Allen gripped a slave’s head, absorbing his life force and soul. The pain in his soul was still there, vaguely. He walked to another person and did the same thing.
“It hurts! Please, stop it, my lord. I will serve you faithfully!”
Those who had been absorbed by him always let out a painful shriek and plead until their voice became weak.
Allen put aside the last dead body and looked around. There were thirteen corpses. “Although I ordered as many slaves as possible, my remaining fortune can allow this many. Luckily, the pain has gone. I can feel my soul gets stronger.”
Allen rubbed his chin in thought. “Each time I transform my soul I suffer. I can heal it again by absorbing the soul. The problem is I don’t have any fortune left. Where the fuck is Mircalla? It seems I can’t wait for her anymore. I have to count myself to get resources.”
After burying corpses at the open field, Allen did his morning routines afterward. When he got out of the tent, he blended into the crowds. He headed to the hall to get some jobs.
On the way, he could see people were wary of him; some of them even obviously avoided him. Did my action in the tent was too loud? Well, although this is an evil sect, I guess saving face is still matters. I can’t help it, though. To create a renegade spirit, I need them to suffer.
As he entered the hall, the usual gossip group was talking about an important thing.
“I heard from the messenger that everyone in the main base has been entering the Nether Necropolis. Sect leader invited five organizations in total.”
“Oh, I heard that too. An elder from Myriad Essence School actually has a gal to bring his disciples. I hope they die. Nether Necropolis isn’t a place for an early stage of mana condensation magi.”
“I agree with you; even Big Brother Grimfield wasn’t permitted to enter it by sect leader.”
After he had heard enough, Allen walked to the receptionist table. The waiter smiled at him.
“Mr. Vos, what a coincidence. Mr. Woodpecker just asked about you. Can you wait for a while?”
Allen frowned. “Who’s this Mr. Woodpecker?”
“He’s an elder’s servant. He was chosen as a messenger too. You got a message from Elder Karnstein.”
After a while, a man around his age approached him. He had short, brown hair and had the same height as him.
“Are you, Allen Vos?”
“Indeed. What’s the message I got from Master?”
“Follow me.”
Allen had a little doubt, but he still followed behind him. He led him outside and entered one of the main tents.
“This is Elder Sweetfish’s tent. Are you her servant?”
“Yes.” Mr. Woodpecker walked to a certain chest in the corner of the room. He picked out a pouch and parchment and gave it to Allen. “This is your message and weekly wage. By the way, the pouch contains one month's worth of resources. She won’t be back for a while.”
Woodpecker sighed. “It’s nice to have a caring master.”
“Don’t you get a weekly wage from your master?”
Woodpecker smiled. “I do, but if I can have a chance to exchange master, I want it. My master is terrifying. Ah, don’t tell that to anyone.”
Allen laughed and extended his hand. “Allen Vos. If you have any trouble, you know where my tent is.”
“Eren Woodpecker. It’s my pleasure. If you don’t have any activity, may I invite you to some cups of—”
“Do you have wine?”
“Hmm… I want to invite you over tea, but I guess wine can do. Come in.”
Allen sat on one of the chairs, while Eren prepared the wine. After they drunk two bottles of wine, they already got along. Eren was a poor drinker. He already let out a series of complaints about his life in this sect.
“I shouldn’t have gone out of my village. Because of it, that bitch kidnapped me. My life has been hell after I met her. People always said I got lucky to be her servant because she’s pretty. Fuck them. They don’t know what I have been through. How about you, Allen? Did Elder Karnstein kind to you?”
Allen played with his wine before took a little sip. “She lived up to her reputation.”
“I envy you, Mr. Allen. Ah, but I heard something nasty about you. They said you have been buying slaves behind her back. Ah, don’t worry. I believe you have your own reason.”
“Yes….”
Eren hiccoughed. “I think I am too drunk.” He recited a spell. A mini tree sprouted from his palm; it emitted green light that covered both of him.
“Oh….” Allen was surprised because his head suddenly felt light. “Is that some recovery spell?”
“Yes, that’s one of my high points. Master doesn’t want to waste her resources to buy me a top tier meditation technique or spell. I only learn some support spells. My spiritual root is, as you can see, the nature element.
“Now that our wines have got empty, I want to discuss a serious matter to you, Mr. Allen. As you can see, they put Eldest Brother El in charge here. Last night I was called by him. He released my duty as a messenger and put someone else. Do you know what it means?”
“We can’t get out of here?” Allen answered carefully.
“That’s it. Well, to begin with, we can’t get out as per sect’s rule. Brother El has high ambition. He’s one step closer to the magic foundation realm. He needs a certain resource and lab rats to perfect his body magic, so he can level up. That’s why it’s dangerous here. Now that the messenger has been replaced, he can conduct his experiment freely.”
Allen frowned. “What if we can somewhat contact the elders? We can try sending them a message by messenger crow.”
Eren shook his head. “That’s useless. The sky is guarded by Night Lurking Hawks.”
“You are inviting me, so I know you have a solution.”
Eren raised his index finger. “I do. We can’t escape here while such rank two magical beasts are guarding. I said Brother El needs a large amount of a certain resource to make his breakthrough. Those who don’t want to be his lab rat can gather this resource for him. Most people choose this over the first choice. However, this task is very dangerous for we have to enter a region where rank three magical beasts are common. More importantly, Elder Brother will escort us into the border of the Inner Core.”
Allen looked down, pondering. “I see. Rank three magical beasts are compared to late-stage acolytes, but it’s a common knowledge that beasts are stronger than humans. So, if we are reported to get killed by those beasts, no one will be suspicious. We can come back after the elders back. How do we survive in that region and how can we know the elders are back?”
“You are sharp, Mr. Allen. I have ways. Before I tell you, I want to seal our cooperation. What say you?”
“Wait, isn’t it better if we bring him the resource he needs?”
“Can you? If we can somehow bring it to him, I won’t look for a partner to him. The odds aren’t that high. You are just an early stage acolyte. While I am a middle stage acolyte, I only excel in support.”
“Why did you choose me?” Allen asked.
“I happened to meet you first. One servant of the elders has gone under Brother El’s control and the other one is strong enough to hunt a rank three beast alone. So, what say you?”
Allen smiled. “I can tell you are a better person than Mr. Grimfield.”
They sealed the deal with a handshake. They discussed the plan further. After it was done, Allen came back to his tent.
“Eren needs a week. I have to avoid Mr. Grimfield and his underlings until the preparation is done. I think it will be sufficient enough for mastering Renegade Ghost Rush.”
Allen tossed the pouch he got from Mircalla with a grin. “What a kind master I have. I am luckier than Eren. At least Mircalla never forced me to do nasty things against my own will. That’s enough of chit chat. I’ll call Mr. Skylark.”
At night, Mr. Skylark arrived with thirteen slaves, but they were special because this group was filled with young girls. Allen didn’t order more because he was afraid to make commotion, especially when Mr. Grimfield took charge.
“Just to be sure, does the person in charge know I order this?” Allen asked.
Skylark nodded. “Of course, this is a legal transaction.”
“Do you get higher tax lately?”
Skylark snorted. “They won’t dare. You may not know this, but I come from a middle-tier organization.”
Allen laughed. “I see. Say, Mr. Skylark, do you open work for magus? Truthfully, I like dealing with slaves.”
“We do. The minimum requirement is for late-stage acolyte. If you don’t have any business anymore, I hope you can pay for this immediately. I am busy.”
“Of course, here is yours.” After Allen paid him, he led the slaves inside; the curtains closed. After a while, a scream could be heard from the tent.
The next day, as he thought, some people visited his tent. Allen purposely smeared blood all over his body. He carried a young girl’s head in one of his hands.
Even though they had lived in this so-called evil faction, they still gulped at the sight of him. One of them pushed the person in the front to talk to him.
“Mr. Vos, Eldest Brother Grimfield has summoned you.”
“Tell him I will come, but I have to complete my master’s task first. My master likes to drink some fine blood after she gets out of the necropolis. She asked me to fill a lot of drums.” Allen patted the head when he was talking.
“I—I see,” The underling said nervously. “Can you complete it tonight?”
“Is it that urgent? I can, but you have to help me with my work. As I said before, my master asked a lot of drums.”
They waved their hands and answered in unify, “Not at all. Take your time, Mr. Vos. Have a good day.”
Allen waved at their backs. “Have a good day too, gentlemen. Don’t forget to prepare a wagon in three days. I’ll be done at that time. I promise.”
Allen lifted the severed head and looked into her eyes. “Shall we continue?”
Three days had passed and Mr. Grimfield’s underlings came to him again.
“We have prepared a wagon. We’ll take care of the goods. Eldest Brother Grimfield has summoned you,” said one of them.
“The drums are at the back. Thanks for the help, everyone. I shall go to the eldest brother.”
After he activated the spell formation to prevent anyone from entering the tent, Allen blended into the crowds. He went to Eren’s tent.
In front of the skull that was hanged outside the tent, Allen whispered something. Its eyes lit and dimmed back. He entered it. Eren sat in the middle; he stopped reading a book and nodded at him. “It’s a surprise, Mr. Allen. You have reached level 9.”
“I learned a top-class mana absorption technique. Have you had summoned by him?” Allen asked.
“How envious, I want to learn any top-class spell too. By the way, I have had. I made up a reason to avoid him. How about you?”
“The same as you, but I can’t avoid him anymore. Do you have any suggestions for what should I do?”
“I don’t. Try to survive there, partner.”
“Fuck you. Forget it, then.”
“Don’t be like that. I know you are smarter than me. I believe in you. Hey, where are you going?”
“I’ll borrow your room.”
Allen entered Eren’s room. He sat on the bed and closed his eyes. His soul had changed after three days. The middle layer was completely transformed into a soul cage. Inside it, four renegade spirits floated freely.
“Having a soul cage is really convenient. At my current level, I can store up to 90 souls or spirits. If I reach level 30, I can store 300. Now, it’s time to refine a renegade ghost. I need my lifesteal aura to do it.”
Allen condensed a vortex of black mana in his hands. After that, he put a renegade spirit inside it. He absorbed the spirit back into his soul cage and recited the spell model in his mind rune.
“Inside the spirit, karma and memories are intertwining, creating a personality. The lifesteal ignites the flame of life force into our spirit. Defying the will of the universe, the renegade ghost shall arise.”
As the vortex refined the spirit, Allen could hear a loud shriek in his mind. His soul felt the pain too. However, he had got used to it. He opened his eyes and walked out of Eren’s room.
“I will go to his tent.”
“Your face is so pale, Allen. Will you be okay?”
“I will manage somehow.”
“I am sorry I can’t help much.”
Allen nodded and left the tent. He looked up to the clear sky and covered his face. “Three days. I estimate that’s the time I need to create my first renegade ghost. I hope I can see another clear sky tomorrow.”
