The Roamer

Chapter 20: New system

Aeolus ran even faster after hearing such a thing. The voice was so calm, yet he could hear it so far. Whoever said that was extremely powerful, and it was probably the manor owner. Though he could have beaten all those people even quicker if he used string arena quicker, he knew that it would not have that big of an effect on the owner of the manor.

“I need to power up even more before I try and challenge that place again, get a new affinity or something…” Aeolus said to himself, thinking of all the affinities that could work. Then, he suddenly realized something.

‘I’ve only been focusing on the affinity I’m most comfortable with, but since string is my main weapon, I need to focus on an affinity that links with it really well. I got lucky since string worked well with the wind affinity, but now I need something else.’ Aeolus realized within his head, and realized what he needed to go for now. Right now, his string was an issue when it came to actually stopping opponents. It barely delayed the opponents, and that delay wasn’t even a second.

The most benefits he was getting out of the string was damage, but that wasn’t even the main purpose of the string. He first set out on conquering the use of the string to make it so he could dance through a battlefield while fighting, but he wasn’t able to do it. He needed something like a spider web, which would actually catch the opponent and stop them while he did what he wanted on the battlefield.

“I think I know what affinity I want know.” Aeolus realized within his mind, and began to search for an affinity related to poison. If his string could not only damage opponents, but even poison them, then it would work in the direction that he wanted it to go. After the opponent accidentally touched the string, they would be poisoned and slowly die, and all he would need to do is stall.

Still, the amount of poison affinity he could apply onto the string was minimal, as the string couldn’t hold much. Depending on the power of the poison, it would take many minutes for the opponent to become numb with their body with it. If he could get an affinity that could slow down the opponents when they touched the string, it would be best.

“I’ll have to find a place to calm down and rummage through my soul, and check all the souls I have absorbed. I’m sure that there is an attack that is linked to the affinity of poison and time in there somewhere.” Aeolus said to himself, and soared to the nearest mountain he could find, and came down to sit on it.

He then began rummaging through his soul, hoping that he could find what he needed.

At first, he found a bunch of somewhat useful affinity attacks, along with many techniques that he thought were good. Of course, he didn’t use much techniques anymore, since he was mostly just standing still and letting his weapon do the job these days.

However, after the last battle, he realized how important techniques were. He had overestimated himself and thought that he wouldn’t need to use any other technique besides the soul infusion technique, but if he had used the flowing water technique, he could have avoided many of the injuries he had suffered, and could have possibly saved his spirit arm as well!

“I need to focus on making the flowing water second nature, as if it’s not a technique anymore, but just my natural body.” Aeolus muttered to himself, while still searching for affinity attacks. After a while, he found a poison affinity attack, and immediately began to learn how to use it.

He spent an hour or two comprehending the attack, and then used it. It was simply just spitting out extremely acidic poison, but it was so lethal. It had immediately melted much of the surface of the mountain he was currently on.

‘This poison affinity will work just fine. This is just a first layer poison attack, yet it can do so much. Think of all the types of poison I could concoct in the future with this affinity!’ Aeolus said to himself in his mind, while imagining all the possibilities for the future when it came to this affinity.

He began to infuse the poison into the outer layer, and saved the mid-layer for the time affinity, because he thought it was more important to proceed towards his goal when it came to using string as a weapon. After half an hour or so of fusing the poison affinity into his outer layer, he was done.

He realized that his body was more resistant to most of the affinities, and he was doing pretty good at this point. He stood up, and shot out the string in all directions. If you looked with spirit infused eyes, you couldn’t sense the poison at all, and could only sense it once he was actually hit by it, though he was resistant to poison, so it did nothing.

“This strings power when it comes to being a trap has become much better. This can go even further as a trap if it could also be used to slow down the opponent.” Aeolus muttered to himself, grinning like an idiot. He was making so much progress recently that he didn’t know how to feel, but it was definitely something good.

He stood up, and soared in a direction he had never been to. He didn’t worry about losing this area at all, because his string had him covered. From now on, no matter which town he went to, he would always attach at least a single string, and made sure that it would stay there, separated from his body.

Though it was separated from his body, he could still sense the spirit infused into it, considering that it was his own. For that reason, he deemed it a good idea to set up some sort of check marks with the string.

Just like that, Aeolus was moving onto the next part of the world that he had never seen, beginning his roamer career once again.

--- Sequence 2 ---

It had been a month, and Aeolus had went in and out of many towns. He left a piece of string pinned somewhere within every town he went to, just so he could know where to go if he ever wanted to go back.

After a month of traveling, he had made his way into some sort of desert area, that seemed to stretch on for hundreds and hundreds of miles, maybe even thousands. If he looked back and sensed the piece of string he had left in the ghost town, he could not even see a single tree in that direction, so he was definitely deep into this desert territory.

By going through all these places, he had also figured something out concerning him. Apparently, the people at the manor were displeased with him, and he had a bounty hanging on the wall no matter where he went, so he was somewhat known wherever he went, his reputation building up.

He had studied a little of the human culture, and understood the bounty on the paper said seven million ven was the reward, and he knew that it was a pretty big reward. The paper even came with a picture of his face, though it was a bit different from how he looked now.

Out of nowhere, a town appeared in the horizon. Aeolus, recognizing it as his next destination, soared even faster to reach it. He still needed to find something related to the affinity of time, which he did not have. Thanks to the books he had found and stole from towns here and there, he found out that the time affinity is a rare one, that can barely be found in many locations.

The town he was approaching seemed to be huge in size, bigger than any he had ever seen before. Suddenly, he thought of one of the things he had learnt from hearing people and reading books.

‘Could this be what they call a city?’ Aeolus thought to himself, curiosity barraging his mind and soul. Cities were said to be much bigger than towns, and were way safer and secure. The people in a city would usually be happy, and there wouldn’t be much issues thanks to the extreme security.

‘Crap, I don’t think I’ll be able to get into a fight easily in such a place.’ Aeolus realized within his head, and began to think up ways to get into fights with strong people. After thinking and flying for a bit, he had arrived in front of the city. He walked through the gates, and was astonished by the scene in front of him.

There were many huge buildings, and on top of a mountain near the middle of the city, there seemed to be a huge castle. The whole city was enclosed by walls, so the defense was tight, and there seemed to be children running around and playing. However, Aeolus wasn’t completely deceived by this view, as he knew every town or city had it’s dark places within.

He kept walking down a stone path, and found some center area with a fountain in the middle. There was some man selling sculptures at the fountain, kids jumping in and out of it, and lovely couples just enjoying some food or cuddling together. No matter where you looked, things were happening within this city.

‘Towns really can’t compare with cities.’ Aeolus noted in his mind, acknowledging the power and influence of a city. He then saw some sort of stadium, and began to walk towards it. He was still an impatient brat though, so he reached it in a single second due to him using spirit.

He walked up to the guard who was patrolling around the stadium gates, and proceeded onto asking him about it.

“Excuse me sir, can you tell me the purpose of this stadium?” Aeolus asked, trying to be as respectful as possible. He would not disrespect someone or beat them down unless they were truly snotty and bad people.

“This stadium houses tournaments and battles alike, and the winner of those events comes up with a reward. This stadium is not for the weak of hearts to watch battles, and especially not for the weak of heart to fight in.” the guard explained, not being rude at all.

‘I see, it’s like an arena, but way bigger. Rewards are also included, so this is way better!’ Aeolus acknowledged the stadium, and began to walk in through the gates. He saw many people lining up at stands to purchase food and other stuff, and people walking to seats so that they could watch the fights within the stadium.

Aeolus saw a line full of buff people, who seemed to be signing some paper. He realized that this must be where fighters signed up, so he lined up as well. Some people gave him some curious and suspicious looks, while others just began to laugh. Still, Aeolus didn’t care, as he would just kill them within the stadium.

“Kid, do you even know where you are?” some man asked, with worry in his eye. He didn’t seem to be making fun of Aeolus, but was instead worried. Aeolus was somewhat grateful for this person, so he replied nicely.

“Yes sir, I know where I am and what I’m doing.” Aeolus replied respectfully, since this was the only person who was actually worried about him and not being suspicious or making fun of him.

“Alright then, I’m just checking.” the man said, and turned around and went to find a seat.

‘What a nice guy.’ Aeolus thought, and then turned to look at the back of some men who were in line just like him. After about ten minutes, he had finally approached the woman who was holding the paper that he had to sign.

“Hello sir, would you like to join the tournament? The reward varies depending on where you place, but it’s good to get any reward at all, am I right?” the hostess asked, trying to lure in more fighters for the tournament.

In all honesty, she was struggling to find fighters for the tournament, since one specific man had signed up for it. He was an almighty being, one that nobody could even dare to stand against. He had unlocked his thirtieth layer recently, and was a monster in this city that almost nobody could handle.

“Can you tell me the rewards ma’am?” Aeolus asked, interested in such a thing. First of all, he had never participated in a tournament before, so he might be able to enjoy himself and gain some good experience. Along with that, he’d even get a reward for participating, so why not?

“At first place, you get a third layer attack with whatever affinity you please. At second place, you get a second layer attack with any affinity you want as well. At third place, you get a first layer attack with any affinity you want as well, and every other place up to tenth is just an affinity banquet.” the hostess explained, while trying to lure him into the tournament desperately.

“Can you explain what an affinity banquet is?” Aeolus asked, not knowing what to expect of it.

“It’s food that is instilled with any affinity you want, and once you consume it, you’ll gain the affinity, although it will only be at the foundation level.” the hostess explained, while losing face. Such a thing would probably not attract this child at all, and she was prepared to let him go.

“I’ll sign up for the tournament then, when is it going to be held?” Aeolus agreed, and even seemed a bit excited. The hostess’ face lit up, and she held out a pen and paper to him to sign up.

Aeolus took the pen and paper, and read the list of fighters. It listed names and layers, but that was all. Aeolus looked at the first person who signed up for the tournament, and his jaw dropped.

‘The person at the very top had achieved his thirtieth layer?!’ Aeolus muttered in his head, not daring to believe that he would have to stand against such an opponent in this tournament. He couldn’t even achieve such a layer due to his curse, and even if he could, it would take him at least a year to reach such a level.

‘Everyone else is below the twentieth layer, with the second highest being the eighteenth layer.’ Aeolus noted within his mind, and was steeling himself for the upcoming tournament. He had anything third place and above out, he knew he could not reach such a level.

Still, all he needed was the last affinity to instill in himself, and he would be good. At that point in time, he would be able to wield the string as he wanted when he first picked it up, and massacre his opponents. All he had to do was reach the top ten, and he would be able to get what he needed, even if it was weak.

“It’s time I finally finish my set of affinity.” Aeolus said to himself, and left the city to wait until the day when the tournament would begin, which was in a week.

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ABOUT ME

Name: Abdul Kareem

Age: 13 (Almost 14)

Occupation: Middle school

Goal: Idk, I’m just making a novel for now

Location: Why would I say that?

Relations: I’m not married (duh)

Favorite food: da asian stuf!

Anyway, on a more serious tone, this is my first novel I’ve ever tried writing. Thanks for being with me on this first experience! If you could also somehow get others to read this novel too, I would be pretty grateful!