are weak then do something about it!"
We continued to stand there in silence, listening to the sound of the night.
"… Want to change?"
'…Sure.'
I took over the body, then from the biggest pile of cinders, I pulled out my axe.
"Let's go. "
*****
??? POV:
"Run!"
A group of human adventurers were running at full speed in the forest.
The one with the most muscle was carrying a bag on his shoulder that was moving constantly.
Behind this group an awful sound could be heard, coming closer and closer to them.
"We need to drop the bag!"
"What about the money then?!"
"Shit!" The man who was at the very front had a desperate face, then he started to grin." Slaves, stop, and buy us as much time as you can!"
At his order, the one's who was at the very end of the group, briskly stopped as if time froze around them.
This was the curse of a slave. With a magic circle carved in their flesh and bone, they were bound to follow the orders of their master without any exception. If they tried to disobey their lord's order the consequences would be worse than death.
From the trees, the source of the sound appeared.
It was a huge black grisly with six limbs and three horns on its head.
It was the king of the forest, the demonic bear.
With its tremendous force, the bear tore the pore guy who was standing before him as if he was made out of paper, spreading gore around him.
"No... Please... I don't want to die."
They begged, they cried, some even sullied themselves, yet nothing helped, the spell in their bodies forced their bodies to stand there, waiting for the bear to rip them to shreds.
Chomp!
The bear just ate a head.
Slash!
The bear just tore someone in two.
Bamm!
The bear just flattened a kid.
There were only three slaves left, two small girls and an old man.
The bear towered over them, its face and covered in blood.
With a cry of war, it's raised its huge claws then...
Slash. Thump.
Everyone was shocked.
The clawed paw of the bear was cut off by an axe that flew out from nowhere.
The mysterious weapon embedded itself in the tree trunk not far from one of the kid's face, making it cry even more.
"Damn my hand slipped. I aimed at its head."
A new figure appeared.
It was tall, taller than any human, with a fur cap with its hood on. The air around this individual was strange, it was strong and menacing and yet it was hard to grasp its presence.
This figure was a walking contradiction.
"I haven't seen a bear like you. Your pelt and will make a great coat."
As if it could understand the insult the monster roared a ball of energy forming in his mouth.
"Oh, that looks dangerous. Let's not do that. Reconstruction, Spike."
Under his feet, green tentacle-like lines spread around him.
Then before the bear could launch its attacks appear of stone shout out from the ground, impaling the beast by its head, killing it on the spot.
The old man and the kids couldn't understand what was happening.
A D class monster that was supposed to be the forest strongest was killed with one hit.
"Well, this was anticlimactic. I hope at least its core tastes good."
The figure walked right in front of the corps block its view from the small group.
"Th-This sound...Is he...eating it?"
"Gloup. Taste better than a goblin but the spiders were better. Now."
The tall figure turned to them.
Now that they were close to it they could see the face of the creature before them
It was a black face with no nose nor mouth, just a huge. round green pupilless eye in the middle of its head.
"What should I do with you guys?"
******
At the same time, Star Soldiers H.Q.:
"…Master you need to eat."
"…"
The little girl, holding a plate of warm soup, was sitting at the end of a bed at the infirmary. The person laying on it was bandaged up like a mummy only showing her eye and mouth.
"Master?"
"…Mari."
"Yes!"
"…I will break our contract."
To use the power of a spirit one must form a contract between themselves and the entity. By this contract, spirits can receive energy from their host, which keeps them in their world and the user can wield a percentage of their power.
So, by breaking their contract, the spirit will be thrown back to their own realm, that is, told by them, a place of pure chaos.
"B-But master, I …"
"You are too weak. I need a stronger spirit. Go away."
The little girl seemed devasted.
The bandaged person lifted her hand up.
Through her bandages, a golden light could be seen around her wrist.
That was the manifestation of the contract.
Each person had it differently, but the most common one was to have a mark similar to a tattoo on one's body.
"No, master, please! I will do everything! I will become stronger! I-I will-"
"No Mari. Disssaaaaaa-"
Suddenly her speech became very long and slow.
Not only her, but the noises of the infirmary slowed down, to a speed that was close to stopping.
"W-What is happening?"
"Excuse me, but I was passing by and I might have heard that you have a problem of strengths."
Behind her, a man wearing a black suit appeared from the shadows.
"I might be able to help you with that. In fact, I can even make your master take you back! Make her love you even more than anything in this world."
The little spirit turned to the person, hiding in the shadows.
"W-Who are you?"
"Me? I am no one"
The man in the shadows stepped forward revealing his mask resembling that of a deer skull.
"Just the neighborhood's friendly deal maker."