Chapter 15: All dressed up to build a Criminal Empire
After burning down Xander's home and his field of devil's buttons, Hunter and Kolvar rode to the east toward the forest. They didn't dare to go to Bellburn city. The two of them rode for a couple of hours without stopping. They headed straight into the forest where no one could follow them behind. Despite the darkness, Hunter could see the forest around him thanks to the luminescent mushrooms. The forest was far-reaching, thick, and lush. Its canopy was demanded by rhododendron, spruce, banyans, and sycamore, which allowed adequate moonlight to pass down for a diversity of saplings to consume the flat, fertile grounds below. Thick branches waved from a couple of trees, and a medley of flowers, which were seen occasionally, added colorful variety to the otherwise mundane lower level. A discord of beastly noises, most of which were insects, brightened up the forest and were out of sync with the occasional sounds of breaking twigs beneath the feet of horses.
"I hope there are no predators in this forest," said Hunter. He slowed down the horse as the terrain was not suitable for the horse to gallop faster.
Kolvar opened and closed his mouth. The images of everything Hunter did flashed across his eyes. Even to this moment, Kolvar couldn't believe what had just transpired. This was one hell of a crazy day for Kolvar.
"Hey Kolvar, you are free to go your own way if you wish to," said Hunter.
He turned his head to see Kolavar's reaction.
"Will you answer me something?" Instead of answering Hunter's question, Kolvar asked him a question.
"Go ahead,"
"You are not Parker, are you?"
Hunter laughed as his laughter echoed through the forest.
"What makes you say that?" asked Hunter,
"Isn't it obvious? I was there. I saw Parker die, he didn't have any pulse. His body went cold. But suddenly, I felt this weird feeling as though someone was watching me. Then, Parker woke up. Ever since that, he wasn't himself. Instead, it's you," Hunter was glad Kolvar was able to break his shell and speak these words. Hunter would rather have one gutsy friend than thousand spineless subordinates. Besides, Kolvar was right. Anyone with a single working brain cell could tell Parker was the exact opposite of Hunter.
"The Parker I know wouldn't hurt a fly. But you, you murdered so many people in cold blood,"
"Do you think they didn't deserve it?" asked Hunter.
Kolvar shook his head.
"No. But my point stands, you killed them in cold blood, which wasn't like Parker at all,"
"If I said I am the same Parker you know but just better, would you believe me?" asked Hunter.
"No,"
"Good. You're asking the wrong question, though. The right one is, what can I do for this world? So tell me, Kolvar, what do you desire the most?" asked Hunter. Although Hunter's question surprised him, Kolvat took a few moments to think. Then, he finally said what he desired the most.
"A slave-free world. That's what I desire the most,"
"Good one. But think again Kolvar, do you think you can make this dream come true without taking lives? You know this world, it's kill or be killed, and that's if you are lucky. Slavery is the next option, and you know how it is,"
"It's not like we can actually do this. Murdering a few merchants don't make this world slave free. But I can certainly do that,"
"Do what?" Kolvar creased his brows.
"Make this world slave free," said Hunter. He was nonchalant.
"I know you doubt that and even think I am out of my mind. But remember how I was not able to walk, and now I am riding a horse with you,"
Kolvar's eyes fell on Hunter's leg. Until this morning, it was broken and looked crooked. Miraculously, the leg fixed itself after he drank some kind of potion he took out of thin air.
"We can rule this world, Kolvi,"
"Is that what you want to do? Rule this world? You know many have tried to do that, and all of them failed,"
"I said we can rule the world, not that I want to. Ruling the world is overrated, Kolvi, believe me. It's more trouble than it's worth," Hunter sighed.
"You speak like you have experience," said Kolvar. He wanted to ask who he truly was but judging by the way Parker dodged the question, it was obvious to Kolvar that no matter how many times he asked, he wouldn't get an answer. Hence, Kolvar decided not to ask about his past or who he truly was. As far as Kolvar was concerned, Parker died, and someone else occupied his mortal shell.
"Now it's your turn. What do you desire the most?" Kolvar asked Hunter. The question put Hunter in a deep train of thought. Silence fell over them. For a few minutes, Hunter just rode the horse without uttering a word. Suddenly an astral coin fell out of the pouch dangling around Hunter's wrist. The sound of a coin hitting the ground hundred his train of thought.
He halted the horse. When he jumped down to pick the coin, a few devil's buttons fell out of the sack on the horse's back. He picked up both. The astral coin glistened on his one palm and the devil's button on the other. A smile formed on Hunter's face. This was like the universe was talking to him.
"Money rules the world," Hunter said with an amused smile.
He looked up at Kolvar, who was on the horse,
"Hey Kolvi, I changed my mind. I want to rule this world,"
"I clearly heard you say it's more trouble than it's worth," Kolvar said in a playful tone.
"I meant ruling the world as a ruler, like a king or an emperor. When you are a king, you get more responsibilities, shackled by so many rules and eyes. End of the day, when you go to bed, you will worry about how to solve the next problem in your kingdom. That's why I chose the other kind. I am going to build an empire, a business slash criminal empire, to rule this world from the shadows," Hunter said. He then slowly raised the devil's button,
"This is going to help me kick start my empire,"
Hunter didn't come up with the decision at this spot. Although the coin and devil's button fell off right after Kolvar's question about Hunter's desire finalized his decision, he was asking himself what to do in this life ever since he took over Parker's body. He had a system and was offered a second chance in life. If he didn't do something extraordinary, it'd be a waste of his new life. Hunter was not the kind to settle down and live a peaceful life. He loathed that kind of life. Instead, Hunter wanted a thrilling life full of excitement. In simple terms, he desired an adventurous life. What would be more adventurous than building a criminal empire and ruling the world from the shadows? Nothing. After all, Hunter was born a ruler. It wasn't in his blood to obey someone else. Furthermore, he always envied the lives of criminal bosses. They had neither rules nor shackles. In his previous life, he had no chance of doing what he loved. But it wasn't the case anymore. He was handed over a mold, and the universe asked him to mold it however he saw fit.
"You freak me out," said Kolvar. Up to this moment, this man before him did so many unimaginable things. Furthermore, one moment, he was friendly, funny, and cool. The next moment, he would turn into a murdering maniac who kills people in their sleep and burn people alive.
"Good," Hunter smiled before jumping back onto his horse. They continued their journey. Eventually, almost two hours later, they exited the foliage and arrived at an opening. In the distance, they saw a small village in the middle of the forest. It was a tiny village containing thirty or forty small houses. Several sticks with torches at the end illuminated the village. Since it was the middle of the night, Hunter and Kolvar saw no villagers outside.
"Before we go to that village, we need a change of clothes," said Hunter. When he looked down, all he could see was a ragged brown tunic that barely covered his privates and butt. He didn't feel like a badass at all. He used to wear the finest clothes in the world. So how could he wear something like this?
He summoned the system. After what he had done at Xander's home, Hunter had thirty thousand badass points. He opened the system store and willed it to show him all the clothes he could buy with the points he had. Several pink and yellow dresses filled his vision. He felt like he was browsing clothes for a fashion show.
"I'll look like a clown in these. Give me something that doesn't make me look like one. Give me medieval shit," Hunter growled. The system shuffled the dress before him. Soon, just like he asked, the system presented him with various medieval clothes. But the prices were outrageous. For instance, he saw blue ronin clothes priced at thirty thousand badass points. The reason was that the dress boosted a warrior's speed by ten percent.
As sweet as that sounded, Hunter still hadn't picked up a path of cultivation. Besides, he didn't need any clothes with special attributes. Therefore, Hunter decided to filter his search.
"Look, I want something black. Let's just say I can spend five thousand badass points at max,"
Once again, the system shuffled the dresses. A while later, a card appeared before Hunter's vision with a set of clothes. A pair of black trousers, a shirt that screamed medieval commoner, black boots, and a leather belt.
"This cost me five thousand, Jesus Christ," Hunter rolled his eyes. Having no other choice, Hunter decided to buy them.
He quickly exited the system before finalizing his purchase,
"Kolvi, what's your favorite color?"
"White, I guess," said Kolvar.
"Give me a white shirt for Kolvar,"
A few seconds later, Kolvar saw a set of clothes materialize in Hunter's hands out of nowhere, just like in the morning. This time, Kolvar wasn't as surprised as before.
"Don't ask any questions. Just put this on"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
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