Chương 38: 1.2.16 - First Blood

I was dragging both the sleazy guy and his partner behind me, one leg in each hand while I trekked through the woods. Their heads occasionally bumped on hard rocks and tree roots but those were minor concerns compared to what would happen to them in a bit. Through my Electro Perception, I could still see their hearts beating through the electrical pulse in their chest.

I kept the spell on to check for ambushing predators, but also so I could look back from time to time to check their brain activity and make sure they stayed unconscious. The spells I hit them with had not killed them outright, they had only knocked them out cold. I had already made a decision on what to do with them, but I was just putting off the inevitable.

The fight occurred on the road to the orphanage, which was rarely used by anyone as it was just a longer way round to the towns and cities East of Hollow's Reach. While I did not have a whole day to decide, I had taken a few minutes to calm my nerves and evaluate all my options. The way that I see it, I only had three options. The first option was to let them go, leave them where they were until they were awake and let them be on their way.

Maybe loosen their purse strings a little if they had any coin to their name. However, I could already see several problems with that. If all the Isekai books I read were right in what happens when you do not eliminate scum like these immediately, chances are they would come back to haunt you. The first place that anyone following the Old Mill Road would come across after leaving Hollow's Reach was the orphanage.

Even if they were not the brightest tools in the shed, anyone with half a brain cell would check the orphanage first. The second issue was the mention of his brother, Jonas. It seemed like his brother was someone important in the camp, and that meant that he had leverage he could use. In places like that camp and in a world filled with magic, it could also mean that he had high personal strength.

These two were easy enough to handle because of their weak core and lack of combat techniques but I did not like my odds against a more seasoned veteran. Even if I hid out in the grotto and did not return to the orphanage, just by association, the people from the camp could find trouble with Marta and the other kids. That was not something I was willing to risk at all so that was out.

I could assume that his brother had no knowledge of his little expedition considering that he said his brother would look for him — which meant that his brother did not know where he was currently. Which made the next two options more viable. The second option I had considered would be to hand them over to the authorities in town. The problem with that was that I would need to explain how I had taken them down by myself.

Even if I was a genius in martial arts, it would be hard to explain how I had taken down an Orange core mage while I was outnumbered. The questions would eventually lead to suspicions about my core, and given all the trouble I just went through to buy myself more time, that would be a very foolish decision. The final option was the most realistic, which honestly was the first option that came to mind but I wanted to make sure I covered all bases before I went down a path of no return. I had to kill them.

It was not because of some morality code that I hesitated, but I had read enough about PTSD and soldiers who went to war. Some people could adapt and disassociate, some people lived with it and learnt to cope, some people never recovered from it. I did not know which category I belonged to, and worse yet, I was afraid I might even enjoy it and become a murder hobo like in some of the books I read. I was more concerned about what would happen to my own sanity and mindset after I had done the deed.

Nevertheless, I made the decision to eliminate them as that seemed like the best option considering my circumstance. It didn't take long for me to come up with a plan on how to get rid of their bodies once I had made the decision. I just had to leave them deep enough into the woods and the beasts would help me take care of it — which explains what I was currently doing.

They were still alive for two reasons: I wanted to keep their cores as fresh as possible so that they did not degrade, and I did not want to absorb their cores in the middle of the road. But mainly because I was just putting off the inevitable so I could put myself in the right frame of mind. Once I felt that I was deep enough into the Greywoods, I looked for a clearing where the bodies would be easy to spot and dropped the both of them. I circled around and placed one hand on each of their foreheads.

They were bad people but that did not mean I should make them suffer. I decided to make it as quick as possible to minimize the pain. I took a deep breath while I formed the discharge rune in my core. While I was charging up my spell, the partner's eyes fluttered open. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. I panicked and discharged my spell immediately and held it for a while, probably a few seconds longer than I needed. So much for a painless death.

Both convulsed for a few short moments before going still. I confirmed with my Electro Perception that there was no longer any brain activity and their hearts had gone still.

"Hooooh~. Fuck" I let go of the breath that I did not realize I was holding. My plan to do a short and powerful burst was disrupted by one of them suddenly waking up. I made my way to their cores and absorbed the energy from their cores, starting from the partner. The amount of energy in his core was pitiful, but there was no point letting it go to waste. I absorbed it and let the ping from the Weave appear. [You have absorbed a Human Red Core. You have increased your Mana Core Capacity by 0] Hmmm, only a Red, no wonder he went down so easily. I moved on to the sleazy guy next. I could already sense the energy was more than his partner's, probably an Orange core. I absorbed it without further fanfare and let the ping appear. [You have absorbed a Human Orange Core. You have increased your Mana Core Capacity by 75] Wait, 75? I was expecting the usual penalty to take place for absorbing cores that were one grade lower but it was the full mana core capacity.

It was then that I noticed the additional word in the first sentence of the notification.

'Human'. So it seemed like I also got a bonus if it was a human core. And the bonus was probably what had offset the lower grade penalty, which wouldn't apply if you were more than one grade apart. At least high level mages would not be incentivized to go on a killing spree. But that still begs the question, if it was a Lightning mage, would the affinity bonus stack with the human bonus? Something I hoped I would never find out.

I stood there for a few moments, waiting for some sort of guilt or dread that I read about. Nothing came. The only thing that stayed was a quickened pulse from my botched plan of a painless death. I thought I would be feeling something more but I was just numb. Maybe the shock would come later, or maybe it was because these people tried to harm me first, or maybe I was just wired differently — something I would know in the coming days. For now, I had more important things to do, like undressing both of them.

Not because I had some weird fetish, but it would be easier for the animals to get rid of the body if they did not need to tear through the clothing first. I also took the opportunity to relieve them of any coins they had but it seemed like his tale about his gambling debts was true. The both of them did not have a single coin to their name. I gathered their clothes in a pile, and covered their bits with some dried leaves to preserve the last bit of their dignity.

I gathered a bunch of dried twigs and placed them all together with the clothes, before starting a fire with a spark of lightning. Once I was sure that the little bonfire would not accidentally set the forest ablaze, I looked for a stone that was sharp enough to make some cuts on their wrists and neck. Hopefully the smell of blood would draw the beasts faster to get rid of the bodies. The faster they were gone, the better.

I could only hope that it was not Glimmerwasps that would find them, as I did not relish the idea of drinking nectar made from human flesh if I ever went hunting for them again. I made a mental note to either wait for a few months at least or just sell whatever I gathered for the next three months. I hoped that they did not have forensics in this world, as this was probably the worst cover up in history.

Murder mystery had never been my thing back on Earth, or I might have picked up a few tips on covering my tracks. I took one last look at the two bodies before I turned back to the main road, backtracking to where the fight had taken place. I stopped by the edge of the forest and peeked out, hiding behind a tree to look around to make sure there was no one walking along the road. Hardly anyone used this road but better safe than sorry.

It was close to evening by the time I made the trip back and it was already starting to get dark. I had to act quickly before I lost more light and had to work in the dark. First, I made my way to where I woke up. It took me a few minutes but I found splatters of blood and some splinters of wood. I dug a hole and quickly buried those along with the soil and pebbles covered in my blood. The main body of the club of wood I got hit with, I had burnt along with the bandits' clothes.

Next, I went around the area to look for all the marks where there were obvious signs of the soil being split by the Wind Blades. I tried my best to loosen the soil and tamp it down with just my boots as I did not have any tools with me. The marks that were too deep, I had to find some small rocks or pebbles to fill in before covering them with soil.

I made one last check to make sure that there weren't any loose fibers snagged on tree roots or rocks along the path I had dragged the bandits, and also to scuff out any dirt trail on the grass leading into the woods. By the time I was done with most of that, the sky had already turned dark. My fingers were chafed and blisters were starting to form despite the enhancement from my Yellow core. I would usually jog back to the orphanage from town but had decided to walk slowly back to give myself some time to think.

Garrick was right, I was downplaying the danger of that place. Even though I did not mind taking the risk myself, I had almost endangered the people around me. If the bandit had attacked me or had come back with a larger group when I was in the orphanage, it would have put Marta and the rest of the kids in danger. Or worse still, if it was Garrick that was alone on this road and the bandits attacked him instead, he would not have gotten out of this like I did. I looked over myself and noted the condition I was in.

No doubt there would be questions from Marta later. But more importantly, I really needed to re-evaluate my spell list. A/N: I only post on Royal Road and Patreon. Might consider SpaceBattle in the future. If you're reading this anywhere else it means that the work was stolen from Royal Road.