Carrison took his curt reply with a smile and asked no more questions. Finally the ten slaves were brought to him, varying in height drastically.
Oraden pointed at the tallest, speaking to Carrison. "This fellow has level 12 [Endurance] and level 14 [Shield Proficiency], good upside, I appreciate your vision for picking frontliners. This one had Level 11 [Endurance] and [Basic Swordsmanship]. These fives are scouts with varying [Stealth] skills, but this one—" he pointed at a shorter slave. "Has Level 18 [Perception] too."
Carrison smiled and clapped lightly, but Horus wondered when she had told Oraden to do this little performance. If she wanted to know what he picked she could just come back and check his inquiry.
"This guy was a groom for Ociraptors and has an Adept-tier Groom skill, [Primal manipulation]." Oraden said, pointing to the tall, skinny man with grey skin and lightly scaled hands. "Then finally we have Horus' translator, an unawakened boy of only ten years old."
The boy was tiny and wrapped in old grey robes too big for him. His head was cleanly shaved, revealing a round grey head and a smile too big for his face. You would think he hadn't just become a slave to someone else.
[Title: Medava]
[Rarity: Common]
[Description: A curious boy with a strange presence. He is very good at acting.]
Why would the system take note of that?
Carrison raised an eyebrow. "That's one way of getting things done."
"Are we done?" Horus asked with a hint of impatience. "I still have to pick up the Ociraptor and Dischounds. Along with a tent and my supplies."
Carrison shrugged. "Leave the slaves to handle it with the Commander's receipt. In the meantime, we can have our spar"
That was true. Oraden stamped his half of the paper as completed and handed it back to Horus, then Horus passed it to one of the slaves and ordered them to build him a new tent for the night and prepare for the journey tomorrow.
"I'll need a moment before our spar," Horus said, but before he could leave a hand tugged at his trousers.
The little boy glanced up at him. "May I watch your duel, sir."
Carrison and Oraden gave the boy a disgusted look, one that even his fellow slaves shared. Horus didn't feel the boy would be safe alone with people that had such animosity for him so he agreed.
"Okay," Horus muttered. "But don't cause any trouble."
Ignoring the confused stares they gave him, Horus beckoned Carrison forward. "You wanted a spar, and I'm very eager to see what you can do."
◇◇◇
Soon a small crowd had gathered around one of the sparing fields. The large square space was enough to accommodate five fights at once, and two small, red tents sat on either side of the field for the fighters.
"It's the new boy. The one that killed two Berserkers by himself!" said one man sitting on the ground outside the field, using sign language of course.
An older soldier stroked his beard and raised his hand. "I wonder how many levels he got from that."
"He had help killing a Berserker from Captain Sever. I'm sure something similar happened with his first kill," a younger soldier grumbled from the side. "His ego is too great for his own good. He challenged a Lieutenant to a duel. What a fool."
Inside of the red tent, Horus sat crosslegged on the ground, taking shallow breaths. The room was wide enough for him and the slave child, but the boy still wandered restlessly.
"Kid, what's your name?" Horus asked with his eyes closed. Mostly for formality since the system already told him. "I am Horus."
"Medeva. I was wondering if you could talk, just sitting around before a fight is so awkward. Are you ready to go? We still have a few more minutes though. That sword of yours is so cool. Where did you get it? What type of blacksmith makes curved blades like that? Are you nervous? I-i'm not, but i thought i should ask—"
"Enough." Horus sighed. "I asked for your name to tell you to sit down and relax."
"I'm relaxed." Medava said with a twitching eye.
"Your heart is pounding. One would think you're the one going out to fight and not me."
"People die in these kinds of things, and I just got you, there's so much to do. How are you so calm anyway? Can't you hear the people outside?"
"Correction: I just got you." Horus rolled his eyes. "Sit down and be quiet, I need to settle my system rewards."
Medava gasped and dropped into a seating position abruptly. Horus spun, shocked by the sound of pain. He had given a command and the slave had not immediately obeyed, so the Curse forced him to move.
"Sorry. I forgot about the curse," Horus murmured.
Medava glanced at his body with a surprised expression. "That's… a unique feeling. Don't apologise, sir, please take your time."
There was a slight change to his voice, but Horus decided to just let it go and focused on getting his rewards. Or actually just wondering if he should get them.
I'm ready.
[You have reaped 11 souls. You can choose levels and new skills from them]
[Soul: Berserker(Adept)]
[Skills list:]
[Bloodforged body] > 0 > 21 (Adept)
[Violet Maelstrom] > 0 > 21 (Adept)
[Beserk] > 0 > 21 (Adept)
[Whip proficiency] > 0 > 3 (Common)
[Reflexes] > 12 > 15 (Common)
[Perception] > 14 > 17 (Common)
Horus' brows furrowed in confusion. What was he actually looking at? It made no sense. In some places he could gain 21 levels in a skill he didn't have, and in others he could go up to level 17.
Jumping three levels in anything was an amazing stroke of luck that you often had to risk your life fighting extremely powerful enemies for.
Going up twenty one levels was just ridiculous. The entire skill was just ridiculous. You were meant to rely on your own hard work to level up. But technical Horus did work to kill those guys…
He willed the system to give him hints about the skill before he chose, so he could make a good decision. How did the level gain work? What about the second Berserker he killed? What would happen to his old skills?
[Skill hint: You can extract 3 Levels from Common-tier skills and 1 from Adept-tier skills. For Common skills close to level 20, you will gain the necessary skill levels to reach the Common-tier limit, then get the remaining levels when you evolve the skill]
[Skill hint: You can browse the skills of all enemies slain before choosing.]
[Skill hint: All Mana types absorbed will be harmonised within you, but to protect your soul from Stress, you will be limited if too many skills are absorbed rapidly.]