Chereads / The Rise of a Star / Chapter 8 - Harvest Festival

Chapter 8 - Harvest Festival

Amir was currently watching the body of Ravi burn. He was glad to have learned these survival skills from a young age. He didn't want anyone to know what he did to the magic beast. The smell of burning flesh would soon draw the other monsters from the deeper parts of the forest and they would act as his cleanup crew.

"Hey, show me my status."

===Status===

Name: Amir

Titles: Child of Argos

Bloodline: Ancient bloodline of Greed

Rank: F-

Strength: 12

Agility: 10

Stamina: 10

Mana capacity: 4

Charm: 2

[Stat points: 6] 

Looking at his stat points Amir smiled. He had gotten a whopping 5 stat points from killing the magic beast! The entire time he spent converting the coins waiting for nightfall he had only gotten 1 measly point after 6 hours of painstaking work!

He closed his status and headed back in the direction of the village as he didn't want to waste more time before the magic beast came for the body of the Ravi. Plus, tonight was the night of the harvest festival, and he had big plans for the night.

The guards would be lax in their patrol duties tonight so sneaking back into the village would be quite easy.

After getting back in the village he could see that the whole village was filled with many colorful paper lanterns and stylish ribbons. The wooden houses were all fashioned with flowers that made the village look lively.

At the time square music was being played as he heard the sounds of laughter and joy. The harvest festival was in full swing, and everyone was celebrating another year of a bountiful harvest. The harvest festival was a celebration done by the village every year for having great success in selling the Asher wood trees that surrounded the village. 

Luton village was on the outskirts of a forest of Asher wood trees and because of its location, they were far removed from the other villages and towns. Even though were mostly surrounded by the forest and had to deal with magic beasts more often, they were better off than most villages in their barony.

This was all because the village leader Ronald Robinson was a direct servant of Baron Wayner. He used his connections with the baron to monopolize the Asher wood and use the money to invite mercenaries as guards to protect them while they harvested the trees.

Everyone in the village loved him but to Amir, he was nothing but a 2 faced bastard. 

The festival started to get livelier as more people came and were celebrating in the village square. Seeing this Amir stayed out of sight as he sneaked away from open view. The people of this village treated him like an insect and he was going to make all of them pay.

Amir hid in the shadows, stealthily navigating toward the eastern edge of the village. Before long, he arrived at a grand two-story house with an open courtyard. This was the village leader's residence. A mischievous grin spread across Amir's face as he eyed the house.

"It's payback time," he said with a smile

Breaking the window, he climbed through the window and started looking for anything of value, completely disregarding the house's design.

When he didn't find anything in the living room or the dining room, he walked upstairs, there were four rooms. After seeing the first three rooms he checked each of them, in the first room he noticed a bunk bed, a sword, and what seemed like a large stick.

The sword rested in a sleek, obsidian scabbard, its length a commanding 120 centimeters. He unsheathed the sword revealing a blade that gleamed and looked incredibly sharp and could make swift and decisive strikes. The weapon was elegant yet fearsome, a force to be reckoned with in his hands.

"Wow, cool looking sword thank you so much for this gift." He said with a smirk

The second room turned out to be a bathroom, which he promptly exited. The third room, however, was the most unusual. It was filled with books and oddly large pots scattered about. At first glance, the room seemed unimportant, but that changed once he read the titles on the books.

Two books immediately caught his attention: "How to Use Mana 101" and "Alchemic Guide 101." However, he chose to take only the one on mana. Eager to learn how to harness his mana, he saw this as a crucial opportunity to gain the knowledge he desperately needed.

It looks like I've reached the final room," he remarked with a smile. He approached the door, but when he tried to open it was locked.

He was short on time and was about to leave but something inside him flared up. It felt like his entire being was pulling me toward the entrance of the door.

"Is this my bloodline? " He wondered

He felt that he was being pulled to whatever was behind the door and that something of immense value was in there. He was short on time due to the guards still patrolling the village even if it was less than usual but just couldn't seem to want to leave whatever was in there.

"If it's my bloodline, then whatever's behind that door is valuable." 

He quickly raised his fist and unleashed a barrage of punches on the door. Though it was made of sturdy Asher wood, it couldn't withstand his relentless assault. In no time, the door was broken in pieces.

"That really drained me," he muttered, flexing his bruised fingers.

"Alright Let's see what that fat ass got in here." 

entering the chamber, his eyes were immediately drawn to a massive bed dominating one side of the room. On the opposite corner stood a desk, cluttered with papers, while a tall bookcase lined with books from top to bottom stretched along the wall, offering an impressive display of knowledge.

It was, without a doubt, the best room he'd encountered so far. Nodding in approval, he took a moment to thoroughly survey his surroundings before beginning a meticulous search of the area.

After a few minutes, he became frustrated as he couldn't find what he was looking for. He didn't know what it was, but he had a feeling he would know it when he saw it. 

'There nothing but paper and books in here but something's definitely in here I can feel it.' 

He was running out of time, and he didn't have much more time before the guard swept this area of the village. He took a breath as he tried to stay calm. He needed to try and use his bloodline to locate it. Closing his eyes he tried to focus entirely on using his bloodline.

'I need to feel it, Feel its value, something that would make you feel greedy.'

He felt something click as his eyes shot open. His attention was suddenly drawn to the floor, where a thin stream of what looked like gold air was blowing before abruptly stopping and converging on a single point.

"That's it!" 

ding*

[Understanding of the power of greed increases]

[Your greed increases]

Moving quickly to the gold air I bent down to touch the spot and knocked the area with his fingers.

"It's hollow" 

Taking his fist he punched down on the spot. After hitting the hollow area, it shattered, but the instant it did, the room was bathed in a red glow.

"This is....."

As he looked at what was in front him his jaw dropped.

"It's a beast core!" He shouted

Beast cores are crystal-like orbs that serve as the heart of a magic beast's mana system, composed of concentrated mana. They help the beast grow stronger and are crucial for gaining power by consuming other beasts' cores.

What shocked Amir was not the core itself but that he could feel that this was much more powerful than any E rank cores. 

'How did he get this? No guard in the village should be strong enough to kill something higher than E+ rank this doesn't make sense.'

The strongest guard in the village was E Rank and he knew damn well that they couldn't kill anything that had a beast core this strong. His eyes glued to the core they glowed a light golden hue. He wanted the power in the core.

"Thank you so much Mr. Robinson; truly, you're the finest rotund bastard in all the realms," he said with an exaggerated grin.

He was ecstatic to have such a strong beast core as he could use it to get stronger. He wasted no time and quickly went downstairs going straight into the kitchen. He began to search it franticly.

"Where is it, come on Where is it!"

He soon came upon a big brown barrel hidden underneath the sink.

"Ah here it is," he said with relief. 

He place it on the ground in front of him.

"Ok let's get this party started!" he said with a wicked smile

Thinking about their reactions he laughed hysterically.

***

As the festival continued an even more joyous announcement was made. 

"Congratulations Mr. Robison I can't that Sophia got into a magic academy!" A middle-aged woman said

"That's such a great achievement for someone who just turned 8 years old." A man said

More and more people were showering Sophia for being recommended to a magic academy. It truly was a great achievement as no one from their village had ever been accepted into an academy much less recommended. 

"My daughter is excellent and she's going to be the superstar of the village," Ronald said with a proud smile

Sophia who was standing beside her father soaked up all the praise like a sponge and smiled brightly. She felt her getting into the academy was only natural for someone like her but didn't mind being praised by the villagers.

"She sure is going to be a great powerhouse in the future Mr. Robison and our village will get even more notoriety." someone said

"Don't count out Elijah and Jordan just yet, there by far the most talented fighters in the village and they'll give those nobles a run for their money." A man with a deep voice said

Turning to the man Ronald smiled and nodded his head.

"My sons are going to get into the academy and make us proud. They were born with the Robison's heart after all."

Hearing their father speak so highly of them, Jordan and Elijah smiled, feeling a surge of encouragement from his words.

Jordan smiled and proudly thumped his chest.

"Don't worry Father we're going to get in and make you proud."

Elijah remained silent but nodded his head in response to what Jordan said.

The people of the village were very happy, and the festival was even more special after hearing such news. Ronald was ecstatic that he would have a child enter the academy it was a proud moment to watch it all unfold. He could already see all the money he would get from Sophia growing into a powerful mage and he couldn't wait for it. 

He dreamed of riches and fame, and he didn't mind if it came through his kids. He was one step closer to his goal of being a noble. It was crazy of him to think he could ever get to this point but what was life without dreams? He didn't care as long as he could bathe in riches and have all the women and power.

Thinking about having all the power of being a noble he was foaming at the mouth. He took a seat and watched the people of the village happy and dancing their hearts out.

'Keep dancing and laughing you damn fools. You're all going be my ticket to the sweet life.' he thought

"FIRE! FIRE!"

"SOMEONE COME QUICK THEIRS A FIRE IN THE VILLAGE."

Standing up Ronald calmed down the man that came running.

"Stay calm; we'll get this situation under control. Just tell me where the fire is," he said in a reassuring tone.

Gasping for breath, the man pointed towards the source of the fire. Ronald nodded, quickly summoning some guards for assistance. As he glanced in the indicated direction, he couldn't shake the uneasy thought that it was alarmingly close to his own house.

***

"They should get there soon so I'll just wait it out for now," Amir said

Amir was currently where his old tent used to be waiting for the guards to rush to to the house. He needed to be distracted so he could finish his plan.

Amir needed everyone to let down their guard because he was planning to rob the village bank. When he said he was going to ruin everyone in the village, he intended to do it in the most devastating way possible.