Although wading through the wet, dark forest was a very dangerous thing to do, it was not that difficult for Astor, who had years of experience under his belt.
And other than the occasional leach that tried to attack him to suck his noble blood, he didn’t face any troubles for the next hour or so as he headed toward the urban area.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Thunder struck again, and it began to rain.
Astor could only pause for a moment and look at the cloudy sky. It should be around Dawn at the moment, but it was too foggy to tell.
Thinking for a moment, he decided to take the opportunity to rest a bit…
He slowed down, leaning on a tree to catch his breath and check his body’s condition to make sure it was mostly healed, with only some scratches remaining... Ah, there was a leech on his leg... He quickly pulled it and threw it away.
Damn it... He sighed.
This was troublesome…. Although the energy he took from that idiot was enough to heal his wounds, it was mostly spent, with only a tiny bit left, barely enough for him to use some low-level skill in case of emergency.
He had no idea if it would be enough to reach the Academy, as the grabbing business would be in full swing for the next few days, and someone like him who didn’t have a valid ID or a backing was a fair game for all!
Although the world appeared peaceful, Astor knew how dark it was behind the scenes with many hidden rules for everything.
In his past life, he even heard of people being kidnapped right outside the Academy’s door when they naively told a kind stranger that they were alone and came from some far-away vilge.
He needed to keep his guard until the very end. There was also the option for him to try to harvest some more energy, but the problem was that, due to his Spark, the required energy was from sentient creatures that didn’t really exist in the forest. And waiting until he reached the city would also be troublesome, as there would be a lot of people around. If anyone were to spot him, he would be in endless trouble.Troublesome….
“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…..”
“BITCH! STOP RIGHT THERE…”
As the rain slowly began to thin out again, Astor suddenly heard the voice of someone screaming from afar, and he adjusted his position behind the tree to make sure that he was hidden as he slowly slid down into the muddy water.
“COME HERE BITCH…”
“NOOO… STOP…”
Perking his ear, he could hear the voices of two people shouting and the noise of a struggle from a little far away.
Thinking for a moment, he decided to check on things. It was a gamble, but he was confident that he would be able to escape if things went bad… Who knows, he might be able to harvest some energy.
Quickly, he made his way toward the voice’s origin, finally reaching the edge of a steep cliff where two people were arguing.
The first of them was the girl he helped earlier, Amber. She seemed to have been cornered with the deep valley behind her and was using a sharp piece of gss to fend off her attacker while threatening to jump down.
The attacker was none other than that grabber called Timmy. He was clearly not Awakened as he didn’t have any energy around him, but from the way he moved around the girl like a predator, he was clearly an expert ‘hunter’.
Astor pondered as he considered his options. Killing this guy was doable without expanding too much energy, but the question he had was what to do with the girl. Should he ‘harvest’ her too, she would see him ‘eating’ after all! That would surely leave a bad taste in his mouth.
His other option was to keep her. Someone like her would be extremely useful for him in the Academy, as the moment he gets there, he would be under surveilnce and lose any chance to prepare hidden pawns.
He sighed as he watched Timmy slowly wrap his hand with a cloth, and he cursed at the girl loudly to disorient her.
What a scheming bastard, he was clearly waiting for her to make a mistake in order to grab her using a hook that he hid behind his back.
Too bad he had no idea he was being hunted too!
Wait… Astor quickly looked around to make sure there were no other people hiding. Thankfully, there was none.
Slowly, Astor turned again to watch his prey.
“BITCH…”
“GO AWAY OR I WILL JUMP!”
“DAMN IT… WAIT… I PROMISE WE WILL BE NICE!”
“GO AWAY! LIER!”
“FUCK!”
“AHH…”
As they argued, the distressed girl finally made a mistake. She took a wrong step and was about to fall off. This allowed Timmy to finally get a chance to throw the hook as the girl lost her bance, piercing her right thigh.
“...AH…” the girl screamed as she stumbled into the abyss below, but she didn’t fall as Timmy used the hook to pull her back up.
“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa………………..”
“DAMN BITCH!” Timmy yelled as he yanked the rope with all his strength, pulling the girl up.
“AHHHH…” she screamed in pain as Astor watched with a frown. This barbed hook was a tool specially used to hunt demonic monsters. It was made out of demonic Frost Iron, a metal that not only cut through the meridians, but also made the energy inside of them go berserk.
It was meant to paralyze demonic beasts and stop them from using their powers. Using it on humans, who had far more delicate meridian structures, was beyond cruel, as it not only harmed the body, but also hurt like hell. He knew from experience….
Without a timely treatment, that girl would be crippled for good… DAMN IT! Astor was super annoyed there, as bad memories came back to him.
“DAMN BITCH! YOU FORCED ME TO USE THE HOOK! DAMN IT! YOUR PRICE WOULD BE CUT BY MORE THAN HALF NOW!” Timmy spat, pulled her toward him, then harshly spped her face, then proceeded to kick her body.
“NO…” the girl screamed as she used her other hand to pointlessly guard her body that was still suffering from the effect of the hook.
Astor, who was waiting for a chance to strike, just watched. It was not that he was enjoying the show or anything, but that Timmy, although he looked like he was distracted, had never once let down his guard. He was more dangerous than he expected…
“Well… Since you are already damaged goods…” Timmy curly spat, then grabbed Amber’s cheap dress and tore it away, revealing her body then…. “Hsss….” he gasped as he stepped back, all over Amber’s body, many strange bck veins extended, pulsating as they originated from her back, where they formed what looked like two wings that were slowly growing to envelop her entire body.
“WHAT THE…” the shocked Timmy didn’t continue to speak, as his head was swiftly separated from his body.
Yes, one careless moment, and he was dead!
Astor, who held the severed head, quickly absorbed the gray wisps of energy that came out of it, then threw it away and stepped toward Amber.
“AH!!!!” she was screaming in pain as her body convulsed uncontrolbly. The veins were now covering her entire body, reaching her face.
“...” he sighed. What a rare sight!
This was an energy backsh caused by the Demon Grabbing Hook. It was a rare thing to see, as most people didn’t have that much energy in the first pce, and those who had it knew quite well how to control it and resist the hook’s effect.
This girl was Gifted!
Gifted people were one step below Spark holders. Although they didn’t have a spark that allowed them to defy physical ws, they had their fortunate encounters during the burning, allowing them to have certain meridian structures that allowed them to achieve supernatural things easily and without the need to learn techniques. It was like how demonic beasts naturally learn how to use their ancestral powers!
He was curious what her gift was, but he had no time for that!
“Let’s get this thing off you first,” Astor said, as he squatted beside her and professionally pulled out the hook that was embedded in her thigh. If Timmy were still alive, he would have approved of his technique that only an expert hunter who did this thousands of times would be able to pull!
“AHHHHHHHHHH!” she spasmed in pain as the blood that was supposed to come out immediately dried out, and the pulsating veins grew thicker.
“Oh… Your situation is a little worse than I expected.” Astor frowned. The energy inside of her seemed to be of a violent nature. “Do you want to live?” he asked as she desperately looked at him. She must have recognised his voice as the one who saved them before.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!....’” She nodded with difficulty as she screamed.
“For everything there is a price, though… If I save your life, you will be mine…” he said coldly. If Amber were not gifted, he would not have cared; harvesting her would have been more energy-efficient than healing her. He would be doing her a favor, sparing her a painful death!But she was a Gifted, and although he didn’t know what her gift was, such people were very useful and had infinite growth potential…It was going to cost him, but she was suitable to be one of his vassals.
Despite her situation, she seemed reluctant... “AHH…. “ she bit her lip as another surge of pain passed through her body. It was really unbearable. Her veins were breaking from within. “BROTHER… FIND…” She spat with difficulty. She wanted to beg him to help her find her brother, but since Astor couldn’t sense anyone else nearby, he could safely guess that they must have headed in different directions on purpose to try and dodge their pursuers.
“I can’t help him, the guy who is after him is a full knight, and fighting that guy unprepared is suicide, even for me at this level….” Astor shrugged coldly. “I don't have enough time to waste on you, let alone him.” He shook his head. “But if you make this deal with me, I will grant you power… And I will not stop you from helping him if possible!”
“...” Amber looked at him, resisting the pain with difficulty as the bck veins kept expanding through her body.
“You don’t have much time, Lass!”
“I… AGREE….” she spat with difficulty.
Usually, saving Amber would be impossible without the presence of a high-ranking awakened or the use of some artifact. But for Astor, all of that was not needed.
He quickly controlled his blood, allowing one drop to pass through his Enigma Spark, implementing it with most of the energy he got from Timmy. This was a little painful for him, but he was not going to waste this chance.
The operation he was doing was called a bonding, something only 1 out of 100 Lords could do. It allowed them to use their spark’s power to bind another human being, making them their servant! The one who could do it at scale to form armies was considered an Imperial Candidate.
Astor controlled the enchanted blood drop to pass through his heart again, giving it a command ‘HEAL’ before pushing it toward his finger, where he used the tip of his dagger to make a small cut.
Squeezing his finger, he put it in her mouth.
“This is the best cure for you,” he said. “From now on, your dreams are mine… You… Ouch!” he yelled in pain as he quickly withdrew his hand. The girl just bit his finger hard due to another spasm, “Fuck, This hurt.” he spat. “Swallow it… Our deal will be done!” he told Amber as he waved his hand and allowed it to heal, then colpsed into a meditative pose.
He began to take deep breaths while sweating buckets while keeping his eyes on her. Damn it… She took more energy than he had willed to give her, leaving him with enough energy for only one spell again.
“SWALLOW IT!” he scolded the hesitant girl before pausing. That sounded very lewd. Thankfully, no one heard him besides her.
Amber, who was not a pervert, didn't misunderstand; she just shook for a moment, then forced herself to swallow his blood.
“DON’T RESIST…” he warned.
She frowned. Resist what?
Boom!
Almost immediately, she could hear something breaking inside of her, then, as if a wave was formed by that explosion, some kind of energy passed through her entire body in a split second.
She felt as if she should not allow it, but she didn’t know how to stop it, and remembering Astor’s world, she let go.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Something shook inside of her again, and then her body no longer hurt; on the contrary, she could feel as if the energy inside of her was surging like a calm river, making her go into some kind of ecstasy as she felt very comfortable.
Also, she could feel something else, the presence of the guy in front of her; it was as if, from now on, she had an inseparable connection to him.
Astor, who watched her wounds heal up at a visible rate and the dark pulsating wings reside, sighed. If the girl didn’t have enough energy, she would have died, but it seemed like she was stronger than he anticipated!
“Done!” Astor nodded as he witnessed her complete the bonding. “You better be worth it…” he added as he took a deep breath, then sat in a meditative pose, closed his eyes, and began reguting his breathing.
“...” Amer hesitated as she slowly sat up and checked the wound on her calf, it was all healed as if she had never been hurt in the first pce. “AH!” she shrieked while blushing, and quickly grabbed her ripped dress to try and cover herself. She just realized that she was almost naked in the presence of a guy!
Looking at him nervously, she sighed in relief, his eyes were closed as he meditated.
Nervously, she decided to quickly dress up, but she encountered a big problem… Her old dress was made from cheap materials to begin with, and after being ripped by that guy, it was beyond repair.
“Use that man’s clothes!” Astor told her, without caring to open his eyes. He was too old to care to peep, and the girl was still too young for his taste.
“Ah!” She blushed again, covering her body as she looked around, noticing the corpse.
She hesitated for a moment, then, feeling a little scared. But looking back and forth at it and at her ripped dress, she slowly walked toward it, then began working on it with some disgust, minding that there was no blood at all. It was as if the head was cut by some kind of hot knife.
Well… This made undressing it way easier.
She felt a little ashamed thinking that way.
Dressed up, she finally turned to look at Astor and slowly started to inspect his facial features. Wait… wasn’t he a little handsome for a young man?
“So you have finished…” he suddenly spat as he opened his eyes, staring at her.
Although Timmy's t-shirt and pants didn’t fit her, they were decent enough; it was better than looking like a beggar. And the girl had a strange charm to her, making her look like some kind of rebellious teen model or something.
“Ah….Yes… Thank you for saving us…” she said as she bowed slightly.
“No need for that, it was an equivalent exchange! Life for Life…” He dismissed her as he slowly stood up. And walked toward the corpse that was now in its underwear and directly kicked it down the ravine.
“That thing, your blood, why did it heal me…” she hesitated, then asked as she watched him take the hook and chain that was thrown to the ground and begin to wrap it up.
“Not something you can ask about now… Never talk about it!” he said as he turned to look at her.
“Um…” she nodded quickly, for some reason his dark bck eyes made her shiver a little.
“What’s your name?” he asked as he put the hook in his bag.
“Ah… Amber….” she said, biting her little lip.
“Ah, Amber? What a strange name… ” he asked as he turned to face her with a frown.
“It is just Amber!” she spat, feeling a little annoyed.
“Your st name?” he asked, smirking a little as he felt her fear toward him subside a little.
“I don’t have one, I grew up in an orphanage….”
“You will tell me as we walk, we are behind schedule… “ he interrupted her. “My name is Astor, you will call me young master from now on… Understood? ” he said coldly.
“Ah…” she hesitated, clenching her little fist. “Understood!” she finally said as she bit her lip. For some strange reason, she couldn’t even dare to not follow his command; it was as if it was unthinkable. It was not something a teenage girl like her could notice, though…
“Good, let’s go then… We have a train to catch!” he said as he checked the military compass, then began heading in a certain direction.
“Ah…. But….” she hesitated as she watched him begin to walk.
“If they did catch your brother, they would be there… If not, it would mean he managed to fool them and escape, and going with me to the Academy would be your best chance to ever find him!!” he said with annoyance.
“I understand…” she pouted as she quickly followed him.
“Good… You better roll your pants up; the trip is going to be muddy as hell!” he said dismissively as he walked, not caring about waiting for her.She didn’t know it, but she was now stuck with him for a lifetime, and maybe more!