Chapter 282 - Darren and Nina (Patreon)

“Master?”

“Yes, minion?”

“Do we really have to meet these people? Just the two of us are fine.”

Can you be proud of someone just for trying to be antisocial? Because damn, this is something I feel.

I'm already mentally preparing for having to deal with people. This time I'm severely weakened, there is no extroverted group 4 member here to take most of the damage or that has a good match-up against extroverts.

Nope, this time it's just me and my disciple who seems to be similar.

All of it is even strengthened by the fact that I already spent over 1 week with just the two of us, neither of us talking too much. That leaves 2 weeks left with my silly disciple and probably to finish the side quests.

Locating the natives or survivors, as the system calls them in the side quests, should be the easiest one and maybe they can help me locate the Mirror. The reward for that one is just a question marks, so it's something that interests me greatly.

Together we reach the part of the city where Darren told me to go and here I sit on the pieces of debris and, observing me for a moment, my disciple does the same. She even mimics my expression a bit and then we wait.

Straight away, I notice a dozen or so people all around us. None of them feels close to 200 and they think I didn’t notice them yet. They also carefully examine me. Not exactly me, they seem to be trying to sense how much mana I'm passively radiating and try to estimate my strength that way.

As always, I keep Mana Cycling running. Ever since Lissandra taught me that, I keep it up almost constantly. In combination with my Mantle, it almost fully stops the leak of my mana and it also constantly improves my control, even as my reserves grow.

To not spook them off too much, I decide to let a bit of mana leak. Not leaking any could seem as suspicious as leaking too much.

I'm smart, am I not?

Even my disciple doesn't notice anything as she keeps scanning the area with her delicate senses, but that's fine, we can work on that.

The strongest one out of the group uses some weird skill and his voice sounds next to my ear even though he didn't change his position.

“Are you the one Darren talked with?” he asks.

I answer, using the password he told me, “Zero, one, three, four.”

Only then does he use a skill to step out of the shadow, still keeping some distance away from me.

This time his normal voice sounds, “You are ten minutes late.”

[Shadow Whisperer - lvl 167]

“We did meet a few veilshriekers on our way here,” I answer while observing him.

The man observes me as well and then nods.

“My name is Kaiden, please follow me.” This time he whispers again using the weird projection skill and a few more of his group members appear.

My disciple seems to be surprised and might even think how cool they are, but I have trouble taking them too seriously.

Am I the asshole here? I mean, they are probably skilled to survive here, scavenging for food and water while fighting monsters and avoiding the stronger ones like Veil Guardian.

The moment they move, I follow them and when they speed up, I grab Vega and run with her in my arms.

She seems to dislike it, but I also notice that cheeky disciple of mine comfortably resting her head against my chest where my heart is.

“Any problem with my heart?” I ask.

The group speeds up even more and I use some of my mana to strengthen my body and slow down a bit so I won’t pass them. We run through the streets and sometimes hide in the buildings and wait for a group of veilshriekers to pass.

“Master’s heart is strong,” Vega says to me.

“Is it a good thing?”

“Yes! Demon Hearts are important to demons and I heard the Hornless Demon has the strongest one ever!”

“Oh really? What does it do?”

As if talking about her hero, her eyes shine a bit, “His heartbeat can be heard throughout the entire world when he gets angry, and only the human's Bloody Hero survived the fight against him!”

“Oh, that sounds cool.”

“Yes!” she nods and once again listens to my heart, “But I think master also has a strong heart, almost like a demon.”

Well, let's not tell her that it's only a cheap knock-off version of a trait, that it's terribly inefficient in comparison to traits. And unlike traits, it can kill me much easier.

“Minion, I also think you have a good heart,” I tell her and slide deeper into the shadows, waiting for a signal from Kaiden to continue.

“It’s Vega, master.” She seems to be happy at the compliment.

Kaiden gives the signal and I follow him, this time out of the city.

We quickly move between the trees and he sends a few people to scout ahead. They return after a minute and we continue. We run for a minute longer until we reach a rocky hill and a small passage on the side that we enter.

The light disappears and the passage is only wide enough for two people to walk next to each other. We enter deeper into the hill and after a few twists and picking between multiple paths, we reach the spot where I sense plenty of traps. There are also other guards.

My guides and them exchange some signal and the traps deactivate for a few seconds only.

“Quickly,” Kaiden says, and we pass through the location.

The same thing repeats a few more times until we reach a cave that is as big as a football stadium. It doesn’t seem to be natural, and its walls are extremely smooth, with a giant iron door lodged into the side of it. There are no circuits on it, no mana. It’s just a massive chunk of metal and it is currently closed.

When we move closer, there is a man, a woman, and three more guards by. I once again make sure to stop holding mana inside of my body to not spook them off and carefully leak some of it.

Man, that was such a good idea. Nathaniel the sneaky! Nathaniel the yet another normal guy with a totally normal mana.

“Nathaniel, it's nice to meet you, I’m Darren.”

Darren has brown hair with a streak of gray in them. He is wearing old clothes like everyone else here, but they are nicely ironed out and without any holes. He doesn't have any visible weapon, but his body is muscular and his fists look like those of someone used to punching things.

[Iron Vanguard - lvl 159]

To my surprise, his level is lower than that of Kaiden.

I ignore the fact that there are so many of them surrounding me, “Hey,” I answer simply.

Vega seems to be less pleased, and I can read it in her expression. I do it even though she is now acting similarly to when she met me for the first time. Big eyes, a slightly scared expression, and making herself as small as possible.

That's my girl.

“This is my right hand, Nina. You did talk with her once,” he introduces the woman next to him.

She is slightly younger than him, maybe around thirty. But her expression is similar to Darren's. They might even be relatives. Maybe his daughter? Unlike him, she also has two swords on her waist.

[Ethereal Blade - lvl 189]

Interesting, maybe Nina is the real boss here?

“So, about my payment for the things I left to you guys,” I start.

“Yes, we will keep our side of the deal. I also apologize for the trouble with the esteemed healer. She can be…”

“A bit annoying,” Nina offers.

“We don’t talk about her like that, Nina.” Darren turns to me again, “I would like to invite you inside,” he gestures at the door behind him, “but we have rules.”

Does he not know that talking like that will only make me more curious? Should I force my way in? It wouldn’t be that difficult.

The moment I think about that, mana radiates from Darren as if he is preparing for a fight.

It seems to spook Nina and the guards around, and everyone puts their hands on their weapons and raises up their mana as well.

I don’t even bother activating my skills and just look at him. “Any problem?” I ask.

“I…” he starts, and I notice his hand shaking, but he squeezes it into a fist until it stops. He then shakes his head, “Put your weapons away!” he orders.

Everyone seems to act confused, but they do as ordered.

Did he read my intentions? Some skill similar to [Empathy] Izzy has? That doesn’t sound like it; I would feel his touch on me. Maybe it's something similar to what Cipher used? Some sort of cold reading information collection skill?

“I apologize for our rudeness,” he carefully searches for his words, even to Nina's surprise.

“It’s fine.”

“Thank you. As you said, we still owe you, and we can offer food, maybe a rare item for your help,” he gestures, and one of the men steps forward.

He puts down a bag that contains enough dried meat to last an adult man for a few weeks, and there are even some bottles of water. Next to it, he puts down a rare cape that seems to have some camouflage-like effect.

The way they present them seems to make them extremely valuable to them, probably a show of goodwill and an attempt at building a relationship.

“I would rather ask for information instead of this if it’s okay with you. If you don’t want to answer, I can take the items.” If they refuse to answer, I will force them to do so.

I won’t kill anyone or damage their home; there’s no need for that. Just a show of power seems to be enough.

To my fascination, Darren seems to read my intention, and even though he tries to hide it, his arm starts shaking again.

How amusing. Now I really want to mess with them. Should I release my mana a bit?

Before I do anything, Darren hurriedly speaks, “Yes, we can do that as well,” he forces himself to answer calmly.

Nina seems to notice that, and her eyes examine me again. I see her hand sliding closer to her swords.

“Do you know anything about the Mirror?” I ask.

Immediately, Darren puts his hand on Nina and stops her from pulling out her sword. After another signal, everyone else around does the same.

A long sigh escapes his mouth, “The Mirror is a relic of the past and something we tried to locate for a long time. The encrypted mana stone you helped us to retrieve did contain information on it, as well as its location.”

Oh, lucky me.

“So, where is the problem?” I ask.

“The Mirror is to the north, in the Valley overseen by the Bastion.” The way he says it sounds like it explains everything.

“Darren, talk to me like I'm five and know nothing about this place. What the hell is the Mirror, what is the Bastion, and what's with the Valley? Keep it simple, okay?”

A few of them don’t seem to like the way I talk to them, but it’s not like I’m rude.

Just in case, I check my disciple, and the way she looks at me is like I'm some sort of hero. I also notice that she mirrors my expression, and stance, and even looks around similarly.

Damn it, is this the Min-Jae syndrome? Why do these weirdos keep doing this?

“Put simply? The Mirror is, as I said, a relic of the past. An item we heard about from legends and are unsure of what it does, but it's most likely extremely powerful. The Bastion is the safest place we know about, the remains of the past with working defensive mechanisms and other things left behind by our ancestors. The Valley is, well, the Valley; it's a place with extremely dense mana radiation where you can die just from coming too close to it. No one knows more.”

Well, that’s simple enough.

“Okay, we can stay in touch. I just need a map or something to lead me to the Bastion and the Valley.”

Darren nods and I feel my mood improving. Damn, I'm getting better and better at dealing with people.

***

POV Nina

The young man continues to talk with my father, and I do not take my eyes off him, not even for a second. For now, I decide to trust my father and not send the signal to attack.

Partially, the man called Nathaniel seems to notice, and when I meet his two differently colored eyes, I feel my body shudder. He stands extremely relaxedly the entire time. I keep looking for a hint of a battle stance or defensive one, but there is no such thing.

Surrounded by all of us, he doesn't even seem to mind. But the most scary thing is the way he radiates his mana.

I would be less scared if he was radiating it in waves strong enough to drown me, or if I couldn't sense it at all.

No, what he does is much more terrifying. The mana leaks from his body in perfect dispersion. The exact same amount of mana radiates from his arm as from his leg, chest, or head.

I can't even fathom the amount of control it requires and the reason he does such a thing.

The little girl by his side seems to be one of the unlucky human mutants, seeing her red eyes and horns, and the expression she has is similar to that of the young man.

When he finally leaves, I feel my body and mind relax and immediately order a few men to make sure he left and there is nothing left behind by him.

“What happened?” I ask my father.

“We were lucky, very lucky. Nina, if you ever deal with him in the future, be respectful, be direct, and never attack him first.”

“Father, explain it properly.”

“I did use my [Intuition] a few times, Nina. That person did think about fighting us multiple times and even getting into the Sanctuary. He even noticed my skill and kept thinking about forcing his way into the Sanctuary on purpose. Always just a half-step away from actually doing it.”

"Do you think he is someone from before the war?"

"I think so. He is strong enough to be of that generation."

***

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