Chapter 9: The Bowl-Haired Guy

The daylight has gone by, and the sun has already set. Uno is still drooling and sleeping. Uno definitely enjoys his deep sleep.

Someone suddenly yells, "HELP!!! HELP US!!! SINRO!!."

The voice jolted Uno awake. Uno cleared his vision and witnessed a horrible scenario. Uno witnessed a number of seriously injured persons, some of whom were bitten in many places, some of whom were extensively lacerated, and some of whom were already dead.

"What the hell happened?" Uno wondered.

BANG!! BANG!! BANG!!

"SINRO!! PLEASE HELP US!!" yelled someone.

Uno glanced around to see who was yelling; it was the brown bowl-haired guy. The individual is presently hammering on Sinro's door.

The brown bowl-haired guy is carrying a fellow who has several lacerations yet is still alive.

The door then opens, and Sinro steps out. Sinro looks around before saying, "I'm sorry, but I can't help you."

"WHY? PLEASE!... Do you have any medicine?" says the brown bowl-haired guy.

Sinro quickly stated, "This is a small village, and as you can see, there are no residents, only soldiers."

An Asian man approaches the brown bowl-haired guy and says, "Indigo, forget it, bro. Let him rest for now."

Indigo remained silent and stared at the Asian man.

"It's okay," the injured guy replied suddenly, "just give me a proper burial."

Indigo's eyes trembled and was temporarily shocked. Indigo's expression changes from anxious to determined.

Indigo brought the injured guy to a safe place to rest. Indigo then notices Uno and nods. Uno responds with a nod.

Uno takes a look around as he heads toward Indigo.

"ARGH!!! JUST KILL ME, DUDE! I CAN'T! IT HURTS!!!" screams someone in agony. Many people are expressing their despair in various ways.

Indigo notices Uno approaching him. Indigo walked toward Uno and extended his hand in greeting.

"Hello, my name is Uno, and uh... I saw you earlier this morning" Uno said as he shook his hand.

"I'm Indigo, and to be honest, I was still shocked by what I saw earlier," Indigo responded.

Uno was extremely curious about what was going on, so he couldn't help but ask, "Is it okay for me to ask about what is going on right now?"

Indigo was taken aback because everybody in the village should be aware of what was going on because everyone had joined the attack on the rat lair.

"Umm... We attacked a rat lair, it was a difficult mission but we expected to clear it because there were so many of us, and then there was a guardian of some sort. Um... There was a human-looking rat that charged into battle, it was so strong that our attacks couldn't even scratch its skin," Indigo responded.

Uno analyzes this fresh information. This evidence proves the existence of more characters comparable to Roscuro, as well as the possibility of further rewards. "Where did you encounter this monster?" Uno inquired.

"Uhh... Wait, what are you trying to do?" Indigo replied.

"I'm just going to check it out hahahha..." said Uno after an awkward pause.

Indigo narrowed his eyes before asking, "Are you trying to hunt it, Uno?"

"Um.... let me just ask anyone else," Uno begins to turn around. Indigo then pursued him, saying, "Are you serious? Do you not see the casualties of the 700-person raid? There may be around 300 people left in this village. A lot of people are dead because of that monster."

Uno came to a halt and turned to face Indigo. He doesn't say anything and simply stares at Indigo. There was a stare-down until Uno said, "I have my ways, I will kill that rat-man, just tell me where; I don't want to argue with you."

Indigo then closed his eyes, sighed, and appeared to be contemplating. Uno patiently awaits Indigo's response. Indigo blinks open his eyes after around 3 minutes and says, "I will tell you where it is with one condition."

"Okay, what is the condition?" Uno responded.

"Let me form a crew and join you in fighting that monster; if you don't want to, I won't tell you where it is," Indigo made clear.

Uno is reluctant to agree to the condition given that there is a potential that these individuals would turn against him at a critical juncture. Uno just considers the worst-case scenario.

Uno thinks for a moment before arguing "Hm..... I will agree if you give me details of your abilities."

Indigo wasted no time and gestured something in the air. Then, in front of Uno, a hologram appeared.

.

DING!!!

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𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 [𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐚'𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧]

[𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐰] [𝐈𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞]

___________________________________________

.

"Are you for real?" Uno watches Indigo's expression. Indigo simply said, "Go ahead."

Uno had no idea that you may disclose your personal information, so Indigo surprises him.

Uno selected [𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐰] and a holographic screen appeared.

.

DING!!!

___________________________________________

[𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐚'𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧]

Name: Indigo Palma

Level: 1 (55/300 EXP)

Energy Points{EP}: 48/260

Core Attributes:

- Strength: 8

- Agility: 7

- Endurance: 17

- Intelligence: 13

- Wisdom: 10

Un-Allocated Stats: 0

Innate Skill: [𝐁+: 𝐈𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞]: You are destined to be a robust protector. Your body has been strengthened to withstand your opponent. This natural gift gives you the resilience to all elements and illnesses.

Ability Skills:

1. [𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐫] (Lv1: 1.2%/100%) : Your roar is powerful. The ability to release a thunderous roar that may either stun or attract foes to attack you.

___________________________________________

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Uno believes Indigo is a natural tank and that his talent is highly helpful.

Indigo suddenly said, "Uno, just to let you know. One of the agreements of the raid is to show our abilities to each other so we can formulate a plan, but we found out that relevant Innate Skills are very rare. Most people received an Innate Skill that only improved their attributes by one with three being the highest. There are actually around 10 to 15 people that did not even receive an innate skill even though it's a mission reward.. the reason why? we do not know."

Then Uno enquired, "Is there another with a strong innate skill?"

Indigo sadly said, "There is one, but he is already gone. Um... earlier the one that I carried to seek help from the Village Head...sigh... His name was Aaron, he can summon flame and the rats are actually afraid of flames, but due to their fear, 'Rat-Man' chased him and heavily injured him before we can escape."

Uno then expressed sympathy, saying, "Indigo, heads-up... my condolences."

"No worries," Indigo said to Uno, "let me go ahead and assemble a crew to hunt that monster."

"Alright, but please, I do not need a large group, just about 4 people will suffice; once you gather the group, then meet me at the wooden gate; I will wait there," Uno explained.

"What? We're leaving now? Uno, it's already nighttime," Indigo is bewildered.

"Ah yeah... No worries, you'll see later; I forgot you just returned from battle; I'll let the team rest for three hours, then we'll depart" Uno answers.

"I'll be waiting at the wooden gate," Uno says as he pats Indigo on the left shoulder.

"Is that the very definition of arrogance or simply confidence?" Indigo thinks as he watches Uno stroll toward the wooden gate.

Uno is actually extremely optimistic since he got the title [Bane of the Grass Rat], which renders the grass rats powerless. As long as he is around, the swarm outside the settlement will be turned to easy EXP.

.

After three hours, Indigo and the freshly assembled crew made their way to the wooden wall.

Indigo saw Uno, who is now napping and drooling. Indigo taps him on the shoulder and says, "Uno? Hello."

Uno was surprised by the physical contact and said, "What the fuck?"

As his vision got better, Uno recognized Indigo with four other individuals. There were two women and two males.

Indigo introduced the crew, pointing to a red-haired western lady with a height of 5'8ft, and said, "Her name is Emily Paisley, and she received an innate skill to have better vision at night, in other words, similar to night vision."

Indigo then points to a slender black lady standing 6 feet tall and says, "She is Fatima Achebe, and she received an innate skill that increases her agility attribute by 3 and gives her better footing on tricky terrains."

Indigo then points to a black-haired young man with a height of 5'9ft and says, "He is Ryouta Abe, and he understands how to fight effectively. He is in fact the main reason why we got away from the Rat-Man. He succeeded in throwing the beast away using his martial expertise. Unfortunately, he is also one among the individuals that hadn't awoken an innate skill."

Indigo then introduced the final person, pointing to a bulky old man with a height of 6'5ft and saying, "This big old man is Xu Chu, He also knows how to fight well, and he is also the one who carried Aaron in the retreat, but he is also one of the individuals who hadn't awoken an innate skill."

Then Indigo remarked, "This is the crew."

Uno examines the four individuals and notices that their actions convey a sense of resolve. "Impressive!" exclaimed Uno, "I am Uno Delou, what we are about to do, please keep the whole thing a secret."

"I understand," Indigo and the others agreed, but Emily said, "But why?"

Everyone glances at Emily, and Uno replies, "I just don't want attention."

Emily nods sheepishly and says, "Okay..."

Uno then reminded everyone that they were in for a long night.