He watched one of the members of the Willow Style talking with the newcomer who had meandered over towards them It was hard to tell what she was thinking due to the veils all of the women wore but she clearly spoke back Dehark guffawed slapping his knee So they were even so desperate they would go begging women for help Embarrassing
Then the newcomer gave the woman several silver coins The woman waved her hand and produced the carcass of a wild boar They exchanged these and parted
Blinking at the sight Dehark was confused They simply were buying food It was extremely rare for bandits to buy food after all their stats allowed them to subsist on very little even if the hunger was a constant distraction Perhaps these two weren’t desperate so much as foolish
Dehark filed this information away for later and his gaze returned to the golden Tassle and the tent below it For now he waited
Randidly could tell that even Shal’s interest was piqued by the way his nostrils flared as he cooked Even some of the other bandits seemed to wander closer eyes on the roasting pig After rubbing some herbs on it it certainly gave off a very attractive scent
Randidly cut up potatoes and peppers and put them into an iron pot which he placed under the pig Slowly as blood and grease fell down from the pig it fell into the pot and began to boil the vegetables He was unsure if this was sanitary but he knew the flavor would likely be good for it so he let it go
Peaking at Shal’s face again Randidly was surprised to find that his master’s face was quite brooding He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong but Shal seemed to sense it and glanced up at him Shal’s eyes burned with a hot wild emotion before it was quickly smothered Then Shal sighed
You are soft If you remain this soft what will come after will be filled with difficulty
Randidly remained silent Somehow he knew that Shal didn’t mean the fighting When Shal said that they had to commit crimes he was aware of what sort of actions they would need to take And it was true that one of the things they would need to do would be to hurt others Likely without just cause They would use these people as a means to enter into the prison
Shal’s mouth quirked up As if he had followed along Randidly’s thought process he said No you misunderstand This part will not be so bloody although there will likely be casualties What follows will be difficult The minimum sentence in the prison is 100 Years The time dilution is about 400x so that will take half a year too long We will need to break out of the prison And to do that we will slaughter our way through guards by the hundreds
Closing his eyes Shal said I can manage most of the killing on my own but the blood will be on your hands And you will need to locate my spear Only once I have it do I have confidence to rail against that stronghold We have not known each other long but we can be considered to be involved We have done favors for one another our destinies are tied together But if you find that you lack the resolve to kill Leave tonight I will not seek you
Randidly sat silently He was here to repay what Shal had done for him but it was true that didn’t mean he would do anything for him Inwardly Randidly had been wondering why more people wouldn’t use this plan but he realized there were two reasons One it wasn’t necessary Others could use dungeons And two It was essentially giving up your freedom for 100 years of your time even if only 6 months passed in the real world Leaving early was almost impossible
But Shal seemed confident Even so
Why do we do this Randidly asked quietly The boar hissed and spat grease popping off of it The vegetables were really boiling now and Randidly sprinkled some spices into the mixture
For me A chance at meeting someone I’ve been looking for For a very long time For you Shal’s eyes opened The chance of power If you make the top 4 of this tournament you will be given access to the Hall of Stances Thousands of the most powerful Styles have been collected there And if you give me the opportunity I was looking for I will give you the full inheritance of the Spear Phantom You may be strong and you are growing well even without my guidance you would become formidable But
But you would always just be a man who plays at using the spear If that destiny is satisfactory you do not need me But this chance is just tonight If you do not leave I will consider you bound to me We cannot turn back
Randidly looked into the fire for a long time Then he produced a knife and sliced off long chunks of the pig’s flesh added some of the vegetables and wordlessly handed it to Shal After sniffing it Shal nibbled on the edge of some then rapidly began devouring the rest of his plate
After serving himself Randidly sat down He was tempted by what Shal offered His insight and training had helped him improve immensely Setting aside that Randidly wasn’t sure how to leave this planet he considered the hard truth was he alright with killing people to find power
Then he remembered the words of the Path of Carnage and shivered Perhaps he should have taken them more seriously But Randidly couldn’t deny how badly he wanted the power It was what drove him to practically torture himself every day pushing himself to the limit That sense of loss and hopelessness That frustration and confusion as he wanted to find his friends but could find no methods to do so
He craved power to overcome those emotions To protect his small village To resist the system that had invaded his world and killed many of the people he had known
He had been callous in the past He had allowed monster hordes to rage without assisting and many people had died do to it He didn’t assist with whatever problems Donnyton had with its sister village Death had resulted from his inaction
Which was different from what would happen now
Randidly ate more slowly than Shal who finished then belched and lay on the ground in a leisurely manner relaxing After he had eaten his fill Randidly looked at the boar which was barely even dented and then looked at the hungry and predatory looks around them Randidly stepped forward and began to gather the food into his spatial ring when someone spoke
Hey now you have so much why not share with your big brother here Believe me this will go much easier if you stay on my good side A few men stepped forward all holding large spears
Randidly just stayed still but a small fire was lit in his gut The men smiled cruelly and approached
Hehe that’s more like it be good and we won’t fucking shit poison The man said his eyes widening as he stumbled and he quickly produced a potion and gulped it down Randidly shrugged but didn’t stop Pollen of the Rafflesia
Their gazes were tinged with fear now but that was quickly overwhelmed by anger
This isn’t your lucky day kid The first man who had an ugly scar down his cheek said Then he gestured to another of the men My mate has a poison resistance over 30 Weaklings like you who can be countered so easily deserve to die
Something snapped in Randidly then But he didn’t move He simply smiled
Spearing roots ripped up through the second man boring holes in his stomach He whimpered his eyes wide and the rest of the men froze The first man seemed to be rather brave and vindictive because rather than run he spun and leapt towards Randidly his spear slashing forward
He could almost hear Shal whispering in his ear these weaklings did not deserve to die by the spear So Randidly stepped forward and knocked the spear to the side with his hand and delivered a Roundhouse Kick to the side of the man’s knee
That man was far far weaker than Shal and even weaker than the average participant in the qualifier After all he was not valued enough to even be enrolled in a Style So his knee cracked and popped and he fell to the ground screaming