'W-What was is this?! W-what is he?!" the other assailant couldn't help but remark.
"Uriah c-calm down" the leader of the four managed to stutter out.
"Forget this! I'm out of here" Uriah replied before attempting to flee back down the mountain path.
The poor Mer couldn't help it, every instinct in his body was telling him to run.
In this moment he was sure that he had bitten off way more than he could chew, and that the youth named Argent was someone he absolutely could not afford to offend.
Nereus had recognized the faces of these two from classes in the Forum as well, proving his suspicions that all four were probably after his token correct and as such their fates were sealed in his eyes.
Noticing that one was attempting to escape, instead of giving chase Nereus instead had another idea and lazily closed his eyes as he silently and invisibly summoned the sea wraiths again.
Seeing his partner in crime attempting to escape and their target languidly closing his eyes amidst what was previously quite a tense situation left the leader of the four would be robbers in a confused state.
He wasn't sure what to do in this moment but as he looked at Uriah's retreating figure he couldn't help but feel some regret for him because on some level he knew that attempting to escape was the wrong choice.
SWOOSH
SWOOSH
SWOOSH
At that moment, the three sea wraiths again silently and incorporeally darted out from the seal mark on Nereus's forehead.
With their three targets having already been set by their master, they wasted no time before darting in three different directions. One by one the apparition like sea wraiths appeared just before their targets and looked to Nereus for further instructions.
Finally opening his eyes Nereus sent out his order on what to do next to the three sea wraiths and urged the one pursuing the fleeing target to act quickly.
"Argh!"
At that moment a faint strangled cry of pain sounded out from the direction the assailant named Uriah had disappeared in.
At the sound of the clearly pained Mer a shocked but concerned expression appeared on the still present leader of the bunch just as a sly smile stretched across Nereus's face.
"Uhh"
A low groan then resonated from the first attacker who had been knocked out.
Looking over at his knocked out partner the leader of the trio's face then stretched into a horrified silent scream at what was happening to the incapacitated Mer.
In a flash the young Mer's body began to wither seemingly from the inside out.
After a few short moments all that was left of the former attacker was a mummified looking husk stretched over dry and sharply jutting bones.
The last living attacker could not believe what he had just saw in just the span of a few moments and as his eyes darted back to Nereus he couldn't help but feel a chill at the napes of neck that brought him to his knees before the shorter Mer.
'Such savagery!'
Although killing of other clan members was frowned upon it wasn't out of the question and in the quest for joining the Inner Core of the sect many had previously died before but never by such vicious and unforgiving means.
He didn't know how but he knew Nereus was responsible for what just happened and judging by the sound Uriah had made shortly before, the same fate must have fallen on him.
With this realization in mind, he knew that he most likely did not have much time left to live, their target truly intended to leave no survivors here.
But he couldn't just give up, although he was terrified of this individual more than anything he wanted to live!
So mustering the last bit of his courage and strength he begged,
"P-please don't kill me, I-I don't want to- I can't die yet, not like this! I can't die this weak!"
'Halt!' Nereus then mentally commanded the sea wraith before retracting it back within him.
"Hmph! You obviously had intentions upon my life but now you want to make petitions for why I should spare yours?! What is your name audacious prey and remove that damned cloak?"
"Triton! Triton Earendil sir!" said the terrified Mer with a desperate and unrelenting glint in his eyes while hastily ripping the cloak concealing his face off.
With a flourish the dark cloak was thrown far from his figure as a shock of dark purple hair and irises on a scared but youthful and dashing looking face appeared before Nereus.
Recognizing the last name as belonging to a rather well-established family within the Inner Core of the Vorteesi sect, Nereus was at a loss for a moment at why someone with such a backing would need to stoop this low to attain a chance at something that should almost be a birthright.
Letting his curiosity get the best of him he decided to ask just that.
"I-I'm technically the oldest son of the current patriarch of the Earendil family but my mother was a commoner and because of that I am considered a bastard sir! I have no birthright nor access to cultivation resources or Inner core resources of any kind. A-all my father gave me was a name." Triton explains in a tone wrought with bitterness and unfulfillment.
Nereus understood everything immediately.
Due to his mother background this Triton's father would definitely lose face and standing within the Mer world let alone the Vorteesi sect if he had decided to marry her.
He most likely had left her with child after granting the boy his last name out of pity for never going to be around.
Even in his own time many years ago such a fate was common for those children whose fathers were of noble birth but they themselves were born out of wedlock from a less than desirable choice in mothers.
Nereus had hoped to deal with matters of inequality such as these at some point during his reign as he found the whole thing much too idiotic and depressing, sadly he hadn't gotten the chance before his untimely demise.
"Boy, do you truly wish to continue living as you had been by shamelessly robbing just to scrape by? If so, you may take your leave now, but I speak truthfully when I say that I see a spark of potential within you. You remind me much of someone I once knew, someone who similarly had a fire within them that refused to go out despite the surrounding darkness that fate had decreed it be snuffed out by."
At that moment a complicated expression came across Triton's face as he carefully thought on Nereus's words.
'I can't believe it! He's letting me go?! It must be a trick of some kind, but... he seems serious...besides that though what does he mean do I truly wish to go back to the life I was living? I've never had any alternative...'
Seeing the contemplative expression still on Triton's downcast face and noticing that he hadn't tried to take his leave just yet Nereus decided to continue.
"I'll speak plainly as I have pressing matters to attend to" said Nereus as a serious expression clouded his eerily glowing eyes, "Like I said I see potential within you, a potential that can be harnessed for purpose far greater than merely serving within the Inner Core. You have skills that could serve me well, skills that could shape the destiny of this Vorteesi sect let alone the entire kingdom."
Nereus's words were like claps of thunder in Triton's ears.
He couldn't believe that this former trash of the sect was making him such an offer with a tone that eclipsed the authority and magnanimity of even elders within the sect, however even more ludicrous to him was that he was actually now seriously considering it.
"But what of my freedom? Would I be bound to serve you forever?"
A contemplative expression them clouded Nereus's face before he replied solemnly,
"Freedom is a fleeting illusion my audacious prey, we are all in service of some greater force, whether we know it or not... But in serving me, you shall find the power, purpose, and prestige that you seek. Your loyalty shall be rewarded, and your name shall be remembered for generations to come."
Triton bowed his head, considering Nereus's words carefully.
After a long moment he finally replied, "Very well, I will accept your offer, and pledge my loyalty to you."