"Adam!" Cindy shouted out as she saw Adam who was coming to them with Lyle.
His new look made the four people a bit apprehensive, but after seeing him flash them a quick smile they slowly relaxed before they started talking.
Lyle went together with Adam and the villagers and escorted them back to the village. Not all of the people present inside the cave came from the same village, but that was the most that Lyle was willing to do since escorting them to their respective villages would take too long.
All of them, except for Cindy and the other three who came together with them had been defiled by the goblins. The two girls were about to have their virginities stolen by the hobgoblins before Adam blasted away the shack, leading to the monsters all coming out and confronting him.
It took Lyle and Adam some 30 minutes to get to the edge of the forest and exit it. A small village could be seen in front of them.
"This is it, me and Adam will stay here and keep an eye out for you guys in case there are more monsters, but after you enter the village and I become sure that you are fine, we will leave," Lyle said as Cindy opened her mouth, but was unable to say anything.
She and the others knew of the deal that Lyle made with Adam, they also understood that the only reason Lyle escorted them out was because of Adam.
They all hugged Adam before leaving.
As they entered the village, Lyle was finally able to hear the words he was waiting for all this time.
[ The host has finished the chain quest, rewards will be given out now. ]
- 100 S Coins
- 1 level up and 4 000 Soul Power
- Beginner-level book of poisons
[ The servant Adam has gained more loyalty toward the host ]
Lyle had actually received a second quest after managing to save Cindy and the others. The quest only gave a bit more to Lyle and wasn't really worth much, but after seeing that Adam's loyalty would rise after doing it, he decided to take it and escort the villagers back.
Lyle didn't wish for Adam to simply be a servant that obeyed him because he had to, no, he wanted Adam to be a trusted subordinate that wouldn't think twice before following up on his order.
A brainless person that only knew how to serve was not really valuable to Lyle, no matter how powerful he may be.
That is why he decided that unless it was truly necessary, he wouldn't force Adam to do anything. He wanted to make the young man truly loyal and strong, but he also wanted him to have his opinion in case of Lyle did something that could be done better in the future.
Lyle wasn't an egoist, he didn't believe that he was above others or that his way of doing this was always the best. He didn't mind having somebody with him who would be able to give him a second opinion and help him out.
That was what he expected of Adam, but first, the young man would not only have to grow stronger, but he needed to be trained.
His combat abilities were pitiful since Adam rarely fought.
His way of controlling mana was also abysmal and there would be a lot of work ahead of Lyle if he wanted to make Adam into a person that could be of help to him.
Even though Adam's talent had been increased thanks to him being a vampire, it would still take quite some time before the young man was qualified to fight alongside Lyle.
They went back into the forest and went to the areas where the monsters were weaker.
The first thing Lyle wanted to do was make Adam unafraid of killing others.
The young man had never killed anything before, well, except for some wildlife that would be seen near the village, but no monsters or people.
That was lesson number 1.
Lyle arrived near a group of Toskars.
Adam was already level 10 and he was physically much more powerful compared to the Toskars, but he was afraid.
Even though the blood of a vampire coursed through his veins and made it easier for him to keep calm and collected, Adam was still unable to stop himself from slightly shaking as he stared at the group of monsters in front of them.
Lyle lightly sighed as he watched the scene. He knew that he would perhaps take a bit too long and that he might need to discard Adam at the end.
The young man's latent talent was quite high and his affinity with mana was fairly high and way above average, but none of that would matter to Lyle if Adam wasn't able to progress quickly.
He couldn't afford to stay here for too long simply to train Adam, nor did he have the luxury of simply training him for longer periods of time. He was an assassin and sooner or later, he would be given another mission.
Even though the world was in great turmoil and wars had mostly stopped thanks to the huge increase in monster activity, Lyle knew that the nobles would probably use this chance to kill even more of their enemies.
He was right.
The underground organizations that didn't work with the crown were bustling with contracts from nobles and merchants who wished for their opponents to die.
They didn't care about the world changing.
They would be fine, that much they believed in.
But for them, this was a great opportunity to grow their power and become more influential in the empire.
Lyle's organization would definitely be tasked with killing nobles of the enemy kingdoms and empires, while there would probably be a good number of requests for bodyguards.
An assassin was the best bodyguard when one was being targeted by other assassins.
Many influential nobles would hire them and they would need to do their best to make sure their patron stays alive.
Lyle could feel a slight headache coming after thinking of what he might need to do in the future.
That was why he needed to grow his power quickly.
He was known as 'The Shade' and belonged to the upper echelons of the organization, the missions he would be given would pit him against enemies of similar strength, which Lyle was completely unable to go against right now.
"So, what are you waiting for, you have a sword, a shield, and armor, go and fight," Lyle said as he suddenly pushed Adam from behind and caused him to show himself to the Toskars.
There were a total of 3 monsters in front of Adam.
From what Lyle could see, the 3 were all about level 5 and shouldn't pose a problem for Adam.
Even breaking through his defense should be a challenge for the monsters who didn't fare well against armored opponents. The monsters all stared at Adam before attacking him.
"Wait, no, stay back!" Adam shouted as he swung his sword at one of the Toskars.
"Tch, don't just use your arm, you moron." Lyle's voice was heard behind Adam as his attack missed the target completely. His swing left him open for an attack and the Toskar immediately used his tentacles to grab his right hand and leg.
"You didn't use your hips, you didn't plant your feet correctly, and you swung too wide, leaving you completely open and vulnerable to an attack, not only that, you are now focusing completely on that Toskar, while the other two are attacking you from the other side." Adam quickly turned his head to the left before quickly raising his shield and blocking a tentacle that had been launched at his face.
"One more."
Another Toskar managed to strike Adam and hit him from the side, making him hunch back slightly as the impact hurt him a bit.
"Why are you simply standing, none of them have enough raw strength to go toe-to-toe against you, use that strength Adam, otherwise you might die today, I won't be saving you from these weaklings." Adam opened his eyes wide before grunting.
He shouted as he suddenly moved his right arm and leg. He lifted his leg, and the Toskar with it before kicking at the other one.
His kick was slow and a person would be able to easily dodge it, but the Toskars were in the middle of attacking him, which meant that they couldn't dodge in time.
Adam's leg connected with the Toskar that had hit him on the side, but the slow speed of the kick meant that little damage had been done, still, the kick was strong enough to force the other Toskar to let go of him.
Adam then attacked the third Toskar that had tried to hit him in the only place that was unguarded, his head.
While Adam was doing all of that, Lyle was simply observing him and checking out his status screen.