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Chapter 625

Certain people, such as Scouts and Rangers, had the ability to target people, and thus be able to track them down extremely easily. When you had the Map ability, you could combine this tracking to picture them. When you had the Portal ability, you then had the ability to target them, and be able to Portal to where they are. In theory, one could send someone out, then Portal to their location, and thus fill out a Map without wasting a ton of time.

Every Slave and Harem member seemed to be marked on my Map, and I informed Lydia’s group to inform me when they located a dungeon. I had planned to Portal to it, so that we could easily return in the future. However, when I checked out the map, I realized that anywhere that my slaves traveled ended up filled out on the Map, and I’d be able to travel to it, anyway. I knew that I shared any experience they gained, but that was limited by distance. At this distance, I didn’t gain anything from Lydia’s group, but it turned out that their scouting was more useful than I originally thought.

That isn’t to say that I didn’t have a means of marking someone. I only had one such skill of my own, and that was called True Mark. It was a skill I got as a True Hero at level 24. I could only use it once an hour, but whoever I marked would take increased damage to my attacks until they were either defeated or I removed True Mark. It was truly a Hero level skill, the capacity to dog down an enemy until they are stopped. However, I could also use it to Mark someone on my Map and follow them. This is what I had used on the Magician bandit before I had killed him.

He had died, yet my True Mark remained connected to him. At his death, it should have disconnected, but it didn’t. At the time, I hadn’t really noticed it, but now it made their unique form of resurrection all the more troubling.

Unfortunately, I had nothing marked so that I could easily travel to the town of the boy, the girl, and the magician. The magician wanted to stay in the city, and he absolutely refused to go back now that he was safe, no matter what I promised him. The boy offered to take me back to his village, and the girl wanted to go with him. In the end, I convinced her to stay in the safety of the city so we wouldn’t have to babysit her, and I decided to take the boy. I didn’t really care to take any of them, but I figured bringing back at least one of them would spare us the introductions.

My Map filled out as far as I could see. So, I could get on a tower, overlooking miles of land, and I could instantly unlock half a city. The map might not be the most detailed, but it was considered accurate enough I could open up a Portal using my Map. So, the only way I could get to the village which I couldn’t see through the thick forest was to climb up a tree, get as far a distant view as I could, and then Portal to the next place. I was also limited by Sense Life. It wouldn’t be good if I portaled into the middle of a bandit camp. Therefore, I only teleported as far as my Sense Life could detect, which was about half the distance of the overall Map, even on the surface. Thus, I had to waste a lot of portals.

I ended up having to readjust my dungeon points for the night so that I could use a lot of portals. It took four in all before we finally were able to open one up at the edge of town.

Chapter 626

I walked into the town followed by my six companions and the boy as well.

“It’s remarkable how useful that ability is. You think it’d be rather costly.” Murmured Ruby, who was still quite impressed by such an ability.

It actually was rather costly, but I had stored up a lot of dungeon points after risking my life many times. My body was a tapestry toward the struggles I had to survive to be able to waste portals so easily. Every point was a precious gift. Furthermore, the night was almost over, and I didn’t plan to do much before calling it. Tomorrow, I’d have all of those points back, so that was part of the reason I was willing to be a bit wasteful with them.

As we approached the small village, I saw a young boy jump down from a low tree branch and immediately race for the village. He was only five or six, but he was currently all they had as a watch.

“That’s my younger brother.” The boy responded weakly. “Any able-bodied man was either killed or drafted into the bandits. They take any village bullies or trouble-makers and they make them like themselves. It’s part of how they grew their number. Do or die. Father had hidden me, so that I wasn’t conscripted or executed.”

I supposed that did make a lot of sense. If someone was afraid and already not very scrupulous, they could very easily be turned into a turncoat. Once they robbed and killed a few and acquired the Bandit job, it was impossible to turn back. They’d have no choice but to continue to be a bad guy for the remainder of their life.

The lack of redemption was always troubling. If it wasn’t for me, someone like Shao would never have been able to live a normal life. It was a system I didn’t like, but I wasn’t smart enough to come up with a better one. Besides, this was a system set up by whatever god made this world. I’d be arrogant to think I could easily change things.

By the time we made it to the first building, there was a group of people waiting for us. The one in front appeared to be an old man. He was bent over and using a cane. He had to be at least seventy or eighty. Wait, didn’t the boy say that his father was the leader of this town?

“That’s your father?” I cried out.

The kid blushed. “That is my father…”

The old man seemed to hear the conversation and let out a chuckle. “What can I say? I like them young!”

As he said so, he wrapped his arms around a beautiful woman at least fifty years younger than him. My eyebrow twitched, but I gave a friendly smile, anyway. Considering I owned various slaves that I slept with, who was I to judge people about their relationships.

“It’s all good!” I laughed and shook his hand. “I mean, it’s not like you’re married to your cousin or something!”

“Ah!” The boy next to me let out a cry, grabbing my arm and shaking his head.

The old man didn’t seem to notice and threw back his head in a laugh.

“Hahahaha!” The old man laughed. “Why would I date my cousin when my sister is so much more beautiful!”

“There it is…” The boy sighed.

Chapter 627

“Huh?” I blinked.

“Oh, you… always flirting.” The woman in the old man’s arms blushed. “How is my little brother and son?”

“Just call me son, mom!”

“Now, now… I’m not just your mother, but also your sister! That makes us even closer! How is your sister and cousin?”

“Don’t forget future wife!” The man chuckled.

“She’s just my sister, dad! I’m not going to sleep with her!”

“Haha! That’s what I said too! Why, when your grandfather-uncle told me I’d be with my sister the rest of my life, I was resistant too, but there is no fighting that sex appeal. Sisters are just the best!”

“You! We have visitors! Will you stop with your disgusting talk of sisters!” A man shouted from the crowd.

I gave a breath of relief. At least there was some reason within this village. I was starting to fear I had entered some strange otherworld. I knew that Aberis was a small country, and this was out in the boonies even for Aberis, but Chalm was too and other than a few superstitions we had to quell they were an alright people.

“You… dissing sister-wives again!”

“That’s because daughter-wives are the best, and you know it!”

“Huh?”

“Tell em, sweetie!”

“Daddy-husband always treats me right!” a meager girl said half the age of her husband.

“W-wait! But who’s the mother?” I cried out.

“That bitch left me for a younger model!” The man responded darkly.

“Hmph! How could I not fall for our son! He’s just so adorable!” A woman cried out from the other side, her boobs resting on the head of a boy who looked to be about ten.

“You both are an affront to the gods!” A third man stepped in, pointing at the rest of them and causing the crowd to turn quiet. “Besides, everyone knows cousins are far more attractive than sisters!”

“You’re just saying that because you didn’t have a sister!”

“If you didn’t grow up beside them, how do you know you truly love them? Why, cousins are practically strangers!”

“You bastards, don’t make me stick my six toes up your ass!”

The other two men started fighting with the third, arguing between children, siblings, and cousins. It was just about ready to come to blows, and they had seemingly completely forgotten that I was present. In all, I realized that this was not just a small party, but the entire village. It was only three families, each consisting of about a dozen people. It was becoming abundantly clear why the bandits had steered somewhat clear of this town and hadn’t suppressed it as much as the rest.

“I’m sorry, I should have warned you.” The kid who had brought me lowered his head. “I was afraid if I said what my town was like, that you wouldn’t come to protect it.”

“I see…” I responded, scratching my chin.

“Should we even bother to help them?” Ruby of all people asked.

Apparently, even her sense of duty couldn’t get past the shamelessness of these people.

“Every village isn’t like this!” He cried out, “This is why we’re at the edge and farthest away. These families were kicked from the other towns! Please… even if you abandon them, can you help the others?”

I reached down and put my hand on the kid’s shoulder. “Do you truly have no interest in your sister?”

“I do not!”

“Then, I will help.”

As long as there was hope for the future, I would fight on, or something like that.

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