Surprising Benefits

Standing in front of a 4 feet tall entrance gate, Ren looked for the security guards. Looking at a corner of the gate, a bearded muscular man was looking at him suspiciously. Why would he not be suspicious? After all, it is not every day you see a young adventurer in dirty clothes standing in front of the Shuta Tribe’s main residence gate. When Ren was about to say something, the man suspiciously asked, “What business do you have, young man?”

“err, I came here to bid farewell to a close friend of mine.”

“And who might be that close friend of yours?”The man didn’t seem to lose his suspicion.

“It’s a small green haired girl whose age is not above five.”Ren answered calmly.

“You are the young miss’ friend?”The man was a bit taken aback by Ren’s response.

“Young miss? Ah..yes. Can I go in now?”

“Yes. But let me first inform the Tribe Leader about this.”

After few minutes, the guard came back with an old man. The old man is probably the Tribe Leader. I greeted the old man and asked,”I heard that Cyr-...the little girl’s parents are from this tribe. Can I see her? You see, after spending time with her, I have come to regard her as my own sister.”

“Oh! Sure, you can. However, today, we have an important ritual to perform and it's already night. Why don’t stay the night?”The old man replied as he smiled good-naturedly.

“Sorry for troubling you.”I said apologetically.

“Haha. It’s no big deal. After all, you are my grandchild’s friend. It will be my pleasure to look after you since you took care of my granddaughter for half year. Tell me, is there something you want?”

“Ah...no. It’s fine.”I hurriedly refused.

“You sure? This is a big chance for you. We have many unique skills and pills.”The old man gave a mysterious smile.

Ren thought about it for a while, and then replied.”Um...do you have elemental skills of thunder element?”

The old man stared at Ren and said.”Thunder element? Hm….we do have a few. But are you sure it’s of any use to you?”

“Yes. I have thunder elemental affinity.”Ren answered honestly.

The old man looked surprised at Ren’s reply, and then nodded his head.”Come with me. Since you saved my granddaughter, I must repay this favor, “The Tribe Leader took Ren to an isolated room and gave him three middle-ranked thunder skills. Ren thanked the Tribe Leader and a servant took him to an empty room for him to stay the night.

*Ren’s POV*

It was a good decision after all coming here! Now, I don’t have to worry about spending my precious coins on buying skills. Also, each of them are middle-ranked! The only thing that is bugging me is the question: Will I be able to learn this? It is not weird for me to have such questions because my talent in elementals is limited. I’m a poor D-grader...Hah...I think I should sleep for now. My little brain can’t handle this much pressure. Having such thoughts in mind, I slept peacefully.

…

…

Boom!

Kyaa!? What happened?! I woke up from bed without a tinge of drowsiness remaining in my mind. What’s with that sound of explosion? I looked through the window only to find a forest fire in less than half kilometre distance from the residence. Crap! I must inform the tribesmen. I rushed out of the room to find a servant to inform him about the situation. But my search was in vain as I didn’t manage to find even a single servant. Not even the guards were present. I wonder what has happened.

“Is there no one here except for me...?”I mumbled.

“It seems like there is, young man.”A gentle voice entered my ears. Looking back, I was surprised to find long-haired handsome man posing at a nearby tree. He looks cool though...I should as for a picture of his. What am I even thinking!? Shaking my head, I looked at the handsome man and said.”Are you a part of this tribe?” I know that it’s extremely foolish to ask this since there are guests hardly come in the tribes aside from a few occasions but he doesn’t look one of them. The tribesmen in this forest are usually short and tanned but he, on the other hand, is tall and fair.

“I am indeed not from the tribe. I have come a long way here just to meet you.”The handsome man chuckled as he said.

“I’m guessing this isn’t as simple as a meeting. Are you working for the kingdom or something?”I guessed.

The man broke out in laughter.”HAHAHAHA”. Eh? Did I said something funny? I don’t remember being that humorous.”Who I am working for is none of your business. I’m here for business with you.”He pisses me off!!

“What business do you have? Make it quick.”I said annoyingly. I can’t just have a chat with this man while the forest fire is still active.

“Woa, have patience young man. Your worry is baseless. That isn’t a forest fire. The tribesmen are having a important ritual.”

Ritual? Oh. I do remember the Tribe Leader telling me that they are planning to perform a ritual today.”Is that so? I should head back then.”

“Are you sure you want to head back?”The man said mysteriously

I got confused at the man’s question.“Yeah. What else would I do? The ritual is none of my business.”

"Maybe, it is none of your business. But what if the ritual isn’t that simple as it sounds.”

“What do you want to say?”I got even more confused.

“What would you do if the ritual is a sacrifice ritual where the tribesmen sacrifice a human every year for their God?”The man mysteriously smiled.

What....? Is he simply spewing nonsense or…? I can’t be sure about it unless I see it for myself. However, even if it is a sacrificial ritual, what does that got to do with me? Although it is very inhumane and I should stop since I’m a Hero but it was not my choice to become one. Returning home is my primary goal. I don’t care about anything other than that. I don’t have any good feelings towards anyone in this world besides...but then, a sudden thought struck me.

“Is the one being sacrificed a little green-haired girl?”I asked seriously without beating around the bush.

“See for yourself.”The man chuckled in amusement.

The moment I heard him, I rushed towards the direction of where the fire was burning. It took me few minutes to finally reach it. The location was right before a cave. Every tribesmen regardless of age or gender are here. Some of them sat at a corner eating meals, some doing their duty as a guard, some busy drinking, some chatting among themselves, some dressed in white were in the middle of a serious discussion, two men holding a little girl who was dressed in white with her eyes dead. DAMN! It is Cyrola after all! What should I do...? I am sure to die if I fought with them. I heard that the strongest tribesmen, Tribe Leader are at least level 45. That’s seven levels above me. A beast could be defeated with a lower level since it doesn’t have high intelligence but for a human....it’s difficult. Besides, there are more than thirty men with at least level 35. I’m sure that I will die if I pick a fight.

It’s obvious what I should do - Run away from the residence. It is very dangerous for me stay here since they will probably attack me tomorrow morning. I now get why the Tribe Leader was so generous. He was sure that he will get those skill books back. But what about Cyrola?

”I’m sorry but I don’t have the strength to save you…It would be a suicide to save you.”I muttered to myself. I lamented myself for giving excuses. The real reason is because I’m simply scared to die. I turned back with heavy feelings only to find a familiar man smiling mysteriously at me. I sighed. I’m not in any mood to get annoyed. I simply walked past him. But after walking a few steps, a voice came from behind.

“I came here for some business with you. I have a offer for you.”

Looking back with uninterested eyes, I said.”Make it quick. I don’t have the luxury to have a friendly chat with you. Not that I even want to.”

He pouted.”Youngsters these days....Anyways, please hear me out. I work for a organization and have been sent here to make a soul pact for you. I guess that you have heard stories about a human selling his soul to a demon to become strong. Its like that except for the fact that we’re neither demons nor wish for the world annihilation. But the thing is…”

“The thing is…?”I was a bit intrigued by his story. Though I’m only half-convinced, it would be hard to call it a ‘lie’. Coming in this world made me doubt if anything is impossible.

The man looked at me for a moment, sighed and continued.”I’ll be direct. Your soul cannot be sold.”

“Even my soul is a useless…?”I muttered without emotions.

The man seemed to be amused at my response and continued with a business-like smile.”Priceless would be more accurate.”

“Huh? Priceless...? I think you have got the wrong person.” I’m confused at his words. After all, if my soul was really priceless, I got to have talent (I guessed since I don’t have any knowledge about souls).

“No. It’s the first time I’ve seen a multi-layered soul. Aside from you, there is also one with a two-layered soul among your classmates. I wanted to talk to the other person first but the other party was early for that.”

“Is that so? But how does having a ‘multi-layered soul’ help me get strong? Also you said that I couldn’t have a soul pact.”

“What I meant was that your soul is too strong to be sold. We don’t have the strength to make a soul pact with such a soul.”He shook his head and said.

Eh? I’m proud of my soul. “But what’s the use then?”I said what I had in my mind.

“Not making a soul pact doesn’t mean we can’t give you the power.”

“I see. But why would you?”I raised my suspicions.

“Out of goodwill.”

“….”

The man kept giving a business-like smile.

Like hell I’d believe that!! Moreover a shady organization like yours buying souls. Only a dumbass would trust you!

“How could I trust you?”

“Obviously after getting the powers you want from me.”The man said in a matter-of-factly way.

I can’t hold back my nerves any more. Why do you think I asked the last question!? Obviously, it is make yourself show me that the powers you give could be trusted. Somehow holding back my anger at him, I asked, “How would I know that the powers you give are safe?”

The man gave me a weird look before sighing.”Just don’t then.”

My expression turned grim at the man’s ruthless reply. But I’m not in any position to lash out. In order to get something, I must risk something. The man in front of me was giving me the powers I need to save Cyrola in exchange for nothing. No…not nothing…just trust. It is highly possible that he may just be a scammer but I don’t have enough right now to choose my own way. I might as well take the risk.

I looked at the man who was giving me a neutral look, walked towards him and pushed my hand forwards for a handshake. Looking at my hand, he smiled lightly, and then shook my hand. “Thank you for trusting our humble organization. Here forth, you are now a official member of our organizati-“

“That can be discussed later. I don’t have much time left.”Cyrola can be dead at any moment. I can’t waste time in chatting.

“Ah. Yes yes. Listen to me carefully. This might be a bit painful for you. But you have to bear with it. Have you ever seen a main character getting a power up without pain?”

“…”I don’t even have energy to counter him. He placed his index finger in my forehead and suddenly a white light transferred from his finger to my finger. I gritted my teeth in preparation of fighting the upcoming pain but I felt nothing….After a few seconds, he took his finger back and I was left without a scratch. I smugly smirked at him thinking that it might be because of my extraordinary soul but the shady man’s expression looked neutral. Was he not impressed by m-

“Arghhhhhhh!!!”I suddenly got on my knees and crawled pathetically. My eyes looked like they would gauge out at any moment. Damn it! If I don’t get the power equivalent to this pain in return, I will seriously kill this man and destroy his shady organization! The pain I’m feeling isn’t like a torture but more like your body would burst out any moment. Even so its unbearable. But then again, why am I describing my pain!? After a few seconds, my eyes became dizzy and was about to lose conscious.

“Don’t lose consciousness or else you die.” It was a simple sentence which the shady man said with a calm voice but the words he said vibrated in my mind. I will die if I lose consciousness….? It doesn’t make sense. Why would he want me dead..? It makes no damn sense! I joined his organization. Why would the organization want me dead? Is it because I have the ‘multi-layered soul’? Are they scared because of it? I know that I might be over thinking things but I have seen many plots in anime or anywhere to think deeply about this situation. It might just be that the shady man is testing me but I don’t have the luxury to think like that. Gritting my teeth in agony and pain, I looked up to the man who was looking at me with a composed expression.

“W-w-why d-did you d-do this….?”I tried my best to bring out some words.

Ignoring my question, he calmly explained. “Listen to me carefully now. I will be going now. If you somehow manage to survive even though I don’t think you will, a new skill would be added to the list of ‘Unique Abilities’ in addition with the primordial mana which will be stored and created inside your dantian. The skill which I was talking about has several stages. Remember to activate only the first stage for now. It will be useful for you to save the little girl. But then again, I don’t think you will survive even though you have a multi-layered soul.” He then turned back and walked away.

“W-wait….”

I cried out but he has no intention of even looking back.

“W-wait! I h-have a q-question…”

He stopped in his tracks, then looked back and said, “What is it? Make it quick.”

“W-what do you m-mean by a ‘m-multi layered soul’?”

The man looked at me, sighed and said, “It is a very complex topic in soul mechanism. I don’t have enough time to explain and neither do you have enough time to listen. Let me explain it in this way. A person’s soul is layered when his/her soul went through a special type of reincarnation. This ‘special’ type is only for a minority of people. In other words, you were a man of great caliber in your past lives. Notice how I used ‘lives’. Yes, you underwent the ‘special’ reincarnation more than two times. That’s why you soul is multi-layered. That ends my answer.” He said as he vanished away in darkness.

My soul underwent a special type of reincarnation more than two times…? And it can only be done with a person of great caliber? Then why is my talent so average!? My eyes looked dead, my limbs lost all its strength and my mind was complete chaos. I looked just like a dead corpse lying on the ground. I laughed dryly for my own foolishness. What difference does it make…? I couldn’t save Cyrola either way. At least, I could have saved myself if I had not listened to the man. As I was thinking such, I felt cold water sprinkled upon my body. Is it raining?

Looking up, I found that it is indeed raining. Though I hated rain, not anymore cause the cold water is making my body which is in extreme heat calm down a bit though the pain is still there. To be completely honest, the pain is not exactly unbearable but you get feeling that you will die surely if this continues.

Rumble! Boom!

Oh, well. The thunderstorms are coming along with rain. Even if I manage to stay alive, I will surely die because of these thunderstorms. It seems like the Death God wrote my name in his note today. I joked completely ignoring the situation I’m in.

Boom!

My body shook vigorously as I screamed on the top of my lungs. After screaming for a few seconds, my eyes closed as I lay down in the ground calmly…My last thought was “Never thought I would die from the thunderstorms. Haha…”

….

….

A few moments later, I slowly opened my eyes in order to greet the Death God. But all I saw was a clear night sky with stars twinkling. I am at a complete loss now. This is not what I’ve expected the heaven/hell to look like. I looked around only to find several trees around me which looked surprisingly familiar to me. Let’s see if I can get up. Hmm…I could. I nodded my head in approval as I got up after which, a notification rang inside my head and a system window appeared in front of my eyes.

I replied ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ consecutively.

for use>

…

…

-------------------------------------------------------

Should I be happy about this…? After all, I luckily managed to survive and it would be a lie if I said that I’m not elated about this but more than that, a grudge spouted inside me. Anyways, even if I get angry nothing’s going to come out of it. I really wonder how the first stage of is going to help me. I took a look at the stats only to find that nothing changed except for the which is present in low amount….only 610….

Besides, I expected a power up in levels. I am honestly very disappointed. If I’d known this earlier, I wouldn’t have agreed with that man. Furthermore, he brainwashed me into trusting him….no...it was my own foolishness. But as the saying goes “No crying over spilled milk”, I just have to make full use of what I obtained. With that in mind, I again walked towards the site where Cyrola would be sacrificed. No, I’m not even sure if she is alive or not because I have no idea about how much time has passed. I can only leave that to fate and run.

After I reached the location, I looked around for Cyrola. I found her with the same two men in the same white clothes. The only difference is that there is a huge cauldron placed a few meters before Cyrola. I guess they are going to kill her in the cruelest way possible but this is news to me. I never thought people resorts to this sort of sacrifice in rituals. Anyways, I have very limited time but I still don’t have any idea as to what I am supposed to do. Should I just activate the ? Will it even work?? What if it failed?? Again, I’m in a pinch. I must be decisive….but then again, I doubt any normal person would’ve been any better if not worse if they were in the same situation as me. After all, I’m not a main character or even the sidekicks….but I can’t use this excuse every time. I made up my mind to fight. Although I’m sure that I will fight to the end, I still planned to run away if anything happens out of my expectations.

I activated the standing from the gate of the ritual site in order to remain hidden. Two seconds passed by but nothing happened. I patiently waited for a while but it’s the same as before. Nothing….absolutely nothing…..I should’ve expected this….

I prepared myself for a fight just as the cauldron fire was ignited. However, a mysterious phenomenon occurred. The fire in the cauldron extinguished abruptly. The tribesmen tried to ignite it once more but the same phenomenon occurred. After six tries, they finally gave up and started discussing among themselves. Eh? Is that it? I expecte-

“AHHHHHHHHHHH” My thoughts were interrupted by a chain of cries. My eyes gauged out again this time. But this time it’s not because of pain but because of an incomprehensible thing that is happening in front of my eyes....

All the tribesmen regardless of whether they participated in the main ritual or not were burning….no, turning to ashes would be a more appropriate word. The whole area was painted in red with the color of blood mixed. It was an extremely horrifying scene. Within a few seconds, several men and women already turned into ashes. The sight of seeing several children and woman screaming in pain was pretty pitiful and sad but I felt no guilty. Heh…did I become another bloodthirsty main character…? I look pretty cool, right? I really wonder why the fuck am I joking in this situation!?

After a few minutes, the area which was previously filled with several tribesmen now is empty with only a single girl in white clothes crying while hugging her knees in the middle. I walked towards her with my legs shaking. I don’t dare to look around at this moment because I’m sure that I’ll break down if I do so. Hearing my footsteps, the little girl looked up and met my eyes. I expected her to stop crying and happily jump on my arms but she kept looking at my face for a moment. I wonder if there’s something on my face.

“Let’s go. What are you spacing out for?” I snapped my fingers in front of her eyes and said. But even so, she gave no signs of talking. It must be traumatizing especially for a little girl like her who is not even ten….After a while, her face twisted unusually and I knew where this is going.

“WAAAAAHHHH” She broke out in tears as I moved to console her but she pouted and moved my hands away from her shoulders. Ahh…this is going to take some time….