NOVEL NEXT Chapter 46: Levels and Morals
Mila
Staying ahead of the beastmen had been tough for Mila, and, had Aalam not been out of the cave practicing with his new powers nearby, they would have caught and killed Roland and the others.
Each of the beastmen had a heightened sense of smell, and she didn’t have any magical ways to stop that type of sense. She also couldn’t have fought them on her own as, while none of them were quite as strong as Roland, through the sacrifice of hundreds of civilians they could each match any of Roland’s party members.
It had taken all her skill to stay ahead of them, and even then they’d managed to cut her twice. Sure, if she’d been on her own, she wouldn’t have needed to buy time and she could have escaped, as her Law Egg of Obfuscation was almost peak grade, but it was a wake up call to Mila how much rank and levels really mattered.
In the tutorial, she’d fought against level 1 insect monsters and non-combatant humans. Anyone who’d actually been a danger she’d taken out with poison or guile, and, as a result, it hadn’t really sunk in just how much actually fighting would have been suicide.
This was the reason her and Aalam’s level of rewards had been ridiculous. For most G ranks, even killing a single F rank was nearly impossible.
F rank went from level 1 to level 36 and even the weakest cultivator, with an Inferior grade race and class, gained 81 stats per level. Even Aalam, with his many high grade Laws and ridiculous +1100% boost to Spirit, wasn’t anywhere close to invincible in F rank at level 1.
To protect himself in the battle which had just happened, he’d used almost half his resources to create what was called a Four State Seal, a specialized barrier requiring the Law Eggs of Plasma, Solid, Liquid, Gas, and Matter to set up. It only allowed physical objects through, not qi, mana, or psyforce, other than that of the creator—and that was why Mila had had to use Aalam’s resources to send out the contracts.
Then he’d used four of his five Mental Forges from his new Advanced Multi-Mind skill and his overpowered Spirit stat to take on the 26 beastmen, letting one of his two new dumber minds control his body.
Had the beastmen been able to actually cast spells at him, he would have had to kill them much quicker, as telekinesis couldn’t block magic. And there was a chance he would have died as he still wasn’t very good at fighting.
“So,” Mila began after finishing her healing of the beastmen, “does anyone know where any of the invasion forces are?”
All the beastmen, under a contract where they would feel intense debilitating pain if they didn’t answer truthfully, shook their heads.
“Alright. Where did you come from and how did you find Roland?”
What followed was a relatively long interrogation, taking roughly two hours, and Roland proved incredibly helpful, having enough in depth knowledge about Hira to ask more detailed questions. So, Mila let him do most of the talking and the only times she spoke after the beginning were to ask Uliana to explain context she was missing.
There was a jungle going through almost the entire center of the continent from east to west, with two mountain ranges blocking off parts, and they were in a section at the very center of the continent called the Forest of the Ashen Mistress. The area was about 5,000 square kilometers and had one of the continent’s larger mountain ranges as a border to the east, but it housed the largest city within 200 kilometers, Eshna.
Given its population and easy access to a river, Eshna was effectively the capital of a region around the size of Germany back on Earth, only much less populated. The region as a whole was mainly a location to gather spices for the nobles in other regions and the nobles who owned the land had lived in the empire’s capital for generations, almost never actually visiting.
The beastmen all came from a much more populated region to the southwest, having returned from the tutorial around the three major cities of that region. And it seemed in the month since the return of cultivators from the tutorial, the rebel forces had mostly conquered those cities and the region as a whole, using mass human sacrifices to make even more of their kind.
The beastman who’d escaped from Roland’s party before had escaped to there and told the rebel leadership about Roland’s existence. That leadership had then sent a good portion of their elite to kill the prince, the 25 in front of them and their dead friend.
Other than where they came from and information about the area, Roland also asked a lot of questions about the nature of the blood sacrifice rituals and many other questions about the inheritance the rebels had discovered in the northwestern part of the continent, information Mila filed away for later.
“Alright then,” Mila said when there were no more questions, having learned way too much about the nature of the blood sacrifices required to become beastmen. “Roland, would you do the honors?”
“What?” Roland looked at her, seemingly confused, as did the beastmen and Roland’s party members.
“Killing them of course.” Mila pointed at the beastmen but maintained eye contact with Roland. “Why do you think I put debilitating pain as the punishment in their contract instead of death? It was so you could gain a few levels from killing them.”
Mila then turned to look at the beastmen, several of whom were writhing on the floor in pain from trying to attack, but most had been wise enough to start the process of trying to run away, so she yelled, “Come back here and sit down.”
None of them actually followed the order, but it didn’t matter. Going against a direct command from her counted as violating their contract and they all dropped to the ground screaming.
Mila then looked back at Roland, who seemed a little uncomfortable. “What’s wrong?”
Roland didn’t move his eyes away from her and she could tell from his aura he’d decided to just be honest. “Killing defenseless prisoners makes me feel kind of evil.”
Mila nodded at him, understanding that position though not holding it herself, and she decided to be honest as well. “I wouldn’t call myself a good person, Roland. You’ve certainly noticed I have training in covert warfare and assassination. Back on my world I was an assassin and a spy. And I’d killed thirteen people even before the integration.
“Their souls don’t really weigh on my conscience, though, as none of them were good people.” Mila pointed at the beastmen writhing on the ground. “But the worst of them didn’t hold a candle to these men and women. They’ve each killed at minimum 144 people to become what they are.
“Granted, were I in their position, to protect those I care about, I might have made the same decision. As I said, I’m not a good person. But that empathy I have doesn’t change the fact I wouldn’t regret their deaths.”
Mila continued to look Roland in the eyes. “But I think you mostly agree with me on those points. Your issue is more about killing those you already have absolute control over. You coming from a world where slavery is incredibly common, I commend you for that.
“Personally, my view is mostly about pragmatism. I just mastered my last skill and now have the ability to advance to F rank. This means in about a day I’ll be powerful enough to go try to start the process of fully conquering this planet and ending the other eleven invasions, but I need you to stay alive for my plans to work.
“Unlike me, Guardian is a good person, and he has people he wants to protect back on our home planet, but our planet is being invaded just like this one, so the quicker we can get back the better. You leveling up will do more for your safety than having 25 bodyguards who all want you dead. And that will allow me to do more of what I need to in order for you to fully conquer your world so we can get off of it.”
Roland nodded, seeming to contemplate what she’d said. Then he asked, “What would you do if they weren’t evil shitheads but still attacked us?”
Mila smiled at him, not faking it. “You mean like what you and your party did to me?”
Roland opened his mouth to respond, then seemed to realize the situation he’d asked about was pretty much exactly the same as when they’d first met. “Oh.” He seemed to think a bit more. Then he asked another question. “What would you have done if you’d met the leaders of the other native factions instead of me?”
“Probably the same thing,” Mila answered honestly. “Though I wouldn’t have had conversations with them about moral philosophy. And I likely would have betrayed them at some point. Guardian has standards and they all sound like utter dicks.”
From Roland’s aura, Mila could tell she’d made the right call. He couldn’t read her aura or her face if she tried to hide things from him, but he didn’t trust her to begin with and he wasn’t stupid. Being honest brought his fears into the foreground, but he couldn’t do anything stupid due to them because of the contract and he wasn’t likely to anyway, so there wasn’t much risk. Instead, his level of trust in her words would go up for future interactions, and that was what was important.
Roland took out his sword and stabbed one of the beastmen through the heart, the primal energy contained in the man’s soul flowing into him, working basically like XP in video games. “Thank you for saving our lives.” Then he stabbed another beastman and another.
“No problem.” Mila looked at Roland and then at his party members. “I like you guys. You’re not quite as jaded as me.”
Then she turned to walk away. “After advancing, I’m going to go deal with those rebel leaders to the south. Then I’ll probably head to the inheritance site. Try to keep yourselves alive until I get back. Guardian won’t be there to save you next time.”
