3 C3 - Well, that is interesting
Cracking his knuckles Maren closed in on the hooligans, his sword hanging by his waist, threateningly shimmering in the sunlight.
"Any last words?"
Maren said his cliché line, perfectly going with the current situation. He didn't actually want an answer to that question, it was asked more to satisfy his fantasies, and to play the cool knight in shining armor he currently portrayed. But unexpectantly, both of the robbers instantly fell on their knees, with tears in their eyes.
"Please Sir Immortal, we were only hired to frighten the village head's daughter and to kill his son, we never did anything to offend you, mighty Sir. Please spare us."
Maren stopped in his tracks. He still needed to establish his organization in this world, wouldn't it be helpful to recruit some of the natives here as his first batch? He made his decision very quickly.
'System, is there a way to make this gang loyal to me?'
Actually, he didn't have much hope for such an easy solution, but the system didn't let him down this time.
-Affirmative, [Host] can soulbind a total of 113 people in the Ascension-Realm and under
'Great that is pretty useful!'
"I'll spare you two..."
The eyes of the robbers were filled with gratefulness, but his next words dampened their mood.
"...under one condition."
"Yes Sir, you are very wise Sir, we will happily oblige Sir."
They were absolutely not happy, but facing an immortal cultivator they certainly didn't have a choice. If it wasn't for him going easy on them they would have already perished by now, ground to dust and scattered with the wind.
"Alright then you two, tell me your names."
"My name is Mark, Sir!"
The brutish looking guy that noticed him earlier replied with a forced smile.
"My name's Tori, Sir Immortal."
"Alright then, both of you will bind your soul to me now."
Maren gave an evil grin, he didn't think soulbinding would be accepted by them. But contrary to his expectation both of them regained the glimmer in their eyes when they heard his words.
"Are you really going to bestow us that honor, your excellency?"
The one who introduced himself as Tori couldn't help but ask excitedly.
'Huh? System, what is going on with them?'
-Information: Soulbinding is a technique used by high tier cultivators on their core and successor disciples. It ensures their loyalty and safety, as Ascension-Realm cultivators and above can feel the Soulforce of the respective expert lingering in the disciples Qi.
'Hm, so that's why they are this excited, makes sense. It's probably highly unlikely for a mortal commoner to even get in touch with a supreme expert, much less becoming their disciple."
-[Host] is right
Getting the information he wanted, he faced the two men again.
"Do you doubt my word mortal?"
"I-I wouldn't dare to Sir Immortal!"
Sweat started to form on Tori's forehead.
"En, don't worry, I'm not a begrudging person. When I give my word I'll keep it."
Tori let out a relieved smile.
"Now then, System, perform the soulbind!"
Although both Tori and Mark didn't know what the system was, they couldn't help but get even more excited. They became the disciples of an Immortal! That was an honor they wouldn't even have dared to dream about. In front of their eyes, Maren gave out a bluish aura, that started to press down on them, forcing them to kneel. After a short moment, they felt a brief stab of pain in their brains. They knew that the soulbinding was completed.
-Information: Updated stats
System current stats
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: [Maren Sente]
Nickname: [None] (Information: Forged name, available to fake documents and the like)
Public Title: [None]
Alternative Title: [Crime Boss (Stats copied from former Host, can be hidden)] | [Mafioso (Charisma +3, can be hidden)]
Hidden Title: [Transmigrator (Charisma towards Expert-level figures +1] [VIP-customer, can trade valuables with the System)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level: 113
Cultivation: [None]
(Information: [Can emit up to Reality's-Fabric Fluctation])
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inner Qi: Formed
Outer Qi: Formed
Material Qi: Formed
Heaven's Lantern: Formed
Intelligence: 11
Qi: 15
Strength: 9
Agility: 9
Charisma: 3 (+3 (+1 [Special Circumstances]))
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recruited Personnel: Mark - Cultivation [Mortal Realm, Level 2, low aptitude for [Ascension-Realm]
Tori - Cultivation [Mortal Realm, Level 1, high aptitude for [Practitioner-Realm]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Both of them kneeled voluntarily and kowtowed to him thrice.
"We pay respect to master!"
Maren was satisfied with how they addressed him, his mood got way better in a flash. But he still decided to make things clear for them in a cold tone.
"Okay, first of all, to prevent misunderstandings, I am currently just roaming the world, but I'll build a sect here sooner or later. That also means that I'm just a rogue cultivator, with no major power backing me. Yet. I also only accepted you two as my disciples, because it was convenient, it's entirely up to me to abandon you, should you disappoint you, or not satisfy my requirements."
He had a glint in his eyes while speaking those words, and both of his disciples had a shiver running own their backs when they saw it.
"Since you understood that part, I'll give you your first task. You said you were hired to kill the brother of this girl right? Yet I don't see him around here. You probably split your gang to deal with both assignments at once?"
"It is indeed as you say, master."
"Then you'll now go save that boy, and slaughter the ones trying to kill him, regardless of whether he is dead or not. Take it as severing your ties with the mortal world for now."
There was not the slightest fluctuation in his voice when he gave out the order to get somebody killed, he was after all the son of a mob boss back on earth. He then proceeded to buy two simpler versions of the mask he was wearing at the moment in the System's shop for 1 point each.
"Also take these and wear them for now, you'll be allowed to take them off only in our sect grounds after we established it."
Mark and Tori didn't dare to delay their new master's order and immediately set off to do their task, not even sparing a glimpse to the little girl that was cowering on the ground during their whole exchange.
Maren then cautiously walked towards her, assuming a none threatening stance. When she saw him walking over she began to shiver, her eyes filled with suspicion and fear.
"Little girl, don't be afraid, I'm not gonna hurt you. Instead, I was sent by somebody to help you and your brother! I'm just returning the favor from back then."
Hearing his explanation the girl's tension lessened, but her suspicion grew instead. She was just the daughter of a tiny village's head, how would there be somebody willing enough to trade a favor with such a powerful person for her insignificant life?
"Sir, are you really not lying? Are you really here to help us?"
He was absolutely lying, but the girl didn't have to know, right?
"Like I said before, do you mistrust my words mortal?"
Maren was quite knowledgeable in the field of psychology and knew a few tricks. In this situation, most people would have used a soft approach to get the little girl to trust them, which would have backfired, but his domineering attitude achieved a feeling of security in the girl's heart. While the first impression might have been ruined by that, he couldn't care less, as this girl was obviously the key to his current mission. The trick apparently worked, as the girls tensed muscles loosened up quickly.
"Sir Immortal, will those two bad guys really help my brother?"
There were tears gathering in the girl's eyes when she asked that question.
"Don't worry little one, they wouldn't dare to betray me."
Maren was having fun playing the role of the mysterious expert. He'd always fantasized about this type of situation, and actually living it out felt great.
'System, can you analyze her cultivation aptitude for me?'
-Negative, external Scan function needs to be unlocked by [Host] first
'Alright then, how do I unlock it?'
-Information: [Host] needs to accomplish mission objective, Scan function obtainable from 'Beginner's Bag'
'Guess I'll get going then.'
"Hey, little girl, what's your name?"
"It's Sea Sir."
The girl was still silently crying, but her eyes started revealing strands of firm hope. Seeing that Maren chuckled.
'She's pretty interesting, perhaps I could have some fun tinkering with her life.'
But he didn't let his thoughts show on his face, keeping a straight and solemn expression. After some thoughts, he decided to remove his mask. Seeing that her savior was a handsome guy that looked not much older than her, Sea's cheeks started turning red.
"Now then Sea, mind showing me the way to your village?"
While he would very much like to fool around with the naive little girl in front of him a bit longer, he didn't let his mission's goal out of his eyes.
"Ye-Yes Sir, but I can't walk."
As if only noticing it now, Maren glimpsed at her bruised ankle, revealing a slight grin.
"Don't worry about it, I can easily help you with that."
"O-okay, it's that way."
Sea pointed in the direction of the ocean. She then expectantly looked at Maren, waiting for him to pull out some kind of magical medicine, that could instantly heal her. But his next action left her breathless and stunned. He just took her into princess-carry, covered her with a thick membrane of Qi, and started speeding in the direction she pointed.
While she was carried that way, she couldn't help but start dreaming. A little village girl like her being carried by a shining knight, who would even believe her story if she told it. Maren, seeing her innocent and embarrassed expression couldn't help but give himself a thumbs up.
If Sea knew about the thoughts and ideas floating around Maren's head, she perhaps wouldn't let herself get carried away, but currently, there was only a mess in her mind.
Maren, guessing what she was thinking about, inwardly shook his head.
'I've seen countless women back on earth, it's gonna take a bit more than beauty to move me.'
Though, as the first native, he got into close contact with, she seemed pretty interesting to him in her own way.
*DING*
Mission objective fulfilled:
Name: "Getting started, hello world it's me"
Description: Find a way to contact the natives, form a relationship with them and choose an appropriate place to create your base.
Steps completed: (1/3)
Reward(s): 500 Shopping points, Beginner's Bag (lootable), Mantled in Night Skies (Guiding-Type Qi Technique)
