Since the Great Mana Awakening ten thousand years ago, power had always defined everything. The influx of mana had rely solidified that truth, creating a rigid social structure.
Where power ruled, weakness was a curse. It had always been that way. But loopholes existed, one allowing the weak to thrive.
What if the weak aligned and sought shelter under the strong? Preposterous, right?
Well, Amber thought otherwise. And with a little persuasion, so did the girls behind her.
Life before had been brittle. After awakening F-rank talents, they were no better than ordinary mortals. When they had been surrounded by Kraven and his cronies, their hope had been snuffed out, and for the briefest mont, they wallowed in the misery of imminent death. With their talents, it was... inevitable, wristbands or not.
But then, Aurelian swooped in to save the day. The re gesture of trying to save them was already heartwarming. But the fact he had the strength to back it up was an entirely different thing.
Their views had been redefined, they also knew he wouldn’t always be there to save them, but just making it out of the dungeon alive would be a massive win. Hence the request Amber had just made.
As for the terror of him killing soone? Utter bullshit. The situation was clear as day, it was either them or him. Besides, showing rcy to one’s enemies was no different than being ruthless to oneself.
"Uh, you want what again?" Aurelian muttered, snapping out of his daze, his obsidian eyes locking on the girls before him.
To be honest, he thought they would try to keep as much distance from him as possible after what they had witnessed. Not this or what they were proposing.
"We... want to..." Amber cleared her throat, shalessly voicing her request again. "...follow you for the rest of the ti we stay in the dungeon."
The girls behind her nodded innocently, affirming her words.
Aurelian scanned their faces again, his eyes gleaming with a hint of cold light. This wasn’t the proverbial "give an inch, take a mile," right?
He had just been helping out to repay a gesture of kindness. Anything further than that would be a burden.
He aid to head deeper into the dungeon and level up so more. Doing so while protecting others wouldn’t exactly be ideal.
"Of course, you won’t do it for free. We’ll give you anything you want in return," Amber hurriedly added, eager to eliminate any implication they were ungrateful freeloaders.
Taken by surprise, Aurelian arched a brow as his eyes trailed across their bodies, mostly focusing on Amber’s. The white robe draped over her figure barely hid the curves rippling beneath. Her lustrous, colorful hair gave her a unique charm, and her hazel-brown eyes shimring under the light made her irresistible. "Anything?" He smirked.
Their faces reddened violently, especially Amber’s, at his question.
"Anything... you want," she whispered sweetly, her eyes glued to the floor. Having a friend like Aurelian would serve their best interests, whatever the cost.
"Bold of you to assu you have sothing I want." He smirked, cutting through their implication.
They were beautiful, they really were. And given his first supre record of talent replication, maybe his best course of action would be to take advantage of the situation... only there was one little problem.
They were all F-ranked talents. Given his limited slots, it wouldn’t be in his best interest to squander them.
Just as he was about to dismiss them altogether, a realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He was broke. Not that money offered much comfort, but it would certainly aid the next part of his plan.
His words left the girls embarrassed, their faces flushed with desperation. But his next words brightened them up.
"But there just so happens to be sothing I’m in dire need of." He paused, tension mounting, hope coloring their faces.
"I want money... all your money."
Being the young master had been great and all, but since his status had been revoked, so had his funds. And being the spoiled rich brat he once was, saving money had never exactly crossed his mind.
"Huh... money?" Amber muttered. For the briefest instant, he could have sworn he saw disappointnt in her eyes, as if she had anticipated sothing else.
"What, you don’t have any?" he asked, already contemplating going back to rob the youths. He wasn’t a hero, and this was definitely not above him.
Just as he was about to move, Amber stamred, "No, no, no...we have money." She hurriedly reached into her breasts within her robes.
Aurelian stared, wide-eyed, as her hand erged with a pouch of coins. "That’s a peculiar place to keep your money," he said with a smile, earning an embarrassed glance from her.
"It’s... safer," she muttered reluctantly, handing it over. The rest followed suit, and before long, five pouches hung at his waist. Coupled with the multiple wristbands on his wrist, it looked comical from another perspective.
"Hmmm, I’ll need a storage ring soon," he mused. "I can’t keep carrying things like this."
Pulling himself from his thoughts, he glanced at them, satisfied. "Great. Now, before we proceed..." He smiled. "Give a few minutes to sort a few things out."
"You might want to rest. The next part won’t be so smooth."
Heeding his words, the girls sat down, a bubbling panic surfacing every now and then.
Aurelian, on the other hand, plopped to the ground, snapping his eyes shut as he sorted through his notifications. Two stood out. He focused on the first.
[Ding! The Vortex of Doom has absorbed all the energy from the slain foes. Where do you wish to channel it? ]
His decision was already made. He didn’t have equipnt worth focusing on. His appraisal skill served him well enough. As for talent proficiency, he suspected it would require a hell of a lot of energy to upgrade. That left him with one last option.
A great way to track how this worked.
He focused on the attribute panel, and instantly he felt a sudden stream of energy rush into him. Before he could blink, it was gone. Frowning, he shifted his attention to his supre records, sifting through until his gaze landed on the unallocated attributes tab.
When he did, a smile cracked his lips. Ten new unallocated attribute points sat there, just waiting.
"Stupendous!" he whispered, suppressing the desire to cackle like a third-rate villain. Still, he earned a few suspicious stares from the girls.
One Level 1 goblin equated to one attribute point? Too good to be true. Still, not reality-altering.
Steadying himself, he shifted to the second notification. It was ti to finally see what the second supre record had in store.
And it didn’t disappoint.
[The @£#&’* of Lust is eluded by none, surpassing concepts and wielding them for himself. Your temperant is fitting, your character right, your will immovable. Unshaken by mortal tempests. The second supre record has been unlocked: Talent rging.]
(Weekly slots: 0/3)
"Absolutely fucking amazing!" That was the only thought ringing in his head.
Not exactly sure how it worked, and with no better ti than the present to test it out, he smirked and voiced the thought that had surfaced the mont he saw the description.
"rge the S-rank talent, Phantom Blades, with the F-rank talent, Passive Regeneration!"
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