[Would you like to activate bond link?]
He forced his gaze at the notification.
'What?' his eyes narrowed. 'What the hell is a bond link?'
[When the bond link is activated, the king is granted access to a new skill, measured by the potential growth of the intended slave the bond link was used on.]
'So a different skill from the one I was meant to get from her unique skill?'
[That is correct.]
Ash sighed. 'Sure, get on with it.'
[Request confirmed.]
[Bond link has been formed.]
[Character life info has been activated.]
[Name: Aisha.
Level: 2
Status: Conflicted.]
'I see, so I can view their growth with a leveling system. Interesting.'
[Notice, you have gained a new skill via bond link.]
[Dark Absorption]: This skill grants you the ability to absorb other lifeforms around you and gain their traits or abilities randomly.
Ash's eyes widened a bit.
'This skill can be quite useful.' he suddenly swiped the system screen to the side, where he opened another page filled with his own stats.
[List of skills:
Unique skills: Demonic aura, Dark Absorption, Dominion of contracts.
Talents: ???
Artifact skill: ???]
'There are three different types of skills.' Ash threw on a nervous expression. 'What could possibly be the difference in the—'
Grrr!
Mid-thoughts, he suddenly heard a stomach rumble right beside him.
Upon hearing this, Ash turned his gaze to the source of the strange sound he just heard, and right there, he could see Aisha, gripping her stomach, her eyes closed and hands shaking.
Even a fool could tell she was starving; why she was trying her hardest to hide it was beyond him.
Flicking his wrist, the system disappeared, and Ash stood to his feet.
"Aisha," he called out to her.
"Y-yes, master!" Aisha stood up as well, standing at the side while looking up at him.
"You remember the way out of here to the capital, don't you?"
"C-capital? " Aisha held her fist at her next words, "The capital isn't outside the forest, master; it's Forgina."
Ash scowled a bit.
He had suspected as much after waking up.
'I was right then; this forest is not in the capital. Forgina is a city in Lumberg, but it's at least 6 days away from the capital.' Ash clenched his jaw in thought, 'Did the system move me away from there? Or was it someone else?'
Now that he thought hard about it, the chances of John leaving his body there after death were less than none. He would most likely have dragged Ash's dead body to the king and claimed he killed the devil-king worshiper or something like that.
'Tsk, standing here thinking won't answer my questions. I need to know what is happening outside.'
"Do you know the road leading to Forgina then?" he asked again.
"Y-yes,a I do."
After getting his response, Ash replied,
"Good, let's go."
The journey out of the forest was calm and shorter than Ash had imagined.
It barely took twenty minutes before they made it out of the woods and into the road. There was also the fact there wasn't a single monster sighting, giving Ash zero opportunity to test out his new skills.
In any case, after making it out of the woods, they both approached the city gates of Forgina.
This particular city was known to be the home of adventurers, mainly because it was home to one of the biggest guilds in the entirety of the Lumberg kingdom.
Surrounded by massive walls and gates, they were also said to be the city with the most security, making it an excellent spot for merchants and novice adventurers before they set out into the real world.
'Looks bigger than I expected.'
Ash stood in the middle of the road, his eyes fixed on the massive gate where he could see other travelers passing through.
Thankfully Ash had stolen a change of clothes from one of the adventurers he killed; now he looked less likely to have walked out of a death battle.
The same was for Aisha as well, except she only had a brown cloak over her dirty white dress.
"Come on, let's go."
With that, they both approached the gate.
When they got there, they were asked to provide a gate pass, to which Ash presented the one he stole from the adventurer.
Now that he was inside the city, there was one place he wanted to check before anywhere else.
Aisha followed behind him as he walked through the huge crowd, their murmurs echoing over one another in a disrupted fashion.
If there was one thing Ash couldn't stand, it would be being surrounded by multiple strangers. It makes him uncomfortable, and he gets irritated quickly.
So, he tried to get out of there as fast as he could.
And when he did, he found himself standing in front of a street stand, where an old woman was selling snacks for travelers visiting Forgina city.
There were multiple other stalls, but this caught his attention quickly.
Why? Because old women were the best people to get information out of.
"Excuse me, how much do you sell these rice buns for?" he uttered, standing like a statue in front of the counter.
The old woman showed herself, walking towards Ash slowly.
"Two eres, my good man," responded the woman.
Ash reached into his pocket and pulled out a sack filled with money. He stole this from the dead adventurers as well.
Inside the bag were 17 eres.
He gave the elderly woman ten.
"Give me this worth."
"Please wait."
The old woman graciously took the money before she began packaging the hot buns for the young man.
She gave it to him when she was done.
"Here you go, five hot rice buns."
"Thank you, ma'am." he took the bag, but before he turned around, he asked, "I have a question. I was hoping you could help me."
"Ahn? You look new here, sure, what do you need, young man?"
"I am a huge fan of the current hero, and I was wondering if there is any lead on his whereabouts? Or rather, has there been any news regarding the hero's party?"