The woman said coldly, her voice taking a firm tone, her eyes showing a fierceness that he hadn’t expected to see from such a young woman. He looked over at the corpses, then at her.
“Hurry,” the woman replied, noticing his hesitation. “There might be more guards coming soon, and it’ll be hard to explain without getting suspicious. I have no intention of getting involved in this, so I might do something crazy and make you out to be the offender.”
And just like that, she completely destroyed whatever hope Aidan had that she could be a friend. Having no other choice, he did as she asked, and placed his hands on the ground.
When he had a clear image in his head, the magic flowed like water through his arms and hands, the soil on the ground becoming mashed and congealed into several sprouts that carried one guard to the other, then put them together in a pile.
He then slapped his hand on the soil again, causing the ground beneath the bodies to disperse into a large hole, making them fall. It was several feet down, enough so that one could barely see into the hole. Just as quickly he covered up the hole with his magic, and just like that, there was nothing except a strange ground where a big circle was displayed on the beaten path. He wasn’t quite sure how to hide that particular circle but he figured nobody would bat an eye as long as more vehicles drove through here.
He felt sick to his stomach, seeing the display of power he wielded only to hide the murder he committed. When he turned back around, he noticed the girl looking just as surprised, glancing at him with that look that he wasn’t quite sure how to place.
“That was… surprisingly quick and clean,” she said, clearing her throat. “Good job. Now, follow me, and don’t do anything that would make any noise.”
The girl turned around and walked forward at a steady pace, Aidan following along. The two didn’t take the beaten path, but walked over to the side of the dense trees where there was barely any visibility.
Despite getting into the forest where barely anyone seemed to travel, the girl walked with such confidence that Aidan couldn’t imagine that this was the first time she had done this. As he followed her, he noticed that in the far distance was what looked like several buildings hidden behind a large stone wall over the hill they were at.
Is that a city?
From what he could see, thanks to his improved Perception, it was a city that looked like it could be in the Middle ages, the buildings made of stone and wood rather than the usual brick and mortar he was used to. He was too far away to see any details of it, but he could figure out that he lived in a country where very little technology was made.
Do they at least have toilets?
He wished he could clean himself off of everything he saw and did today, his leg still burning from the cut that guard landed on him. He kept following the girl for about an hour, the transgression from earlier still replaying in his mind. He decided to scan her, seeing the notification pop up.
Warrior, Level 13.
Shit, that’s a pretty high level.
“Why are you helping me?”
Aidan figured there wasn’t much else to do but ask. He didn’t know whether he needed to be quiet, but with Sense Vibrations, there was nobody around but himself and the girl.
By the way, when he used Sense Vibrations on the girl, she had a steady rhythm of vibrations that paced along with her movements. But as the hour passed, he was slowly starting to recognize a beat of sorts that seemed to be turning itself into a melody. It was a strange sort of melody that he found somewhat soothing, like listening to casual punk rock where the drums were the basis of the song.
He knew he shouldn’t be feeling this way, but he found himself enjoying the soft beat she was emitting. Was that too invasive?
“There isn’t much else to say. I saw someone in a bad position, and I wanted to help.”
That sounded like a lie, and a bald-faced lie at that. If he knew anything about being in this situation, the last thing anyone would do was to help a murderer get away from the scene of the crime.
So unless she was a lot stupider than she looked, or she was just as non-innocent as the guards.
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I suggest that you keep your mouth shut and follow me. I’ll answer your questions once we get into Forontia.”
He hated it, but he decided to just trust her. Normally he would be out of sorts after what happened, and the last thing he wanted to do was blindly trust someone who watched him commit murder to two guards which, if he guessed correctly, belonged to the city known as Forontia.
But then there was that strange soothing melody he kept hearing from her spirit, something that kept egging him to believe that everything would be fine, or that she didn’t mean any harm.
Skill Upgraded! Sense Vibrations (Copper) became Sense Vibrations (Bronze)!
The sudden notification took his attention away. His Sense Vibrations upgraded to a new rank, which felt like it leveled up by way of the value of metals. It looked like the more he sensed someone’s soul with vibrations, the better his skill would turn out to be.
Was it the soul he was reading into? It felt natural in his mind, so he’d just stick with that for now.
So in other words, his skill was leading him down a good path. That was good considering that they were approaching the city soon.
However, they didn’t go to the front where he spotted several people coming in droves, driving in old-time carriages with actual horses carrying them. Instead they went around the entrance, where they kept seeing the wall extend for miles away, far beyond the distant horizon. Just how big was the city?
Soon they approached a rather neglected-looking wall of the city, seeing the old wear and tear on the bricks where moss and wet nature encroached the material. Aidan wondered exactly what they were doing here when the woman tapped on one particular brick where it sounded way hollower than it should be.
The brick was pulled from inside and out came a set of piercing eyes that would stare anyone into submission. It looked like it belonged to a gruff-looking man as he spoke.
“Who’s talkin’?”
“It’s me, you big oaf. Let me in,” the woman said harshly.
“Sorry lady, can’t do it. You’re carrying some suspicious baggage there.”
“This baggage is my ticket in. Now let me in or I’ll tell your wife that you’ve been sneaking in with younger girls at a brothel.”
“L-Like that would happen if I just don’t let you in.”
“Do you really want to risk that with someone like me?”
The woman said sweetly, but her words were anything but. The man didn’t look like he wanted to risk it at all as he let out a big sigh behind the wall, then promptly pushed the brick into the hole he used to talk into.
The surrounding bricks suddenly started to lift themselves off of the wall, creating an opening that led into the city. Aidan widened his eyes, feeling like this was some Harry Potter shit right here. The hooded woman walked inside with Aidan following after, just slightly scared that the bricks would fly right into him as he went in.
Thankfully that never happened. Inside, he saw that he was surrounded by desecrated buildings, the wooden walls either broken or rotting, the stench of garbage filling the air. He almost coughed but managed to keep it in as he followed the woman, getting in between the several people that crowded around here.
It was an array of people wearing shady clothing, with more hooded figures wearing long coats that completely covered them, or others barely wearing anything at all, just rags on dirty bodies that stunk to high heaven of trash and disease.
Shit, is this like the slums or something?
He had no choice but to keep following the woman, mostly relying on his Sense Vibrations to avoid getting lost as they kept weaving through other people, trying to reach into the city street.
Quickly the surroundings became a little brighter as he was met with the main city street filled with various people of suspicious origins. They looked like city thugs and ruffians, which one would find in the bad side of the city. There was that hint of metal and blood in the air that he recognized just a few hours ago, except it was everywhere. The woman pulled his arm towards her as she dragged him towards the next location.
“Where are we going?” Aidan asked, still discombobulated from the entire ordeal happening around him.
“We’re going to get you an identity. The only place to do that is around here where I know a forger that can make you one.”
“C-Can’t I just make a regular identity?” Aidan asked hopefully.
“Do you really want the officials to scan you and find your Kinslayer title, making you an outright murderer? If you want to stay in prison instead, you can go right ahead.”
The shock almost made him choke up in disbelief. Was that true? The moment you get the Kinslayer title by force, you end up with a permanent criminal record?
It wasn’t like he aimed to kill them. It was through self-defense. But now that seemed to have flown right out the window as anyone who could peer into his status can see that he killed somebody.
As his mind churned, they entered into a single-story building that was tucked within a corner of the street, as though it could’ve easily been forsaken. The floor was grimy with a hint of something that made his nose curl from the environment, with only a single person sitting on a chair reading what looked like the newspaper on his desk.
He gave out chuckles every now and then before the woman and Aidan showed up in front of him. He looked like he was in his early forties, his hair receding and slightly greasy. He wore a nose ring with several bracelets on his one arm, and when he looked up, he had one glassy eye while the other stared directly at the woman in question.
“Nina, what may I owe the freaking pleasure, eh?”
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