Chapter 168. Polite Demise

Aiden heard the conversation of the group of rank 1 warriors.

"They are from a town in the desert? It seems the Karha Desert is full of criminals and outcasts. After all, who would love to live in a desert unless they had no other choice? Here, no empire will bother with them. This desert must be very lawless. The towns here must be like those crime-infested cities in the empires. I should find out more about the town they are from, from them. Perhaps I can find out more about which town or city in the desert I can use to forge a false identity there," Aiden thought.

Aiden turned.

When he turned, his enhanced hearing picked up a conversation between the group. He smiled faintly.

The group of 15 rank one warriors appeared before him.

"Young man," the boss said, "let’s make it simple. Hand over your money and we will..."

Before he could even finish speaking, extremely tiny blobs of blood which could not be seen with the naked eyes appeared and transformed into a microscopic condensed crimson blade.

The crimson blade shot towards the boss of the group.

Slice... Puchi... the crimson blade sliced and pierced through his forehead.

A thin dot appeared on his forehead. Blood splurged out of his forehead.

A tiny dot appeared at the back of his head. The microscopic crimson blade came out.

He could not even register how he died.

His dead body fell on the ground with a dull thud.

The rest of the group was scared shitless.

This person was not weak.

Who the hell had they offended?

Shit.

"I didn’t even see him attack."

"Me too. It’s like he just stood there and suddenly, the boss died."

"What kind of affinity does he have?"

"Is he able to kill people with his thoughts or something?"

"Shit..."

Aiden listened to their conversation.

He could have outright killed them with just his physical strength. Just a single slap would have destroyed someone’s head.

But there was a reason why he didn’t kill many of them outright. He wanted to see the reaction of people to his new way of using his affinity.

When he heard their comments, he realized that it worked. According to their words, they didn’t see him attack. Nor did they see his affinity. In their own words, to them, Aiden just stood there and suddenly their group leader died.

They found it so absurd that they thought he could kill people with his thoughts.

Looks like his cover would not be blown.

Aiden stared at the rest of the group.

"Sir, we are sorry for offending you... we..."

The rest did not even finish speaking.

The microscopic-looking crimson blade shot through their skulls with uncanny speed, leaving a trail of thuds and corpses in its wake.

Only one of them remained alive. A slim lady.

She stared at the corpses of her colleagues with an expression of fear on her face.

Each of them had tiny dots on their foreheads as blood pooled out of it and spread beneath their bodies on the forest floor.

"Sir... I will do anything... please... I can even warm your bed... sir, please don’t kill me..."

The woman fell on the ground and started cowering and begging Aiden.

"Sorry, but I have a woman. You are pretty and all, but I’m taken," Aiden said politely. His blue eyes had turned crimson, voice calm.

The woman looked up at him with fear on her face.

What sort of demon was this?

Why was he being polite after the massacre he had just committed? Was it some sort of chore for him?

This person had a lot of screws loose in his head.

Shit...

"Tell me about the cities across the Kahra Desert," Aiden added as he stared at the woman.

"Maybe if I tell him what I know, he will let me off? Heh, this guy killed my friends. If he lets me off, I will report him to my older brother, when he returns from MadCity and let him kill him."

Ever since her older brother left their town to MadCity, she had been on her own and she had been helpless. If only he hadn’t left. Sigh.

"There are several towns and cities spread across the Kahra desert. The cities are ruled by legendary rank 2 crime lords. The towns are ruled by rank 2 warriors below legendary rank 2," the lady explained.

"Each month, citizens of towns pay taxes to town lords, and the town lords have to give 70 percent of the taxes they earn from their town members to the city nearest to them. The city will send tax collectors to the town to collect the tax from the town lords. If they refuse, well, they will be killed."

Aiden nodded.

"How do these towns and cities handle gate incidents and beast tides?" he asked.

"If it’s beneath the town lords and city lords, they mobilize the town and city members, led by several elite divisions the town lords and city lords select to handle the gate incidents and chaotic beast tide. If it’s beyond what anyone can handle, the town lords and city lords can step in," she replied.

Aiden nodded.

"What is the nearest town from here?" Aiden asked.

"Rustwater town, where I’m from. If sir won’t be against it, I can be your guide," she said.

Aiden nodded and asked, "Do you know about any town where one can forge an identity?"

"No. For that, sir will have to head to the cities. But even with that, not all the cities have such services," she replied. "So, you will have to pass through the cities and inquire about that till you find a city where they render such services."

Aiden nodded. "Thank you."

He turned around to walk away. The lady thought he was sparing her and letting her guide him to Rustwater town.

"Heh. He is sparing me. I will let my older brother kill him for me when he returns. For now let me guide him back."

Suddenly, she felt extreme pain throughout her head.

She opened her eyes wide in shock.

He killed her?

Her vision blanketed as she fell on the ground with a lifeless expression.

A red dot was on her forehead, all the way to the back of her head. She lay in a pool of her blood which trickled down her head.

The microscopic crimson blade returned to Aiden, turned into a microscopic blob of blood, and returned into him.

Aiden absorbed the blood essence of the fifteen people and left.

He was headed to Rustwater town.