Chapter 33: A Way
Mateo let out a sigh of relief when he saw that the girl had survived, but he knew it would probably only be temporary.
If this continued, she would still die eventually.
"Why are you just standing there?"
The young barbarian wielding the greatsword suddenly appeared before Mateo again and swung his blade at him.
Mateo immediately retreated as fast as he could to dodge.
"I can sense a dangerous power within you. Why aren’t you using it?" the young man asked again as he aggressively charged toward him.
Mateo wondered where Samuel, who had been fighting him earlier, had gone.
"Why don’t you just retreat? If this keeps going, all of you will die," Mateo said to him.
"Retreat? Impossible. This is where we were born and raised. We only want to die here," the young man replied firmly.
Clang!
Mateo was forced to block, causing his arms to tremble.
At that moment, he realized this was a situation where both sides had conflicting interests, and neither side was willing to back down.
Of course, if one had to talk about right and wrong, the Magi were the ones in the wrong.
But they had also been forced into this by the Baron.
After dodging a second time, Mateo chose to retreat behind several powerful Magi, one of whom was Alex’s group.
Fighting that barbarian youth was simply too troublesome.
In the end, the young barbarian turned his attention to Alex’s group and easily pressured them.
Alex didn’t bother hiding his anger toward Mateo, but by then Mateo had already moved far away.
Since the Magi held the overall advantage, some managed to break into the village despite being pursued by the barbarians.
Mateo was one of them and was fortunate enough to avoid pursuit.
There were plenty of places to hide, especially beside the stone houses.
He truly hated this situation, so he slipped into an alley between two houses and sighed repeatedly.
"Let’s find them. The Baron said they prepared an underground escape route for the children."
"The Baron will give us a huge reward if we find them. He wants to enslave those children."
Suddenly, Mateo overheard four Magi talking as they hurriedly searched house after house.
His expression darkened.
The sight of one little girl nearly dying had already shaken him.
This was even worse.
DING!
(You have obtained the secret location of the barbarian children at the cost of 0.7 Heaven Path Soul Energy!)
[Soul:]
Heaven Path Soul > 0 (SSS Class Soul)
A notification suddenly appeared.
Moments later, information surfaced directly inside his mind.
Within this village, he now knew exactly where the children were hiding.
His desire to save them couldn’t be fulfilled outright due to insufficient energy.
Only 0.7 remained.
Still, it was enough to reveal their location.
Without another thought, he stepped out of the alley.
His eyes swept across several houses before settling on one that looked completely unremarkable, its walls already covered in cracks.
He hurried toward it.
Two of the four searching Magi were already approaching the same area.
Upon reaching the door, he pushed it open.
Inside, an old man had just finished sealing an underground entrance and was trying to cover it with dirt.
Mateo shook his head before quietly closing the door again.
"Anyone inside?" the two Magi asked when they arrived.
"No."
Mateo answered calmly.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I’m searching for the children too, under the Baron’s orders."
For some reason, lying came surprisingly naturally this time.
"Come on, let’s search somewhere else," one Magus said to the other.
"Yeah."
The two left.
DING!
(You helped hide the children of Desolate Stone Village. You gained 100 System Points. Continue helping them escape safely to obtain more System Points!)
[System Point: 100]
Another notification appeared, catching him completely off guard.
A reward.
He had actually received a reward, even though that wasn’t what he was aiming for.
Then he remembered.
Not every reward came from defeating enemies.
Sometimes, helping others could trigger rewards as well.
When he healed the Baron’s wife, he had received one.
However, when he helped people from Earth like William, he had received nothing.
After the two Magi disappeared, Mateo opened the door again.
Only to find the old man aiming a bow directly at him.
"Don’t try to come in!" the old man warned coldly.
"I was only helping so they wouldn’t find you," Mateo said, raising one hand.
"You expect me to trust someone sent by the Baron?"
The old man remained wary.
"The Baron forced all of us. We don’t have a choice. But I can’t stand seeing children captured and turned into slaves," Mateo replied honestly.
That was genuinely how he felt.
"What can you do to help us? Sooner or later, those people will come back and search this house. Once enough of them arrive, someone will definitely discover the children’s escape route."
The old man seemed to trust him a little more.
But what exactly could he do?
Stand there forever and claim the house was empty?
No.
That wasn’t a real solution.
’System, convert my System Points into Heaven Path Soul Energy!’
DING!
(100 System Points converted into 10 Heaven Path Soul Energy!)
[System Point: 0]
[Soul:]
Heaven Path Soul > 10 (SSS Class Soul)
DING!
(You obtained Ability Clone Magic Technique with 15% mastery at the cost of 10 Heaven Path Soul Energy! An S-Class Magic Technique!)
(Ability Clone Magic Technique: Allows you to separate one of your abilities into a clone. Every additional 15% mastery allows you to create one more clone. However, when a clone is created, you lose the ability carried by that clone. The ability will return once the clone is destroyed!)
(Notification: Ability Clone Magic Technique has an SS-Class Version that allows a clone to carry one of your abilities without causing you to lose it!)
[Magic Techniques:]
Boundless Life Domains (SS-Class Technique)
Fire Ghost Wave 15% (S-Class Technique)
Ability Clone 15% (S-Class Technique)
This wasn’t a random wish.
Mateo had once seen a similar ability in a fantasy movie.
He had wanted something like it.
And now it had become reality.
Whoosh!
With a single thought, a green figure appeared beside him.
It was exactly the same height as him.
Mateo couldn’t help feeling astonished.
Through the figure’s eyes, he could see himself.
He and the clone were one existence.
One consciousness.
Two different bodies.
DING!
(You have lost Primordial Life Body, Primordial Life Element, Life Power Armor, and Boundless Life Element because they have been transferred to your Life Clone, which carries your Life Ability!)
Another notification appeared before his eyes.
That single ability encompassed everything.
Not merely one talent or one technique, but every ability of the same type.
Mateo could clearly feel it.
His own body no longer possessed limitless Spiritual Energy or the ability to instantly heal injuries.
Naturally, this reduced his strength significantly.
