"Tonight is not a Good Night"

Sargon woke up with the sun. He found that many others were awake as well. Bennet was one of them. He didn't think much of the early rise, as it is normal for peasants to have such early mornings. He was hoping to leave with most people still asleep though. He exited his one-night abode and began to search for Bennet. It didn't take long to spot him and then he made his way over.

"Good morning Bennet"

"Goodmorning Sir Jupiter, did you rest well?"

"I rested just fine Bennet, no problems. I will be leaving immediately and want you to set me on the road to the largest settlement on this territory." Sargon spoke softly, steadily, and with a hint of prestige in his voice.

Bennet took a moment to think before answering, " Of course Sir, the place you want is called Kesh. A small walled city under the rule of Viscount Ferhild Quisaman. Our lord, and the lord you were inquiring about yesterday. The city has all the basics most every city has. Guilds for professions like a merchant, adventurer, alchemist, blacksmith, etc. Inns, stores, restaurants, communication, and transport services. Plenty of other things as well. I'm sure Kesh will have anything you need Sir. You just have to take the road on the north side of the village, keep walking until to see a T intersection with a highway road, and turn right."

'Kesh, my new destination. I should be able to better take in this world there and gather more knowledge about it. The guilds sound interesting to me as well. The city should meet all my needs.' Sargon now says his farewells and sets off on the road. "Goodbye Bennet, you have been amiable towards me with your help, I wish you and the village good luck."

Bennet smiles and says his goodbyes as well, " Thank you, Sir Jupiter, we owe you our lives so this is nothing. Have a pleasant trip, good Sir." Bennet watched the knight leave his village and reminisced about when he saw him fighting. He remembers seeing stars gleam off his armor, shield, and sword as he fought the goblins. 'I wonder if he has a moniker already, if not, perhaps Starry Knight would fit him well, hehe.'

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Walking in silence on the road Sargon was thinking about his abilities and how to better use them. 'I saw the village and nothing else, I couldn't see those goblins or detect them until I got close enough to see the fire and hear the screams. I need a way to find my enemy, to detect them. Had I had such a skill, I wouldn't have taken my sweet time walking to the village. I could've prevented more damage and killed all those ugly little shits sooner.'

Sargon began to experiment with his astra. 'Astra is energy that is manipulated to unleash the power of the astral body. It can also strengthen and merge the astral body. Perhaps I can use it to interact with things besides myself, other astral bodies.' Sargon decided to try this by sending astra towards the plants and trying to feel their astral bodies. After a few tries, he managed to detect them. He noticed that each plant gave a different signature, even though they were even of the same species. He then sent his astra in cones, and in a radius around him. He managed to detect every plant and animal his astra touched and could identify what they were easy. He continued to practice and expand his range.

Night fell, but Sargon had yet to reach his destination. He was not tired in the least though. 'Perhaps this body of mine doesn't much sleep anymore either now that it is no longer human. Feeling sleepy that night in the village must have been because I was still acclimating to my body or something.' Sargon had a thought pass through his mind with the absence of the light of day. ' Maybe I there is a way to use astra to compensate for my lack of night vision, haha. Lets send some asta to my eyes while using astral detection.' Doing this, Sargon closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, the night lit up with starry light enveloping everything.'Wow...this is much more beautiful a sight than I expected. ' Sargon could the astral bodies of everything around him overlapping onto their physical bodies. Everything glowed, the rocks, the dirt, the plants, the animals, and the stars in the night became even more brilliant. Sargon was astonished by the night sky especially. He could see nebulae he could not see before, more stars, and moving lights of vibrant colors. He realized at this moment, this is what his astral horizon needed to be like. He continued walking with a large smile, trying to look at everything he can as they were all unique in his eyes.

After a while of walking, he saw a group mostly comprised of men ahead with a few women among them. He approached without increasing his pace. Seeing their astral bodies, he knew that they may not friendly. He came upon three women hunkered together on the side of the highway looking afraid. The men he had seen were hiding on the sides of the road. Sargon removed his armor and armament beforehand so he doesn't intimidate them.

"Hello young ladies, may I ask why you are frightened on the side of the road so late at night?" The three girls looked at him with puppy eyes. All three were pretty, there were two blondes and a brown brunette. All three had astral bodies that were ominous, with a hint of bloody deceit in them.

One of the blondes spoke up first, "Kind man, we thought we could make it to Kesh in a day, but we could not and night descended. We grew frightened and could not continue with our fear of what could lurk ahead." The other two girls joined in and backed up her story quite well. Sargon went along with.

"Well, if you would like to join me on my way to Kesh, it would be my pleasure. Pretty ladies as yourselves shouldn't be on the side of the road at night." He put on a good facade to play along with their scheme.

The three girls went to his side, the two blondes on his right and the brunette on his left. They had just started to walk when all three pulled daggers and tried to stab him. They all failed horribly. Sargon did not kill them, as his honor as a knight dictates he does not kill women. Especially if those women were far weaker than him. He did hurt them a little though. He used his hands to swipe each dagger out of their hands. The girls continued to attack him bare-handed. they all nearly broke their bones on their first hits on his body. the bones were definitely fractured though. the girls started groaning in pain. This was when the hidden men started to attack.

A large burly man with a wild beard and long brown hair stepped out and shouted, " Surrender everything you got and we might let you live after beating you to a pulp!". The man had a wicked smile and a long wide curved sword. Sargon deemed it a curved greatsword after seeing it.

"Do you not see I have nothing but the clothes I wear and the shoes on my feet!?", Sargon yelled back this question. Thinking to himself, 'Finally, some human opponents, a decently sized group common bandits on the road. Now I can have a proper battle, although they may not bring me much glory looking at them. their equipment is so poor. Only this large man wields a decent weapon. He quickly got bored seeing the poor state of the bandits and decided to stop playing along and end this situation quickly. He donned his armor and armament and quickly took a fighting stance.

At this moment the bandit leader holding the curved greatsword said just one thing, "Tonight is not a good night."

What followed was a quick slaughter of the bandits. He took the head of the leader and then asked the three girls for information about the leader and the group since he forgot to ask for an introduction. The girls told him the group was called the Jagged Stones and the leader's name was Sansan the Body Splitter. Sargon inwardly laughed at the names. He told the three girls that they were his prisoners now. they all nodded docilely after witnessing the cold methodical slaughter of their bandit group.

Sargon then began walking again with the head of Sansa in a bag he looted and the three girls behind him unbound. He kept walking through the night undisturbed looking through his new eyes.