CHAPTER 21: THE BATTLE OF REINCARNATORS, PART ONE

[Special Existence Recognized.]

["Elias"] [Level: 24] [Plunder System]

’Hold on—system? This guy—he has a system like me?’ Leon thought, reading the information filtered to his vision.

At the same time, the leader of the bandits wore a somewhat surprised expression himself.

Elias exhaled, "As I suspected, the new lord of the Schoeller family is a guy like me."

"Guy like you? Are you saying you were reincarnated as well? You’re from Earth?—" Leon asked curiously.

The leader of the Brotherhood shrugged, "Yup, but unlike you, I was born into nothing. In fact, I was sent to the bottom of the barrel—orphaned in the slums of Varcan."

"Sucks for you, man," Leon said half-heartedly, brushing the words off.

Like a thorn stuck in his side, the comment seemed to elicit some nerve from Elias, who continued, "Right, I bet in your previous life, you were raised in a rich family, weren’t you? Probably lived off daddy’s money, never had to worry about a thing?"

While he came there expecting a fight, a verbal lashing was not exactly what the young lord was prepared for.

"No, I came from a pretty normal upbringing—"

"See?! Just as I said!" Elias shouted, tossing the stolen sword behind him without any care. "You couldn’t understand what it’s like to be born into nothing!"

"Could you calm down for a sec—"

"Pompous assholes like you are what’s wrong with humanity! I can’t stand people like you!" Elias expelled his disgust.

’I can’t even get a word in...This guy has serious problems,’ he thought, choosing to stay silent.

Enduring the rants that sounded like something straight out of a high school debate class, he readied himself for the inevitable. The truth of the matter was, the man in the dark, leather uniform had more than a few levels on him.

’Plunder System...He’s a thief, so it’s fitting. Call me Einstein, but I’m thinking his system involves stealing things. The question is: how though?’ He considered.

"...So, we couldn’t be further from one another. You, born into riches, surrounded by servants, having everything handed to you," Elias scoffed, running his fingers through his hair.

"You’ve really done your research, huh?" Leon asked.

"The Schoeller name isn’t exactly obscure," Elias retorted.

"Either way, can you take your people and leave this place? You’re stirring up a lot of trouble," Leon requested.

While coming to the castle, he had some notion about the leader of the Brotherhood, finding it to be perhaps his one and only true kin, the fire was taken out of him.

The way Elias kicked his boot against the cobblestone courtyard was as if he simultaneously claimed, yet detested the place he stood, "You really do think you can get anything you want, just by asking, don’t you?"

"Alright, really, it’s not like that, man—" Leon reasoned.

"I’m taking from the rich! A victimless crime!" Elias shouted. "If you have a problem with the way I live my life, then come stop me."

’Well, I tried doing this the peaceful way...This guy hates my guts just based on my family name. Thing is, I can’t really deny what he’s saying—doesn’t change the fact I’ve got a job here,’

he resolved.

In an effort to not engage an enemy without knowing their abilities, he snapped his fingers, causing the ground to rumble throughout the courtyard. Using the stone as a catalyst, he gave rise to swordsman made of the inorganic material, wielding blades and spears–

"Tera Army."

A dozen of the soulless golems stood in formation around the caster, facing their weapons towards the criminal leader.

Elias remained unfazed, even letting out a sigh at his displeasure, "What? Are you too afraid to draw your sword and fight me like a man?"

"Sure, but magic is pretty handy—have you done your studying?" Leon asked playfully, pointing forward to guide the stone soldiers.

As the golems raced across the battle-torn field of cobblestone, the man in black didn’t react in haste. Surprisingly, the bandit let the stone-men come right for him, welcoming their assault.

As the first of the inorganic swordsmen reached the criminal, the rough sword was swung towards the left side of Elias’ head. The thief leaned back as if merely avoiding a drop of rain, countering with simply tapping his knuckles against the golem’s chest.

From that simple touch, the stone figure froze before crumbling into dust.

’—What did he just do?’ Leon observed, watching the rest of the soldiers surround the lonesome bandit.

Each of the stone men moved nimbly unlike their rigid bodies suggested, some leaping in, plunging their spears and swords. Elias moved as though he had eyes in the back of his head, contorting his body like an acrobat as a spear passed right by his chest.

It was undoubtedly impressive, though the lack of emotion on the thief’s face only made it more unsettling.

"Do you really think this is getting you anywhere?" Elias asked as he grabbed ahold of two of the golem’s wrists.

From the point of contact, once again, the earthen figures were returned to dust.

’Is it an insta-kill touch ability? That can’t be it—it’d be completely unfair. Then again...Nothing about my system is fair either, right? Shit,’ he thought.

One tap: two taps; three taps—with only his index finger, the thief brought the force of stone soldiers to a bitter end.

Elias brushed his gloves off, standing there as his eyes locked onto the nobleman, "Want to keep summoning them or do you have any better ideas? Let’s see it."

’This guy is really getting under my skin. Fine, let’s take this somewhere away from my sleeping friend,’ Leon thought.

With a raise of his hand, verdant winds conjured, swirling around himself and the thief. It lifted him, carrying them both in a one-way transport into the sky, through the air and away from the courtyard.

He softly landed some miles away, placing himself atop the plateau of the tallest mountain overlooking the Haul domain.

As for the bandit, he gave him a harsher landing, though Elias dispelled the wind with a swipe of his hand.

"A change of scenery?" Elias remarked, looking at the high-altitude terrain as gusts howled by.

"Listen, why don’t we just talk things through? For starters, where were you from? In your previous life, I mean," Leon asked, attempting to find some middle ground. "I’ll start—I’m from Montana, USA. My original name was Zack."

Elias paused momentarily before deciding to play along while adjusting his gloves, "Montana, huh? I’m from Oregon. I wasn’t given a new name. I was reborn into this world nameless—so Elias has always been my one and only name."

"Nameless? Seriously?" Leon questioned.

"Life’s a bitch sometimes, isn’t it? So—stop trying to get out of this!" Elias suddenly shouted, dashing as his foot kicked off the firm soil with a crack of the wind.

It was clear as day he wasn’t going to avoid a fight—that was the reality of the situation. As the figure closed in like a speeding bullet, he invoked "Haste", managing to hop up with air beneath his boots just as the thief passed.

Elias led with five fingers, clearly placing everything on a single touch. The worrisome detail was kept in mind as Leon landed behind the thief, quickly snapping his fingers as static traveled down his arm.

"Split Bolt!"

The lightning sharply broke apart into two lines, curving around to strike the thief from both sides. In that very instant as the azure elements closed in like a pincer, the criminal leader reached out into a pocket of darkness that emerged in the air itself.

From it, Elias retrieved a kite shield made of black steel, carved with the face of a grinning ghoul on the front. The dark pocket closed just as he held the shield up, emitting a pulse from the front of the defensive tool.

It echoed with a haunting sound like that of fiendish laughter, bringing the split lightning to dispel.

’What the hell is that? He pulled that shield out of some kind of dark space?’ He observed.