The moment the sun had sunk below the sealine, the duo was up and moving. Althea made sure not to leave a trace of the fire behind, and Orochi stepped in behind her, trusting the elven eyes to lead them. The journey would take around three days. One could only hope not much trouble befell them along the way.
Just thinking about the stat screen brought it up in a flash. Orochi scoured through the skills while checking his current level.
"Have you ever heard of Ascension?" Orochi asked as the soft sand conformed around their feet. Hopefully the morning tides would wash away their prints.
For a moment Althea was puzzled, pursing her lips as she thought. "No, I don't believe I have. What is it, young master?"
Hmmm. Orochi was mildly surprised. This could only mean this was a unique mechanism to his system. Was it because of the manual? Did that also mean he was the only one with Archetype choices?
"House Moon-Born has a set amount of skills they can use depending on the snake they bond with from the Snake Gods' realm. If I remember correctly there are over two hundred skills as part of the contract with the Snake God. Have you ever heard anyone in my family have the skill Null Mirror?"
"No. I know every skill used by the family. Null Mirror is one I have never heard of. There are some skills Lord Moon-Born himself may have that are unrecorded. The uniques."
"Uniques?"
"They are skills the Snake God has granted only to certain individuals of great talent. Uniques are a touch of divinity itself, a direct skill from a god. To have a unique is extremely rare. It is to be almost god-like."
Clicking on Null Mirror, Orochi expanded the screen and almost whistled at the absurdity.
[π½πππ πΌπππππ β ππππππ]
Β ππππππππππ ππππππ : πΉ πππππππ
Β π΄πππππ: π·πΆπΆ% ππππππ πππππππππππππ πππ ππππππ
Β π²πππ: πΎπππππππ π΄ππππππ πππππ
Β ππππ: π±πππππππ (ππππππ) / πΏπππ ππ’ πππ’πππππ
Β ππππππ: π²πππππππππ π πππ π·πππ
A unique skill. The backlash bothered him for a moment, wondering what it meant that it would be paid by a "loyalist." A unique skill would also mean the Oblivion Snake was not part of the Snake Gods' realm like the Crimson Snake of his mother. Was it from a different god entirely?
"Ancestorβ¦ what did you stumble uponβ¦" Orochi muttered without realising.
"Is something on your mind, master? These questions make me worry." Unknowingly, Althea kept glancing back. Clearly the line of questioning was unusual.
"No no, you're fine. Let us continue. I am just thinking."
She smiled at that. "You do that a lot these days. Sometimes I feel like you're not a child anymore."
Well you wouldn't be wrong about that, thought Orochi.
"Some childhoods end not with time but with responsibility." The words slipped from a small smile, but the tone was strained. "I feel that you were sometimes thrust with far too much."
Orochi snorted. "Don't worry. I don't feel much."
That clearly wasn't the answer she was hoping for, and they walked on in silence.
While they walked, Orochi began reading more of the scaled manual, scouring specifically for Ascension. The First Moon-Born went into some depth. However, much of it seemed like knowledge useful only in the distant future. Achieving another level was far too resource intensive. Best to be in a better position before thinking about it.
The manual snapped shut just as Althea alerted him to figures under torchlight moving toward them from a distance. The beach was flat sand, making hiding difficult. The group had not spotted them yet thanks to the shadows.
"It is a group of four, young master. Two on horseback carrying a few bags filled to the brim," Althea reported, keeping her eyes on the figures.
"What level are they at?"
Althea used Insight and grimaced. "They are low level. Seems to me they are looters. A village nearby must have been raided."
"Raided by bandits? Shouldn't House Moon-Born be dealing with these problems?"
"House Moon-Born is not what they used to be, young master. Most of their power has departed from the outskirts. It seems we have entered the lawless areas."
Great. So more trouble could only be expected.
"Can you take them?"
The pause from Althea was worryingly too long. "Yes, I can take them, young master."
It wasn't said with enough confidence to convince Orochi. "You're injured, aren't you?"
Althea hung her head, suffering a blow to her pride. "Yes, young master⦠though I am not sure when it happened. It might have been during the castle explosion. I felt a sharp pain in my chest. It has now subsided, but my spirit power has not fully recovered."
That was what the skill meant. The cost would be taken by a loyalist. Someone bonded by oath to him. Dammit. This was going to be risky. It seemed they had no choice.
"We will cut across the beach and hide behind the rocks until they pass," commanded Orochi.
Alas, it was too late. By the time they reached halfway to the rocks, the sound of one of the bandits reached across the sands. The moon watched in glee, preparing lighting for the bloody stadium about to unfold.
"It seems they may have noticed us, young master," noted Althea, looking around the ground for any weapons. "It is possible they are not hostile."
By the way she was scouring the beach for a weapon, Orochi wasn't sure who she was trying to convince.
"Hostile or not, we have no choice now. They've seen us."
Her hands wrapped around a round disc-like rock under the sand. Standing straight, the young maid waited for the command.
With a final look down the beach, Orochi gave the go-ahead.
"Kill them."
(ΰΈ β’Μ_β’Μ)ΰΈ