After killing so much goblins and levelling up, Dustin no longer got any exp from them. His plan now was to just keep going forward until he reached his destination.
To avoid any prying eyes and unnecessary attention, he activated his illusion skill as he travelled, pushing it to new lengths. As he moved through the forest, it was clear what kind of world he was now in. Dead bodies littered the forest floor from time to time, and some other times he would see groups of people who were travelling together, or fighting a monster.
It seemed goblins were not the only monsters after all. Although, Dustin was yet to see any other horned boar, he had seen normal boars, some weird creatures he could only describe as giant rodents, and a few carnivorous plants. But considering the fact that all these monsters were only F rank monsters, it meant there weren't really a treat, at least to him.
He had begun moving by dawn, so around noon when the sun was directly above his head, he stopped to rest, well it was mostly for the boar. It had been running non-stop since the beginning.
"Boars are wild pigs right? Aren't they supposed to be dirty and smelling animals?"
'Why don't I precise anything from this guy? Or am I the one who's dirty?'
Dustin wondered as he tried to sniff himself. Unfortunately, he couldn't come to a conclusion.
"Heh, whatever. I still need food. I totally forgot. Let's find something then while this guy rests."
...
Elsewhere, something interesting was going on, and the news of it was gently spreading around the people like a wave.
The two brothers Marcel and Nathan, were the new topic that hung over the people's lips. The way they made killing goblins look easy was astonishing. They could detect monsters from a distance, and could even fight a boar bare handed and come out unscathed.
The night Dustin witnessed his first goblin attack, goblins had also attacked many other places during that time period. Some places like the place where Dustin was only faced one goblin, while others that weren't so lucky were attacked by groups of goblins.
The side where Marcel and Nathan had moved to was attacked by several groups of five to seven goblins in each group. A few people lost their lives pitifully, but the two brothers swooped in before the situation got worse and they effortlessly disposed off the goblins in mere minutes. The people around couldn't fathom what they saw before their very eyes as the duo ended the monster's lives. They could only look at them as, saviours.
Maybe it was human instincts, or maybe it was a desire to survive, the people around were quick to start following the brothers that had saved them like sheep following a shepherd.
After a while of surviving off of the brothers, Marcel and Nathan themselves seemed to have grown tired of it.
Marcel stopped and turned towards the crowd behind him and his brother. He could see a lot of sad faces and faces filled with fear. They had allowed the people to follow them throughout the night, but it was now almost noon, and he wanted to do something about the dead weight.
"All of you stop!" He said as he raised he's voice so it was audible enough.
The crowd before had over a hundred people, and it was well dispersed with individuals of different ages. Many people had also joined along the way, so it wouldn't have been surprising if they were well above two hundred or even more.
"We have helped you all through the first night. I am sorry to say this, but we won't be catering for you." Marcel said with a firm look on his face, indicating his decision could not be changed.
The murmuring from the crowd grew even louder and more disorderly. But then, Marcel raised an arm, signaling for them to quiet down, which they did almost instantaneously.
"That said, we won't completely abandon you. We plan to form a group, something like a guild or organization, most of you who play games and similar things would understand quite immediately. This group will need people, and the people we require are those that will be completely loyal to the group."
Once again, the murmuring started, and some were even grumbling. It seemed some people expected the brothers to just protect them till they finished this trial. O, they hadn't been hit by reality yet.
"We will only accept those who we deem capable, this includes those that have good potential and some other specification. My brother will be the judge of who will and will not join us." He said as he pointed towards Nathan, who had moved off to the side and taken a seat on a boulder.
"If you think you got something to offer, come over to this side. If not, they move to my left right. As you move towards my left, form a line and I will check you one by one." Nathan said, a bit of annoyance sipping into his tone.
Following the given instructions, people started moving to the left side, towards the side Nathan was seated. Due to the number of people, the line was quite long, and had a few folds. More than 80% of the people present had moved over to the rest, but that didn't last. After a while, even the people that had moved to the right joined the queue, and then there was no one left who had not join the line to be tested.
The second instruction Nathan gave was for anyone he had passed to move over his brother for the final process. And with that, he started.
A little bit over an hour and a half later, Nathan was almost through with the people he had to test. A few minutes later, and he was through.
Although it looked like formalities to most of the people there, Nathan and his brother were one of the few people that entered the realm of Na'ash with a skill, just like Dustin. Nathan had the skill to tell how strong a person was, almost like a sixth sense that allowed him to sense danger beforehand. The skill also allowed him to know how strong his opponent was, or how strong someone might become.
This skill of he's was very accurate, except for when it came to predicting the potential of a person or anything. Because of the complexity of reading into the future, the accuracy when it came to this specific aspect was reduced to 20%, but it was still something.
With this skill, he was able to tell who would become valuable to them later on.
knowing this, one would understand why the whole evaluation thing was carried out, but what about loyalty? Someone who defaulted to joining them might just backslide on their words and leave or even betray them in future. This was where Marcel's skill shown brightest.
With Marcel's skill, he was able to make a contract with someone, and if that person was to break the terms of that contract, they would receive a penalty stated on the contract upon signing. This was their most valuable asset.
Nathan's skill was Danger Perception (C), and Marcel's skill was Binding Contract (C).
[Danger Perception]
Passive
Rank: C
Effect:
-Able to perceive incoming danger.
-Able to perceive future danger from an enemy. Works once per enemy, and has 20% accuracy.
..
[Binding Contract]
Active
Rank: C
Effect:
-Form a contract that binds a soul.
-Doesn't work on those with a stronger will than yours, or those of higher rank than yours. Can be countered by another skill or magic.
With this, they were sure to have secured slaves that would never fail.