PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

523 Chapter 523 Fame

“So you are the legendary Desmond Astryd. I have come from afar to challenge you. Face me if you dare, black wolf of the south.”

What might be a scream of fervor and defiance to others was now nothing more than white noise to Desmond’s ears. Random people had challenged Desmond day after day, week after week. Every time Desmond was challenged, he was forced to listen to the defiant’s statements and intentions; over time, such things began to sound like an annoying buzz.

Desmond no longer looked upset when challenged; instead, he just looked tired and exasperated. Having received permission from his superiors, Desmond dealt with the person in front of him the same way he dealt with his predecessors, giving him a beating.

The handsome, heroic, chivalrous-looking blond man proved to be at least better than average, giving Desmond a bit of entertainment, nothing more than that. As an Aura user, Desmond’s opponent should have had the upper hand in close combat, but such logic did not apply against a monster like Desmond.

The physical power was there, the speed was adequate, and the Aura boost was pretty decent, but Desmond’s opponent lacked technique. Against a martial arts master like Desmond, brute force would get nowhere unless the difference between the two sides was overwhelming, and that wasn’t the case.

After finishing analyzing his opponent, Desmond chose to end things, his life had been quite hectic recently, and he still had important issues to resolve; wasting time was not something he was willing to do.

Unfortunately, Desmond still had to follow his superiors’ stupid script for these situations. “Hey, handsome boy, why don’t you tell me your name? The army could use someone with your skills.”

A standard reconnaissance and recruitment tactic, quite effective when you had the upper hand in a fight, at least it worked against people who care a lot about strength and prestige.

The smug and domineering attitude was long gone from the face of the young man that Desmond was facing; he couldn’t maintain that stance when he could barely keep up to avoid being crushed by Desmond. Even so, the young man still gave his name proudly. “Nicolai Crechevsko.”

.....

Nicolai couldn’t notice it, but at the sound of his last name, Desmond’s pupils dilated slightly in recognition. Hiding his surprise with a confident smile, Desmond responded. “Very well, Nicolai Crechevsko, when you wake up, go to the barracks, and tell them that I have recommended you.”

Nicolai didn’t understand the part about waking up, but he didn’t need to understand; Desmond had already completely disappeared from his senses. In the next instant, numb pain shot through Nicolai’s body, starting from the center of his chest, and before he was aware of it, he had already fallen at Desmond’s feet. As his consciousness faded, Nicolai understood this was what Desmond meant with the phrase: after waking up.

Seeing the unconscious young Nicolai, Desmond heaved a tired sigh before motioning for a nearby officer to come to pick the guy up on the ground, and as if nothing had happened, Desmond continued on his way home.

Somewhere along the way, shortly after the encounter with Nicolai, a layer of shadows climbed from Desmond’s heels to wrap around his entire back, and out of it came none other than Revna’s seductive voice. “Master, Yulei, Kira, and Natalie’s operations were successful. I think it will be a while before we hear back from the criminal syndicates trying to enter the city.”

Desmond didn’t pay much attention to how Revna clung to his back from the shadows; she had always had a rather strange demeanor to begin with. The only thing that had changed in the last few months was that she had become more open in her affection towards him.

“What about your mission in Veritska?”

“The infiltration was a bit more complicated than expected; the military weapons production base was well guarded. Security measures around the city were not a problem, but the area around the production base had higher security than our previous investigations showed. As you predicted, this was due to the incident in Verimar City. After that defeat, Country C could not afford to be the victim of another similar event. Since the city of Veritska is relatively close to the border and is one of its main weapons development centers, they must have seen it as a possible target.”

Despite Revna’s explanation, Desmond’s expression didn’t change much; he knew his beloved shadow too well to believe that she would be so calm and happy to have failed her mission. As expected, Revna added the result of his mission with a tone full of confidence and pride.

“There were complications due to the number of Espers with tracking and detection abilities in the area, but the mission was carried out successfully. With the current state of affairs, Country C would not publicly accept the incident to avoid appearing weaker on the international stage. Still, its military activities in this region should cease for a while.”

Since Revna’s voice seemed to beg for praise, Desmond wasn’t stingy. “An excellent execution of a sabotage mission, as expected from my dear and trustworthy shadow.”

Although Revna remained hidden in Desmond’s shadow, he could practically see her smile of satisfaction; she loved receiving compliments from him. The idea of ??pampering his ever-reliable and loyal shadow crossed Desmond’s mind, but that would have to wait until they got home.

Having made up his mind, Desmond changed the topic of conversation. “How is the consolidation of the second branch of Garden going?”

“Sara took care of the selection process as we had planned. Some of the new flowers we will be adding to the collection were recruited directly from our canaries, but there were some incidental additions. Still, there is no reason to worry; they all received indoctrination and conditioning from Natalie. With the addition of the slave collars, the loyalty of our new flowers is assured.”

The Astryd residence was already visible from where Desmond stood, but his attention was now on the information Revna had just given him. Truth be told, Desmond wasn’t entirely comfortable with his own methods, even if he saw them as necessary; in that sense, he had changed.

“Doesn’t it bother you, Revna?” Desmond asked out of the blue.

“What?” Revna replied, seemingly confused.

Somewhat helpless in the face of Revna’s confusion, Desmond replied. “To tell you the truth, this is not much different from what I did with you. I manipulated, enslaved, and indoctrinated you all to become loyal to me, to serve as my tools.”

Before Desmond could continue, Revna interrupted him with a rather absurd and direct question. “And why should that bother me?”

What was Desmond supposed to reply? If Revna herself didn’t see anything wrong with it, there wasn’t much he could add. As Desmond was speechless, a nice, loving little giggle came from his shadow.

“As always, Master is overthinking it. I believe that I speak for all the girls in the Garden when I say that we are not upset with our circumstances. You rescued us from a place worse than hell; none of us will ever forget it. Everything you have given us so far, including your kindness, is more than we have the right to ask for. The Master always treats himself too harshly. We are happy to be in a position where we are useful to you and can be used by you.”

Desmond didn’t know words that would allow him to respond to Revna’s speech wholeheartedly; she was always like that, her emotions were as deep as her shadows, and her devotion always seemed to lie in madness. It was hard to resist her when she got like this.

Fortunately, someone appeared to break the silence. “So you are the legendary Desmond Astryd, Blah blah blah, I will defeat you, blah blah blah.”

And there was that white noise again that had been tormenting Desmond. Without the patience to even utter his rehearsed recruitment phrase, Desmond struck down his opponent. Oddly enough, even though Desmond was the winner of the fight, he was on the verge of tears instead of his opponent.

Desmond was a battle freak most of the time, but that only applied when his opponents were worth it. Desmond was dedicated to handing out beatings to strangers who came in search of fame and fortune; Desmond felt that a piece of himself died every time he was forced to deal with those weaklings with delusions of grandeur.

To top it off, these people pestered Desmond wherever he went. Truth be told, more than one person nearly died from interrupting one of Desmond’s private moments with Sasha or Claire. These people simply had no sense of decorum, going so far as to attack Desmond without caring when he was obviously on a romantic date.

With the seriousness and emotion of the last moment evaporated, Revna couldn’t help but make a slightly spiteful comment. “Being famous must be difficult, isn’t it, Master?”