He wandered for a few days before finally finding traces of civilization

A carriage. He had found a road in that forest a few days ago and ended up following it

He was extremely curious as to what civilization level this world's inhabitants were and he was immediately able to identify it.

The carriage was pulled by something resembling a 1920's car but with a certain steampunk twist. The engine had gems imbedded into it and there was no exhaust. the various pipes were connected from the engine to an unknown piece of tech in the back of the otherworldly car. The pipes and Gear were seemingly composed of an alloy with a similar appearance to brass. Strangely some pipes were even made of a cristalline glass and through it Jean could see a glowing blueish purple liquid.

He could feel an immense concentration of Mana inside that liquid and figured it was the car's fuel and supported by that deduction, he was able to determine that the "liquid Mana" was processed by the gems inside the engine. It seems like they absorbed it and transformed it into a phenomenon that probably was then used to alter the wheel's kinetic energy and potential, making it conserve inertia and advance. Basically a magic car on crack.

The carriage was assembled with a hard wooden frame and wheels, presumably oak, dark oak or something similar, the doors and sides were made of white metal although, the door frames were also wood. The carriage seemed to be the property of someone wealthy as it had some fancy golden engravings on it. there were lanterns made of also wooden frames, cristalline glass and glowing gems on the inside. It seems that world developed magic instead of using fuel to make energy.

He was currently hiding inside a bush and trying to control his mana in way that enhances his vision. He previously thought of a method that involved flowing one's mana inside one's optical nerve, cristalline body, cornea and the rest of one's eye to enhance an individual's vision and to make one able to visualize mana. He was now able to effortlessly see mana but it still took quite alot of effort to enhance his vision. Because of that, he had some sweat on the nape of his neck.

With his enhanced vision, Alvarez was able to pick up some movement in the surroundings of the carriage. He could see around 9 mana outlines and could sense one powerful aura coming from the carriage. In the range of Jean's detection, were similarly powerful auras, however those were quite far and would need to be dealt with separately.

The reason why he could only see the outlines was because those guys were concealing themselves quite well and also because jean couldn't use night vision while trying to see that far.

Jean closed on them and continued to observe them from multiple spots around the area.

***

One of the men, a black masked bandit named John was closing in on his target. It was the carriage of a rich merchant who was passing by the blue forest of Bleuest. It seemed like it wouldn't be easy. That carriage was guarded by the powerful knight captain Aria, who was well known for her wind magic and fencing sword techniques. Hopefully the boss and his right hand who were closing in on this position would be able to provide reinforcements....john couldn't explain why but he felt a sense of unrest. He was able to feel a chilling mana that could rival a demon's.

"I think we should turn back, I don't feel this raid man." He fearfully declared.

Another bandit, also wearing a mask but wearing a red armband, confidently responded:

"I know you're more sensitive to mana than average but get it together! It's just that scary forest, John, there's nothing else than us and that carriage here."

Somehow that didn't reassure John who trembled in cold sweat.

***

She was Aria, a knight without a name but a genius of wind magic and a prodigy of the sword. Her senses were clearly better than most people and those senses were picking up on something, something dangerous, extremely dangerous In the proximity. she was aware of the bandits however, Her instincts were telling her to ignore the bandits and run away.

She was a pristine beauty with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes, her armor, also of white metal, was protecting most of her upper and lower body. Her red cape was floating behind her, at her dismay since it was more of a hindrance.

She wielded her rapier, The storm sword, a national treasure of the Republic. That sword alone could make her win against most fighters as she was a master of magic swordsmanship, however, she felt as if she could never win against the hidden presence alone.

Her pride as a knight would never allow her to cower in face of an enemy.

As the bandits positioned themselves around the carriage, she readied herself for battle. Strangely 'that' presence still didn't move....

***

It seems that knight and the bandits are both on edge....

Alvarez had tried to channel his outer mana inside himself aiming to be concealed but it seemed like they still picked up on his presence.

Unbeknownst to him, he still succeeded to some degree, the sheer amount of Mana he possessed made his 'aura' immense, essentially extending itself up to a hundred meters around him. Without that technique, a creature would be able to sense his presence from a kilometer away.

The bandits were taking heavy hits. That knight seemed to use a rapier. an incredible amount of Mana could be felt from it.

Interesting. I need to watch out for that thing, I don't know this world's techniques yet.

He could see two bandits being rapidly beheaded by the white armored knight, blood gushed out from the remnants of their necks as their body fell on the floor.

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While observing her techniques, he could sense a few things. He could perceive some sort of wind triggered by mana being generated from the blade.

Wind was an understatement to what it really was, in reality, it was line of heavily compressed air shaped in a way that followed her sword's movement. That meant that she could theoretically extend her sword's reach with it. It also was useful since it was a way to invisibly strike someone's vitals. That technique also emitted a strong wind pressure which was enough to prevent enemies from approaching and possibly even inflict some damage upon them.

Her graceful but efficient swordsmanship complemented that style well as she was mowing down her ennemies one after the other.

After losing four additional members, the bandits were forced to retreat.

Time to enjoy myself!!!

Alvarez followed the survivors and threw his knife, piercing one of the men's neck, instantly finishing him.

[2]

He Then jumped on a tree, stabilized himself on a solid branch and dived towards his next target, catched him and slit his throat, sending some blood to the ground. He waited for the enemy to die off then dashed towards his next target, dealt a fatal blow to the neck and then continued towards their destination.

[3]

[4]

When he arrived there, there was a camp with around 10 people in it, including one who got away.

He proceeded to stealthily end two of them and hid their bodies behind some trees.

[5]

[6]

He then decided to crank things up a notch, releasing his aura completely, instantly killing four of them.

[10]

[kill quota reached, proceeding payment]

***

The darkness came again

Alvarez was confused as to what happened.

[This is a space outside of time where the contractor receives his payment, there are no refunds.]

What the heck does no refunds mean?!!!

[As first payment the contractor will receive the 'subordinate' ability.]

He didn't want subordinates and contested:

"Don't give me useless bullshit, actually give me something useful or just give me mana."

[There are no refunds]

THE FUCK!!!

['subordinate' allows you to revive and subordinate one of your victims at an appropriate cost]

while he wondered what 'appropriate cost' meant, he once again lost consciousness.

***

He regained consciousness, but in the same position as when he was dragged into the darkness.

So the frozen time thing is true then.

He quickly finished off the other bandits.

[14]

When he was done, he started heading back towards the carriage. Along the way, he felt a disruption in environmental mana. while Alvarez thought it was unnatural, he picked up a rock on the ground and flicked it towards the disturbance using his thumb and index.

ACK!

Suddenly a man popped out of nowhere and fell to the ground.

"Hmm? It seems there was a hidden fly over there." He declared

Jean then realized that the man wasn't alive.

Seriously! you got killed by a rock?! How weak are you?!

As he stared at the light blue haired man wearing a rusty chainmail over a blue tunic and pants, he had a thought.

How much would it cost to subordinate this weakling?

He seriously considered it as it was no mere feat to be able to hide from Alvarez for long, even in his past life. He also quite liked the man because he reminded him of war veterans.

Jean made a decision.

"Subordinate"

A red light enveloped the man as he was lifted into the air and healed of his injuries. Alvarez observed the process and deduced that it worked by regenerating lost matter on one's corpse using it's own mana and the environmental mana while compensating with his own mana. Then something similar to mana, scattered around the place, gathered inside the corpse and it started breathing once again. It seemed like Jean's mana had fused with the man's mana, essentially tying himself to him.

[14] -----› [10]

He woke up, confused, he blabbered:

"What....how...what's happening?...I was the world then I was me again....what a strange sensation."

Alvarez was curious as to what it felt like, so he listened to the man's rambling.

"You...who are you? You're the one with the fearful Aura, right?"

Alvarez indifferently responded:

"It's probably me indeed. Who are you and why were you hiding this close to me?"

The man answered:

"I'm John, nice to meet you boss, it seems you enslaved me, I can feel the flow of your mana inside my body. It's strange because I've never heard of enslavement with ones mana."

Jean corrected him:

"It's a process that works by recreating a life with my mana, in the process you become tied to me. It is not truly enslavement as you can roam about freely, however I believe that if you try to kill me, you will die."

John asked again with a curious tone while looking deep in thought:

"So I'm not complied to follow your will but will die if I go against you. Also is it similar to undeads?"

Alvarez knew the answer:

"No, I don't feel that disgusting energy within you. I think you are a living being."

John was satisfied with that answer and chose to pledge his loyalty to Alvarez as he no longer had a group to follow.

He taught the Stealth technique to Alvarez. It worked by adjusting one's mana signature to the environment. The advanced version of that technique also altered the presence of the individual using it.

When Jean tried it, he was able to instantly conceal his Mana and presence, creating an interesting reaction from John.

"Boss?!, Where are you?! What the fuck..."

As John was surprised, Alvarez reappeared

"What the fuck? How could someone with such a crushing presence be standing in front of my face without me realizing?!"

Boss, you truly are an horrifying man...

***

While this was happening, the knight Aria had escaped and was trying to exit the Forest.

She was thankful that the presence did not follow her, however she could still sense it.

Until it suddenly disappeared. She broke in cold sweat, in a state of shock, she was quivering. It just disappeared, like that. It was impossible. She couldn't process it.

How could something so powerful just disappear abruptly like that?!

Her eyes were trembling even more after it suddenly reappeared, she almost had a heart attack.

The sense of dread she felt was as if she was facing death itself.

This normally composed and dignified noblewoman, had only one conviction, to get the fuck away from that thing....

***

It was the darkness, again.

The annoying voice stated:

"It seems like you acquired a subordinate."

He irritatingly responded:

"Yeah I did, I don't know how you fuckers did it but it seems you can even put a soul back inside a body."

The voice was surprised, it was astonished of how perceptive Alvarez was. It declared:

"I cannot believe you can even perceive souls....and scattered ones at that."

The voice sounded exasperated:

"You must have realized it but subordinating someone cost kills and alot of your inner mana. to revive someone, they need to be in a state when they still have mana and when its soul is still not too scattered. To subordinate a live person or an immortal being, you need less kills but more mana. Also you have a limited amount of subordinates in function of how much mana you have."

Alvarez had questions about that last point but it seemed like his time was up.

***

Jean woke up

"Good morning boss."

He was greeted by John as he woke up. They were currently camping in a small clearing in the forest.

Jean had taught John how to use his growth technique but the progress achieved was a lot less than when he used it. It seemed that John however was thrilled by it.

He described how he never saw such a technique and how it made him grow significantly faster than standard techniques but for Jean it was still too unsatisfactory.

He had to develop something more effective on others eventually.

Regardless of that, they packed their things and continued to pursue the carriage.

Alvarez wanted to desperately fight that knight as the two presences he felt earlier left while he subordinated John

Now he wondered how he would slay her....