CHAPTER 71 - Exchange II
I question the leader and get mostly the same info that I got from the other guy. He withstands the link a bit better, so I take the chance and ask him a few simple questions.
What’s the name of this city? Where are we? Is this kingdom or empire at war? Is there war in general on the continent? How many continents are there? Those types of questions.
In the end, I learn that we are in the city of Turia, in the kingdom of Alabastria, one of the three kingdoms of the north of the mountain ranges of the middle of the continent.
These three kingdoms of the north all have a treaty to not attack each other and even support one another as they are all defending from the invasions of the south. There seems to be some kind of evil race in the south of the continent that aims to slaughter every other race that gets in their way. They have an alliance to take them out, that's why they told me that traitors are treated as trash in any country as those traitors are betraying their own race.
In regards to the continents, I only got that there are three continents, with the one I am in being one of the bigger ones. This continent I am currently in is called Remor, the other large one is called Bryssia and the last one,Lasar, which it's the smallest one by far.
I couldn’t get any more info on them as the guy nearly collapsed after talking for those few minutes. I will have to dive deeper on that in the future, but for now it's enough for me to know in which city and country I am.
What I do learn is something rather interesting that the other guy didn’t mention. It seems that they were planning on doing an exchange with a necromancer with that skeleton guy. They were going to meet with him today in the middle of the night to give him the skeleton in exchange for some money they would use to relocate their hideout to somewhere safer.
That’s gives me an idea on what to do.
‘One last question, where did you plan on meeting this necromancer and how strong is he?’
“We were going to meet up in a secluded spot in the middle of the forest, but he is too strong, you can't face him. He is in the upper ranks of a SW, going against him is suicide.” Wait, I wasn’t planning on facing him, but if he is yet to break into the ranks of the Veterans Warriors I can probably take him out.
No, I need to be cautious. I don't know how much these people know about him, and even if they are right, I am not sure I can take him on. Necromancy is weird, just like the guy who attacked me in the forest. What if this guy does the same and sends one of his creations to the trade instead of coming in person?
I don’t know what to do. Aiming to defeat the necromancer is risky, but a risk that will probably lead to even better results, so I can’t yet get it out of my head.
‘...’ I should tread carefully around these suspicious individuals.
‘Do it, finish the exchange with the necromancer. I don't want him looking into any of my matters, just finish the exchange with him and part ways on good terms.’
That’s it. I will oversee the exchange from a distance, that way I will be able to act with more information and if I end up not doing anything, he won’t have a reason to interfere with my future plans, we will never know what happened with this group of bandits. Nothing else than an exchange he made long ago.
Using some mana, I use a big chunk of the ceiling to create a giant grasping hand around the tied bandits, who end up completely bound by it, with no room to move. I then add the sub-leader of the gang to the group and don't forget to add in a little present.
I leave the place with the cloak of the second in command of the gang covering my whole outfit. I carry the big metal cage with the skeleton in a small cart they had prepared beforehand in their hideout. The only one of them that accompanies me is the leader, who is still in a sorry state, but has enough strength to move and talk just fine.
I follow closely behind him and don't forget to warn him to be careful with what he says doing the exchange. I wouldn’t want to alert him.
I obviously won’t leave any loose ends, I created a big qi barrier around the room where I left the guys bound by magic to avoid making noise or any type of ruckus for that matter. That, and a small orb with mana and qi, ready to explode the second it loses control and the mana and qi mix.
I feel it all happen the second we leave the building, but my plan works perfectly as even their leader doesn’t sense the explosion going off as we leave. Either that, or he doesn’t care at all.
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It’s the middle of the night and we are waiting in a small isolated open space inside the forest. For a couple of hours we have been waiting, but now the hour is slowly approaching.
We came here first so that I could take a close look around and assure myself there weren’t any traps layed around. For a long while I had time to think about all the possible situations too as I came to a conclusion.
We wait for the necromancer to arrive with the metal cage on the car next to me.
Soon, the big frame of another skeleton comes into view across the small clearing. Behind him another one shows up soon enough, and only when they enter the clearing do I see the person in between them.
Due to the large proportions of the skeletons, which easily surpass the 3 meters mark, it was impossible to see before, but there is a human between them that they are guarding like professional bodyguards.
Both of the skeletons are armed to the teeth, both carrying a shield and both wielding a complementary weapon. One of them has a longsword and the other one has a long spear, both weapons are clearly high quality things. The shields don't have any kind or engravings or special design, but I can guess they are of a fairly good quality too.
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The guy walks slowly, looking everywhere around for any sign of betrayal.
‘He doesn’t seem too trustful of these bandits.’ His distrust for “us” is easy to spot as he is cautious in his every move even with both his minions surrounding him. Given how he acts, it wouldn’t be surprising if he had some more of his soldiers close by, ready to act.
I can’t sense the strength of both skeletons, but I would like to assume they are as strong as a Skilled Warrior in the mid-stages, something similar to the boss of the bandits, maybe a bit more due to them being armed. They are more deadly for sure, but that only works if you hit your target.
I stay still for now, following my plan to see how things unfold as the necromancer says something as the bandit leader signals me to uncover the cage.
The skeleton prisoner keeps staying still, not moving even an inch as the necromancer commands one of his bodyguards to retrieve the cage. The first one of them approaches, sheathing its sword as he retrieves a small pouch of money from his hip, slowly placing it down in front of the cart before grabbing the cage.
The necromancer says something else, which I obviously don't understand at all due to the absence of a link going on. The bandit says something in return, and then they exchange a few sentences with each other, making me more nervous.
‘He won’t dare betray me right? There is no way he trusts that guy.’ I hope so as the skeleton that approached us finally puts down the metal cage in front of the guy.
The necromancer uses his mana on the cage and the prisoner, looking for something. Probably seeing if the connection with its master has been cut. Once he does that, he nods to himself and prepares to leave saying one last thing as he looks at me.
‘What did he say?’ I quickly weave a link with the bandit, getting ready to act.
“He wants to buy from you the camouflage item that you got, the one that make you seem like someone without a drop of mana”
‘Fuck, my plan backfired.’ I knew it was suspicious to live in this world filled with mana and yet not carry a speck of it. Damn, even the smallest of childs that I saw running around in the village carried some mana around inside their bodies, but to think he’s got such a control over mana that he is able to tell without me noticing.
‘Tell him that it is not for sale, maybe add that it wouldn't be useful for him anyways as his enemies would probably tell that he was faking it just the same way he did with me.’ There is no way I am telling this guy that I can control qi, the second my control over the inner energy that makes everyone stay alive is known I am done for. I bet most of those monstrous people that they call Inhuman would chase me down to get to know how to do it.
Heck, I am sure those in charge of invading Earth are still chasing me, there’s no way I am giving any hint of my whereabouts, even less to such a suspicious individual.
The bandit talks it out with the necromancer, and even if I can’t understand what the other party is saying, I can now understand what my “leader” is saying thanks to my link being in place now.
“You can’t be serious, it would be useless to you my lord. Everyone at our level would be able to discern the truth.”
"̸̧̡̡̬̲̹̺͇̟̘̇̈ ̶̙̪̲̫̅͛͒͝ ̸̡͎͖̰̬̦̺̘̉̔̂̎̄ ̴̧̢̮̘͖̻̽͑̃ ̸͇̦̦̺̤̰͉̹͖̮̔ ̸̧̨̦̳̼̮̭͛̀̅͌͆͊͘ ̸̢̢̘̻̗̄͌̀ ̵͕̏̚͝ ̶͓̮͕̣͚̤̣̔̊̌ ̴̢̛̥̣͉̟̙̳̟͙̈́̃͐̒̃͜ ̶̨̎͐̉͋͂ ̶̢̛̦̻̞̲̩̌ ̴̧͕̱̻͙̃ ̵̨̡̯̙̩̺̪̩̯̃̍ ̷̧̳̞͇͔̻̥̺̮͑̒̎ ̴̛̣͖̱̞͒̉͑͗̔̀͌̈́̕͜ ̷̢̤̭͙͚̮̱̐̀̏̊͑̑̒͑͘̚ ̸̼̻̖͎̪̰̘̥̣̺͛̏̇͋̐̅͝ ̷̦̹̙̽ ̸̨̠̦͍̠͔̟̳̬̇̆ ̵͉̣̈́̂̔͋̉̉̍̏͂ ̷͍̯̇͗̃ ̵̛͎͐̋̈́̾̔̀́̕ ̷̧͎̩̘͎̻͖̅ ̶̡̗̘̪͈̍̓́̾̕ ̵̡̫̥̭̥̩̻́͠ ̷͕̟͉̊͋̌̾ ̷̧̡̟̱̥̯̐̂͐͋̃́͗ ̵̧̻͖͇̟̝̘̥̅̓ ̸̨̮̱̱̥͔̮̭͓̂̽͋͆͘͜ ̶͕̥̭̥̪̔̒̌̿̌̑͊̄̂͘͜.̶̛̺̩̤̦̹̻̬̳̪͑̉́͛͛̾͌̀̚ ̷̬̂̾̉̕͘ ̵̡̧͖̳̊͑̾́̌̎̾́͘̚ ̶̬͔̮̩̰̤͈͌̐̑̀̏͌̾͛͘͝ ̸͔̟̐͊̌ ̵̦̱͉̣͒̒͠ͅ ̵̡͇͙͕̲̩̥̮̯̘͊͒̔̓ ̸̢̺͎̭͙̯̪͖̜̌ͅ ̴͎̾͘-̴̱̍͘ ̵̜̊̈́͗̔̀͛̚͝ ̵̩͉̞̪̰̖͈̥̍̀̀ ̶̠͙̜̬̺̩̦̯̭͋͗͒͗͛̚͝ ̴̢̆ ̵̨̡͉͓̘̺̭̦̇̈́͗́̃̚ ̶͚͒ ̷̢̨̡̨͚͇̥̫̙͛ ̴̰͌̈́͝ ̸̩̼̬̗̩͐̂̀͋͘ ̶̟͇͕͍͔̺͉̮̈́̍̒̾ ̶̛̥̯̑̃̔̈́́?̷͈͆̇̌̀̋́̀
He asks something, and by the way he talks, I can already tell he won't back down from his offer easily. Who knows, he may even attack us by surprise.
“Well, that's true, my sub-leader here isn’t as good with mana as you, but even then, the item’s uses are limited.”
The answers that the necromancer gives probably isn’t the one that the bandit wanted as he starts sweating. Just seeing how scared and respectful he treats the guy shows that the other party is a big deal and I wouldn’t want to face him right now either.
I am in a situation where I want to control the result of every single one of my actions, so I keep my head low, giving the impression to be at their mercy. I’ve got no kind of item to give the guy, so either he gives up on getting it, or a fight breaks out.
The necromancer then stretches his arm, as if asking for the item with a now not so friendly expression. Looking around, more skeletons start to surround us, dozens of them make their presence known now trying to instill fear into us with the rattling of their bones.
There are nearly one hundred of them now, coming from all directions. Their sizes and strength vary, most of them are weak, descend at most, but there are two more of the bigger ones like the two he is using as bodyguards.
“B- but why would we hoard the t-treasure, r-right? W-well, of course.”
‘Guess the discussion is over. Should I run or should I fight?’ I ponder a bit, if I fight I will probably just need to take out him, all the skeletons should be a pile of bones if he is dead. If I choose to flee, maybe, just maybe, he forgets. But what if he actually chases me and tries to look for me? I got enough enemies already, I should avoid creating more moving forward.
‘Or kill them all the moment they are created.’
“L-let’s go, give him the item. O-ours lives are m-more valuable r-right?.” The guy who before was so scared of me is now bending the knee to my foe this easily, just lovely.
He approaches me, probably with the intention to convince me to forfeit the item for our lives, but I don't really care, even if I were to tell the other guy the truth he wouldn’t believe it, so only one thing remains.
“Come on, give it to… h-himm…” The guy barely gets out his last words as I send a concentrated ray of qi through his chest, aiming at the necromancer behind him in a straight line.
He says something else amidst coughs, but I don’t mind it anymore, cutting the link fast enough and bringing to my left hand the qi orb that I have been gathering for a few hours now under my cloak, far from sight, ready to react to my foe's actions.
It would be perfect if the ray of qi that I sent already kills him, but I don't think it will be that easy though. The ray of energy packs a big chunk of my qi as it transverses through the air at high speed, but both of the shields of the bodyguards fall in front of my enemy just in time to get in its way of flight.
The impact tears through the first layer of metal like butter and then smashes on the second shield, sending all its momentum to the body of its wielder and making both of the skeletons stumble, lose footing and fall to the ground.
The man in front of me is shocked by the amount of energy that my improvised laser beam packed, but I am even more. That was probably my best shot to end this fight before it even started. He has the advantage in numbers with all his soldiers and will tire me out now while he retreats.
I knew that, and that’s why I decided to use more than half the energy gathered inside the orb to try and snipe the guy, but his reflexes were too fast and he was able to react. Moreover, he was able to block it too, making any further attempts in a similar fashion would be plain stupid.
‘Fuck!’ Readying myself for the bout that is about to unfold, I bring forward the orb.
‘I am not planning on letting you escape.’