Kafe and the four sect members that were chosen didn’t even think twice about cutting the umbilical cord. Only three of them survived the sound wave attack that followed. That keening sound caused his ears to bleed, but he barely felt it. As a Spiritualist, sound and soul attacks hardly impacted him.
It was the transformation that came later that hurt. Not just Kafe but the other two survivors screamed until their throats were raw and bleeding. The pain wasn’t from their bodies firming their existence but because of their Shield’s destruction. Out of everyone in the tower, Kafe realized that only Song Lin would understand what he was going through. He gained a newfound respect for that alchemist because the commitment and perseverance needed was beyond normal human capability.
Their mortal shell previously was pure trash. Kafe could feel individual tendons within his body and felt a massive amount of strength. As a Spirit-based cultivator, he never focused much on his Body and was never physically strong because of it. He knew that if he remained in the tower, he could kill anyone on the first thirty floors with his physical strength alone.
The other physical changes were no less impressive. His dark blue skin was now more supple and almost translucent—enough that it looked more like tanzanite than midnight blue. His white hair had become softer and drifted about him like snow. Nearly all the scars, pocks, and other abnormalities on his body had disappeared. Before, he could be called charming, but now he was devilishly handsome.
“Hahaha!” Kafe laughed, feeling powerful. Climbing to his feet, the air felt heavier and contained a much more mana density than the lower realms. Just breathing felt like he was inhaling the nectar of spiritual fruit. No matter how anyone wanted to point fingers, he now did something unheard of in Tur Briste. He ascended. Losers have no right to mock or condemn him. Rubbing his bare chest, he felt the smoothness he hadn’t felt in years and frowned. If there was anything he worried about, it was the loss of the Shield. He knew it protected him from various curses and spells, but the trade-off was worth it.
No matter how long it took, he’d have people waiting for others to arrive here. He’d control and manipulate them and show Crow that only power is king. He’d prove that mocking Druid’s choice was the worst decision of his life. No, Crow never mocked—it was complete indifference and disappointment. Crow refused to put him in his eyes, so Kafe would tear them out of that nature-loving bastard’s skull.
While recovering from the transition, they didn’t even sense the bandits approaching until they were surrounded. All three of them tapped at their chest to pull out their weapons and realized all their resources, clothes, gear, and money were gone. They’d stored it all in their Shield before transitioning, afraid the teleportation would destroy it. With all the pain and suffering, they ignored the fact that the Shield disintegrating, but even if they noticed, it was too late for regret.
“Do I have to give the bad guy monologue?” The bandit asked.
“What monologue?” Kafe felt weaker than ever and suddenly realized he was not the match for this guy.
“You know. Blah blah, give me your shit, or I kill you speech.”
Kafe stared at the bald, bearded man as if looking at a moron. The two beside him even snorted, unable to stop from laughing. The moment they did, Kafe wanted to slap them. No matter how much of an idiot the guy was, he alone outmatched all three.
“We really don’t have anything on us except what you see,” Kafe commented neutrally and waved toward his naked body.
“So you don’t want the speech?”
“I’m not lying.”
“You stink of the lower realms, so I know you have a Shield. Take the things out of your Shield, and you may yet live.”
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Kafe pointed at his chest, hoping the mentally retarded bandit would get the hint. The other two were laughing now, without a concern for the situation. Some bandits were smirking evilly, but the intent left Kafe trembling. They were up to no good, and he knew there was no way to resist.
The bandit leader looked toward some of his men and they gazed back. One particular dark-haired woman nodded, but Kafe wasn’t sure why as he couldn’t see her face in the recesses of her cowl.
“Guess we’ll take one of your eyes. It’s the price for being poor.”
Kafe grit his teeth and promised himself even if he can’t win, he’d go all out. The other two behind him finally shut up. Still, he wished he could shove a knife in their foolish brains.
Thinking things through up to this point, he finally dropped to his knees.
“I’m willing to serve you. We all are until we pay our own ransom.”
The bandit leader looked at the kneeling Vodun and burst out laughing. He liked intelligent weaklings the best because they were easy to deal with. He just gained three subordinates with little effort. They had to have talent because they arrived here from the lower realms.
“Alright,” the bandit leader chuckled, and Kafe knew he had fallen into a trap. “Collar them.”
Kafe didn’t dare move even as the cold metal ring closed over his neck. He knew his talent and had a rare cultivation, so it was only a matter of time before he regained his strength and overcame this bastard.
“To show I’m not an evil master, let me warn you,” the bandit leader spoke to them happily and rolled up his sleeve. His other hand pointed at a tattoo. “Anyone with this mark, you better obey and not even think about harming. If you do so, that collar will torture you until you get those thoughts out of your head. It isn’t pleasant and has broken the minds of weak-willed individuals. So you’ve been warned.”
“Boss? Explain the distance?” A subordinate said.
“Ah, right,” the bandit leader snapped his fingers. “First, call me Boss, or Boss Jappy, or Master is fine, too. You’ll regret it if you aren’t within three hundred meters of someone with this tattoo.”
Jappy? Kafe sneered in his heart. What kind of dumb name was that?
“Now, let’s talk about your cultivation. You all looked like Body cultivators, but that might only be a side effect of your ascension. Who are you?”
“Kafe. Hex Vodun,” he told them. Leaving it vague and truthful. He felt a tingling sensation in his throat when he was about to lie. The other two introduced themselves, but the last collapsed while crying. His whole body tensed into an arch, and he cried tears of blood.
“Breathe,” Boss Jappy said. “That’s the penalty for lying to me. Don’t do that. The only blessing is it doesn’t last long, but to you who’ve never experienced it, I’m sure that doesn’t seem like it. It feels like you’re being tortured for a year.”
“I didn’t expect to trap three Spirit-based cultivators, which is great. We have a target; maybe you can earn some resources for yourselves—well, you won’t personally get them as you have a debt to pay.”
The way he was chuckling sent chills down Kafe’s spine. But if they wanted to deal with Spirit-related entities, Kafe was positive he’d be fine. A Spiritualist could fight above his class in that realm. Meanwhile, they approached a cave hidden deep in a forest. They placed the camp in such a place that it’d be hard to spot. Kafe felt more than saw the bandits hidden in the canopy above them. He let out a sigh in his heart because he knew that even if he got the collar off, his chances of getting away were low.
“Welcome to your new home. Hope you know how to clean and cook. It’ll be your main chore for some time.”
Kafe frowned and cursed his luck. This sadistic bastard was out to wear them down mentally and physically. It was a trick he’d done with his own people more than once. Break them until all they wanted to do was please him and make sure they had no time to cultivate to accumulate power.
“Monkey, get in here. You got new workers,” Boss Jappy called out.
“Monkey?” The guy to Kafe’s left asked. Kafe hadn’t even bothered learning their names. As far as he was concerned, both were dead weight.
“Ahh, Ohh, got problem wit monkey?” An actual talking gorilla entered the room. A talking beast was something Kafe didn’t know could even exist. Most seemed incapable of human speech.
“N-no,” the new slave shook his head.
“You now called Turd. Monkey like throwing turds. You called poop!” Monkey said, approaching the other lackey and slapping his chest with the back of his hand. Turning to Kafe, the gorilla turned its head slightly while assessing. “You called Blue. Come, I show you job.”
The big gorilla walked out of the room. Jappy ignored Turd and Poop because Monkey gave worthless people worthless names. A rare name like ‘Blue’ meant he considered Kafe a person of talent.
“I suggest you follow. Monkey has a tattoo like mine and just gave you a command. If you let him get too far away, you’ll writhe in pain until Monkey comes back for you.”
Kafe and the other two shuddered before chasing after Monkey.