Cultivating Talents [LitRPG Mana-cultivation]

"These creatures are disgusting," Emela said with a frown.

Hector threw a glance back at her. The purple knife evaporated in a cloud of buzzing motes. They were ugly, yes. But over the last few days, they'd grown on him a bit. He moved towards the edge of the flickering darkness.

"Nyx, could you bring the torch a little closer?" he said, waving her forward.

The girl walked closer, her boots crunching along the dirt and stone as the light from the torch pushed back at the inky darkness of the tunnel.

The receding black left forms in its wake, like the tide leaving behind shells. Hector's brow creased, his hands clenched at his side as his gaze swept over the carnage.

"What could have done this?" Emela said, stepping next to him.

"Something that doesn't like the hairless rats too much." Hector stepped forward and dropped to one knee.

He raised a hand and hovered it over the wound on the hairless rat corpse, tracing its path. Whatever had done this was big, and that was saying something. The average hairless rat was at least half the size of him—when they were on all fours, that is.

He glanced up at the ceiling. Emela looked up as well and frowned. "What are you looking at?"

"Well, whatever made these claw marks," Hector said, grunting as he got to his feet. "It's at least double the size of this guy." Hector nudged the corpse with his foot. "While I don't think it will be massive, I was wondering how big something can get in these cave systems."

The cave tunnel spread out quite a bit in width, the walls being separated by at least four of him lying on the ground and about twice as high. Dust motes danced through the air, their forms playing in the flickering torch flame. The smell of stale rock hung in the air, the scent of blood coating its undertone.

"Are you worried about the hideout?" Emela asked.

"No, we should be fine." Hector slipped his hands into his pockets, his gaze trailing over the corpses of the hairless rats. He turned his head to Emela. "The entrance is small enough that anything too big won't fit. And if they try, I can just cook them."

Though I kind of hope something does actually try. I haven't gotten to try my [Iron Skin] Talent yet. Maybe this thing could be a good test subject.

He'd switched the [Personal Purification] Talent out for the [Iron Skin] Talent yesterday. Clair's raid would have more than a few variables; with a solid defence, he could be prepared for most things.

"Should we head back then? What time are we meeting this Clair woman?" Emela asked, crossing her arms, her twin braids swaying behind her.

Before Hector could respond, a loud shriek cut through the silence. Skittering echoed off the walls, the sound playing against his ears. A patrol of hairless rats was coming their way.

"Yeah, we probably should. We shouldn't waste our Talents' usage fighting these things," Hector said. He spared one last glance at the corpses. Whatever had done this was probably nearby. But that was the hairless rats' problem now.

The three of them hurried through the tunnels, eager to avoid the patrol. They weren't too close to the base, but they hadn't gone too far either. Within a few minutes, they were back. And thankfully, they hadn't seen any signs of whatever had killed those hairless rats.

Upon entering the cave, Hector found Jodie talking to Mirae. The ginger girl hadn't been present when he'd left, so she must have arrived fairly recently.

As for why he left Mirae alone, the [Gentle Sanctuary] Talent held by Mirae proved to be quite useful for keeping the hairless rats away, and he hadn't gone too far, so he wasn't too worried about his sister's safety.

"Hector," Jodie said, nodding at him. "Ah, you two are here as well. That's good." Jodie nodded again at Emela and Nyx.

"It's good to see you," Hector said. "How are things with the safe house?"

"That's actually why I'm here. While I was lingering in the area, I spotted this fancy-looking guy. Not like noble fancy, but he had a lot of decorations on, if you know what I mean. I saw him enter the safe house. The guys who let him in seemed terrified, but the man himself didn't really seem to care. If anything, he was in a rush."

Dust motes fluttered by as the campfire crackled and sparked at the centre of the sanctuary dome. Mirae moved over to her side to tend to it, her clothes scrunching as she bent down, grabbing another log and throwing it on.

Hector brought a finger to his lips. He gave his sister a slight smile as thoughts danced around his head. Someone important had turned up. If they could make the people inside tense, they had to be a big shot. Hector glanced up, meeting Jodie's blue eyes.

"Did you see what they looked like?" he asked.

"Not their face. But they had short black hair and were wearing a suit."

"A suit?" Emela asked. "They must be important, either that or they are trying to appear so." She brushed a loose strand of blond hair behind her ear.

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"Maybe. Though it is the Collar gang—from what I hear, the higher-ups like to make themselves seem organised. So it's not strange to see some wearing suits," Jodie said.

"And you said he seemed like he was in a rush?" Hector asked. He stepped towards his tent and paused, turning to Jodie.

"Yeah. He gave me the impression that this was just something he wanted to get over and done with. As if he had somewhere more important to be."

Hector nodded and ducked into the tent. He rifled around for a few moments, moving clothes aside and padding around until his hand brushed across what he was looking for.

Pulling back, clothes slipped off a small, tattered wooden chest. He brought it outside and placed it on the ground. He then popped the lid open, revealing a collection of plain brown masks carved from wood.

"What are you doing?" Emela asked, stepping over. Her gaze scrutinised the masks as a frown pulled across her lips. "What are those for?"

Hector reached in, taking a mask in hand. He ran his finger across its rough surface. "Mirae and I can't have our faces seen, as that defeats the point of hiding. And also, it's probably best if all of you don't expose your identities either. So, for the time being, I want us all to wear these masks when doing things like this."

He handed a mask to Emela. She took it, turning it over in her hands as a look of confusion crossed her features. It was fine if she didn't fully see the reason, but Hector didn't want to make tracking them down any easier for the Collar Gang, and this was one of the best ways to do that. He pulled another mask out and handed it to Jodie.

"I knew why you needed them when you asked for some, but I'm curious. Is this going to be part of the mercenary group you want to make?" the ginger asked, taking the mask from him.

Emela raised a brow at him, interest flaring in her eyes.

Tilting his head to the side, Hector glanced at the fire that Mirae was tending. The flames twisted around each other, jumping and popping. "I don't know yet. For the time being, I will say this is mandatory, and, to be honest, it would probably allow us to use our Talents without too much care."

"Something you need, Mr Core Formation cultivator," Jodie said.

Emela chuckled, and Hector lightly shook his head. Many people in the slums still thought that what he'd done the day his father died put him somewhere in the Core Formation realm. But he'd have quite a while until he was there.

From the current pace of Mirae and I, we should both reach it within the year. That will make things a lot easier, but I can't hide down here for an entire year. They'd probably find us long before then.

Hector shut the lid, a mask held firmly in his hands. "Are you two ready, then?" he asked, turning to Nyx and Emela.

The two girls nodded.

"Why am I always stuck on babysitting duty? I want to fight as well," Jodie said, a thin smile on her lips.

"I'm not a baby," Mirae said, pouting as her head snapped to Jodie. "And don't worry, soon enough I'll be Gravity Forging One; by then, with the help of Pan, I will be more than able to look after myself."

Jodie shook her head. "Just don't take as long as Hector did, and I'll be happy. And who in the Great Lakes is Pan?"

"It's what she's calling her puppet," Hector said, coming to his feet. He nudged the chest back over to the tent entrance, then made his way over to Mirae. Bending down, he kissed his sister on the forehead. "You be good, okay, and eat well, and make sure you continue cultivating."

Mirae nodded. She wouldn't take as long as he did to reach Gravity Forging One. If his calculations were right, his sister should make it there in about fifteen days, give or take. When that happened, it'd probably be quite the surprise for the group.

"Alright, let's go meet Clair," Hector said, getting to his feet.

"Oh, don't forget this," Jodie moved over to the side of his tent where she had placed her backpack. She flipped it open and pulled out a bulging clump of leather before throwing it onto the ground. "These are some cloaks. I figured they'd go well with the masks, seeing as you want to hide your identity and everything."

An appreciative smile morphed onto Hector's lips. "Thanks, Jodie."

—— —— —— ——

Pendeck flipped through the folder in his hand. The files of this safe house were good, but not great. If Bobbie had been doing this inspection, Pendeck was certain every man and woman in here would be punished in the most fitting way possible. But Bobbie wasn't here.

And I don't have the time to educate these fools on how to do proper file-keeping. I swear. I know we are from the slums, but they could aspire to be a little more civil.

He placed the folder on the thick oak table and let out a sigh.

"Is everything alright?" Delkash, the leader of this safe house, asked.

"If our operation in the northern quarters of the slums wasn't constantly being attacked by those Horfrost bastards, I'd say yes... it could be better, but for the most part, yes. But as it stands, we need to up profits."

Pendeck pinched his brow, frustration blooming in his chest. Why did everything have to fall on the area he managed? Why did Brulin have to anger a Core Formation cultivator, getting himself killed? What was that idiot thinking?

"Up profits, sir?" the bald man gulped, scratching at his tattered waistcoat. "That might be difficult, given the loss of the Ham Pills. The gambling dens can't really make more money, and I think we've tapped into the entire pool of drunks in the Sirius quarter."

Pendeck blinked at him. The lamp hanging from a beam that ran through the small office crackled. The smell of old sweat and alcohol tinged the air as footsteps creaked through the hallway outside. Distant laughter sounded now and then from the gathering room downstairs.

Moving over to the boarded-up window, Pendeck peered through the slit and watched the people below. His eyes followed a particularly attractive young woman, and desire ignited in his heart. He'd have to visit the brothel later. He was under too much stress.

"I don't care how you do it, Delkash," Pendeck said, turning his head back to the man. "Up the profits. Bobbie is out for blood at the moment. And I don't mind handing you over as a sacrifice." Not that Pendeck could; one thing he loved and hated about Bobbie was that he liked to follow the proper order of things, hierarchy included.

"I want to, sir, trust me, but we are having some of our own problems."

Pendeck raised a brow.

"Well, you see, the Scoda gang has been running amok on a lot of our turf lately. Nothing too major, and we've been able to deal with it, but it's bad for business, and they just keep coming back. They are proving to be quite the headache."

"Scoda, huh?" Pendeck stepped back over to the desk. He pulled a small pipe from his blazer pocket and played with it. "Once things with the Horfrost Gang have calmed down, I'll request some help from the boss; exterminating a few ants shouldn't be too difficult. They can only jump around for so long because our forces are tied up elsewhere. Don't worry about them, just improve the profits."

Delkash nodded. His hand moved to his pocket, and he pulled out a lighter and raised it to Pendeck. The man took it. Reaching into his breast pocket, he pulled out a small clump of Osh, stuffing it into the hole. A flame crackled from the lighter's top, and he brought it to the end of the pipe.

Letting out a small cloud of smoke, Pendeck lowered his pipe. "Where is Carter, by the way? I haven't seen the boy around, and the boss has a message for him."

"I'm not sure; he said he was stepping out a little earlier today. He hasn't come back yet."