Leo barely slept for 3-4 hours before his body could no longer sleep. By this time he'd be up and about. So regardless of how tired he felt mentally, he couldn't fall back to sleep which caused him to look at the girls who were sound asleep enviously
Deciding to find something to do to distract himself, after finding some paper, he sat at the desk and started recounting what happened last night
[ skeleton warrior ]
3 metres tall, 1000kg in weight
Strength attribute 10-11
Phsyique attribute ???
Agility attribute 0.6-1.5
Intelligence negligible
Weaknesses???
Leo drew up a profile on the skeleton warrior based on what he analysed last night. Sure this wouldn't needed if he simply touched one of them but, that requires finding the opportunity to touch one, a risk he didn't intend to take
Based on his analysis, he observed several points.
1. Unlike apprentice knights, bronze Knights don't seem to gain attribute growth upon realm advancement. Yet they're much stronger than an apprentice Knight, which means they do gain something. What that was he didn't know
2. The skeleton warriors got stronger as the night progressed. From a Level 1 bronze Knight to level 3 which was right before dawn.
' does their strength grow or does the portal being open for longer times allow for stronger skeleton warriors to climb out? ' thought Leo
3. Village no.9 had 10 skeleton warriors in the forest around the village, the others came from else where. 100 people to 10 skeleton warriors
10 people = 1 skeleton warrior?
Leo highlighted this point, intending to investigate and come back to it in the future
4. 10 people is the maximum amount of people that can be together without being sensed by a level 1 bronze Knight skeleton warrior
This number drops to 8, when it's a level 2. No idea on stronger ones
5. The moment he thought of the 5th point his expression turned serious, subconsciously glancing at Rebecca on the bed as he started to write out what he had found
5. The reason why the skeleton warriors skull shattered isn't because of his hammer but because of Rebecca's arrows.
For some reason her arrows made the skull much more brittle, which allowed him to shatter it's skull
' red ones huh ' thought Leo as he remembered what Rebecca had told him. Did they have special abilities? The nemesis of dark creatures?
If so, why were they targeted and persecuted?
With all this thinking, Leo felt his eyelids getting heavier and heavier, getting up, he climbed into bed, the moment his head touched the pillow he fell asleep
***
Inside the baron's luxurious Manor. Baron Abraham sat at the head of a long table, ten old men also sat at the table, 5 on each side. Maids walking in and out of the room bringing refreshments
The Baron tapped his finger on the table expressionlessly as he listened to the various reports of the Mayor's on the losses of the villages
Scattering before the portal opens helps, but it's no guarantee. So every 2 weeks, their population is somewhat affected which is why they're so willing to let in strays, to replenish the lost of the territory
" sir, this time Village no.1 only lost 22 people " said the Mayor of the first village, his expression tinged with pride, hearing his words, the others looked at him enviously but didn't say much
" sir, Village no.2 lost 37 people " said the Mayor of the second village calmly
Abraham listened to each of their reports, his expression not changing but the speed of his tapping gradually accelerated as he listened to the numbers getting higher and higher. Only for it to freeze mid air after Mayor Timble of village no.9 spoke
" we've suffered no losses last night sir, all people are accounted for. Well except for one " said Timble trying to keep his face as expressionless as Baron Abraham, barely able to suppress the smile that wanted to grow on his face after seeing the disbelief on the faces of the other Mayor's
" did the person die? " asked Baron Abraham, not interested in the death of one stray
" no sir " said Timble hesitantly before he continued " it's Sir Thomas, he left. He also left this letter for you "
" how is that possible? " asked Baron Abraham after taking the letter from Timble and reading through it.
His expression finally changing and becoming uncertain as he put down the letter
He doubted that Mayor had the gall to lie to him as that was something that could easily be exposed with a simple investigation
After a brief moment of silence, he mentioned for Timble to continue his report
" when the guards checked, they found slight traces of battle, but who ever did it, cleaned up behind themselves. The only major thing we found was this " said Timble as he raised an partially burned arrow and gave it to the Baron who took it and started examining it
" that fallen noble, did they leave? " asked Abraham suddenly, which caught everyone but Timble off guard,
" no sir, those girls were seen earlier today carrying the fish that they had caught. I don't know where the boy is but he should still be in the village " explained Timble, trying to hide his inner nervousness
" did his group hand in their weekly quota? " asked Abraham, not paying any mind to Timbles behaviour
" yes, sir. That groupm as strange as they may be hand in their quotas on time, each and every week. Speaking of, the boy has decided to gift the way they use to catch the fish to you " said Timble
" a gift? " asked Abraham as he lifted his head and looked squarely at Timble who immediately lowered his head, his body visibly trembling. Seeing this, Abrahams eyes grew narrow
" so with this gift, I expect that he's now part of my guard? " asked Abraham, his voice gradually growing colder which caused all the Mayor's to start trembling in fear, though they weren't the ones being spoken to
" n...n..no sir " replied Timble with a stutter
***
" Leo "
" Leo wake up "
Leo felt someone talking to him and shaking him, which caused him to open his eyes in a daze, when he snapped out of it, he found that Rebecca was standing next to him with a worried expression
" what's wrong " asked Leo, his expression changing as he hurriedly got out of bed. Rebecca didn't reply but pulled him outside
When he got outside, Leo found that their house was surrounded by 20 guards sitting on horses, including the one who had beaten him before. They were all centered around a luxuriously dressed man who had a fish trap in his hand examining it
The girls were standing in front of the house nervously, visibly relaxing when they saw him come outside as they walked towards him, before standing behind him
" boy, bow down to your lord " said the guard that beat him before as he walked forward his hand on his sword, the threat clear
Leo glanced at him calmly, he could remember clearly that his highest attribute was 5, that being Agility, even though he's a level 5 apprentice Knight.
When he was beaten, his attributes were at 2, while right now all of his attributes are above 4. So while he may not win the fight, he definitely won't be man handled like before, so he didn't pay much attention to him.
" good morning my lord, what blessing did my family receive today for you to grace us with your presence " said Leo with a smile as he bowed slightly. Seeing his action, the girls did the same thing
Seeing that he was ignored, the guard was about to step forward and teach Leo another lesson, only to be stopped by the Baron who finally raised his head and looked at Leo and the others
" you refused my offer, why is that " asked the Baron as he threw the fish trap to the maid standing beside his horse, his expression arrogant as he looked down on Leo from untop of his horse
" I have my family to take care of my lord " said Leo, his smile not changing as he repeated the same answer
" family you say " said the Baron, his expression turning scornful " didn't you buy them for a few kilograms of fish, so if you purchased a cow, would you refuse to eat it because it's your family "
His words caused the guards to burst into laughter, though his expression was scornful, his eyes were calm as he took in the reactions of Leo and the others, finding that they didn't change because of his words
' interesting ' thought the Baron
" family is a group of people who love and care for each other, while sticking by each other in hard times. Regardless of if they're related by blood or not. So yes, I consider them my family. So called blood relatives, may be the head people who stab you in the back. My lord " said Leo calmly, his smile brighter than before
His words caused the surroundings to fall into silence as the guards looked at the Baron, who's expression changed, showing clear anger as he looked at Leo coldly
" oh? So what If I decided to destroy your so called family " said the Baron. Hearing his words, the guards drew their swords
" then we'd die as a family my lord " said Leo, meeting his gaze, his smile finally disappearing
" is that so " said the Baron his expression turning expressionless once again
" you have 2 choices, one die where you stand " said the Baron as the guards step forward, surrounding Leo and the others closer
" serve me as your lord, you can bring along your so called family. As for your gift, I allow you to make 1 request "
" so which do you choose "