The Discarded Son's Skill Market

Khan wasn’t just any hunter you could intimidate simply because you had some power, wealth, or status. Although he lacked wealth and status, his power reached heights that were difficult for most to attain.

Martin knew this; he understood the strength of this companion of his better than most people. He knew of his feats and understood his personality. That’s why he expected a strong reaction.

Khan’s left hand—the one not holding a weapon—shot up and seized the Chief Guard’s sword in a single motion. With his menacing eyes gleaming, the Chief Guard was startled to realize he could not pull the sword free.

He tried to take a step back, but his weapon was held fast in the bare hands of a man whose strength should not have been much greater than his own.

A single move was enough to intimidate his opponent, Lord Shoaff’s Chief Guard. But the latter didn’t understand anything about strength. He only saw a dangerous look in the eyes of a man to whom he had paid overwhelming sums of money, and he flew into a rage.

"What do you think you’re doing?! Are you going to break the rules of the mercenary guild?! Do you dare attack us?!" he roared with near-mad fury.

The Chief of the Guards wanted to speak up as well, but Khan’s menacing glare left him unable to utter a single word. A thousand needles were pointing in his direction, threatening him with death. Another thousand took his breath away.

Khan closed his eyes and took a deep breath...

"Are you ignoring me, you damn bastard?!" Shoaff yelled at his Chief of Guards: "Beat him until he understands me!"

However, the Chief of Guards didn’t move.

"Are you ignoring me too?!"

The hysterical Shoaff took several angry steps forward, but the young man following him—dressed in clothes similar to his own—ran after him to stop him. "Wait, Father. It’s all right. You’re sinning. Don’t get hysterical—it’s a great sin..." the young man repeated to him over and over.

Shoaff froze, and his body recoiled several steps when he realized what he was doing. He had let himself be carried away by old habits from before he was a convert... His stomach churned. His blood trembled and flowed coldly through his veins.

Shoaff took another step back and thanked his son. "Thank you, son..." Then he began a strange ritual of asking his gods for forgiveness and proceeded to ignore everyone as he got into his car.

Khan opened his eyes. There was no longer any anger inside him. He let go of the Chief Guard’s sword and turned to look at the mercenaries. "Let’s start setting things right. There’s a place where we can rest for the night, about 10 hours from here. If we hurry, we’ll make it in time."

"Yes, sir..." Most of the mercenaries nodded in response and set about trying to fix things.

Only Martin kept staring intently at Khan as he did the heavy lifting. His gaze was curious, strange, and deep.

The explosion of three small cars and the destruction of a fourth forced the groups to regroup around the buses. They would have less space, but at least they could keep going.

While they were getting organized, Zaid kept his senses focused on the depths of the forest, glancing back occasionally.

"Are you worried?" Suddenly, a deep voice came from behind him.

Zaid turned around. It was Khan. His long brown hair fell over his shoulders, slightly streaked with dirt and sweat. He was a little taller than Zaid, though his gear made him look even taller.

Zaid looked puzzled; he didn’t quite understand the question.

"I’ve noticed you’ve been nervous, glancing occasionally into the depths of the forest. I can see that you’re worried about the presence of orcs during the day. It’s strange that a rookie wouldn’t be more concerned about the deaths of others than about their own immediate survival," he said, and finally looked at the few F-Ranks they’d brought along, not counting Alice.

While the F-Ranks trembled with fear in a corner now that their adrenaline had worn off, Alice and Zaid were helping out here.

It was curious, since he didn’t know them. He thought they would do the same as the other Rank Fs, and that was why he became interested in them.

Zaid finally understood his question and looked back into the depths.

"More than 25 orcs were here, hunting. All of them were Rank E and D. An entire tribe of orcs, not counting their women and children. I was just wondering, what could make them flee—these natural-born warriors who fear nothing?"

"Possibly a dragon," Khan laughed.

"A dragon?" Zaid frowned. He couldn’t help but recall the conversation he’d had with Alice about the Dragon’s Tail Mountain Range. Had such a dangerous creature escaped from there and made its way all the way here?

Khan glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and burst out laughing. "I’m just kidding—I can’t believe you took that seriously."

Zaid rolled his eyes. It wasn’t a good idea to joke about things like that...

Khan spoke again. "There are no dragons in this area. At most, it would be some powerful local boss from a high-level dungeon causing trouble in the nearby forests and hills. Although there used to be human settlements here and there, they’ve disappeared under the beasts’ attacks. All that’s left are beasts fighting over territory."

Even so, Khan knew that the fact that the orcs were fleeing meant danger. At the very least, it required Rank B beasts to be trying to take over their tribes to drive them away, since orc tribes typically have chiefs of Rank C or higher, depending on the type of orc in question.

Furthermore, it’s common knowledge that in these areas, the beasts aren’t limited to just Rank B. Although they’re few in number, there are Rank A beasts lurking about. Running into one of them meant certain death, but the odds of that happening were very low.

"And where are the women and children?" The most uncomfortable question came from Alice.

Orcs are warriors by nature; they wouldn’t flee from danger if their women and children were in peril. So, did the most vulnerable members of the group end up as food?

There aren’t many beasts that treat Orcs as food... Were they kidnapped or raped, and the others used as slaves? That could definitely only be done by Rank A beasts.

Although Khan was also curious to find out, he wasn’t foolish enough to venture into a forest outside the city without a strong group. So he shook his head and turned around to get back to work.

"Forget about it. Get back to work—we have to reach that intersection before nightfall. I’m sure you’re aware of how dangerous it is to travel at night."

Zaid and Alice nodded. Their silent response said it all: even he was beginning to doubt their current sense of security.

Even so, nothing else happened. The animals’ spoils were handed over to the contractor, as stipulated in the contract, and the journey resumed shortly thereafter.

The sun-baked roads created friction with the hot tires of the cars and buses traveling at full speed in a convoy. More than an hour later, they saw a convoy heading toward the capital, and two hours after that, they saw three.

These were the only cars they saw on one of the main highways of the once-prosperous Kingdom of Toluria.

They also came across a few cars that had overturned in recent days... they were packed with people, as scavenging animals took advantage of the moment to eat or bring their young their daily meal. Stopping to do something to "honor" those bodies would be the worst decision.

The hours passed, and the sun sank below the horizon, bathing the treetops and the distant mountains in a yellowish glow.

For someone like Zaid, who had never left the capital city and was surrounded by its high walls every day of the year, the landscape before him was so extraordinarily beautiful that he was captivated.

Although he understood the mortal dangers of the night and the outside world, his yearning heart wanted to have this view—or this feeling—forever. He longed to have the strength that would allow him to enjoy adventures and travels.

His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

He was excited.

They managed to reach the location Khan had indicated—an intersection between the highway and a plain just before the start of the wooded area—which was controlled by the armed forces and powerful Awakened sent by the guilds.

At the entire intersection—or rather, the fortress—there were only about 12 people in total, but their presence was intimidating.

They were powerful members of the guilds.

They almost completely ignored Shoaff and his Chief of Guards and focused their attention on Khan.

"Mr. Khan, it’s been a while." One of them greeted him with a courteous and respectful smile. "There’s plenty of space to rest and set up camp, so just gather wherever you like. As you already know."

Khan nodded back at him. "It’s been a while, Commander Carl. This is my contractor and his Chief of Guards. Mr. Shoaff—he’s also his son. If you could..."

Commander Carl burst out laughing and apologized for his rudeness before proceeding to greet the naturally grumpy Shoaff. That guy never tired of sinning against his own religion.

"I’ll make sure they’re placed in a good spot. Don’t worry, Mr. Khan. I’m good at that." Despite his words, he acted... strangely.

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