(Caution: This chapter has some explicit implications/actions. You have been warned!)
The night carried a chill that spread through the body. Karion made his way through the ruined buildings. Planks and cloth of various sizes made up most of the slums, while tents were found between every few houses. Karion made it obvious he was a valuable target. With potions strapped around his waist, and a fancy sword around his back, he believed that a robber would come sooner than later.
He watched many random street fights as he continued. After a quick use of appraisal, none were who he was looking for. He soon caught a glimpse of an unconscious woman with contusions decorated on her body and trickles of fluids flowing between her legs being dragged away by a group of sweating men.
"..?!"
Appraising the men, both were only low-level villagers. Appraising the woman, a new text appeared.
{Appraisal Denied. Reason: Expired}
"….."
Karion watched as bystanders saw the woman, but ignored her. With the slums being a lawless district, anything could happen to anyone, and nobody would bat an eye. She was tossed into an alley and left alone. Double-checking if thieves were nearby, Karion quietly made his way to the alley. With a look of pity, he spent a few minutes praying for the woman's passing. Before moving on, he noticed a broken pendant held in her hand, with a drawn picture of a happy family of three. In silence, Karion left a vial of mana before leaving.
Continuing his walk further into the district, finding cautious gazes through the windows. Just as he had predicted, it wasn't long before three males emerged from the shadows of the buildings.
With grins made of their egos spread across their face, Karion narrowed his eyes as he drew his blade.
{
Thief - Lv. 7
Villager -Lv. 2
-Iron Sword
}
{
Thief - Lv. 6
Villager - Lv. 8
-Iron Sword
}
{
N/A
-Iron Short-Sword
}
"Eh…?" One of the thieves didn't have a class. Properly examining his pursuers, two seemed to be well-experienced, while the other looked timid as if this were his first time dealing with criminal matters.
"Drop the sword, and we'll let you escape," one of the thieves said.
The other began laughing, "Leave your bryas too!"
The third pursuer was silent. Though he had a straight expression, his body language indicated fear.
Karion knelt, placing his sword on the ground, he slowly backed away.
"Oh? I like wimps like you," the thief slowly walked over, bending down to pick up the sword.
"Watch out..! He's got potions!!" The other thief shouted from behind.
Under the cover of night, it made it harder to see what was around Karion's waist, but it was too late. Throwing a vial of fatigue at the thief kneeling, he immediately began gagging, before Karion swiftly swung his fist to his face.
Running straight forward to the other thief, he readied his blade,
"You stupid charging in without a weapon??"
After a swing from the bandit that Karion had barely managed to dodge, he sprinted slightly further before turning around,
"Recall!"
The gagging thief screamed in pain from Ataria that pierced through his stomach, before plunging through the second thief's heart. Retrieving Ataria, he dashed towards the third thief, who fell to the ground, frozen in fear after hearing the screams of his acquaintances and watching them die in the same seconds.
Karion pointed his blade to his throat, and their eyes locked with each other. Taking another good look at the young man, he seemed to be in his teens. Younger than himself, but older than a child.
"P-Please don't…"
[This one doesn't have a class. Why?]
"Is this all of your friends?"
"H-Huh..? N-No! I… there's another place. I-It's treated like a base…"
"Take me to them. Now," he threatened, "And dig through the bodies for their cards."
Karion pointed to the two thieves, "Don't think of running."
"Y-Yes..!!"
The young man rushed to his fallen acquaintances, digging through their remains for their identity cards. Karion kept up the charade of a heartless hunter, but in truth, it was because he was still hesitant to take a human life. Using Ataria to do the work for him, Karion was sure to burn the sight of the dead thieves in his mind, to help fortify his mind, knowing the next fight might not be so easy.
The young man collected the cards, handing them to Karion. Without saying a word, he nodded his head, insinuating for the man to lead him to the hideout.
Being led further into the slums, they stopped at a collection of tents, enclosed by a small makeshift wall of planks, rocks, and mud. Among the many tents, only one had light coming from inside, with a silhouette of a large man tending to a sword.
"T-They're right here…" the man pointed.
Karion faced the young man and sighed.
"I-Is something wrong..? Please don't hurt me…"
"You're new with them, aren't you? Were you forced to be here?"
"Huh..?" The young man hesitated to answer, but moments later, silently nodded.
"Why?"
"Y-You need protection from someone when you live here…"
[Right… What a stupid thing to ask.]
"Hey, you're not with them yet, so I'm letting you go, but I'm going to show them no mercy. Are there other people who were forced into this?"
"M-My mom. She's supposed to be outside the base right now, but I'm not sure if she's back yet…"
"What does she look like?"
After thinking of a response, he instead reached inside his shirt, taking out a familiar pendant, "We have matching necklaces. She always has this around her neck."
"Ah…" Karion walked away from the young man. In a broken voice that he tried to hide, he replied, "Stay here. Don't move."
In fear, the man nodded as he watched Karion walk towards the base. With an angered expression and tears in his eyes, he marched forward, quietly jumping over the wall.
Assuming the other tents were filled with sleeping thieves, he quietly walked behind the only tent alight. Using the silhouette to his advantage, he aimed Ataria at its neck. With a swift thrust, he immediately chanted
"Pierce!"
A splatter of blood painted the inner tent, reflecting black dots from the outside. Quietly retrieving his blade, Ataria was drenched in blood.
[Next…]
Using appraisal, he saw one to two people in each tent, few were thieves with levels between three and seven, while many were bandits with levels between six and eight.
[Appraisal works through the tents..?]
Laying Ataria on the ground he angled himself behind two tents,
"Recall..!"
Ataria levitated, piercing itself through the tents. The appraisal updating itself to show expired entities.
Walking to the next tent, Karion angled his sword above the panel he saw from outside the tent. With a deep breath, he thrust the sword down but instead heard a clang of metal.
"..?!"
Pulling out the sword, he saw from the rip he made in the tent that he had stabbed a sword at the bandit's bedside. Hearing a groan, Karion quickly stabbed the man, his scream echoing.
With another stab, this time aimed at his throat, he was silent. The sound had alerted the remaining two tents, and three people emerged with weapons. Karion drank a mana potion while using appraisal. Noticing his mana gradually recovering, he stepped closer to the remaining criminals.
{
Bandit - Lv. 7
-Iron Sword (Empty)
}
{
Bandit - Lv. 5
-Iron Sword
}
{
Thief - Lv. 5
-Iron Sword (Empty)
}
"You're the one making all that ruckus?" A bandit scoffed, "So late at night…"
The thief pointed to the alight tent, "Y-Yo… is that boss'…."
Not giving a chance for them to act, he threw a vial of fatigue at each one. The thief and lower-leveled bandit fell, coughing or gagging, while the remaining stood his ground.
"You… I'll kill you!!"
Running to Karion with his sword raised, his moves were sluggish under the potion's effects. With a swing too easy to predict, Karion stepped to his blind spot and ended the fight with a stab through his stomach.
Slowly walking to the remaining criminals, they tried to stand or crawl away, but with such difficulty moving, Karion silently placed his blade to one side and walked to the other while aligning them.
"Recall."
-
Exiting the walls with pockets filled with cards, he spotted the young man and walked closer to him.
"I-Is it over..?" He asked.
Karion ignored his question, walking past him, "Follow me," he said.
Leading the young man to an alleyway, Karion leaned his back against the wall outside of the alley,
"The ones who reduced her to that state weren't thieves. I think an opposing gang got to her and… forced innocents like you to dispose of her," Karion held his hand to his head, covering his teary eyes, "Take as long as you need…"
The young man fell to his knees before shouting in grief. His cries for his late mother rang through Karion's mind as his tears continued to flow. Staying like that for what seemed like hours, the young man's face was distant. His swollen eyes and hoarse throat couldn't muster any more energy. He noticed the mana potion by her side,
"Was this… yours?" He asked, seeing Karion's waist of vials.
"Yeah… A custom of my homeland. We honor the dead with offerings. I just… didn't know what else to do," Karion couldn't look the man in the eyes, speaking to him while gazing at the night sky.
"Thank you…" he said softly.
Karion sighed, "Hey, you wanna come with me?"
"Come… with you?"
Karion groaned with a shake of his head, "I'm… no different from thieves. We both have selfish desires; it's why I'm here. But there's a wolf I know who can help you for a while…"
"He's a slave trader and a good one. I… can't guarantee what life you'll live if you're sold," he hesitated to construct his sentences. Karion knew what he was asking of the young man who just lost his mother.
With a scratch of his head, he continued, "It's at least a life not led by becoming someone who'd do something like this to someone else…"
The young man gritted his teeth, gripping his fists at Karion's proposal. He had an idea of what it entailed, but he also knew Karion was right. Alone in the slums, and with a fate doomed to return to crime, he calmed himself. Facing up to Karion, he silently nodded.