I put my healing flask in my arm guard and went back to the forest. the potions allowed me to go deeper into the woods.
the bandits here were tougher than the other ones, and now I had to actively pick and choose my battles.
you know when you are fighting for your life you tend to pick up things pretty quickly.
Mana control and mana manipulation were mine. I could inject mana into the cards to make them as sharp as I will let them.
so I could take a card and drag it across your skin and it will cut you, but If I cut your weak spots... oh your dead.
another thing is I don't have to worry about money since I am robbing the bandits of all theirs.
and these guys were loaded. I mean sure not noble rich, but still pretty well off. so imagine if I robbed everyone.
I was fighting a very difficult opponent. his mana was dark and insane. everything about this man screamed danger.
I mean this guy was still charging at me with his dual axes like a madman. he was surrounded by a red aura.
finally... for the first time, I got desperate...
I pulled out the queen card...
97 percent of my mana was drained instantly.
I collapsed to the ground due to mana exhaustion.
a beautiful woman appeared from the card. she simply radiated power. she took a glance at the bandit.
"begone," she said, and the man just simply dissolved into dust.
that's when my eyes finally closed. I was vaguely away of something pulling my shirt and when I awoke I was in a cave.
I looked around and heard a bark. I look to my chest and saw Avery there licking my face.
I chuckled and pet her. her hair was softer than it was days ago, and not only that but she seemed to have grown to.
I held tried to grab her only to notice my left hand was a stump. it was cut off for summoning
that was beyond my capabilities.
at least it wasn't bleeding, so that's a plus.
Avery jumped up and ran off with her pack again leaving me alone.
I sighed before putting on my arm brace and going into the forest.
I was walking on a path when a carriage appeared riding next to me. a frantic man came out of the carriage and his face lit up in joy.
"Son," he said as he hugged me.
I was quick on the uptake and quickly recovered.
"...father," I said reluctantly.
"he remembers," the man said as he cried tears of joy as he looked towards the man who was driving the carriage.
"it appears the young master has finally regained his memory grand duke," the driver said.
...
I lied my way into the family, unaware of what was even happening.
I was escorted to a mansion where the maid stripped me clean and proceeded to wash my body. afterward, they put me in some very fancy clothes I have to say.
(Bloodborne drip)
upon being here I managed to learn a lot. the grand duke let his son explore the forest and got lost.
also apparently I was the exact copy of his son because nobody bats an eye and they weren't being mind controlled so I played along.
the gran duke's son lost his memories in an assassination attempt, so that was the role I played.
I was silently gathering information while training and getting used to only using one hand.
of course, this would affect my combat but I was still more than capable of defending myself with my dagger.
my arm guard was hidden under my sleeve and would remain undetectable unless you were skilled enough to see it.
"you've returned brother," an annoying voice said from behind me.
I turned to see an annoying blonde-haired boy who had a disgusting sneer on his face he was looking down at me.
I remained silent as I looked the 13-year-old boy straight in the eye. That set him off and he raised his hand to smack me.
I grabbed his collar and headbutted him, but I wasn't done with just that. I threw him over my shoulder and I had a devilish smile on my face.
that was the last thing he saw before a kick knocked him unconscious.
A maid quickly picked me up and away from the boy. this maid was strong. I could smell her mana, and it had such an alluring smell...
I snuggled into her neck and fell asleep.
...
when I woke up I was in a cell and there weren't any guards. so I used magic and unlocked the door by controlling the metal.
upon doing this I was let free and was able to explore. however, upon doing so I was beyond horrified.
I was walking through the prison that had no prisoners, at least until I went to the alchemy lab.
I cast an invisibility spell upon myself and then a noise-canceling spell on my shoes.
I began reading some of the notes that were on the table and began learning about an organization that experiments on people from the slums.
the reason was that... how strange that part was being brunt.
I proceeded to rob all of the riches that were here. healing potions, mana potions, everything valuable.
I then called forth a flame and burnt this place to the ground.
when I left through the door I was met with a place I did not know of. but judging by the sweet smell of the forest I was in demi-human territory.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
teehee.