1% Lifesteal

The passage was rather wide—not quite as wide as the one in the Santorio Hub, but wide enough that three people could walk side by side without a problem.

As soon as they stepped into the first passage, Freddy scowled.

The first step was a C-grade realm that had once been a large, lush forest. Now, it was a desolate wasteland. What few stumps of trees remained were mostly charcoal, and there wasn\'t a single inch of soil that hadn\'t been overturned.

There were numerous shapes of stone and earth, likely made by aspiring earth-affinity archhumans who were trying to practice their spells. These were side by side with craters where fire-affinity archs had no doubt done the same.

This was what happened when there was no regulation. What could have been a precious realm for beginners had been turned into a scorched wasteland without a single monster.

Naturally, Freddy didn\'t give a shit. He had a destination in mind and walked with unerring steps.

His companion wasn\'t quite as brave or determined. He looked through the environment with a visible lump in his throat, clutching the shitty old sword in his hand like a charm that would keep him safe.

"Relax," Freddy said, causing the young fellow to leap in surprise. Freddy chuckled. "We are far from a realm with any monsters. Even then, with me there, you aren\'t at risk of harm."

Lucas chuckled nervously. "I don\'t know about that… What about spirits? I heard they could sometimes threaten even three-stars!"

Freddy laughed heartily at that. "This place is practically an ether desert. I\'d be surprised to find a remnant, let alone a spirit. Come on, relax; you\'re not in any real danger. Well, not yet."

The young man stiffened and then reluctantly nodded at that.

They walked in silence for a while. Eventually, Lucas hesitantly opened his mouth. "Hey… I\'m just wondering…"

"Hmm?"

"Ah, oh… Uhm… never mind…" Lucas lowered his head.

"What?"

"I-it\'s n-nothing…" Lucas insisted.

"Come on, you can tell me. Are you getting cold feet? I\'m not going to force you to come with me if you don\'t want to, you know?"

"Not that\'s—it\'s… Uhm… I mean… I\'m just wondering… Haha… Why did you invite me to come with you, sir?"

"Sir?" Freddy laughed. "How old do you think I am?"

Lucas hesitated, scowling in contemplation. Finally, he settled on a guess. "You don\'t look a day older than fifty, sir!" he said in a flattering tone.

Freddy laughed so hard he nearly buckled over. "Fifty? Oh man, that\'s quite a guess. I\'m 23."

"Hahaha!" Lucas laughed awkwardly. "That is a good one, sir!"

Freddy paused, raising an eyebrow. "I\'m not joking."

Lucas stared at him for a long moment. "What!? I mean, I apologize… But that\'s… Hard to believe… I\'m not saying you look old!" he explained hurriedly. "I j-just think you look quite accomplished! You must be at least at the peak of the first star! It takes a long time to get there!"

"I\'m a peak two-star," Freddy said casually.

Lucas croaked, making a strangled squeaking noise. "I… I see. Wow. That is…"

"You asked me why I invited you, right?" Freddy asked.

"I would never dare to assume you have foul intentions, sir!" Lucas shouted. "Please forgive my rudeness!"

Freddy snorted and shook his head. "Man, you have a very wrong impression of me." He scratched the back of his head. "I\'m not some haughty young master. I invited you to come with me because I was in a mood to bring someone along."

Lucas\'s steps halted at that, and he looked down, letting the sword hang loosely in his hand. For a long moment, he just stood there in silence, clearly perturbed by something.

Freddy wanted to say something, but he opted to wait instead. Did he scare the poor fella?

After half a minute of anxiously looking up at Freddy and down to the ground, Lucas finally gathered the bravery. "I am really sorry if this comes across as rude, but why would you call me specifically?"

"I told you; I was in the mood to bring someone along. You just happened to be the first person I saw."

"I don\'t… believe that," the young man said, suddenly looking a bit defiant. He was visibly sweating, but his eyes burned with determination.

Freddy decided to elaborate a bit, seeing no harm in openly saying the truth. "I\'m not a very social person," he said. "This is a big problem for me. I want to get better at socializing with others, so I invited you to come along."

The young man looked confused for a bit. "To a delve? No offense, but… I wouldn\'t consider this is a good way to make friends."

"Depends on what kind of friends you\'re trying to make."

"But again… Why me…?" The man looked confused and frustrated, as if something he wanted to ask was hanging on the tip of his tongue,.

Freddy grinned widely and chuckled deeply. "I see, I see…" he said. "You think I\'m playing with you, right?"

"What!?" Lucas\'s eyes widened at the accusation. "No, I wouldn\'t—"

"Oh, relax. I\'ve stewed in the same bitterness my whole life; I can smell it from a mile away." Freddy came a step closer. "You think I picked you because I\'m looking down on you, isn\'t that right?"

"I\'d never…" the young man denied it, but his eyes betrayed his inner thoughts.

"Well, you\'re not entirely wrong," Freddy conceded, "but you\'re not right, either."

The young man kept his gaze down, remaining quiet.

"You see, I\'m not a big fan of the local factions," Freddy declared. "A mortal like you won\'t have any undesirable connections." Freddy sighed, walking over until he stood right beside Lucas. He swung an arm around the boy\'s neck, pulling him in as he whispered, "You grew up in Repentawa, right?"

Lucas nodded nervously. Sweat dripped down the side of his head. His breathing was erratic.

"Then you must be familiar with how rotten and terrible the local powers are. The newspapers always praise them like they\'re some kind of heroes, but the people know the truth."

The boy bit his lip, clearly afraid to say anything.

"I\'m not one of them," Freddy said. "I\'m not from this city at all."

A torn look crossed the young man\'s eyes. "Okay. Let\'s say I believe you. What exactly… do you want from me? Ah, I don\'t mean to say that you\'re trying to gain something, I just—"

"A friend," Freddy said. "I\'m really just trying to make friends. I know there\'s nothing I can say that would prove this. If you genuinely aren\'t comfortable with that, I\'m sorry for putting you in this situation." He apologized sincerely. "If you aren\'t interested, we part ways here."

"You\'re serious…?" Lucas looked shocked. "I…" He laughed with a look of disbelief on his face. "I am sorry, but this just sounds ridiculous. Why would a peak two-star ever befriend a mortal?"

Freddy quirked an eyebrow. "Why wouldn\'t I?"

The young man\'s lips tightened into a line. "Let\'s say… just theoretically… that I had some sort of problem. And let\'s also say that you could make that problem go away very easily. What would you do then?"

"I\'d help you out."

"And… if I had another problem?"

"I\'d help you out again."

"Wouldn\'t that make me a burden?"

"Isn\'t that a bit contradictory?" Freddy asked with a raised eyebrow. "If I could make it go away very easily, where\'s the problem?"

"Because I have a lot of problems!" Lucas exclaimed, then took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Look," Freddy said, shrugging. "That doesn\'t really sound like a dealbreaker to me. If anything, doesn\'t that make it simpler? I help you out when you need a hand and you be my friend. Sounds like a good deal, no?"

Lucas scowled at that. "That doesn\'t sound like a real friendship to me."

Freddy rolled his eyes. "What do you think a real friendship is, then? Magic, rainbows, and unicorn farts? Friendships are based on mutual benefits."

"That\'s… a very cynical outlook on life," Lucas proclaimed with a hint of disgust in his expression.

"That\'s a realistic outlook on life."

Freddy really meant what he said.

Mark and Sophia were the only two "friends" he\'d ever had. In both cases, their relations had been back and forth. Any warm feelings of companionship only came after both parties found a way to benefit from the other person.

Hell, he and Sophia had even hated each other at one point, but the sheer fact that they had so much to gain from being friends ended up making them put their differences aside.

Lucas looked stricken. "Okay…" he muttered. "So you just want me to be your friend?"

"Yup."

"And absolutely nothing else ever?"

Freddy sighed. "If you\'re willing to try and help me out at times, I wouldn\'t say no. But again, I\'m never going to force you into anything."

And again, he really meant it.

He really didn\'t expect anything from the young man.

But… well… that didn\'t mean that the he couldn\'t end up being useful.

He wasn\'t tied to any local politics, and he looked determined to step into a life of danger, judging by the fact that he had been planning to head into the interspace despite being a mortal.

He was a blank slate—if Freddy needed the boy to be a ranged attacker, support, an illusionist, or whatever, he could get the boy a prime and sponsor him until he became useful. With Bloodshed\'s help, he could even use the Netherecho trick to help boost the young man\'s gathering. Once Sophia was back to life, it would be trivial to keep the man in perfect health.

The only real risk involved was the possibility that Lucas would backstab him.

But there was an easy solution to that problem.

The young man clearly wasn\'t convinced. He sighed and placed a hand on his forehead. "I am truly sorry, but this whole thing is a bit crazy to me. The difference in status is just too big."

Freddy sighed at that. "Let me put it like this—put two archhumans next to one another; if there wasn\'t any difference in the quality of their talent, there would be a difference in the number of stars. If there was no difference in the number of stars, there would be a difference in gathering. If there was no difference in gathering, there would be a difference in the number, power, and synergy of affinities.

"If there was no difference there, there would be a difference in the number and quality of abilities they had. If they had the same abilities, there would be a difference in wealth. And if there was no difference in wealth, there would be a difference in background or connections. But even if, by some miracle, you found two people who were exactly equal in status, that wouldn\'t last forever.

"People have ups and downs. That\'s inevitable. Eventually, there would once again be a difference in power between them. While I\'m not one of those naive bastards who blindly believes that everyone can get to the same level of power, I know for a fact that I can help you get powerful enough that the difference in status won\'t really matter."

The man hesitated. "Again… Isn\'t that—"

"Look," Freddy interrupted him. "Given that I\'m trying to be honest with you, I\'m going to honestly say that you\'re starting to annoy the shit out of me."

Lucas winced. "Sorry… I\'ll keep my mouth shut."

"Bah," Freddy spat. "You don\'t have to be quiet, but if you\'re gonna talk, say something else. Also, you wanted to go in to try fighting monsters, right?"

Lucas\'s eyes shot wide open. "That\'s… Yeah… But I\'m not sure that\'s a good idea."

"You got me by your side. As long as I\'m there, you\'re almost entirely not going to get injured."

Lucas swallowed. "Okay… I guess…" He chuckled, still sounding a little dazed. "If you\'re already willing to guard me, it would be rude to say no."

"That\'s the spirit!" Freddy exclaimed, patting the man on the back. "Milk me for all I\'m worth!"

Lucas visibly cringed at those words.

Thus, they proceeded forward, mostly in silence. Freddy tried doing some small talk, but Lucas was clearly too shaken to hold a proper conversation.

Their location was actually a pretty decent bit of walking away. They had to go through a passage on the other side of the first realm, then over a short mountainous region in the second realm, through a completely wrecked swamp in the third, and finally, they stepped into the first realm where there was a semblance of danger.

It was a realm of grassy plains, with growth high enough to reach the navel of an average-height man. The grass was cut up in quite a few places, but all the damage looked limited and recent, suggesting that the grass recovered rather quickly.

Freddy could see a few parties off in the distance, and they looked to be fighting short, dog-like monsters with stubby legs.

Lucas looked utterly exhausted from just walking alone.

"Hey," Freddy called, causing the young man to yelp in fright. "Relax. Here"—he gave him a flask—"drink up."

"Thanks…" Lucas reached for the offered drink and took a sip. He immediately spat it out. "Bro what the f—what is this?"

"Oh, sorry, should have warned you." Freddy laughed with an apologetic look. "That\'s not just water. It\'s a blend of water, honey, coffee, vitamins, and some electrolytes—got everything you need to stay in top shape."

Lucas stared flatly at him. "I almost crapped myself just listening to the list of ingredients," he joked, sounding a bit more relaxed. "You have regular water?"

"Sure thing."

Lucas drank up, but not after giving the second flask a cautious sniff test.

Freddy shook his head in amusement.

After the young man finally gathered the bravery to proceed, the two of them started making their way forward.

Freddy cleaved through the tall grass with a machete, effortlessly clearing a good chunk of the space before them.

Suddenly, a patch of grass behind them rustled, and a tiny creature jumped at Lucas. It knocked the young man over to the ground and tried biting through the armor on his stomach. Lucas screamed.

Before it could sink its nasty teeth into its target, Freddy grabbed the dog monster by its scruffy neck and pulled it off.

Lucas was still screaming and swinging his hands wildly, unable to calm down.

Freddy let him tire himself out a bit.

Once the man finally gained control of himself, he broke into tears and balled up. "I wanna go home… I wanna go home… This was a stupid idea!"

Freddy shook his head. "You gotta relax, dude. You have a full suit of armor—it would take a while for this thing to chew through it."

Alas, the young man was incapable of calming himself. From his perspective, he\'d just survived through a near-death experience.

Freddy sighed and snapped the monster\'s neck, throwing the corpse aside and raising his machete. He proceeded to cleave a small clearing around them, cutting the grass as short as possible to make sure nothing could sneak up on them.

Then, he helped the young man up to his feet. "First, give me that." He tore the sword out of the man\'s hand and put it back into the scabbard, which he then unlatched and put away into his storage ring.

"My sword!" Lucas shouted. "Why did you take my sword!?"

Freddy shushed him and then focused. His blood started pouring through his fingers, and he slowly shaped it into a short metal baton. He made it a bit spiky to give it some extra punch, but not spiky enough that Lucas would seriously injure himself by accident. "Here you go," he gave the young man the improvised weapon.

"What is this?"

"It\'s a metal baton. Swords are tricky to use, especially for someone who has no experience. With this thing… Well, you just gotta whack \'em!" He said, gesturing a swinging motion. "Much easier."

"Oh hell no! You\'re not saying I should fight one of these things by myself!?"

Freddy raised an eyebrow at that. "Well isn\'t that why you\'re here?" He scratched the back of his head. "I thought you were trying to forcefully generate a prime vestige."

As far as Freddy was concerned, that was a stupid idea. Not only was that extremely unlikely to work, but it was also dangerous as hell.

It wasn\'t uncommon to see people trying to do this, especially in areas where the local interspace was relatively safe. But if it was that easy, everyone would be an archhuman! Still, it was much more likely to work if someone fought and killed a few monsters one-on-one. With Freddy controlling the outside variables, the man\'s odds were much higher.

But it wasn\'t a big deal even if it failed. Freddy could gift Lucas a prime vestige without much trouble. Sure, he wasn\'t going to splurge millions on one, but even a basic combat vestige, such as one with a simple strength boost, could gradually evolve to become formidable.

"You promise you\'re gonna step in?" the young man asked. "Right? This isn\'t some sick joke? You aren\'t secretly a sadist who wants to see a mortal eaten by monsters?"

Freddy simply laughed. "Don\'t worry. If anything goes wrong, I\'ll pay for your treatment."

Lucas swallowed.

A moment later, one of the little critters jumped out of the tall grass and into the clearing.

Its eyes immediately locked on the young man holding the baton of blood.