No choice to avoid a conflict

The days Vlad required to heal up passed fast since he broke out from the mining camp. He taught Robert how to hunt and set up traps in the forest. The boy did an excellent job together with the gryphon Aerius.

With Aerius's incredible sight and senses, Robert managed to catch some rabbits with the trap he learned and also fish something on the water stream flowing towards the castle area.

Having something to eat Vlad slowly in those two days that they encamped outside the city, Vlad gained some weight back. Instead of looking like a mummy, his body now looked a bit normal. Still, he was skinny compared to how he was before the escape attempt,.but the process of healing increased exponentially with each meal he had.

To Vlad's satisfaction, he learned more about the weird powers inside his body, especially the blood powers. The Blood Power was something intriguing for Vlad. It holds many unknown utilities that he still didn't know and had yet to find out, which surrounded the basic abilities of [Summoning], [Manipulation], and [Enhancement]. They could be used together to create other abilities or be mastered to the limit gaining unknown powers.

The trickiest power that he could barely summon was the dark energy. He could only summon a handful from his black mark. He was mistreated by the dark powers, feeling himself cheated after knowing how much the curse could use when moving the body.

Yet, this didn't make him sad one bit. Feeling the ice-cold energy flowing around his body and limbs gave him the desire to master this power before he could even do the blood powers and subjugate that curse.

Apart from those two problems that he pondered about, he thought of how he could activate his Conqueror's without having to call the curse to save him all the time.

He could feel something in his inner world that was sleeping. It had a bright white color compared to his dark and blood energies surrounding him while in his inner world.

Looking at the inactive bright light, he tried to test and see if he could get any reaction from it. Not even once did the light even react to him, making him think of something Nius told him about haki.

"It takes time for the bottle of wine to age, just like your body, that's why it's useless to teach you haki right now."

'Heh, so this bright light it's the so-called haki, that it's slumbering inside of me? So weird. Compared to the blood and dark energy, it looks so weak. Well, I should take it easy, rushing in doing everything all at once it would just make things worse.'

As Vlad was figuring a way to handle and control his new-found powers, without even bothering to notice, His wounds also healed.

However, the scab on his chest and the rest of his wounds were really itching him to death. He had the urge to scratch them like mad but was always stopped by Aerius, who jumped to attack him whenever he was trying to scratch the scabs while saying.

"You moron, don't you know that removing the scabs gives you scars? Do you like scars so much?"

It was as Aerius said. He also knew that it was better to let the scab on and let it dry on its own, so he doesn't get a scar on the wounds, but the feeling of itchiness was tormenting.

He survived those moments, making Robert and Aerius to breathe in relief while staring at him.

Then they saw Vlad on his own feet to help them with the trap building, not wanting to be left doing nothing.

Those moments in nature felt excellent for Robert, but he still thought that maybe they should hurry with their training. Aerius also enjoyed his time.

But seeing Vlad more often look towards the nearing city, he knew that they had to pack their things and move on.

This was precisely the following action Vlad did when the second day in freedom passed.

He felt much better than when he comes out from the fight with Belpel and the others. The weird group of boys began eating with the game they had in the forest and the fight they caught.

Aerius had a bunch of fish sitting over the fire, while Vlad and Robert enjoyed some rabbit stew they made with the left vegetables sitting inside the supply bag.

Aerius, while staring at his fishes, would drop a stare at Vlad and Robert, who were cooking their stew.

That kept happening for a while until Vlad took a wooden bowl that became filled with rabbit stew.

Like this, the three starting eating. Aerius was beyond impressed by the taste, while Robert was also surprised by the taste. Only Vlad had a calm expression as he continued eating.

Nodding his head, also satisfied by the taste, he heard Aerius say. "Who would have thought that someone like you would be able to cook something so good? Right, Robert, my fish is so bland, no taste whatsoever, yet this simple stew has everything."

Robert chuckled a bit while looking at Vlad, replying to Aerius. "We will not have to fear about not having good food if we stick like leeches on him."

That analogy made Vlad smile a bit as he was eating quietly and with ordered manners.

'This Robert boy is really not bad. He has a sharp mind without even having trained him in that regard.

He's also someone with luck. The rabbits he caught turned out to be quite young and tender.'

'Heh, I need to check on Sagletius after this meal and also find a source of income for the future. A carpenter? Alchemist?.'

'Let's hope there's no idiots storming over me, at least here.'

After sorting out his thoughts and finishing his future steps while on Sangletius, he got on his feet, and looked towards the city, not long saying to Robert and Aerius, who were resting by a pine tree after finishing eating.

"Prepare yourself, we'll go soon towards that city. We also need to find a source of money to deal with our living expenses. Do you guys have any ideas?" Asked Vlad while stretching his arms a bit, that as he continued doing give out sounds of bones cracking that resounded even in Robert's and Aerius's ears, jolting them a bit.

'Freak, even his bones give out such powerful crackings. Ahh, I feel Vlad would match well with Teacher. Both of them are weird freaks that feel around the same age, even when Vlad is younger than him. He always wanted to do a study on those powerful people, but none ever bothered themselves with him. That made him abandon his research, and try to find another job, a tutor.'

Nevertheless, that's what he thoughts inside his mind. Thinking of the question while supporting his back on the tree trunk, he just looked at Vlad with a pondering expression.

As for Aerius, when he heard Vlad's question while patting his belly, he said to Vlad.

"I don't know, should we become farmers or something like that and later sell our produce?" Then he felt Vlad's intense gaze on him, later saying another idea. "Maybe steal from the rich? Or starting an artisanal shop, we got plenty of wood here as material."

"Hmmm, not a bad idea at all. Still, I need to listen to Robert's opinion. So, little Robert, any thoughts?"

Robert was still thinking, taking into account even Aerius's ideas, and after some minutes, his focused eyes came back and only said back to Vlad with a large grin.

"Searching in a trash site could yield us some good stuff. Metals, cloth materials, ornaments. Those guys are so messy that they probably don't care much about controlling their wastage. So in a sense, if we find those materials in a trash site, we can clean them and sell them for money."

Vlad turned to look at Robert in the eyes, then after staring for a bit, making Robert feel weird, he said to him.

"Are you really of noble birth? To think that you would go in that direction. I like it, boy. It is a decent method to make money while exploiting others without harming anyone."

Ending saying that that, he turned to look at Aerius while giving him a creepy smile.

"Aerius, this is your best chance to shine, my friend. Once we get there in that junkyard, you'll be our lucky charm. With your abilities, we'll be rich in no time, and if we're rich, it means we can afford more food. Good quality one nonetheless."

What Vlad said didn't manage to buy the little gryphon on this idea, not long saying. "But doesn't that mean I have to get dirty while searching in the trash? I don't like this idea."

"Haha, little guy, there's nothing to fear, don't we have a water stream right close to our encampment? While we get dirty, at least we'll not worry about food and other necessities, clothes, alcohol, building materials, and so on."

As he listed some things, he also coughed another one as if it was explicitly directed for Aerius. "Good quality women also requires money. So don't you dare say no, or I'll just shave your fur and pluck your feathers and sell them for some cheap price."

"Crazy bastard, you'll really go that far, just to get money and experience with girls? Hmm, sounds decent enough. I'll do it if you take me with you." said Aerius while his eyes shinned a bit.

"We got a deal, but why would you even need to go there?" asked Vlad, confused while looking at Aerius and later at Robert.

"Secret." said Aerius while turning his head to look a bit at Robert before quickly getting his golden eyes towards Vlad's white face.

Shaking his head at the little gryphon, and later turning his attention on Robert, he said.

"If you're prepared, let's go see if we can find a junkyard in this place. Oh, also, stick around to me. It is unknown how many braindead idiots lurk inside this place."

Aerius jumped on Robert's shoulders and looked at Vlad expectantly while Robert only nodded his head quickly before asking, "Should we let the shelter stand?"

"Sure, who knows, maybe this shelter will be helpful for someone at one point." Calmly responded Vlad while looking around the forested area with a slight smile on his face.

Like this, a tall and slim young man about 1,80 meters, with a white skin tone that enhanced his handsome face being matched with his long jet-black hair, began walking towards the city entrance.

Following him was Robert that walked about 1,50 meters and had above-average facial features, and also had a black cat-like creature who stood right on his shoulder, looking vigilantly left and right on the alley.

After 15 to 20 minutes of walking, the group of three reached the city's entrance, which was left wide open without even a gate, so to speak. The violence could be felt in the air around the city, ready to boil and spill. The people were behaving very alerted while on the streets.

The streets were dirty, not maintaining at all, while the people wore ragged clothes. Well, at least they had something to cover their upper body, not like Vlad, who used the material from the supply bag to make some low jacket.

As Vlad entered inside the city, he spotted a large signboard that he gave him some trouble reading. Staring, annoyed at that signboard, as he began reading the words in his head, he turned to look at Robert and asked him while pointing at the board. "Can you quickly read that out for me? It takes too much time for me, and it would just be a waste of time in this situation."

"Which one? Oh, that one? It says, "Welcome to the District of Forgottens. Respect the rule imposed by the Three Syndicates. Don't question us and try to create conflict around the district. Otherwise, you'll die."

Said Robert before continuing to add after what the first paragraph said. "Have fun around the district. There are women, gambling, and weapons to play around with. You'll find this place as home, compared to other zones of the kingdom. Signed by the three syndicate leaders."

When Vlad heard this, his eyebrows lowered into a frown, but nevertheless, he was just staring calmly around.

Nodding his head after listening to that message, he placed it in his mind. With that said, Vlad only said calmly without bothering himself with that message.

"If those gentlemen's want their rules to be respected, so it shall be. I don't mind it one bit as long they leave me alone. However, there are also limits to my tolerance."

"Let's go, Robert, Aerius. The sound of gold is calling us."

With that, the group of three began exploring this forsaken place. The feeling of this zone was reminiscent of the Chaotic Zone from the mining camp, only that it got taken to more extreme lengths.

As they walked around the district, Vlad would sometimes click his tongue when seeing some men beating on a single person for unknown reasons to him.

He continued onward, arriving towards the path walk of the periphery of the district.

Taking a break to look around, he slowly said to Aerius and Robert while his face had a calm expression.

"What do you think? Are we walking in a good direction? Because I have no idea where we're even heading."

Aerius, looking left and right and seeing this zone having more garbage around, nodded to Vlad, adding. "Yes, I think we're on the good path. Sigh, to think that this place used to be the center of trade for citizens of Atlas, now it has become like this shithole."

"Have patience, you know, there's this saying from where I come, even a rough stone can be turned into diamonds."

Aerius nodded his head, knowing that Vlad was referring that he will change everything once he becomes the king.

With all said, the group moved towards their target, the junkyard.

Slowly as they walked towards the unknown for them, possible the best place the people picked to toss their unwanted materials and things.

Getting deeper into the periphery designated zone for this place, they spotted a group of people of 5 members seeming to have a shooting contest.

Robert looking at those guys turned to look at Vlad and asked him. "Should we ask those guys if we're on the good path toward the junkyard?"

"Hmm, I wish not to. Those guys are weirdly behaving as if they are drunk. This will only create conflict, just move forward and don't bother with them. Remember I don't want conflict here. We can find the junkyard on our own. Aerius is capable enough of sniffing that place down, right?

"Correct, we're on the good path. The smell kept increasing as we walked forward. It's disgusting, to be honest with you."

"Good, so now let's kept moving. Don't bother yourself with those bastards."

As Vlad said that, he turned to look for a bit at the group of 5 men that were having a shooting contest while holding an unknown type of hand cannons to Vlad.

Vlad thought instantly when he saw their stylistic choice of wearing the same type of clothes. Each one of them having dark blue clothes, while on their back was a dragon-like snakehead.

As Vlad passed at a normal pace around those guys while taking a look at their weapons, he tried to figure out what those cannons were.

'Those hand cannons don't resemble at all the inventions that appeared in the Empire, the Italian states, or the Ottomans. The people here really got advanced in their technology compared to my world.'

It didn't even take long before Vlad's looked a bit at the group of 5 as he was passing towards the junkyard, that one of the members who looked drunk when Vlad got closer yelled at him for seeming no reason.

Getting dumbfounded by this reaction of the drunkard who was moving towards him, yelling at him from the top of his lung.

"What are you looking at, you lanky fuck? Don't you know that it is forbidden to pass around the periphery, the zone of control for the syndicates? Especially the ones of the Leviathans? Just look at his face. It kind of pisses me off just looking at him. It makes me want to kill him.

Ending saying that he was almost face to face with Vlad, who was calmly staring at him, as if what he said passed in one ear and flew by the other.

Still, a bit dumbfounded on his insides. He said to the syndicate member his reasons for passing this zone.

"Hmm, sorry for that, mister. We're looking for the junkyard to try our luck in finding some money there. In no way we're looking for trouble with you. We're just searching for some money so we can feed ourselves." Added Vlad the truth without even batting an eye at the drunkard.

Yet, the smell of alcohol and other substances assaulted his enhanced senses hard.

As Vlad ended saying that, the syndicate member frowned and getting more closer to Vlad while saying in an annoyed tone.

"So you're just a little rat looking for money? A new guy settling down in our district. I'll let you go if you give hand me that weird cat of yours since I need a new target practice for my boys and me."

When Aerius heard that, he frowned hard while seated on Robert's shoulder, even cursing him.

"You motherfucker, you want me your target practice? That's not going to happen. Not even your ancestors were born when I was roaming the skies freely." cursed Aerius, angry, more offended by what the drunkard asked Vlad to do.

Even Vlad's eyes from their usual calm manner switched to one darker and sinister. The atmosphere around the group turned a bit heavy with his mind state changing. He said towards the syndicate member.

"Do you have another request so you can leave us alone, except my friend over there?"

Hearing Vlad's question, the gang member took a step back to look better at the weird creature who just cursed him. With his gun prepared in hand, he said coldly to Vlad.

"No, you either give me that weird creature, or you'll remain here, while that creature will turn in a well-received gift for my boss."

Raising his gun towards Vlad, similarly, the other syndicate members raised their guns in support of what seemed the leader of the group.

'Sigh, what should I expect from those junkies? It reminds me of that fat Mayer and the first experience with him. Gladly Gif, Vem, and Ramoth were people of somewhat decent morals and never intended to kill me. That was my weakest starting point in this life, similarly to when I was a hostage at Murad's court. He could have me killed at any time, yet I survived.

'Now the situation is reversed. Those people can't hold me in place. My time slowly comes up when I'll be at the center of everything.'

'I give them a chance. They didn't take it, and my conscience is clear even after killing them. By no means they even look innocent to me.'

As Vlad ended thinking that quickly in just some second's time, he turned his attention on the syndicate members.

Looking coldly at them, while his eyes turned to shine a bit with dark-red color, he only said.

"Then you leave me with only one option."

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