Devourer System : Infinite Paths

After their conversation ended, Draven contacted Nero once more, his words ringing in his mind that completely spoked him, but once he described everything, he felt relieved.

Draven explained that the place they met was called the mind or soul place, and since they had a single soul with two independent consciousnesses, they could communicate by simply directing their thoughts toward the other.

If one wishes for his thoughts to stay to himself, one can just not think of the other, and the other party will hear nothing.

While one was in control, the other could see and hear what the body saw and heard, but even if the one not in control wanted to feel what the body felt, he would not be able to unless he took control.

All of it was new and foreign to Nero, and he understood little of how it even worked, but knowing that he had the consciousness of his older self in his head, it was easier to digest such a mad concept.

Nero decided to test these claims by directly thinking toward Draven and even keeping his thoughts to himself. While both were proven to be true, he still was skeptical of the latter, thinking his older self was trying to trick him.

Once the testing was done, Draven moved on to practicing the switching of consciousness, making Nero comfortable with the feeling of giving and taking control.

They practiced for nearly an hour, with them gaining an understanding of questions, like how much willpower it took for Nero to take control of the body, how much mental energy each exchange took, and if there was any limitation to how long Draven could keep control.

After an hour, they had a rough understanding of their situation, and Draven gave him the green light to move ahead with the plan of leaving the village.

-----------------

"BAAAAA"

"Buddy, I already told you I could not take you with me, and I am sorry for it but don't worry; I will not forget you," Nero said, patting Tiger's fluffy head, someone he could consider more than just a companion.

Nero wanted to take Tiger with him on his journey because he had developed a bond with the little glutton, which was very rare. After the betrayal of his so-called friends at the Orphanage, he did not trust anyone, but the little goat won his trust with his actions.

But he understood that even if he fed him the best resources, he would still never be able to match with him since he was just a common stone-horned goat.

It took a few minutes to reach the village elder's house, where he was welcomed by the guard captain and his entire crew, who were likely conversing about what they found as they all turned silent the moment they saw him.

"Nero, how are you feeling now? " The elder said, walking forward to greet him with his usual kind smile.

"I am feeling better," Nero replied and continued, "Elder, I am leaving the village, and I am giving away all my goats to you to use them as you please, but I would be grateful if you could take care of Tiger yourself," Nero said, his words wiping away the old man smile.

"As you wish Youngman, but never forget that you have a home in the Elmswyn village," The old man said, a smile returning to his face.

"Boy, you are leaving the village, and here I thought we could train and hunt together from time to time," Yern said with a minor chuckle, but it was clear that he was not surprised by his decision.

"Captain, How much are you going to pay for the wolves," Nero said, flashing a grin.

"After watching you give away your goats, I thought you were feeling quite generous," Yern said with a smirk, raising two fingers. "But I guess I was wrong. Two silver for each common wolf and twenty for the alpha leader, so that will be thirty-four silver coins in total," He said, crossing his arms with a satisfied grin.

"So, when you are leaving because I was hoping for something, something," Dyann said with a disheartened look.

"I would love to spend some time with all of you, but I need to leave,"

"Captain, we have a deal, so why don't you grab the money, and I will meet you at the village gate?" Nero said, giving his little friend one last pat before turning and heading toward the gate

Nero left the elder house with a small leather bag on his back that had two sets of cloaths and four days' worth of ration, all that he needed to get to the nearest city.

After a few minutes of waiting, Captain Yern came, handing him a pouch with thirty-four silver coins. After telling him about how villages in the east mountain are very remote, he took his leave.

Nero gave the village one last look and set off toward the city, taking the main road. The path was familiar, well-worn by traders and farmers, but if he solely followed it, it would take him a week to get to the city, so after a few hours, he was walking through abandoned roads, taken over by nature.

Despite the rugged terrain, Nero moved swiftly, as he had studied these paths for weeks, knowing that one day, he might need to make a quick escape. 

He had memorized each recognizable location, every clearing, and every hidden trail. He knew which areas were safe and which stretches to avoid, allowing him to pick shortcuts that saved him hours without hesitation.

Nero kept a steady pace for the entire day, and before the night came, he was already more than halfway to the city, and if his older self did not tell him to rest, he had enough energy to keep going and reach the city by tomorrow dawn.

He was just too eager to get the primordial grade system because, in his eyes, the king of the Human continent, as well as the Rulers of the other two continents, were holders of King grade systems, and history tells how every individual who acquired a King grade system went on to become a person of immense power and influence. 

Nero could count the number of individuals with a King grade system on one hand, with no more than eight known to the public. The sheer thought that he would have a system rank higher than all those big shots seemed like a dream that would break the moment he drifted to sleep.

Nero tried to strike up a conversation with Draven, but he did not even bother to reply, so his desire to know how they would acquire the system or which system in particular, and a hundred others, were all left unanswered.

The night was mostly spent staring at the night sky, which was filled with bright and unique stars, and Nero barely had any sleep. However, with the first light of the day, he was back on track, ready to reach the city as quickly as possible.

The following seven hours passed rather quickly, with Nero finding little to no trouble. The few random beasts he did encounter, he easily avoided, and after nearly two days, he was just a few kilometers away from the city when the trouble came looking for him.

'After this canyon, I would reach the old merchant road, and from there, an hour of walk, and I will reach the city,' Nero thought, his eyes scanning the rocky path ahead, eager to leave the narrow pass behind.

"Look what we have here, a small deer out roaming these bad lands without a care," A snickering voice echoed in the canyon, forcing Nero to halt.

'City guards? No, these are bandits or adventurers,' Nero thought, his hand instinctively tightening around the hilt of his dagger. 

He scanned the canyon walls, his eyes catching movement on the ridge above as three figures stepped into view, their dark cloaks blending into the jagged rocks.

"Looks like you are lost, my friend," Another voice called out, the speaker, a burly man with a scar across his jaw, was descending the slope, his two companions following closely behind.

"We could safely escort you to the city for just the price of all your belongings, or you could try to make your escape, but then I would have to collect my prize from your corpse," The leader said with a wide grin, slowly tapping on the sword hilt strapped to his waist.

"Boy, I would advise you to take the first option since I am Eleazar Barclay, the man wanted by the city for eight gold coins," The man said, with a slow laugh, as he took long strides to bridge the distance between them, while his companions flanked him, eyes locked on Nero with predatory intent.

'Switch'

The single cold words sounded in his mind, and in an instant, he felt his senses slipping away. His focus shifted to that of the spectator as he appeared in his soul place, his body no longer in his control.

"Eight gold, huh?" Draven said a broad smile stretching across his face that even forced the leader to halt. "Seems like they think you are worth more dead than alive." He said, slowly walking toward the leader, his fingers inching toward the shortsword on his waist.

"Why are you smiling? What's so funny about dying?" The leader growled, halting in his tracks. His breath grew heavier as he stared into the young boy's eyes, frustration flickering across his face.

Eleazar never planned to let Nero leave alive, even if he was loaded with gold, because he enjoyed murder. Allowing his targets to think that he had a chance to escape, only to crush that hope at the last second, gave him a thrill like no other. 

The fear in their eyes, the sudden realization of doom was intoxicating to him, and most of them were easy prey, predictable in their terror, but the boy, he was different. 

There was no happiness in escaping the bandits, no anger in getting robbed, no fear in his eyes, no trembling or pleading as he thought of the worst. In fact, his gaze was cold and calculating, more like a wild predator than a victim.

Eleazar felt the flicker of uncertainty and gnashed his teeth in anger at the thought of feeling fear from a mere commoner, and so he burst forth with all his strength as a First Rank ascendent, swinging his brode sword wide, aiming to slice the boy in half.

Draven closed the distance with measured steps. As the bandit swung his blade, he easily ducked beneath it, and in one fluid motion, he closed in further, and before the bandit could react, a flash of silver cut clean across his neck.

The last breath escaped his body and, with it, his soul, leaving his lifeless corpse to crumple to the ground. His eyes, once filled with rage, now stared blankly at the sky as the blood pooled beneath him, soaking into the dirt.