Domain

volume 2 upgrade specialist chapter 16 – making an offer

After running for 10 minutes we made it to the southern edge, meeting up with the three bobs. They were fighting against a group of 2 middle apprentices and 8 early apprentices. Within a minute I had disposed of them.

Ourous: 10 bandits killed, 20 points earned

Now moving back the bobs told me what had happened to them.

At the same time, we had been attacked several bandits were sent out to where they were. Knowing they couldn’t fight on their own they gathered back at the Southside, hoping to hold them off till we returned. This had confirmed my earlier suspicions, they knew we were watching them.

After hearing their explanation we had made it back to base. As neared we could see the wooden wall built around the base, with several people posted on it. After finding the gate Alice came running out.

Alice: Solomon, what happened?

Solomon: I'll explain later, for now, they need immediate attention. Also, tie up that one

Saying so I pointed out Xiao Chen, Chenfeng and Yunfei.

Alice had some of the unranked take them away for treatment. After that she had some more of them take of everyone else for attention. She then led me to our team's tent.

Alice: argh, how could you get this injured, I shouldn’t have let you go on your own.

She had me take my top off so she could examine my injuries. Other that the large wound on my shoulder I had slight burn and a few cuts.

Solomon: don’t worry too much, with my salamander race's abilities I'll heal quite fast.

Alice that’s not the point, what am I going to do if you die.

Realising what she said her cheeks turned bright red, before looking away. Once again I got to see her cute side. Reaching out I petted the top of her head.

Solomon: don’t worry Alice, I'm not going anywhere.

She then continued to tend to my wounds. Ten minutes later having finished assisting me Alice went off to check on the other.

Alice: okay, stay here and rest for now. When those 3 wake up I'll come get you.

Settling down on the bed I started cultivating to regain my qi. As I went through the usual process to activate the yang absorbing technique I was surprised. The intake of qi was several times faster than before. At the rate it was flowing I would replace the lost 3 quarters in 20 minutes.

From what I could feel the passageways in my arms were several times the size of the rest of my body. Along with the bonus from the impurity cleansing, my training speed had increased by at least 5 times.

At I guess I would say when I forced the passageways in my arms to the breaking point it had expanded them. To add to that my cultivation technique focused on my arms. Having finished assessing my new training speed I settled into my cultivation.

Twenty minutes later having regained my qi I left the tent. My hunger from the long day was huge, causing me to seek out food. Walking over to the gate I told the unranked there I was leaving before running into the forest.

5 minutes later I had picked up on the trail of a deer. With the instincts of my salamander race, it was a lot easier. Another 5 minutes later I had tracked it down. Stalking along I held the scimitar I had previously stolen. With the addition of my race charged fire qi, it glowed a slight red.

The trail had opened up into a small clearing. The deer was stood in the middle of it, grazing. Stalking low, I made my way forward. Using the trees I hid in their shadows. When I reached the edge of the clearing I was 5 meters from the deer. Not wanting to char my food I refused to use the flame serpent art.

Waiting for my opportunity I stayed in the shadows. A few minutes later as the winds picked up a stirring came from across the clearing. Emerging from the forest at the opposite side were 3 wolves, dashing at the deer. Reacting fast it turned away from them to sprint away, straight towards me. Pouncing forward I cleaved the sword down into the back of its neck, sending its head flying into the air.

The wolves seeing their prey taken from them began to circle me. As I stood there, smelling the fresh blood tainting the air, the wolves growled.

Wolves: grrrrrr, grrrr, grrrrr

Lowering my body I pushed the limits of my senses, watching their every movement. After 20 or so seconds the first wolf pounced. Having seen it tense I was prepared for its attack. I swiftly sidestepped lifting up the scimitar. As the wolf arrived in front of me I swung down, cutting off the front half of its head.

From behind me, the other two wolves attacked. Having noted their positions from before I dropped down to the ground. Having pounced at me before they could not help but fly over where I lay, hitting each other in the air.

As they stood up from the floor I jumped to my feet, sprinting at the closest wolf. As it turned to face me I swung my scimitar in a downward slash. Having misjudged the distance the sword embedded itself into its back. Though it was dead I could not retrieve the scimitar before the last wolf reached me.

I turned to face the final wolf. It pounced at me From only two meters away, giving me no time to dodge. Reaching back I grabbed the arcane orb. As the wolf was about to bite my throat I smashed the orb into the side of its head. By the time it had hit the ground it was already dead.

As silence filled the clearing I looked at the rewards of my hunt, 3 wolves and a deer. After reclaiming my scimitar I dragged all the bodies together. Taking out a piece of rope I tied the legs of the bodies together, giving myself a handle to carry them with.

Having gained what I came for I hoisted the bodies behind my body. Leaving quickly I hoped to avoid attracting nearby predators.

15 minutes later I had made it back to the gate. Standing in front of the gate was Alice.

Solomon: hey Alice, I got some food we can cook for dinner.

Sighing, she had some of the unranked take the bodies from me.

Alice: what am I going to do with you, I told you to stay in the tent.

Solomon: sorry, I got hungry so I went to find some food.

Seeing the innocence in my expression she let it go.

Alice: alright, just be more careful in the future. The guy you brought back as well as Yunfei and Chenfeng have woken up. Everyone is waiting for you.

As we walked to where everyone was gathered I overheard a couple unranked.

Unranked 1: wow, I can't believe lady boss let that guy off.

Unranked 2: I know right, if we did that she would be beating the shit out of us right now.

It seemed like she had been rather strict with the unranked, I thought I should talk to her about that later. If the unranked had enough and revolted we'd be in trouble.

Having reached the centre of the base everyone important was waiting around the tied up Xiao Chen.

Standing to one side were the 3 bobs, on the other side was Yunfei and Chenfeng. Waiting together were Gareth and Aries.

Solomon: hello everyone, seems like I have some things to explain.

At first, I explained to Alice and Gareth what had happened while we were scouting.

Solomon: on that note did anyone learn anything?

Bob1: I saw something interesting, just before we were attacked there was smoke coming out of the stronghold. Though I can't be sure I think they communicated through smoke signals.

Solomon: that would explain how they attacked in unison. Anyone else?

After confirming that no one else learnt anything I moved on. I explained who this guy squirming in front of us was. When the contestant heard who he was their eyes were filled with greed. On the other hand, Chenfeng and Yunfei's eyes filled with hatred.

Solomon: Now now everyone, calm down. We're going to use this guy to learn about the enemy. As a hall master, he should have quite a bit of information. To get this information I'm going to torture this guy. Does anyone have a problem with this?

When I looked at each person they lowered their head. Though they didn’t like this there was no alternative.

Gareth: boss, I have experience with torture. Why don’t I torture him instead?

Gareth spoke up, and from his eyes I could tell that he wouldn't let me refuse.

Solomon: no, I'm going to do it. you can help if you want, but I need to be the one to kill him.

Slightly downtrodden Gareth accepted this outcome.

Gareth: okay, I can accept that.

Solomon: okay, that’s settled. Other than this there's not anything to talk about. Has anyone got something to bring up?

After a brief silence, I continued.

Solomon: okay then, Gareth go and prepare this guy for torture. There should be a cave behind the waterfall, take him there.

Nodding Gareth took the hall master and left.

Solomon: for the rest of today everyone can take a rest. I'll give everyone new order tomorrow. Alice, see if you can find someone to skin the animals I caught. When it's done cook it and serve everyone an equal share. Aries, come with me.

As everyone dispersed I walked towards my team's tent with Aries.

Aries: so what is it you want?

Solomon: I told you before I would explain how I knew about the attacks earlier. I'm going to explain it to you.

After reaching the tent I invited her in. Sitting down inside I began to explain.

Solomon: so to start with I told you to go towards Yunfei and Chenfeng. This was because I suspected they were being attacked. That whole time we watched over their stronghold I made sure we didn’t expose ourselves. Being as we were attacked I was sure it was with another way they found us. If they had found us they were sure to have found the others as well.

Aries: I had figured you knew they were attacking all of us, but why did you send me away? Did you know that they were being attacked by more men?

Solomon: Yunfei and Chenfeng have already killed several hall masters. This made them a threat. If they identified them they would send more men to eliminate them. But it was only a fifty-fifty chance, I didn’t know for sure. What I do know is that without them completing this mission will become much harder.

Aries: why Would it become harder? Even though they are relatively strong there replaceable.

Solomon: Yunfei has an ability that allows him to upgrade equipment. With it, he can turn an ordinary brick into a deadly weapon. With weapons like ours imagine what he could do.

Aries: is it really worth risking your life for?

Asking this she stared me in the eyes.

Solomon: it is. We can't finish the mission without him.

Looking straight back I answered

Aries: okay then, that answers all of my questions.

Being as she had nothing else to say it became kind of awkward. Having considered the idea for a long time I asked her.

Solomon: Aries, would you consider joining my team?

Aries: huh?