I was too nice for my own good.
Well before that—I managed to leave those kids some food, and I sort of went around trying to feed some of the younger kids, but I realized I was going to run out far too fast, if I tried feeding these kids regularly.
Most of the food was just fruits and vegetables, but there was some meat too. The meat was most likely to go bad first, so I tried giving that out the most in small portions.
After that, I tried to start a garden in a corner of the slums.
My Gardening skill was pitifully low, but I still tried to get the garden going. Even I could make something grow.
At some point, I began to patrol through the slums. Don't ask me why—it was a whim.
Honestly, I felt sorry for the kids. I wanted to protect them—in my past life, I did have a soft-spot for kids, to the point that friends called me a pedo or lolicon—what? You want me to deny it?
—But protect them from what?
The answer is simple; kidnappers.
Like I said before, Slaves are expensive. They have their uses, like having them do work you would otherwise pay someone to do, or just for "entertainment". But as one might expect, purchasing a human life, and maintaining that human over a long time costs quite a bit of money.
But a kidnapper can turn up quite a bit of profit if they catch and sell a favorable slave.
Most of these kids are without a home, or don't have anyone left alive that they can call a guardian. Effectively they are considered strains on society, as they'll only grow up to be thieves at best, murderers at worst.
You can merrily pick up one of these kids, and no authority figure will complain, as long as someone claiming to be the guardian doesn't say anything. From there, you can sell them to a Slave Merchant. As far as the law is concerned, you've become that child's guardian, and have the right to sell them.
That's my understanding anyways.
As expected, the law in this world hardly cares about the poor, and hasn't developed a proper concept of civil rights.
—Still, because of that, I managed to level up a few times.
Both Dagger Mastery and Archery reached the Intermediate levels, after killing a few kidnappers, so I'm satisfied.
By now, I've reached level 9—the average adult in this city has Level 12, so I'm certainly satisfied.
I even unlocked Presense Detection at some point—it's effectively using my own senses to determine the presense of an enemy.
I have almost no issue killing these people, amazingly enough. I guess my mind-set doesn't have room to care for this sort of scum—at least that's what I've convinced myself.
Anyways, simply put I use a combination of my Hiding Skill, and Sound Magic to eliminate my "presense", and patrol the area at my leisure. In the process, I've also raised my Agility up to 250 (50), and my Vitality reached 146 (29).
When I spot someone suspicious—or if I just run into them in the act—I'd keep an eye out for them, and if they tried to do something bad with any kids, I'd kill them either with a bow or I'd walk up to them and stab them myself. On that note, my Dexterity has gone up 3 points, up to 115.
I've also stopped various crimes in progress, and before I knew it, my Hiding Skill was Intermediate Level 10.
On top of that, I had at some point unlocked a useful Title:
Slum BratYou are a child of the slums, whether by birth or by circumstance. Impoverished, and orphaned, you are seen as a nuisance to society.
* Hiding efficiency raised within designated zones.
The name is a bit diminutive, but the effect is lovely, for someone who already had a nice Hiding level. Though, it'll only work in the slums—but I don't plan on staying here forever, you know?
Also, something I bring up because it's kinda relevant. When I killed my first few targets, I was troubled about what to do with the body.
Well, as a result of a pretty creative solution of mine...
Blood GardenerAfter killing your targets, you’ve put their bodies to use, grinding them up, and mixing them with the soil, in hopes that it’ll nurture your plants.
* Gardening efficiency raised.
* Unlocks Blood Affinity
I unlocked Blood Affinity.
I have no idea what it does though, so I may have to research that later.
And for the record, I didn't "grind them up"—I used sound magic to break down their flesh into a soup.
... I'm not weird. I'm not.
The kids need a better way to get food, and for that I need fertilizer.
Anyways, the third and forth titles I unlocked in this world were far more interesting though.
Titles
AssassinAttacking from the shadows has always been the most cunning way to eliminate an enemy. You are skilled in destroying an enemy when he thinks he is safe, or when your presence is completely hidden.
* +500% Bonus damage towards enemies who do not perceive you.
* Assassination related Skills and abilities are more effective.
Child AssassinFrom a young age, you learned the ways of the assassin—killing from the shadows is the most effective route to eliminate a target, and that fact is known even to a child like yourself.
The second title seems to have been derived from the condition of obtaining the first title, while still being under a certain age.
Or something like that.
Anyways, I unlocked these two titles after killing 5 or so people in complete stealth. After that, killing my targets became a lot easier.
Anyways, during my "free time", I've taken to practicing my Wind magic.
There are two things I'm trying to perfect.
The first is of course my wind blades.
And the second is of course flight.
However, for either of those things to work, I need to be able to produce more force with my wind.
As such, I need to strengthen my Affinity to wind, and expand my knowledge on magic.
So the other day, I "bought" books on Wind magic—and by that, I mean I hired a kid to steal them.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Like I thought, Wind Blades aren't very common, but there are quite a few people who use them effectively.
On the other hand, using wind magic to fly has been an on going study for centuries....
—With no definite success.
The human body just isn't aerodynamic enough to support it, even though people have tried various methods—but more often than not, the cost is too high. There has been a handful of mages known as flying mages, but they seem to have taken their secrets to their graves.
The main problem regarding flight, is the lack of control. People can't see Wind, and their knowledge of aerodynamics is extremely limited. As such, they don't know the proper ways to move it without accidentally killing themselves.
Maybe if I had a physics nerd with me, I could figure a way to fly properly, but until then, I don't want to break my legs.
Still, the books were useful, as they taught me how to add more force behind my wind—it was so obvious, I wanted to hit myself for not realizing it. Simply saturating less Wind with more Aether was enough, and just like that, I was able to make some fairly strong winds.
The effects of this "saturation" varies by the Wisdom stat, so because I had a fairly high Wisdom stat (94), I was amazed at how much force I could put behind my wind.
However, flight was still too dangerous.
Wind blades on the other hand, benefitted greatly from this.
For the most part, I still had to sharpen my blades before sending them flying, but otherwise, the effect was amazing. And so I practiced it, trying to at least be able to fire off several of my wind-blades at once.
I haven't had the chance to practice it on people though.
In this world, Wind magic seems to be most used for defense and utility. The reason being, that it's difficult to directly damage someone with wind, unless you becomes a Wind Bladesman. You can try to blow people away, but there's a possibility of friendly fire, or even the wind coming back at you due to something like accidentally creating a vortex.
—Thinking about it clearly, don't I have an advantage, considering I can at least see the Aether that controls the wind?
Well, maybe once I level it up more.
—Hmmm, this is around the time of my regular patrol.
Lets find some practice targets and fertilizer!
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I've developed a habit of jumping on people's houses.
It's as though my inner chuuni has awoken after obtaining the "Assassin" title, and I can't really help it.
As a result, I've also developed a technique to properl myself forward—it's not as effective as actually flying, but it's good for covering long distances in a moment. If it's only the wind directly around me, I can easily keep track of it with Aether Perception, so dashing from roof to roof is easy. On top of that, I also have Sound magic to eliminate the sound created as a result of the high-speed movement.
Now I just need to wear all black, and—
No no, chuuni thoughts, be gone.
Hmm? Ah, I'm not in the slums anymore, am I?
Somehow I've wandered into the commerce district without meaning to.
Ah, I can't pick up any new fertilizer like this...
Well, whatever.
I've been in Renant for a few weeks now, but I haven't had a chance to really learn my way around.
Not that I cared—my intent is to leave this shit-hole soon after all. I've gotten my hands on some maps, but they're not very reliable—just good enough to let you know of major trading routes, and where one country is in relation to another.
One of my early plans was to have a peddler take me south, but it seems that plan might be out of the question, as there are rather thorough inspections regarding leaving and entering the country.
Going on my own is also dangerous at the moment, because my stats aren't high enough to handle the monsters on the way out of the country.
There is the option of staying here, and trying to reform people's views on half-elves, but what sort of activist do you think I am? I'd rather just move away, than put up with hateful people. I admire civil rights activists in my past life for what they did, but I'm not cut out for that sort of thing, you know?
—That said
If I were to witness abuse before me
Even I would take some level of action.
—Those were my thoughts, as I somehow found myself a residential district for the upper class
How did I get here anyways? It seems I was walking on auto-pilot
And yet before me I saw two people who were neither human nor elf.
—Beastkin
Two people who had filine ears, and whose height was not much taller than my own.
No, one of them was probably the same height as me.
Both were girls who wore a very unflattering metal choker, and both of them seemed to be carrying some things.
Neither had an expression that could be called happy, nor defeated. Sad, or maybe unsatisfied—that was the impression I got from the two.
"Hello, do you want help with that?"
I knew they were slaves. But these were the first non-humans I met since coming to this town.
And it looked like the smaller one was having trouble with her load.
The young girl turned her head, and seemed surprised by my offer, as she looked back at the older girl—her sister? The color of their fur and hair was different, and some of their other features. What's more, the older one's left ear had been cut short—possibly from some sort of punishment.
"We don't need any help," She said coldly, as she put her hand against the younger one's back, and pushed her along.
"Just trying to be nice," I said with a shrug. But they would probably get scolded and punished if I turned out to be a thief and took their belongings, so I can understand her vigilance.
"So what's your name?" I went ahead and asked, as I followed the two girls, realizing this was the first time I properly spoke to anyone my age, since I reincarnated.
But the two didn't answer. It seems the older girl doesn't want to associate with me, and the younger one is following her example.
Too bad—they were both pretty cute.
But as it looked like we were approaching their master's estate, I decided to pull away.
"Then... If you need anything, maybe I'll stay in touch," I told the two.
But it was like I thought, huh? Even Beastkin are treated unfairly by humans.
I don't think there'd be much difference with Elves either.
I should get going before the air of this depressing town gets to me.
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Author Notes:
So I made it to chapter 5.
You'll have to wait until Monday for Chapter 6. Figure I'll use the weekends to write more.
As always, feedback and suggestions are always appreciated.