Royal went off sowhere unknown and then returned with a large amount of bird at in his hands. He ca up to the fire and sat down, ready to start roasting the food.
Aran approached and tried to grab a few skewers of bird at stuck on wooden sticks, but Royal looked at him seriously and said:
"This is mine."
Aran was surprised and pointed at the bird at.
"So you’re not going to share? You have quite a few pieces, and sharing with the people who’ll be covering your back — doesn’t that make sense?"
Royal snorted and pointed to the forest behind him, saying:
"If you need food and water, go into the forest. It’s not that hard to catch sothing there, and I’m not going to share, because I caught this myself."
Aran looked at Lin and tried to signal him with his eyes to put so pressure on Royal too, but Lin simply nodded to Royal and headed into the forest to look for food and water.
"..." Aran looked at the two and sighed, following Lin into the forest.
"Why didn’t you pressure Royal? If you joined the group, he should have shared with us..."
Lin shook his head and replied:
"That’s impossible. Royal’s not the kind of person who bends easily under others."
Aran smirked and pointed at Lin’s katana.
"Ha-ha. I think if we applied that kind of pressure, we could bring him to the ground."
"Then what’s the point of an alliance? That would just be submission," Lin turned his head to Aran and said.
"And is that so bad? Ha-ha-ha!"
Lin sighed and resigned himself to Aran’s odd personality.
...
A few hours later, they returned to Royal’s camp with rabbits and birds in hand, and in Lin’s sheath was water he had stored for himself.
anwhile, Royal was training with his sword, and when he noticed Lin and Aran erging from the forest, he stopped his training and smirked.
"Was it really that hard to get food and water?"
Lin shook his head, and Aran nodded.
"Of course, it’s hard when everything in the forest is shy of soone as handso as ."
Lin quickly approached the fire and began preparing the animals he had caught. While cooking, he examined the Low Soul Shard he had received for defeating Royal in battle.
"Obviously, I need to use it for the skill, since I’ve already started upgrading it..." Lin smiled and brought the violet crystal to his forehead, slowly focusing, ready to absorb the Soul Shard’s special energy.
Just like last ti, the crystal slowly began to glow with violet light, getting brighter. After so ti, it began to dim and shrink until it completely vanished from Lin’s hand and was absorbed by his Title System.
Lin willed the system window to appear, and a blue screen opened before his eyes:
[2/5]
Lin nodded and sighed with relief.
"Two out of five already... I need three more Low Soul Shards to upgrade the skill to level two. Interesting. I wonder what the second level will give ? If I think about it, all the records say that every person has a unique skill progression. So I can’t compare what improves for others with my own..."
Lin glanced at Royal and Aran, recalling how the two of them used their skills.
"Each of them cos from extrely wealthy families, whose assets could be considered limitless... And they’re not even the final heirs in the family. How many Low Soul Shards do they get per month? They definitely have at least level two skills, and reaching level three requires fifteen — three tis more..."
"Sothing wrong, Lin?" Aran noticed Lin’s evaluating look and asked.
Lin sighed and asked:
"How many Low Soul Shards do you get per month?"
Royal frowned at Lin’s question, while Aran smirked, slowly counting in his head. He looked at Lin and answered:
"I think I get a thousand Low Soul Shards a month... or ten thousand... Either way — it’s a pretty small number. My older brother gets one million Low Soul Shards... I want that too."
Lin scoffed.
"And what’s the honest number?"
Aran scoffed too and shook his head.
"You’re such an interesting guy, Lin. Maybe I should also tell you my worst secrets that I hide from my parents? Or about my first love, who rejected without understanding my future greatness?"
Lin rolled his eyes at Aran’s sarcasm and asked Royal:
"Where are we heading next?"
"I think forward." Royal was slightly surprised by Lin’s question but still answered quickly.
"We’ll continue forward? Interesting. How many more people will we et along the way? Maybe Silia? Or soone else?" Aran took a bite of roasted bird and asked.
Royal sighed.
"It would be better if we didn’t et anyone. And if we did — only the strong ones, those who can stand on their own in this harsh place."
"But isn’t everyone in the academy like that?"
"No." Royal shook his head and answered Aran: "I an people who can survive alone, without anyone’s help, if necessary. I don’t need those who can only survive in a team."
"But they can still be useful," Lin suggested.
"Maybe for everyday tasks and regular work — yes. But for real team battles, where everyone must perform well — no."
Aran smiled slightly and asked Royal:
"But doesn’t every person have their own individuality? If soone’s not strong, they might still be smart... What then?"
Royal crossed his arms and calmly replied:
"That just shows the person’s incompetence. It ans they’re good in one aspect but fail in others. Why bother with soone like that when you could pick soone more well-rounded?"
Aran laughed.
"Ha-ha-ha! Interesting. Many would condemn you for such statents. Still, judging people in such a radical way..."
Royal snorted, stood up, and prepared to train with his sword. He looked at Lin and asked:
"Want to fight?"
Lin shook his head, took a bite of the bird leg, and drank from his sheath.
"I want to fight you!" Aran imdiately volunteered for battle.
Royal looked at Aran with doubt but still nodded.
"Alright. No skills allowed, just weapon mastery."
Aran nodded and stepped a fair distance away from Royal, taking a stance with his dagger.
"I’m ready!"
"Then let’s begin!"
Aran instantly attacked Royal, using his flexible and trained body to land several quick strikes!
Royal sighed and made a sweeping slash that cut the air in its path!
Whoosh!
Aran had to dodge, but he smiled and attacked Royal again, this ti from multiple angles!
Whoosh!
Clang!
But Royal wasn’t an ordinary opponent. He saw every one of Aran’s attacks and, after a short pause, parried each of them!
Seeing an opening, Aran raised his leg and struck Royal in the left side of his abdon!
Bang!
Royal snorted but said nothing. He applied more strength to his two-handed sword and brought it down hard on Aran!
Countless yellow sparks flew from the clash of their weapons. Aran, unable to keep blocking under Royal’s overwhelming pressure, began to retreat to the side!
Royal smiled slightly — this was exactly what he had planned!
When Aran moved aside, Royal’s sword had no resistance to push against and fell downward!
Whoosh!
Royal managed to hold the sword and made a full spin with his body, directing the full force of the blade toward Aran standing off to the side!
"I lost!" Aran quickly said and smiled.
Whoosh!
The sword stopped just a milliter from Aran’s head!
"That was quick," said Lin, watching the fight.
"I just didn’t want to fight," Aran smirked.
He took a piece of bird leg and ate it.
"But I’m still aweso."
Royal: "..."
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