<h4>Chapter 39: Adam</h4>


    "Phew, well that''s over with," Lyle said as he took out a knife from a goblin''s head before putting it back in a small sheath that was on his waist. Lyle kept most of the throwing knives in the spatial ring, but he liked to have a couple of them on him as well since there were certain times when one couldn''t use the ring.


    Plus, it was simply something he had grown ustomed to ever since he had be an assassin. Going into battle without a couple of throwing knives on him just didn''t feel right.


    Lyle then went back to the group of people who were kneeling down and tending to the wounded young man.


    "Hey, all of you cane out now, the monsters are dead!" Lyle shouted and his voice echoed inside the giant cave.


    The people that had been captured had all seen him before and were all hoping that he could truly kill all the monsters and set them free. Upon hearing his shout, all of the people suddenly came out of the shacks and cages that Lyle had previously opened for them.


    Lyle''s arms had a couple of cuts on them and his face was a bit more bruised up with a cut that was above his left eye. He had almost lost the eye after a goblin managed to somehow throw his knife almost perfectly and nearly blind him.


    Lyle came to the group of five who were all staring at him before kneeling down.


    "Hmmmm, even though I have managed to stop the bleeding, I''m afraid I only managed to slow down his death, the wound goes quite deep," Lyle said as he looked at the wound that the man had suffered.


    "Sir, please, can-can you help him, please, we''ll do anything you ask!" The girl who was inside the shack together with the young man pleaded as she put her head on the floor whilst begging Lyle.


    "Sorry, but that won''t work, I have no use for any of you," Lyle said in a calm manner before looking at the man who was smiling at him.


    "That, that was a cool fight." The man said before suddenly coughing out blood.


    "So, there''s no hope for me, huh?" Smiled the young man as he stared into Lyle''s eyes, seemingly unbothered by his approaching death.


    "Tell me, where did you train?"


    "Huh, train?"


    "The mana sts you previously used, how taught them to you?"


    "Ah, you mean that, I''m sorry to disappoint you, but I''m just a normal viger, I don''t even remember much of what happened, I just saw that those monsters were about to defile Cindy and I-I just snapped, I suddenly felt power rush to me and, well the next thing I remember is sending some sort of wave to the monsters and sting them off before finding myself on the ground and you in front of me."


    "Never trained," Lyle said as his eyes widened slightly before he took another look at the young man.


    "Give me your hand, and what''s your name?" Lyle said as he took the young man''s hand and started checking his body with mana.


    "I-I''m Adam, sir," Adam said before suddenly violently coughing again. Blood came out of his mouth and dyed the rags he was in red before he started panting.


    ''This guy, no mistaking it, he has a high affinity toward mana, if he had been found by mages or knights earlier in his life, he would have already reached the realm of a Bronze Knight.'' Lyle thought as he checked Adam''s body.


    "Adam!" The girl that was with Adam in the shack, Cindy, cried out before hugging him and weeping.


    "There is a way." Lyle suddenly said as he let go of Adam.


    "Huh?"


    "There is a way for you to survive, and not only survive but be powerful, powerful beyond what you ever even dreamed of," Lyle said as he stared deeply into Adam''s eyes. Thetter stared back before sighing.


    "And what would I need to do in order to survive, I''m worth nothing sir, I''m just a normal farmer that lives off thend and helps out his parents alongside my other siblings, I have nothing of value to give you, nothing at all."


    "I only need one thing, and that is you," Lyle said as he smirked, leaving Adam and the others confused.


    "You, sorry, but what do you-" Before Adam could even respond, Cindy stared back at Lyle with anger before shouting.


    "What, you want him to be some toy for you, huh, some doll that will indulge in all your fantasies, and don''t y dumb, I know what sick things the nobles do, I won''t let you do that to Adam, I won''t –"


    "No, I didn''t mean it like that," Lyle said as he sighed before looking at them.


    "I can save you, but from that point on, your life is mine, you will follow me and be my personal guard, nothing more, nothing less," Lyle said while fully knowing that if Adam was to agree with him, he could indeed make him do anything he wanted him to do, but he doubted it would evere to that.


    "Your… guard?" Adam asked with a weak voice as he looked at Lyle weirdly. He had seen how the man had been able to destroy the whole base of goblins and hobgoblins by himself, and now he was supposed to be the guard of such a being.


    "Well, more of a servant, but once again, I will not force you to do anything you do not want to do, but there are things you will need to let go after taking my offer, them for example," Lyle said as he pointed at Cindy and the others.


    "You will probably never see them again, not just them, but your vige, your parents, everybody you know will be a thing of the past."


    Adam looked at Lyle before looking at the others who all nodded at him.


    "If you die, you will never see us again anyway, this way, who knows, you might have a chance to at least say hi in the future." The other guy said as he smiled weakly at Adam.


    "Never again?"


    "Probably, but who knows, we might pass by this area in the future, you will of course have a chance to visit them if you so wish to," Lyle said as he nodded to Adam before turning serious.


    "You only have a couple of minutes left to live, you have to make your choice quickly otherwise you will die."


    Adam stayed silent and looked at his friends before ncing back at Adam, this time with conviction in his eyes.


    "I ept, I don''t know who you are, or why you would save me, but you have already saved our lives once, if I survive, I will follow you to hell itself, sir."


    Lyle simply smiled before looking at everybody that was present.


    "Everybody needs to leave and wait for us outside." The people all looked at him with confusion before walking toward the exit, some, however, were fearful and didn''t know whether they should get out.


    "I have killed all the monsters that were outside, you can just wait in the tunnel, but if any remain after a minute has passed, I will personally kill you," Lyle said as he released his killing intent for a splint second, making everybody freeze before running to the exit.


    They could see that he wasn''t joking, if they truly stayed inside, then they would die.


    Even Adam and the others were shocked by Lyle''s words.


    The coldness in his voice waspletely differentpared to his previous demeanor.


    Lyle picked up Adam before going between some shacks, he couldn''t be certain that nobody would try and peek at what was happening, and if that happened, he would need to kill that person and perhaps all the others since they could potentially leak his secret.


    Lyle put Adam down and leaned him up against a shack before taking out his dagger and cutting his palm. He then stared at Adam as his hair suddenly started dancing around in the air. His previously ck eyes turned red and tworge fangs grew out from his mouth.


    Adam was scared senseless by the sight and opened his mouth to scream, only for Lyle''s hand to grab it and force him to drink down his blood while Lyle bit his neck.


    The exchange of blood continued for about 10 seconds before Adam closed his eyes. His body turned cold as his blood stopped flowing for a short period of time.


    Suddenly Lyle could hear Adam''s heartbeat as thetter opened his eyes and took a long breath. His chest rose up in the air as the sound of bones breaking could be heard.


    Adam''s body was now going through a change.


    He was bing a vampire, which meant that his entire body would change from the inside out.


    His teeth fell before being reced by new ones. His skin started peeling off as a newyer quickly grew out. His bones broke before mending themselves and growing stronger while his veins ruptured.


    His screams echoed inside the cave as Lyle moved a bit and stared at the entrance of the cave. Adam would need some time toplete his transformation and Lyle wasn''t going to let anyone see him just yet.