Birthday

It was August 10th today. It had been a week since the Nine As One bandits got their hands on the [ Basic Knight Core Creation Manual ]. Number 4 and Number 9 were successful in creating their cores during the past week.

Though the Knight Core they created was of the lowest grade, it can still increase the strength of their four limbs to twice that of a normal human. It can even increase their stamina to a certain extent.

Moreover, now that they had created their Knight Cores, they would be able to intake spiritual energy from their surroundings, and increase the level of the core. Right now, as they had just created their core, the core was still at level 0.

The Nine As One bandits packed their luggage on this day and set out towards the East City. August 18, the day they were born was a week away, and they planned to celebrate it inside the city.

The Nine As One bandits were discrete bandits! Other than the members themselves, no-one-else knew how they looked. Thus, they did not fear getting caught inside the city.

Their birthday was the only thing that they celebrated every year, so they made sure to enjoy it to the peak.

...

August 17, morning.

The Nine As One bandits made it to the East City. They entered the city from the main gate at different times, and booked into different hotels and rested till evening.

As the sun went down in the horizon, they changed into loose party style clothes and set out to different bars of the city.

The East City was one of the four commercial cities of Moon Kingdom and it had no lack of high quality bars, so they did not find it hard to find nine fine bars.

Before they chose to become bandits, that was before three months, the Nine As One bandits used to live in the slums of the East City, so the City and its streets weren't new to them.

But three months before, they barley had money to sustain themselves in the city.

Due to their huge consciousness, it was very easy for them to pick up various skills and swiftly become proficient in them. This should have normally let them earn a fortune in short time, but that wasn't the case.

Number 3 was a qualified chef in a huge restaurant previously, but due to his age, he wasn't paid his full salary. The other eight had similar jobs three months before, but like number 3, due to their age, they weren't paid properly. In fact they were 'slightly' abused by the older workers due to jealously.

This was the main reason behind why they had become bandits. A bandit took what he wanted, while a worker took what others gave him! To the Nine As One bandits, it was clear what they had to choose.

See now, though they were still young, they had money to visit high class bars. Now, their stomachs were full, their bones were hidden behind muscles, and they could wear comfortable clothes and footwear.

The past three months only increased their confidence, and they had come to believe that choosing to become bandits was the best thing they done in their life.

...

This night, nine bars of the East City were particularly enthusiastic as their business boomed. Some rich young masters celebrated their birthdays with strangers that were occupying the bars and booked the whole place with a hefty amount.

Strangers took advantage of the young masters' birthday to drink costly alcohol and wine. They even invited their families and friends, who bought even more wine from the bar. The best musicians were summoned to the party to play their best pieces, while the young masters dived into the sea of people to enjoy the excitement.

Many young unmarried women tried to seduce the young masters and the party was full of hilariousness as the young masters turned out to be pretty shy. They would turn beet-red when a woman placed them on her chest, but as this was their party, no one dared to tease them.

These young masters were obviously the members of the Nine As One bandit group!

...

By the time it was 12:00 and August 18 officially began, most of the bandit members in their respective bars were swaying side by side as they were full of alcohol. Only Number 4 and Number 9 were spared from this shameful situation as their alcohol-endurance was enhanced by their Knight Cores.

Soon, it was time for the party to end. Number 4 and Number 9 were the first to end their parties and return to their lodging. The other seven returned to their lodgings at different times, late into the night.

...

Deep into the night, 2:00 Am, Number 4, who was pretending to sleep, suddenly got up from his bed.

"Come out!" He ordered calmly.

A shadow by the window shook slightly, before entering the room. As the shadow entered, Number 4 was able to take a good look at the intruder.

He was a middle aged man with a sharp face and buff muscles. Moreover his movements while climbing inside the room were smooth, which meant that he was pretty experienced in such actions. He gave out a pressure that suppressed Number 4, like a Lion that was surveying its prey.

But Number 4 did not panic. Since the middle aged man showed his face to him while entering the room, it implied that he wasn't an assassin.

Both of them stared at each other for a few moments before the middle aged man nodded his head.

"Good! You did not shame me! You are eligible for my young master to send me to invite you personally!" As a strong man, the middle aged man had some pride in him. Sending him to receive a weak-nobody would be shaming him! Number 4's composure earned his approval.

"Oh! Who's your young master?" Number 4 questioned calmly. Inwardly he was quite excited. There was a reason why he had acted in such a high-profile way on his birthday. It was to catch the eye of a big-shot and increase his connections. Now the chance had come to him.

"You'll know soon enough!" The middle aged man slipped Number 4's question.

"Shall we? Or do you need to rest?"

"Lead the way!" Number 4 was calm. This was a test from the middle aged man. Normal humans usually need to rest after such a huge party, and the middle aged man was using this to test Number 4's strength. He had rested the whole morning guessing this would happen, so showing a weak side that would only weaken his worth wasn't an option.

The middle aged man nodded and jumped down the window. Number 4's room was on the second floor. By jumping down the window, the middle aged man was still examining Number 4's strength.

Number 4's face turned ugly as soon as the man jumped down. He did not expect this even with his powerful consciousness. He gritted his teeth and jumped down from his window.

Luckily, there were extensions outside the windows at each floor and Number 4 jumped down from one extension to the other swiftly. With his huge consciousness, it wasn't tough to control his body agilely and before long he was on the ground, completely unharmed.

The middle aged man nodded once more. He then started running into the distance at a speed that exceeded humans.

Number 4 hurriedly followed.

But even at his fastest, Number 4 was no match to the middle aged man, and he almost lost sight of him at some turns. Luckily, whenever this happened, the middle aged man stopped and waited for him to catch up.

Number 4's heart was grim, but he still maintained a calm look on his face.

The middle aged man eventually stopped before a huge mansion. The guards at the gates did not bother stopping him or the Number 4 that was following him. Clearly, the middle aged man held some status inside this mansion!