章 29: The man called Mays
From behind the mirror of the teacher's room, several teacher were gossiping while observing the school's open field. There were several ambulance already parked nearby, hastily taking care of the injured.
"That kid did it again."
"How many time is it already?"
"This is the fourth time. All his opponents were bloodied. Not to mention that they were all several years older than him."
"What a monster."
"Yeah, he's a monster indeed."
Those teachers didn't even bother going out to the scene to check. In fact, they already predicted the reason of the commotion since it was not the first time this happened.
A small freshman beating four sophomore and two third years were totally a rare sight. It was even rarer when the freshman suffered no injuries at all whereas all his opponent had at least several broken bones throughout their body.
After the ambulance took the injured students away, a middle aged man came by and pulled the kid away from the school ground. The middle aged man was fuming while the boy kept his poker face.
"You! I told you this several times already, NEVER HURT OTHER PEOPLE!"
Pak! Pak! Pak!
"…"
The youth was currently being beaten by his guardian. A stern looking, decently built middle aged man. From his look, nobody would had guessed that he was actually over sixty years old. His figure looks like he was still in his forty. His name was Meor, Mays's grandfather.
Not too far away from them was San, crying while watching the whole scene. Despite being in the open, Meor kept beating Mays in front of the crowd. He couldn't care less about public opinion anymore.
After ten minutes of nonstop beating, Meor finally stopped. Mays was laying on the ground, half dead. Meor then grabbed Mays and put him on his shoulder before they walked out from the crowd.
"What are you staring at? Need a beating?"
"Err… No."
"No… nothing."
Almost everyone who watched the beating shrugged as they walked away, opening a path for the middle aged man to move. None of them dared to stop him from doing whatever he wanted. Not when he was exuding an intimidating aura on par with a wild beast without a leash.
"Gramp… gramp… bro just… he… he…"
"I know. He did it for you right? If he was just beating them without reason, I wouldn't hold back at all."
San eased up after he heard that. He was not crying anymore. He was just a fourth grader, an eleven years old kid. Maybe because he was alone or small or maybe because he seemed easy to be picked on, San was dragged away by several sixth grader before he waited for Mays in front of the school gate after the bell rang.
He didn't know that those bullies actually had a beef with Mays. They were friends with those who were sent to the hospital by Mays previously. Since they saw Mays walked home together with San every day, they planned to use San as bait instead.
The moment Mays came by and saw San crying, he immediately jumped on them and beat them senseless. He didn't even say anything before he took action. He was just like that. It was his nature, his blood. Something inside him told him to do so. The moment he started fighting, his switch flipped. His gaze pierced through their opponent as if they were just see-through.
San who was on the side couldn't even open his mouth to say that those people didn't do anything to him yet. They only pulled his hair and dragged him away but still that didn't warrant them a one way ticket to a hospital ward for sure.
The commotion died soon after. Since there was no death involved, the police closed the case as a normal accident to prevent further anxiety from the masses.
A few days passed by with Mays being grounded, caged inside an underground chamber under his house.
"This can't continue!"
"It was our fault for letting him comprehend that taboo."
"Chill… Nothing of major consequences happened yet."
"Yeah, yet!"
Four people were arguing about the incident which happened several days ago. Even Mays's grandpa was there among them.
One of them tapped Meor's shoulder. Despite his short stature, his body was also well toned. On closer look, even his face resembled Meor's. He was Meon, Meor's younger brother.
"Meor, he was totally like you when you were young."
"Rather than me, he's more like father. I watched him every day so I know. No guilty conscience, no useless emotion, no hesitation. A natural born killing machine. This was without doubt the side effect after he comprehended that thing."
In fact, all four people present in the room were relatives. Meor's only son died several years ago due to an accident so his only close relative were his two grandchildren and his younger brother. As for the other two middle aged man inside the room, they were both Meon's son.
"We got no other choice."
Meor muttered dejectedly as he looked at his left forearm. There was a tattoo with the shape of a falcon head on it.
"Let's proceed with the sealing ritual, brother."
"Urm."
Despite his unwillingness, Meor nodded signalling his permission to do so.
"Yeah. That's the best we could do."
"There are times when great power only brings trouble."
Both Meon's son commented. Even they knew that the sealing ritual was the only choice they had.
"I feel bad for him but it's for his own good. Rather, our own good. The hope of our people is in future generation after all. We can't let this genius perished because of an accident."
"Erm. Let's get done with it."
------------------------------------------------------
"Mays?"
Ria felt the need to drag Mays back to reality. If this continues, Mays might not be able to revert back to his normal and gentle personality. Previously, they were working together just fine until they defeated Arkenta. Mays had been weird at first but in the middle of the fight he turned normal.
But now Ria once again noticed that Mays felt different than normal. It happened again after Mays cut off Arkenta's arm. Ria didn't know what actually happened but the current Mays emitted the aura of those ruthless killer she hate so much. The aura of those supreme creature who looked down on everything on their path. This aura was beyond horrible.
Ignoring the pestering Ria, Mays continued to stab the dying Arkenta in front of him. He had no intention of interrogating him either. He did it just for the fun of it. He even grinned evilly while doing so.
"Stop this already!"
Knowing that her word wouldn't do any good, Ria grabbed Mays's hand in an attempt to stop him. Mays immediately glanced sideways toward Ria who tried to stop him. His face was still emotionless.
"What? You got a problem with me?"
Ria who felt the chill from Mays's cold stare had no intention to back off. She didn't want Mays to stay like that. She would do whatever it takes to change him back to normal.
"…"
"What?"
"…"
Five minutes of intense staring contest before Mays let out a sigh.
"Okay you win. Do whatever you want."
Mays shook his head before he tossed the lifeless Arkenta away. There was no smile on his face but at least he stopped emitting those horrible aura. Ria jumped at Mays and hugged him tightly from behind. She knew that Mays already turned back to normal from his indifferent tone.
"Welcome back hehe."
"Yeah, yeah."
Smiling awkwardly, Mays let out a relieved sigh. He knew himself best. Ever since he was a kid, he always had this kind of habit every single time he was dragged into a heated battle. This was partly the reason why he refused to make friends and prefer to stay alone. Most people would distance themselves from him after they found out about his hidden nature.
"So…"
"No need for explanation. It doesn't matter what or how you are, you will always be my only one."
Uttering that cheesy line without flinching, Ria's face redden a bit yet she still looked at Mays directly at his eyes. Her feeling was really genuine. Even Mays himself felt warm upon hearing that. Deep in his heart, he longed for people who would accept him for who he was.
"It won't do. Listen to me, I'll tell you everything about me. You can decide what you want to do about it afterward."
"Really? Really? You will tell me about your childhood?"
"Yeah. From the time when my gramp start training me I guess."
"Omaigod! You do secret cultivation right? Like those in Chinese novel right? No, no, no. Perhaps you can even do KameHameHa? Can I also practice those too? Can I? Can I?"
With the face full of expectation, Ria shouted excitedly. On closer look, her eyes shone brightly like that of a starlight. She was way too excited. Her maniac mode kicked in and she started spouting nonsense.
"Nah never mind. I changed my mind."
"EHHH?? NOO! TELL ME!!"
"Nope. Not happening. Also, remove the domain. That guy won't be able to escape anymore."
"Kay fine."
Right after Ria removed the domain, Syaitona and the other spirits immediately rushed toward Mays and Ria who stood in the center of the area. They were quite vigilant considering that an enemy had appeared out of nowhere.
"Master!"
"Nothing out of the ordinary happened while master and Lady Ria were inside the domain."
Everyone shouted in unison, showing their concern. Even Silvia and Golia were among them. Silvia appeared to be normal now. It was good that there was no harsh side effect after she received the debuff status. Syaitona reported the situation right after. She really had the air of leadership at times. Not all the time though.
"Good."
With a simple command, Mays's dismissed all his spirits as always. Merle stood not too far them, observing the surrounding rather than joining the crowd.
"Ria."
"Ya?"
"Do you by any chance still have those [Unique Slave Collar]?"
"Oh those. I have plenty. Why?"
"Give me some. I wanna test something."
Without retorting nor complaining, Ria grabbed several of those slave collar and handed them to Mays. There were a total of eleven of those collar. It was obvious that this Ria just grabbed them without even calculating the amount she took.
"Is this enough?"
"Yeah. Thanks."
"What is it for?"
Mays pointed his finger at the unconscious Arkenta without replying. He walked forward and wrapped the collar around Arkenta's neck.
"Eh? What are you doing Mays?"
"Heh, watch and learn."
Apparently even Ria didn't know what Mays had in mind.
[Unique Slave Collar] was a cash shop item. It had a simple use which was to forcefully convert wild monsters into a pet. This pet took the slot of spirits in the game so it was practically useless.
Its purpose was just for showing off unique monsters, obviously not for battle. An elite player would use all four spirit slots on summoning useful spirits for battle rather than using weak monsters as pet. Not to mention that this item was useless against boss too.
That, was the case back in HeavensTale. However, it was different now. Through Sanortep, Mays had heard about it once that this collar could also be used on bosses in this world. Gambling on that fact, he wanted to try it himself. He wouldn't lose anything if it didn't work either.
"Activate!"
The unique collar glowed purplish black and flickered for several seconds before it calmed down. Seemed like the rumors Sanortep heard was true. These collars worked on bosses in this world. It might even worked on insane bosses too. The main condition that need to be fulfilled before attempting it was to make sure the bosses had no more energy to resist the binding force of the slave collar.
"Arrrrrgggghhhh!!"
"What… what is this? NOOOO!"
Arkenta who was unconscious earlier was awaken forcefully by the collar. He screamed for a while before he finally settled down.
"Whoa that works. I never know. You're awesome Mays!"
"Yeah, yeah. Stop that already."
Ria who stood behind Mays shakes him from behind. She was kind of excited upon witnessing something new. She never knew about this fact and she never tried it either. She knew that the slave contract was a success because the collar was still intact. A failed contract resulted in the collar being destroyed automatically during the initiation.
"Now… you. Tell me everything about your motive of attacking us."
"As if I wou… ARGHHH! AEEWWWRRRGGGHHH! Huh… Huh…"
"Give it up. You can't go against it."
"Never!!! ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!"
"…"
Mays twitched. He never thought it would be this troublesome even after the slave contract proceeded successfully. Not his fault though considering how simple the game were back then. Everything was just a matter of as if after the commanded process. But now everything changed. Even the simple item to enslave others need to be waited out.
"Ready to talk now?"
"Yes master. Never! I won't…. Arghhh! Master!"
"Damn this might take a while. Let's go somewhere first."
Disappointed by how things turned out, Mays dragged the amputated Arkenta into the city while covering his whole body with a cape. The others followed behind him right away. He did threw his gaze at Miur's remains which already turned into ashes with a sorrowful look before he walked away.
------------------------------------------------------------------
"Your target is Gulam Kingdom?"
"Yes master. I am the detached vanguard force for the attack to occupy Gulam Kingdom."
"And why would you do that? That place got nothing of worth for you demon kin."
"That information is out of my rank to know of. Only the higher up knows."
After one whole night of never ending screams, Arkenta finally gave in and lost his own will. He had been pouring Mays with everything he knew like how a good slave should. Too bad this Arkenta was only one of the middle ranked member of their organization so the information from him was limited.
It was already evening when Mays finished extracting information from Arkenta. Since the current Arkenta was more or less the same as a living doll, there was no reason to be wary of him at the moment. Mays still decided to dispose him later since there might be chances of him reverting back to his own will.
They all stayed inside an inn near the town entrance. Nine of them in total, including Merle and Arkenta. It was great that the innkeeper didn't bother them with anything during their stay. Maybe because Mays paid her more than plenty, the innkeeper gave them an extravagant meal for their lunch. Even when they left the inn, the innkeeper kept pestering Mays and the rest to come back when they visits next time.
During that time, Mays sat alone in the corner of his room. Even when Ria, Mira and Syaitona approached him, he barely reacted to them. Deep inside, he felt guilty over everything which happened to Miur and her friends. If only he didn't meet them, none of them would have died this way. They might have died either way but since he did spent quite some time with them, the tingling uneasiness made him moody all day.
"This sucks. I won't feel good unless I killed every single demon who planned this shit."
Mays swore as he endured his bitter feeling of losing someone he considered as friends. He barely had any friends prior to this after all.
"Well then, lead me to your headquarters. I have some business there."
"As you wish, master."
After they walked away from the city, their journey come to a stop in front of a small forest. With Arkenta walking at the front, Mays and Ria followed closely while both Mira and Syaitona bickered about some trivial matters behind them.
The other four spirits were vigilantly observing the surroundings behind them. As for Merle, he stood alone in the back. After everything that happened the other day, he was in no mood to start a conversation with everyone else either.
"Ria, can you send that guy somewhere safe? I don't think we can cover for him if there are thousands of enemy."
"Okies. Leave it to me."
Mia walked toward the lonesome Merle who stood alone quite a distance away from everyone else. He looked restless. There might be many things clouding his thought at the moment.
"Yo. Thinking about something?"
"Err, yeah. Nothing of importance though. Where are we heading by the way?"
"Somewhere you shouldn't go. So, any request on where to drop you by? Since I'm such a nice lady I'll make sure you get to wherever you wanted to go."
Merle was not in the least clueless about these people. From their fighting prowess alone, he knew for sure that these people were those rumored godkins even without them telling him so. He also knew the reason why his father asked him to go with Len and the rest of the party was because of these people. There should be many benefit from just being acquaintance with them alone.
But, his pride wouldn't let him to just follow them like an extra baggage. If he begged them then they might allow him to tag along but it never was his intention to do so. He wanted the power to fight those strong opponent by himself. He didn't want to rely on other people.
"Heroes. Those vampires talked about an elite group of human heroes. Can I perhaps meet them or even join them?"
"Human heroes? Umm… Ooooh. I know about them, those Crusader bunch. There was even a branch of their organization in the empire. I can introduce you to them but it depends on your ability whether you get to join them or not."
"Really? By any means, please. The way I am now, I can't even match those demons. I want to be stronger so that I can beat them without restrain."
This time, Merle who was always fooling around doing nothing with his carefree style had a determined look. Beaten badly in a fight and almost losing his life was a trigger for his change of attitude. After Ria told him that he could meet with human heroes that those vampires mentioned, his eyes flared.
He knew that he couldn't ever match the awesomeness of Mays and his companions but he wanted to at least be a great figure among humans. Getting acknowledged by the human heroes would be the first stepping stone for him.
"Mays! Mays! I'm sending this guy to the capital first. I'll get back to you in a bit. Don't kill them all before I came back okay!"
"Hah? What?"
Mays was not paying attention to them since he was busy asking Arkenta about the enemy base in details. Before Mays could properly reply to Ria, he saw a space crack diminishing with Ria and Merle already on the other side of the space crack.
"Bleh, how did she plan to come back then? Well, whatever."
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