《Parrain de Asesino》 Prologue/Chapter 0 Third Person POV ------------------------------------- Phoenix Online, the world¡¯s largest VMMORPG in the 21th century ever made in mankind''s history. It captured the hearts and minds of millions of people around the world with different range of age group. It five senses nonetheless were limited as to not allow consumers thinking that the game itself were reality. There was one dark mechanism in one way or another excites players, the pain intensity was set to 30%. Therefore, players will feel 30% of the pain inflicted upon. There were 5 main races that were opened to players. Human Elf Dwarf Beast Demon Two unique races ¨C Vampire, Dragon lord will be available upon reaching a certain condition - Rebirth. Rebirth - grant the player the ability to retain his class¡¯s skills, reset level to ¡°1¡± and reselect to next favorable class. The rebirth system was an extraordinary system that stood out among other VMMORPG. The condition for rebirth: Level 200. However, 2th rebirth was required to change the player¡¯s race. Unknown to players, 2 years in the making of Phoenix Online, The founder found the races inferior. After several heated debate with the teams of producer, they successfully created a particular race- Vampire Dragon lord- Merging various characteristics of two races, one who distinct among the other races, superior, proud and arrogant. Only achievable to the first player who obtain the title of the strongest. The basic classes can be categories into ¡°Magician¡±, ¡°Warrior¡±, ¡°Rogue ¡°and ¡°Ranger¡±. It advanced towards one of the main class which the player chose after reaching and/or clearing conditions required. The various classes¡¯ advancement was: [Magician] Sorcerer Necromancer Priest Summoner [Warrior] Dark Knight Templar Fighter Guardian [Rogue] Assassin Ninja Scout [Ranger] Bow Blader Ranger Gunner In total, there were fourteen classes advancement that would take an average span of 2 years to reach a top tier player. In the world of Phoenix Online where the top organisation which comprised of top guilds, came together to form a world council, The Order of FerroSpirits, a beacon of hope for new players recruited to be protected under it''s banner. Players will be safeguarded and must uphold the rules and code of conduct at all times. Else ¡°punishment¡± would be carried out. That¡¯s to say, outcast and/or simply, marked. Players, who were outcast, lose most benefits with trading goods and services along with black listed by the council for several months or even years depending on their conduct as they will be monitored. That was how the light functioned. The light has a critical yet unspoken rule of attacking player. PVP has been frowned upon by the light as they disdained players looting and killing outside of cities even though it was one of the game¡¯s features. Only a handful of players ¨C Top members of The Order of FerroSpirits knew that, when there¡¯s light, there will always be darkness. The one and only opposing force, the dark guild in Phoenix Online: Asesino, controlled by once strongest player ¨C Zeig, ruler of the underworld also known as Parrain de Asesino, ruler of the Underworld, united all dark guilds under its wing. Moving the game balance behind the scene where black markets were only accessible to players that were associated with the dark guild, conquering top tier dungeon raid, acquiring rare and unique equipment. PVP ¨C also known as Player Versus Player was one favorable means for Asesino to get fifthly rich and equipment from the player (light) by the dark. Zeig POV ¨C Main character ------------------------------------- I worked as an engineer in Orange Company and the majority of my salary goes to Phoenix Online. I was once an unknown player, grinding harder than the other millions of players, spending cash into the game. In a blink of an eye, I was the Guild master of Asesino which came to know as Parrain of the Underworld by players. Why and how you might ask? Well, it¡¯s a long story. But long story short, I was once held as the first strongest player in Phoenix Online at level 200max and completed my 5th rebirth. It was then I noticed the light that shone corrupts the newbie¡¯s with their real world ideology. I mean, who the hell brought their real world rules and code of conduct to a GAME where GAMES were supposed to do whatever you want, brought joy and enjoyment to oneself. Thus an idea of creating a dark guild as a way out for those outcast to enjoy the game, not having problems with goods trading and getting off the surveillance of light. Not just any dark guild, but one that unites the dark guild communities, standing on top of it. Well, there were once various dark guilds, but I totally crushed them. how? Assassinated them whenever they¡¯re out of town (Not able to get out of town is equivalent to quitting the game.) leaving them a choice of quitting the game or to obey my authority ¨C ha! Total bad-ass. I haven¡¯t had the slightest interest in the title of the strongest since then considering I unlocked a unique one and only race back then. I¡¯m currently hiding behind trees where the main road could be seen with a group of my trusted aided ¨C the strongest members of the dark guild, on a mission to intercept the carrier of ¡°The Order of FerroSpirits ¡°from their annual council meeting. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Why? They piss me off with their damn hypocritical ideas to propagate to the newbie¡¯s, it''s time for payback! But don¡¯t be mistaken, a few (can be counted by my fingers) were sincerely helping the newbie with the basic process of the game. Aside from that, reports from spies indicated certain legendary graded article that interests me, being possessed by the one in the carrier. ¡°My lord, they¡¯ve come.¡± Ayla, my assistant, an elite elf Assassin, with a level of 150, 2th rebirth, wearing a dark plain leather armor with hood covering her silky long blonde hair, long pointy ears, wielding a very short, narrow, a slightly curved dagger made of ivory held with a grip wrapped in extravagant, forest green crocodile leather. I nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll go as planned¡± Gestured towards the darkness, Ayla communicated with our members as if announcing the arrival of the carrier, the sound of horses galloping was soon to be heard. Raised my right palm , I chanted, ¡®infernal heat¡¯ A magic circle whirled in front of my palm. Awhile later, Countless complex magic circles appeared, hovering above the carrier, within seconds, intense flame gushed out from magic circles, furiously devouring the entire road covering a span of 500 meters. ¡°Ambushed!¡± ¡°Defend the carrier!¡± ¡°It¡¯s the Asesino!¡± A group of players dashed out of the battlefield that were still burning violently along with smoke that flooded the entirebattle field, making it hard to see with our naked eyes. Well, the survival was expected, The Order of FerroSpirits by no means weak. They have a bunch of top players across the battle field battle-ready for ambushed. But I guess they did not expect Parrain''s (which is me) arrival. Of course they didn''t. The guild master of darkness guild out in an operation?! HA!. Yet, even I had a hard time dealing with them. But don¡¯t be mistaken, hard time. Not that they cannot be defeated, small flies. With my beloved legendary graded weapon: Lightning Soul Obsidian Blade, I charge towards the battlefield, swiftly slashed through three players, targeting the carrier. Upon reaching the carrier, the door slammed open, ¡°BASTARD! ZEIG!!¡± Ginger, long hair slightly reveals a chiseled, arrogant face. Dancing green eyes, standing at 170cm taller, wield a simple yet grandiose bastard great sword. Obtaining a seat within the council, Seth Blythe- level 130 and 3th rebirth and the guild master of Howling Brawlers. ¡°Hey there, Seth, What¡¯s up?¡± I responded calmly ¡°Hand over the article inside the carrier and I¡¯ll leave, Seth¡± ¡°Over my dead body, defend the carrier!¡± Seth screamed as he came charging madly toward me. ¡°You have no match for me, small fly, ¡®Grasp of the Undead¡¯¡± I chanted, shifting my right index finger in front. In a flash, several menacing bony hands gouged out from the ground, slowly maneuvered towards the lower half of Seth continuously till his waist hence immobilized him from taking meaningless action. ¡®Break'' Instantly, the numerous skeleton hands restraining Seth forcefully yanked him downward the ground, crushing his bones. ''Death Shroud'' Sucking the life essences out of him, the next moment, a lifeless was replaced. ¡°SHIT¡± That was the last word he uttered before turning into stardust. ¡°How anticlimactic. Told you, you have no match for me¡± I mused. Stepping towards the carrier, I grabbed the legendary graded object and storing it in my storage. With my objective cleared, I raised my palm into the air, intended to call a retreat when suddenly my body felt discomfort. ''Is something wrong with the system?'' I thought. Abruptly, my entire body was screaming with pain, I couldn''t endure it and felt woozy. Everything was distorted and hazy, I can''t focus. My head was assaulted with intense headache, too heavy to lift; I fell to knee and kiss the dirty mud. The next moment, everything went dark ¡­¡­ Ayla POV ------------------------------------- We were getting ready for the ambushed arranged by my lord. I gestured towards the darkness where our members were currently at as if signalling them to be ready. Lord Zeig held out his right palm and chanted ¡®infernal heat¡¯ ¨C that signified the beginning of ambushed. Countless complex magic circles appeared and immediately, an endless flame engulfed the battle field. ¡®The images portrayed are like reality¡¯ I thought. ¡°Ambushed!¡± ¡°Defend the carrier!¡± ¡°It¡¯s the Asesino!¡± Snapping out of my thoughts, Shouts of horror and terror swept across the battlefield, it was chaos. It would be strange if I displayed signs of nervousness as a veteran PVP raid Assassin to my junior members. Amidst the chaos, I gripped my dagger and rushed towards the battlefield, under the guise of smoke, I stealthy kill off most of low leveled player, sending them back to ¡®Tomb of Nanthaz¡¯ ¨C one of the revival places for players. When the flame died down and smoke dispersed, the battlefield was empty with the exception of the carrier and our members. And my lord was nowhere to be seen. A few seconds later, Notification to Zeig¡¯s Party: -----Zeig has disconnected----- What happened? ------------------------------------- Hello there, dear readers, please kindly spot mistakes and feel free to comment and make reviews for my improvement. Much appreciated. Chapter 1 - An Accident?! Warning: Gore, violence, and sexual content Take note: POV will change accordingly Third Person POV ------------------------------------- In the vast land of the continent of Valhalla, It is said that elves does not care about the mortal¡¯s affair and secluded in the depth of ¡°The Great Forest of Belz¡±. The Great Primeval Guardian, Belz existed in overseeing the forest in his eternal slumber from way back to the creation of Valhalla. The ancient civilization once documented: ¡°The Great Belz shall bring forth catastrophe upon the race, which disturbed his deep slumber.¡± Thereafter, a non-existing peace treaty was set in place among living, intelligent creatures in order not to provoke the elves. Near the southern border of the Great Forest of Belz, a small prosperous settlement with firm and solid wooden fences and in-apposite frail-looking gates surrounding the settlement to prevent wild beasts from intrusion, were seen doing their daily life. A group of elite elves was coaching the new generation with the history of the continent when the gatekeeper noticed something amiss, hence, dashed in the direction of the elder¡¯s dwelling. The wild beasts seemed agitated, suggesting that a foreign ¡®thing¡¯ was disturbing their habitat. Determined to find the source, the elder ordered the elite elves to form a search party. Armed with common leather armour, daggers and bows, they journeyed towards the source. Unknown to the party of elves, various pairs of malicious eyes were observing them leaving their settlement. ¡°It¡¯s time,¡± said the man. Neither of the elves knew at the time that it was a grave mistake sending a search party, leaving the settlement unguarded. As the elves approached the root of unsettling among wild beasts, they could sense the immense pressure emitted by the source. So great that some were already trembling involuntarily. Mustered their courage, they slogged their way with cautious and vigilant eyes in the direction of the source. Upon arrival, what they saw leaving the party dumbfounded. Carefully examined the strange creature from top to bottom, the lead elf took a step front to check if he was alive. From what he observed, the strange creature lying at the root of a primal tree was unconscious. He has silver long hair, a little over his shoulder. His features were gentle, yet haughty. Slightly above his eyebrow, revealed two small horns. But what caught their attention were the two huge, magnificent bat wings with nasty sharp spikes at the tip of each wing spreading at least a meter. It was as if a devil has descended. ¡®What is he?¡¯ thought the elf. As if answering his thought, the strange creature awoke from his slumber, cautiously scanning his surroundings. The lead elf then noticed, the creature fiery red wicked pair of eyes akin to an ancient dragon staring dagger at him as if this creature was about to devour him. The elf stood in placed, paralyzed and broke out in cold sweat. Zeig POV ------------------------------------- ¡°Urgggggg my head hurts¡± I opened my heavy eyelids hazily, gradually adjusting my eyes to the blazing sun. ¡®It''s morning ?!¡¯ Looking left and right, I noticed I¡¯m lying down against an uneven thick root of a tree with its huge root spread across the soil, deeply en-rooted its vein beneath the land. ¡°Where am I?¡± Feeling exhausted from the previous mysterious ordeal, I closed my eyes once more, lifted my face and inhaled a great deal of its earthy scent, delighting in the sounds of crickets chirping. Then it struck me, I felt presences, presence that surrounded me and was hostile to me. I jerked my body up and examined my surrounding, identified several beings staring curiously at me. Staring at the leader of the group, he has long blonde hair, Pointy ears, wearing common leather armour, wielding bows and daggers strapped on their thigh. ¡°Elves!¡± I exclaimed out unwittingly. Startled, the lead elf took a step back. ¡°Ya naa lle?!!¡± The lead elf shouted, notched an arrow and pointed toward me. ¡°Wait ¡­ Wait, I mean no harm¡± Raising my hands into the air, I retorted, hoping that they will understand. As though misinterpreted as a sign of aggressiveness, a flurry of arrows broke loose streaking in my direction. The instinct of ¡°Strongest Player¡± (once) kicked in; I leaped out of the spot, pointed my finger toward them and chanted, ¡®Blind¡¯ Immediately, a few golden light appeared, firmly wrapped around the elves, crippled them from movement. In a moment, I could hear, cries and scream. Searching for the source, I noticed there were smoke rising up a few miles away from me. ¡®Settlement!¡¯ I thought. ------------------------------------- -A few moments after the elves left the settlement- The several vicious eyes that were observing the leaving party got up from their hideout amidst the trees. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± ¡°Let us go, my brothers!¡± Exclaimed the leader as he led the group. ¡°HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡± The men screamed as they charged towards the unguarded settlement. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°It¡¯s the humans! Alert the elders!!¡± cried the elf guarding the fragile gates before getting shot by an arrow in the throat. Panic and terror swept through the settlement as the group of men charged toward the weak gates that protect from invasion. Equipped with common leather armour and weapons, the men swiftly knocked down the gates thus began the massacred. ¡°Kill them all! Leave the women alive! ¡°The leader commanded. As if knowing what their leaders¡¯ desired, the men quickly captured a bewitching beauty and brought her to their leader. The leader, with a pair of lustful eyes, licked his lip and gazed lecherous toward the female elf as she struggled to break free from restraint. ¡°What a beauty, HAHAHA!¡± ¡°No, PLEASE! HELP!¡± ¡°Hold her tight!¡± The men bind the women by constraining her hands and pushing her against the dirt. The leader ripping apart the piece of cloth hiding the women¡¯s seductive alluring body. Scrutiny the women¡¯s bare body, he perceived that this elf has ample mounds and were enticing him to violate her. Feeling aroused, the leader inserted two fingers into the women¡¯s private part. Unbearable discomfort surged through the woman¡¯s before pungent scent could be smelled. ¡°You¡¯re soaking wet already, HAHAHA!¡± The women screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping that somebody will save her. The women¡¯s cried were futile as the other group of men continued with their on-slaughtering of the settlement. Male elves were killed without mercy, adults and children alike. Female elves were captured alive and used for the group of men¡¯s sexual desire. They were continuously raped by several filthy men at once, ripping them apart. Lifeless bodies were scattered around the settlement and tree houses were burnt down. Men chopping off the heads of various bodies impaled them into sharp spears and planted the pole in the middle of settlement as though collecting heads for war trophy. This barbaric act instilled fear among the captured female elves. Without delay, the leader pulled his trouser down, displaying his nether regions. Spreading the women¡¯s legs apart, the men adjusted to a comfortable position and inserted his genitals into the women¡¯s. ¡®Oh, that is tight¡¯ thought the leader, in the middle of enjoying the screams and moans of the women. Blood flowed out of the women¡¯s genital indicating her first time a foreign object invades her sexual organs. Interconnecting with her, he moved his hips back and fore, gripping and squeezing the busty mounds she possess. In the process of moving, the agony escalated on the women¡¯s genital, tearing her apart. Tears streamed down from the eyes of the women as if leaving her life to fate, the light of hope that burnt in the women¡¯s eyes extinguished. She knew not a soul will save her from this abominable man. Eventually, the soil reeked of a maiden¡¯s blood. The leader moved faster and faster, causing the sensation to intensify at the root of his nether regions. Upon reaching his climax from intercourse, the man penetrated deep into the woman¡¯s womb and discharged his seeds into the women¡¯s genital. When the leader took out his sexual organ, he felt chills down his spine. A surged of killing intent stretched across the entire now- shabby settlement. All men freeze in placed, unable to move. The leader took the courage, turned his head towards the source, disbelieved in what he saw. ¡°A monster.¡± he uttered before every living existence in the settlement being immolated by the ¡®monster¡¯. Zeig POV ------------------------------------- Abandoned the group of elves, I walked towards the direction of the rising smoke. Cutting trees, veins that intertwined and making a path for me to pass, I walked through an umber-brown forest. Soon after, I arrived at a wide glade, where the trees parted away revealing the bespoke sky. What I saw next shocked me, the sight of bloodbath, burning of tree houses, violation and heads that were impaled. A few distances away, a man leaves hanging his nether regions with a puddle of blood underneath him and a woman who was naked furthermore unconscious most likely the act of forced sexual assault. Then I spotted a group of apprehended female elves staring in my direction. Their eyes met mine as if begging me to save them from the ordeal. Anger built up within me as I saw the sight. I could feel heat leaving my body and a few moments later, the masses stopped whatever they were doing and looked to my direction. Feeling determined to rescue the elves; I pointed my fingers towards the detestable bandit and chanted, ¡®Blaze¡¯ The next moment, I was flabbergasted by the scene in front of me leaving my jaw wide opened. An enormous magic circle appeared below the ground covering the entire settlement. Instantly, stream of flame rise up burning every breathing creature alive, blasting a massive hole in the southern border of ¡°The Great Forest of Belz¡± ¡°CRAP!¡± I cursed ¡°That is not what I expected ! What happened?!¡± Reflecting on what I have done, I couldn¡¯t come up with a conclusion. ¡°Well, No matter¡± Leaving behind the scorching ground and hundreds of charred adults and children''s corpses alike, I lazily strolled towards the east of the forest, hoping to find the next settlement. Unknown to Zeig, the Primeval Guardian Belz awoke from his eternal slumber and was cautiously observing him. ------------------------------------- Hello dear readers, as usual, please inform me of mistake spotted. Information will be revealed slowly. Thank you. Chapter 2 - Why are they so rude? ©`©` I walked through the peaceful and tranquil forest and came across a riverbank which stretches through the entire eastern forest while reflecting upon the recent events that happened moments ago. First, the mysterious ordeal that happened which knocked me out. Second, I woke up at an unknown destination. Then, the spell that I used was much larger than expected. Or rather, my spell actually worked in this unknown place! I took a seat near the edge of the river and get a good look at myself against my reflection on the crystal clear water. I have silvery silky hair, red dragon eyes, and two horns slightly above my eyebrow, bat wings and most importantly, fangs! Looking down, I am wearing the limited edition cash item, red dragon scale full set armor Which I bought using my latest salary. ¡®That¡¯s right! My game avatar!¡¯ I mean¡­I am still the same from the previous mission before being placed into this troublesome situation. Wait¡­.mission? What mission? Then, it hits me. The legendary grade artifact! While I was pondering on how to access to my storage; a black hole suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of me. ¡® What¡­ the ¡­hell .. is ¡­this?¡± Startled, I stared at the void curiously before placing my hand in it. The black hole sucked my hand into it and¡­ ¡®Woah!¡¯ I could feel all my equipment and items stored in this¡­ vast void space! I rummaged through the huge space, found what I wanted. I mean, with just a thought, the item arrived in my hand. Though, I can¡¯t seem to comprehend the limit of the storage. I dragged out the artifact; there was only one word that can describe it for this situation. ¡®Useless¡¯ The artifact has a transparent lute shape crystal prism as big as a size of an apple. ¡®Dispel any spell internally or externally within the bounded distance. No restriction to be used.¡¯ Damn it! Legendary graded my ass! Why do I even gone through all the troublesome work with this useless piece of shit?! Throwing it back to the void, I am once again back to this situation. ¡°So, Where the hell am I ?!¡± An intelligent guess was that, I am probably transported into a different terrain, perhaps¡­ another world? But how? And why? Resigning, I decided to find a town and looked for information about this...the world. Looking around the tranquil, eerie forest, I noticed I haven¡¯t come into contact with wild beasts since the moment I stepped into this forest. Strange ¡­. Really strange . I walked in the direction of east of the forest, and finally saw, roads that connected and people! From what I observed, these masses were humans. Therefore, I can¡¯t go on like this. At least until I find information, I need to look¡­..human to blend in. While I was pondering on how to look human, perhaps I could try to start with my wings? In the game, the additional parts of like wings, fangs and tails were only meant for decoration and a dragon race could only fold its wings, resting the wings on the back when not in use. With that in mind, I folded my dragon¡¯s wings as it made a cracking sound, feeling like an additional limb. Then, taking the highest concentration ever in my entire life, without feeling any pain, the gigantic wings slowly retracted into my spine. Though, it was really eerie that a pair of wings could just disappear into my back. The same goes for my fangs, in the movies where it portrays vampires, they could pull back their fangs, leaving a set of normal human teeth. Therefore, by that theory, I could do it too. And it took without effort to retract my teeth. Somehow, it felt so unnatural, without my wings and fangs. But I could probably get used to it. Because my horns and eyes were fixed in place due to the game character, it was impossible to retract it. Therefore, an illusion spell should perhaps do the job. Concentrated, I cast an illusion spell on myself, ¡®Mask of deception¡¯ My horns were slowly fading away without a trace and eyes were replaced with humans. The same face I had without my intimidating parts. A normal looking human. And perhaps ¡­ my armor looked out of place too... I thought of the black void as it appeared in front of me again, slowly place my hands in it, I felt the sensation of being sucked again. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. This time, I pulled out a set of plain common leather armor, a typical sword, and a sword holster. Feeling satisfied looking normal, I intended to join the masses walking in the direction of a town distance away. I walked out of the forest lazily and joined the crowd. However, the moment I was out, these masses seemed frightened and they started to look in the direction of . Me? Staring at me? Why? And I thought I looked normal? No? Perhaps monsters in my direction? Looking behind, I saw no monsters. As I turned my head back, these masses were¡­¡­. Gone? Leaving their belonging behind. Empty. No one was along the road connecting perhaps a town. How weird¡­ Minutes or perhaps hours of following the ¡®once filled¡¯ trails in the direction, I finally saw a town! It has huge gates in the middle with a strong and solid wall that encircled it. Hmm... And I could felt faint magic produced by the town or was it just my imagination? I approached the gates and was stopped by the guards, wielding spears and the full set of plain looking armor. ¡°H-halt, Strag-ger¡± The guard was looking at me with terror and was constantly trembling. What¡¯s wrong with them? Let see, what should I say? Making up a story should be good¡­ ¡°Oh dear soldier, I am a traveler and got robbed on my way to this town, would you please¡­.¡± Nervousness could be felt on their face as they tremble. And after that... *Thump**Thump**Thump* The guards fainted all together¡­ Eh? What happened?. I walked through the gates into the town, Ignoring the guards that fainted while pondering what happened, Stepping into the flourishing town, it was bustling with life with merchants and vendors merchandising their products, the crowds were chatty and wagons and horses were next to the unhygienic road as feces and litter were on the roadway. Wooden houses were everywhere, packed with each other, creating narrow alleyway which was the sprout of crime. The most eyes catching were the tallest building which was built with the high-quality material in the middle of town, probably out of reach for these commoner. Maybe the governor lived there. Eyes were staring at me the moment I stepped in. The bustling town suddenly became silent. There wasn¡¯t a single human that was not trembling. Some fainted, some quickly ran away, others fallen to their knees. What happened? Why were these people.. So rude? What were they afraid of? Ignoring the masses once again, I realized a biiigggggggggg problem. Strange words were everywhere! I can¡¯t read! But .. The guards, could they perhaps not understand me? Wandering around aimlessly in hope of finding an artifact that granted me the ability to read those wiggly words, I noticed there were different symbol hanging on top of these wooden houses which indicated the shop¡¯s profession around the now-deserted town. (Everyone ran at the scene before my arrival) Passing a few roads almost into the middle of the town, I saw a symbol that resembles a library, spectacle on top of a book. How? Books meant library right? From the outside, it looks plain, broken and crude. Most of the wooden houses were made up of timber and well-crafted wooden beams which supported most of the building''s outer structure. Pushing the wooden door opened, I am welcomed by creaking sound of wooden doors and¡­. a trembling old man. White short hair with a worried face, round amber eyes watching fearfully at me, ¡°Hey old man, do you understand me? I can¡¯t read the words. Do you probably have an artifact that granted me the ability to read?¡± ¡°Wait! Please! Don¡¯t hurt me! It¡¯s suffocating! Here, take it!¡± He took out a well-crafted tear-shaped pendant with a ruby stone embedded in the middle from his pocket and threw it to me before prostrating under his desk. Seriously? What happened... Well, At least I knew I could communicate. Ignoring him, I wore the valuable pendant. The wiggly words change to that of words I could read. ¡®Finally!¡¯ As I browsed through the bookshelves to look for a book on history. --- Chapter 3 - My Objective? Book titled, History of Valhalla. The Great Demon Kingdom once ruled over the continent of Valhala with its mighty demon armies. The Demon King Asulaz ruled with an iron fist which terrified the citizens. Thousands of life¡¯s perished during his brutal reign. Rebellions were subdued, tortured and executed. Born with infinite magical power, the then young Asulaz usurped the throne, slay the previous Demon King and wiped out the previous king¡¯s loyalist. Once in power, King Asulaz imposed a new fresh policy. Under this policy, the Demon Kingdom prosperous rapidly and rose into power. The death of previous kindhearted Demon King shook the whole continent. Terror and panic spread throughout the continent as Demon King was in the midst of preparing for war against the major races. Year 446, Armed with 150 thousand strong demons general and soldiers, Demon King Asulaz declared war on the continent. Conquering territories after territories with its mighty armies, King Asulaz forced the 4 main races to the border of the continent. In the East, there were the humans. Southern-west, there were the dwarfs. North of the border, there were elves and west, there were beast men. Years of getting suppressed by King Asulaz, the 4 main races desperately formed a coalition in hopes of eliminated the Demon King. Different plans were put in place. And the most successful ones were poisoned. All attempted to infiltrate into the castle were successful due to underestimation, one fatal flaw of King Asulaz. Hence, letting his guard¡¯s down, King Asulaz was fatally poisoned. Using King Asulaz¡¯s waking moment as an advantage, the coalition attacked on four fronts, causing confusion among the demons. Without the lead of King Asulaz, the demon armies were greatly reduced. Pushing their way through the castle of Demon kingdom, Great Demon King Asulaz was forcefully sealed with an ancient artifact and hidden away by elves. The remaining demons were forced back to the smaller land of Northern ¨C West of the continent. Year 476, The Great Demon war ended. Post- war, elves and dwarfs announced they''re uninterested in the mortal¡¯s affair due to losing the majority of their brethren, secluded themselves into ¡°The Great Forest of Belz¡± and the Southern-West¡¯s mountain respectively. The once territories of King Asulaz will to be split equally among humans and beast men. However, ruled by greed, the humans mustered the remaining soldiers, pushed the beast men out of the east, forcing them back to the west. Hostile remained among the two races but they do not have the strength and resources for another great war. Thus, the humans suggested a peace treaty to prevent unlikely war ahead. Year 477, the beast men, grit their teeth and signed the treaty. Written by, Wanderer Dakias Year 480 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Interesting. I wondered how long has it been since then. Placing back the book to its shelf, I was about to take another book to read when the wooden door slammed open. A man with messy brown hairs, unshaved facial, strong build with muscles and visible long scar across the nose, walked in and approached me. ¡°I am Ryle Crawford, the guild master of adventure guild. May I have a little talk with you?¡± Adventure guild? I never want to associate with them so soon. Whatever, I have to join for information anyway. ¡°Sure, But¡­ Do I know you?¡± ¡°W-well, How about you come to my office and we will talk.¡± Leading the way, we came upon a two-story wooden building which¡­ was kind of run-down. A typical sword across a shield symbol was hanging outside of the building. All eyes were on me as we entered, some were visibly shaken, some were firmly, staring at me but cold sweat could be seen. ¡°Do not disturb me¡± ¡°Y-yes...¡± The guild master ordered the receptionist before he went to the back of the guild hall and led me to his room. The guild master¡¯s room, it looked normal. There¡¯s a messy official desk, filled bookshelves behind the desk and a lounge slightly in front of the desk. Taking a seat on the sofa, we began our conversation. ¡°Sorry for so sudden ¡­ Mr¡­¡± ¡°Zeig, Call me Zeig. So, why am I here and how do you know me?¡± ¡°Ahhh ¡­ Yes, Mr¡­Zeig. I don¡¯t know why an existence like you is here as for how I know.¡­¡± ¡°Existence? What do you mean?¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Showing a weak face, sweats could be seen forming on his forehead before he continued. ¡°I¡¯ll get straight to the point but¡­. could you please do something about your Aura? ¡°Aura?¡± AH!! No wonder these people in the town acted so ¡­¡­. RUDE! ¡°Y-yes... Your aura is leaking out.¡± Focusing, I realized a small amount of fiery red aura was leaking out. Strange¡­ the people have no resistance against this little amount of aura? ¡°Pardon, Hahaha. Is it alright now? I did not realize it was leaking out.¡± Relief spread through his face as I retracted my leaking aura, but was replaced quickly with a serious face the next moment. ¡°Mr¡­ Zeig, I will be frank with you. I am a guild leader of the adventure guild. I daresay, even in the kingdom, not many can put a scratch on me. I have seen many, fought and even try to challenge an existence like dragons. But never in my life, have I seen a different entity like you. My instincts always prove me right and now it is screaming desperately telling me to escape from you.¡± Holding his arm up, yup, he was trembling. I am surprised he could endure my aura. Even more surprised that he could tell I am different. I guess being the guild master has its strength or there was something else...? As though my inner thought was leaked and shown on my face, ¡°There is an A rank barrier that fences monster off from the town. Even S ranked monster have a hard time breaking it. And ¡­¡± ¡°I broke it?¡± Certainly, I felt a weak magic encircled the town, so weak that I thought it was just my imagination. ¡°Yes. And there was some disturbance in town right after you entered. The citizens were causing an uproar stating that a high rank demon attacking a town; I followed your aura and here you are.¡± The people here were too WEAK! This world¡¯s magic was too different! Rather, I am too out of the place here! After several interesting dialogue sessions with the guild master, I found out what I need to know. We are now in Craydon, a free town which was not under the rule of any kingdoms and it¡¯s the first town on the border of the forest that I came out of. There were three human kingdoms that rule the east. Closer to this town was the territory of The Kingdom of Ocerissa. Then, we have a few agreements, 1. I am not allowed to go on a rampage. ¨C Well, if they don''t meddle with my affair(Not that they can stop me). 2. Information will be provided to me if I required 3. He must keep a secret about me 4. I am to be registered under the adventurer''s guild. As for my rank ¡­¡­ ¡°Give me a C rank; I don¡¯t want to stand out after all.¡± Exactly, I do not want to stand out. Considering the incident that happened due to my leaked aura, I definitely will be the talk of the town. Therefore, I must stay low. Maybe¡­I should change my appearance once more¡­? ¡°I will grant you a special guild card which will be recognized everywhere and could take a request up to S rank.¡± There are hundreds of adventure guilds all over the continent. The amount of registered adventurer is more than ten thousand people. Adventurers are technically stronger than normal people. No wonder these people can endure my aura! Continue on, ranking from adventure guild start from E, D, C, B, A, S and lastly SS. A veteran warrior is considered C rank. B and A rank are considered genius. S and SS are monsters. There might be a possibility of kingdom using adventurer as a soldier. The chances were slim. but who knows? Monsters ranking are similar, except a ¡®SSS¡¯ rank is included in the chart which indicated monsters which are capable of annihilated a kingdom. Anyone can join the adventure guild as long as you got skills, but at the same time, there were various famous guilds that are working independently. Some of these guilds supported the kingdom from behind the scene. And¡­ From what I was told, there was only one fallen guild which the kingdom could not destroy. (?¡ã ?? ?¡ã) ¡°So, Mr..Zeig, What exactly is your objective here?¡± Objective? My objective? An interesting idea struck me. Perhaps I can do it here too. I smirked, rubbing my hand on my chin. ¡°Well, what is my objective here indeed¡­?¡± --------------------------------------------------- Your comment is appreciated. Intermission - Ryle POV Short and fast chapter. Ryle Crawford POV ------------------------------------ I was born of a lower noble. I do not like the life of a noble. ¡®Meaningless¡¯ was what I thought. I desired adventure. Not the life of getting stepped on. Finally getting the approval from my father, I joined the life of an adventure. I climbed my way up living as an adventure; I trained and fought harder than anyone. I was strong, cocky and haughty. Nobody can match up to me, A S ranked adventurer. A monster was what people said. Parties from adventure guild wanted me. And even famous independent guilds heard about me. I joined a party, they were good hearted people. A party of 5 A ranked adventure. We fought, we sing, we laugh, we drink. They were my beloved friends. Then, I suggested challenging a dragon. They agreed. And that was a fatal decision I made in life. We journeyed to the dragon¡¯s dwelling. A massive red fury dragon. We fought, we lost. 3 of our members died. 2 heavily injured. And I, escaped. I was a coward. I stood unmoved, trembling at the scene of that dragon. They defended me with their life. I ran, carrying both of them back to town. I was strong, but not stronger than a dragon. Both of them retired. Leaving the adventurous life away and took their job as a farmer. I thought of quitting the life as an adventure too, but the then- guild master smacked me, waking me up. ¡°Do not repeat the same mistake¡± was what I learnt. But it was too late; I lost 3 of my beloved friends. I cried, I grieved. Craving their will into my heart. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The guild master was a monster beyond me. I begged him to train me. I want to get stronger. Not for revenge, but for the sake of my friends. Their will I inherit. He agreed. I trained under him for several years until he passed away due to old age. Nobody can escape death. And I knew, at that time, I was just lucky. I got stronger, way stronger than before. I stand above everyone. I was appointed the next guild master. But I was not cocky, I learnt my limit. Then, One day, a disturbance caused by a different existence. He broke the town¡¯s barrier. Even S ranked monsters have difficulty. What is he? I could feel the immense aura leaking out. It¡¯s heavy. Never in my life have I felt this kind of pressure. Not even the dragon. I approached him. He looked normal. Too normal. Silvery hair, Red fiery eye and small build. He looked weak. But don¡¯t judge. I knew I could not. I was already trembling. My instinct was telling me to escape, to flee for my life. But I can¡¯t. I have my responsibility as a guild master. We talked. We agreed. He was not to go on rampage. But who knows? He will keep his promise? But I understood, we stood no chance, probably even with the kingdom¡¯s armies. He was a monster. No ¡­.. Something way beyond a monster. What was his objective here? I asked. He smirked, rubbing his chin. It was creepy. It sends Chill down my spine. I hope he is not planning anything. ---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4 - First quest in different world Zeig POV -------------------------- Getting out of the guild master¡¯s room, the once filled guild hall was now emptied. Perhaps they¡¯ve gone for their expedition? Eventually reaching the reception counter, the lady name Miah, has red bob hair, petite in size and a pretty looking face. Her smile broadened as I stood in front and dimples could be seen. ¡°I have been informed from the guild master to issue a gold card.¡± ¡°Gold card?¡­¡± ¡°Yes, it is a privilege card normally issued to S ranked adventurer. Please inject your mana into the gold card.¡± Perhaps it wasn¡¯t like previously where my aura leaked, the reception lady, Miah advised me with a positive attitude, depicting a professional in her job. She placed the gold card onto the reception counter with a smile that could probably enchant the vulgar adventurers. I focused and injected a little bit of my mana into the cards. The gold card absorbed my mana and I could feel traces of my mana inside the card. ¡°The guild master has also prepared a guild card for you.¡± Saying so, she placed a black card on the counter which displayed: Name: Zeig Gender: Male Race: Human Age: 18 Class: Warrior Guild rank: C The guild card is for identification purposes when entering the town. From what I was told, the gold card has privileges such as discounted prices around the kingdom and even able to request an audience with the king of a kingdom. Truly a valuable asset. A few meters ahead of the counter, there¡¯s the notice board. Looking curiously at the notice board where all the quests were pinned on, there were all kinds of request. Some were elimination quests, some gathering. There was even a petty request posted onto the board to find a cat around the town. Maybe taking a quest to earn some gold is a good idea. Though if the gold in ¡®Phoenix Online¡¯ was useable, I could probably buy a kingdom over and managed myself. One particular quest caught my attention, Name of Client: Kold Crosnier Destination: Kingdom of Ocerissa Description: Requesting 10 adventurers to protect my caravan from wild beasts and bandits on the way to the capital of Kingdom of Ocerissa. Food will be covered. Estimate time to arrive, 7days. Reward: 50 silver coin Requirement: C ranked adventurer Basically, the conversions of coins are as such, 100 Copper = 1 Silver 100 Silver = 1 Gold 100 gold = 1 White Gold A typically gold coin can sustain a family for a month. I should probably start by going sightseeing in the kingdom. This would be my first quest in this world after all! Tearing the quest off, I proceeded to the counter and registered my name. ¡°Registration completed, I will inform the merchant. Please be at the town¡¯s gate in the morning¡± ¡°Understood¡± Having said that, I turned around to leave the adventure guild. ¡°Wait.. Zeig!¡± Hearing a familiar voice called out to me, I turned to look. The guild master? Hah, What again? ¡°I want you to eliminate a bandit fortress which have been causing the town some problems. Of course, I will reward you when you finished the quest. How about it?¡± Sounds interesting. Thinking about it, it is a chance to go on a rampa¡­I mean test my skills. But there¡¯s something else that¡¯s bothering me. ¡°Alright, I accept. But tell me the truth, why would you ask me, a different existence which is viewed as dangerous to take on this request?¡± Letting out a small sigh, he spoke in a slightly bitter voice, ¡°Hah, this¡­town hardly has any adventurer living here. Strong adventurer went to the capital for better quests. Because of that, this town.... ¡° ¡°The bandits are strong?¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°Yeah, they were a bunch of former adventurers, numbered at least 30. There are at least a few veteran bandits. The leader, former B ranked adventurer, Brant the ravagers, does all kinds of dirty work, Stealing, robbing and rapping from the villagers after he retired.¡± Interesting, B ranked adventurer and few strong bandits. Maybe I could use¡­¡­ ¡°So, where do I find them?¡± ¡°They are currently hidden away from the eyes of the law, at a small fortress to the north. I bet you don¡¯t have coins with you, here are 5 golds for your expenses. Take this letter and Brant¡¯s head as a proof of completion to the branch manager in the capital. He will understand. ¡± Accepting the bag of gold coins and the letter, I placed them in my storage. Convenient, huh. When I got out of the adventure guild, the sun has already set. I got to find an inn to rest for the night. Walking around the town, passing a few streets, there weren¡¯t a lot of noticeable shops around the town and I noticed there were only humans in the town. Entering an inn called ¡®The Orange Bench¡¯, it has a large double storey timber framed building, with well-made wooden tables and chairs. The first storey was a dining area; several tables were occupied by small groups of people, glancing at me before continuing with their business. The second storey perhaps consisted of rooms for rent. Welcomed with a loving smile by a young woman who has light blue straight hair, which reveals a warm face probably in her twenties and stood charmingly behind the counter, I approached her with delight. ¡°I need a room, for one night and breakfast too.¡± ¡°7 silver for a night with breakfast.¡± She smiled at me cheerfully before I took out several silver coins from ¡®Phoenix Online¡± from my pocket. Need I say that the storage is accessible anywhere, as long as I think of it. ¡° Is this useable?¡± ¡°This !!...¡± She was at a loss for words while holding onto the silver coins. Snapping back to reality she shouted, ¡°MOM ! THERE IS SOMETHING YOU NEED TO SEE !¡± An older lady came out of the kitchen irritated. ¡°How many times do I need to repeat myself?! DO NOT SHOUT !¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°No Buts! Sorry, young man, for my impolite daughter.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine¡± ¡°Mom! This!¡± Said the young lady pointing towards the silver coins on the counter. ¡°What on Earth!!!¡± Properly held the silver coin and examined thoroughly, the older lady exclaimed, ¡°S-sorry!.. I didn¡¯t see anything like this before! .. This silver coin probably made up of pure silver !¡± ¡°Pure silver?¡± ¡°Yes, young man, the coins that we used were of mixed silver and yet, you have the perfect pure silver coins. Pure metals were rare even the kingdom would go to war for it. Young man, be careful with it. There are bandits and thieves around this area.¡± That means right now I have loads of pure copper, pure silver and pure gold with me? Heh, I feel like a walking bank right now. ¡°Yes, thank you for the information. Here are 7 silver coins.¡± ¡°How could I accept it?! A pure silver coins probably weigh a few gold !¡± ¡°Fine, please accept at least these copper coins¡± Saying so, I took out a few copper coins from my storage and placed it onto the counter. !!!!!¡±Pure COPPER!¡± The older lady shouted loudly before shutting her mouth with hands. ¡°H-here¡¯s the key for the room, Second storey to your right, room 205¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Accommodations¡¯ consist of a wooden cot, a wooden small desk and a chair and small, there is a toilet within the bathroom and half rounded windows allow enough light to enter the room. Changing to sleepwear, just underwear, I hopped onto the bed. People on earth, usually don''t sleep so early. There are technologies and night life for entertainments. Perhaps this world has little nightly entertainment therefore people always sleep so early. It¡¯s not that I need sleep, but I need to get accustomed to this world. I better get to sleep. -------------------------- Chapter 5 - Moving on ---------------------------- *Bang**Bang**Bang* ¡°Excuse me, breakfast ready!¡± I woke up to the sound of someone knocking loudly on the door. Perhaps waking up on the wrong side of the bed, I am feeling really irritated by the loud banging. ¡°Alright! I am up. Will be down in a few minutes!¡± Feeling nostalgic at the words I said as I remembered how my mother always wakes me up like that. I got up and washed myself before opening the storage and took out clothing for the journey. I wore a short sleeved, cloth jacket covers to just below my knees and was tightly tied with string slightly off-centre. The sleeves of my jacket were incredibly wide and reach down to well above my hands; they were decorated with several thread linings at the sleeve ends. My jacket has a wide V-neck which reveals part of the white shirt worn under it and was worn with a large leather belt, which held together by an ornate pin. The leather belt was plain and dull to make it look common. My pants were simple and reached down to my hide boots. The boots were made from a rare hide with an ordinary design and a simple, dull looking sword hanged onto my hips. And not forgetting the necklace I ¡®borrowed¡¯ it from the old man. All in all, I looked common and way ordinary. I hope. All ready for my first quest! I went down the stairs to the first storey of the inn. It was already hustling and rowdy that made the dining area almost occupied. Without a word, the young lady with a beaming smile, lead me to an empty chair and served the breakfast. Breakfast was simple; there was barley bread, beef pottage, and a glass of milk. I peeled the bread bit by bit, soak in inside the pottage, and then savor the flavor of the beef before gulping down the pottage. Fantasy¡¯s medieval food, simply delicious. ¡°Thank you for the wonderful meal!¡± ¡°No problem! Please come back again!¡± She said, waving her hands high in the air, giving a joyful smile before I went out to the meeting place. Passing a few streets in town, I realized the people in this world wakes up way early, perhaps earlier than a chicken?! There were three distinguished groups of people in front of the town¡¯s gate; the first group resembled mercenary, wielding weapons such as spears and sword. Second and last were probably the adventurers. These people wore simple, light leather armor for mobility purposes, except for a few who wore robes, maybe a magician? Hopefully I am not the last one to arrive; after all, I do not want a bad impression on me. (It¡¯s not that I care though, I am just going with the flow of this world.) A fat man with a short sleeved jacket looked too out of place among the crowd, wearing gold rings and a few luxurious clothing, definitely is filthy rich. Approaching them, I said, ¡°I¡¯m Zeig, a C ranked adventurer; I registered just yesterday for this quest.¡± ¡°Ahhhh, Yes, I have been informed. Welcome, Zeig, I am Kold Crosnier, A merchant. This is Zean, my personal guard captain. He will supervise the defense for this trip.¡± He displayed a disbelieved look before a man with blonde short hair, gentle face and strong build standing beside Kold, walked towards me and held out his hand. Giving him a firm handshake, I once again repeat myself. ¡°Pleased to meet you, I¡¯m Zeig, a C ranked adventurer.¡± ¡°Likewise. I¡¯m Zean , Guard captain of Hollowlight, a mercenary hired personally by Sir Kold. Behind are my men. Those two parties are Raven Cry and Twin Blade. You should probably introduce yourself to them.¡± He said as he pointed to the four people near the gates. Surprising, there was a female elf in the party of four which I guess is the party called Raven Cry? From what I knew, the relationship between humans and other races were always bad. Perhaps that was already history? Once again, repeated myself for the third time, ¡°Pleased to meet you, I am Zeig, a C ranked adventurer.¡± ¡°W-what!? You¡¯re a C rank adventure?!¡± Exclaimed a gray haired middle aged man with average build. A long sword was holster on his hips. ¡°Y-yes¡­¡± ¡°*Ahem* .. My apology, I am Oshan, the leader of Raven Cry, the guy with Orange shaggy hair is Wolfe. Both the ladies behind us are Thalia the elf and Sally. We are a party of C ranked adventurers too, except for Sally.¡± ¡°Woah! A young man with a C rank?! What¡¯s wrong with the guild?! Hey kid, go back to your mama, this trip is not for k¡­Ouch ! What was that for?!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be rude, Wolfe! He probably proves himself to the guild master. Pleased to meet you Zeig, I am Sally.¡± Sally, A young lady with chestnut hair, small size, wearing a robe and wielding a staff which indicates herself as a magician and has shining green eyes. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°And this is Thalia the elf. She may not look like it, but she¡¯s friendly yet shy in making friends.¡± "P-pleased to meet you." Thalia the elf has blonde hair, blue eyes which were common among the previous elves I have seen. She¡¯s tall, just below the level of my nose (forgot to mention that I was tall too) and petite in size. Both were the only women in the caravan. ¡°The pleasure is all mine.¡± After the short introduction, we parted ways doing our last inspection before leaving for the journey. Finally, there was a group of two people with spiral tattoos on their left and right face respectively covering their entire eye, twins perhaps? Frost and Bite I almost burst out laughing when I heard their names. Who the hell named them?! Or perhaps there was something wrong with the language translator (Necklace)? Just like their names, they were cold, unsociable. I have a feeling that they will bite if I speak to them. All in all, there was the HollowLight, which probably consists of 20 people, the adventurer¡¯s parties, including me, 7, in protecting the wagons. After the introduction, the guard captain does a last inspection before raising his hand and shouted as a signal for us to leave. ¡°Let¡¯s us depart!¡± There were 5 wagons of goods pulled by horses and a carriage for Kole needed to be protected. All were in good qualities which probably cost more than the goods. Along the way, Sally shared some information with me. Basically, to move up a rank, one has to pass the tests set by the guild master and displayed your set of skills. She has yet to see someone as young as me (other than her) gotten a C rank. It¡¯s possible, but rare. Though, I was really surprised that she was a B ranked adventurer which was considered a genius. And here I thought being a C rank wouldn¡¯t stand out too much. Damn! I should have ¡®requested¡¯ for an E instead. On the road, there were wild beasts that came unexpectedly to assault the wagons. However, they chose the wrong opponent to deal with. Considering both parties and the mercenary were strong; Twin Blade handled the front and Raven Cry as support and the mercenary, which likely consists of a mixture equivalent of C and D adventurers, protecting the rear. At some point of time, I really do pity those wild beasts. Certainly, overkill. Or perhaps, the wild beasts were weak? And ¡­ well, as for me, I positioned myself in the middle to observe and done literally nothing. They were starting to doubt my ability of a C rank and I really wondered if Kole will dock my reward for the quest¡­. After hours of travelling east on the road that lead to the domain of kingdom of Ocerissa, we finally reached the end of the road, just before the entrance of the forest. The next set of journey was to go through the forest. That was when Zean(Guard Captain), signal us to cease advancing due to the nightfall. ¡°STOP! We will camp here for the night. Hollowlight will collect firewood, start a campfire and pitch some tents. Zeig and Twin blade will guard the caravan, Raven Cry can you cook something for us?¡± Everyone adhere to the words of Zean. He was truly a charismatic figure with great appeal to them. It is wise to stop before sunset and not advance in the forest to camp. After all, an open concept battle held better advantages than a close concept battle. A few moments later, without any hinder, the tents were pitched and Raven Cry has prepared to cook dinner for us. Of course, the ingredients were sponsored by Kole. The sun has gone to rest; the moon took his place as the darkness begins to surround us. Probably due to my racial trait, my blood was pumping faster than the day as darkness excites me. This proved that I am in reality and no longer in a game. Though I really wondered to what extend my racial trait can go. In the center of the tent, there was a big campfire blazing and illuminating the scene with Thalia and Sally busy grilling the wild beast meat they previously caught for our dinner. There was also a big pot of pottage which was considered the staple food for commoners. ¡°Dinners ready!¡± Raven Cry was busy giving out bowls of pottage with few slices of roasted beast meat to the crowd and lastly, me. Night duties were mostly assigned to HollowLight and the adventurers¡¯ parties (including me) were to rest for a long day tomorrow. Throughout the journey today, there was always a pair of beautiful, lovely eyes watching me. I wondered why?... ---- In the middle of the night where the night beasts were active and men were either asleep or doing guard duty, a man was flying silently at high speed towards the north, the well hidden fortress few miles away from his camp. The man slaughtered the leader, cut off his head, warped inside a cloth and placed it into his storage as a prove of annihilated of the bandit fortress before burning the fortress down to ashes. The man returned to the camp stealthy feigning not to notice there was a pair of curious eyes watching his return. --------------------------------------------------- Stay tuned ~ Chapter 6 - Assault ------- "Mysterious phenomenon?" We have been traveling for hours, passing through the muddy forest that filled with wild beasts and uncommon plants that were rarely seen (In the game). The wild beasts were not hostile towards us, as long as we do not disturb them. I was having a casual conversion with Sally and curious about strange events that happened in the recent years in this world. She was explaining one of them that happened since the beginning of the road project, which supposed to stretch all the way from the Capital to crayon, connecting the towns together. "Yesh!. But something held the project back. Woodcutters were put to sleep and send back to the entrance. Over and over the event persisted, until the King ceased the project. And rumor circulated that the Mother Nature does not want this part of the forest to be destroyed." She lifted her forefinger up before continuing. "In any case, the interesting things here. Only those who intended to harm the forest will encountered this event. Travelers who bypass the forest were not harmed! It is as if there''s something protecting the forest!" ¡°Halt, we shall take a break.¡± We have reached a small clearing in the forest where bushes appeared to be surrounding it and Zean proposed to take a break. The mercenary protecting the wagons took out a couple of canteens and some beef jerky for a snack before distributing them to us. ¡°Ah! Finally a rest! I was getting tired from the bumpy ride.¡± Kole said while ordering Hollow Light¡¯s member to get its supply. Surprisingly, Kole intermingle well in terms of people from the lower class. Everyone has their own specific stuff to be done while earnestly enjoyed a little break. The mercenary were feeding the horses with wheat while some were taking guard duties around the area. I was with Sally, taking a seat near a fallen log, chewing the beef jerky and occasionally having a casual conversation. ¡°So, where do you come from? Are you travelling alone?¡± Sally asked, while taking a bite off a beef jerky. The question piques the interest of Thalia as her beautiful blue eye pierce through me. ¡°Hmm ... Let¡¯s just say that I am not from this area?¡± ¡°What?! From another area?! I knew it!¡± Perhaps misunderstanding my ¡­ answer, Sally was surprised and mumbled to herself with evil intention ¡­ let¡¯s miss out on that. Thalia was looking at me suspiciously but did not utter a word. The rest of the Raven Cry was either assisting with the errand or keeping a vigilant eye on the surroundings. Though, there was an introverted elf, sitting beside Sally, once in while taking a glance at me while drinking water from the canteen. The Twin Blade, well, cold as usual, taking a seat under the trees while eating the jerky. ¡°Shhhh!.. Quiet down! There¡¯s something in the forest.¡± A man doing guard duty noticed there were movements in the bushes, whispered to warn us. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing, cautiously looking at the surroundings. The rustling sound of nearing footsteps on the forest floor could be heard, a head pop out of the bushes, peaking at us. ¡°Goblin!!" Shouted someone who spotted it first. Everyone took their fighting stance with weapons. ¡°Damn! Just when I thought I could rest!¡± Complain a mercenary soldier who looked truly depleted from the unpleasant journey. ¡°Finally! Some fun!¡± Wolfe cheered and smirking, as he bumps his fist together with full of fighting spirit. ¡°We¡¯ll do as usual, Raven Cry, Twin blade and Zeig, kill them all. The rest of you! Protect the wagons! I¡¯ll protect Sir Kole.¡± ¡°Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah!¡± Zean, professionally giving out orders even when he was exhausted from the long hours travelling. Kole was unusually calm without uttering a word, perhaps trusting his judgement in his personal guard captain? A moment later, a large group of grotesque, deformed and short green humanoid armed with wooden sticks with sharp pointy stone end and a piece of loincloth covering their groin, rushes out from the forest. ¡°We are surrounded!¡± ¡°Damn! Those goblins! Are they not tired?¡± Exhaustion could be seen on our groups¡¯ faces as they displayed a sign of irritation. We have been confronting inconsistent assaults from goblins ever since we enter the forest. But this time round, the assault was on a larger scale. Dealing with goblin was easy; they are only categorized as D ranked after all. But when they were in a group, even a B rank adventurer will experience considerable difficulties. A man wearing robe, pointy hat and wooden staff from Hollow Light, step in front and chanted, signified the beginning of the battle. ''Boli ast Alan!'' A magical circle appeared in front of his palm and a fist sized fireball was materialized, shot towards the goblin. Yeep! Different from the game, Magicians in this world need a long incantation (words that I do not recognize) to manifest spell and they were in general rare and well-respected in the society. That was the reason why I have decided upon getting the information that in order not to stand out, I decided not to show my magic. I still have a lot of things to learn about this world. ¡°They¡¯re everywhere?!¡± The goblins numbered probably more than 80 and it was like they¡¯re aiming for something... And the majority of them rushed towards ¡­ my direction? Nevertheless, among the entire exhausted individual, there was an out of place, war junkie Wolfe, who gets unusually excited over battling and killing. ¡°HAHAHHaha! Slay them all¡± Saying that as he unsheathed the bastard sword and charged towards the goblins. ¡°Oi, Don¡¯t charge alone, you dumb ass!!¡± Sign of irritation could be heard from Oshan as he slays a goblin, protecting both women on the team. Sally and Thalia were acting as support for the team, dealing with goblins on their blind spot. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Hollow Light was constantly fending off goblins that got close to the wagons. Twin blade ¡­. They were already in front of Wolfe, slaying a number of goblins. Time for me to get some action! Taking out the blunt sword holstered onto my hips, I accelerate rapidly towards the group of goblins, cleaving a few in a flash. The wooden spear the goblins wield was weak that even my dull sword can cut through without much strength. Charging past the shocked Wolfe, who quickly regains his posture, I sliced a goblin in half, penetrated the others on the throat and chopping off their limbs. A moment later, bodies and green blood filled the scene, but the numbers were still increasing on our side. Strangely, the wagon¡¯s side probably numbered no less than 20. *SQUEAKKKKKKKKKK* A goblin was screeching a sharp, high pitched sound to gather the attention of others. Seconds later, its charge towards ¡­.. Hah? Why? Am I always targeted? The goblins came charging to me and with my instinct, I swing my sword to kill them. I thrust, I pierce, and I slice with only my raw strength, not displaying any sign of fatigue. The numbers of goblin decreased gradually and somehow realized that this assault was hopeless. A goblin was hiding in my blind spot, but too bad, I could sense its presence. In fact, I could sense, every one of them, including a presence hidden amidst the trees while taking a gander at the scene ever since our group entered the forest. ¡°Look Out!¡± A rough voice screamed out. The goblin immediately lunged onto me when I was dealing with one in front of me. Its spear shoved onto me, pierced through the jacket, cutting my flesh. The goblin was smirking, letting out a creepy sound that only I could hear. But the next moment he was confused, turning its head sideways. I smirked, because not only I was not harmed, it was his death anniversary today. I turned around and firmly grabbed its head before applying pressure onto my hand, crushing its skull. The sound of bone fracture could be heard from afar. Green fluid released from the goblins¡¯ five sense organs, before it became a mess; Green brain¡¯s juice disperse everywhere throughout the area and a headless mini body was lying on the ground. The wing blew vigorously and the scent of flesh, and blood could be smelled afar. Bodies of goblins and different parts of internal organs spread throughout the area. Other remaining goblins in front of me hesitated, produced a creaking sound as if they were communicating. ¡°Y#&ou #^G/&O¡± ¡°#*No!,/^&Y$O&u$&#*G¡±O$^.¡± Shit! Why do I even trying to listen the nonsensical talk?! I leaped onto them, ending their pathetic life without mercy. Fear was shown on the goblins as they knew they couldn¡¯t win; one by one they started to fall back, running back to the place they came from. ¡°They are retreating!¡± ¡°HOOOOOOOOOO¡± Yells of triumph could be heard from our group. Wolfe walked up to me and patted me gently on the shoulder. ¡°Hey Kid! Well done! And here I thought you were some shit ass kid! First time seeing you into action, and the first time you created this.... mess. HAHAHA¡± Well, it was after all hard to imagine an 18 years old kid wielding a sword, chopping off limbs and slaying without batting an eye. ¡°Let¡¯s get the hell out of here; somehow, I could feel something watching us.¡± Oshan said with a hint of nervousness. The wind blew violently once more, the trees shaken, the grass dance according to the tune of the wind, however this time, sweet aroma filled the air. ¡°Hey, you smell it?¡± ¡°*Sniff*, Yeah, a smell of wom....¡± *Thump* ¡°SHIT! Don¡¯t inhale it! It¡¯s seda....¡± *Thump* *Thump* *Thump* One by one, Kole, Hollow Light, Raven Cry, and Twin Blade .Even the horses began to look drowsy and passed out. I stared at them, befuddled at the scene. What the heck happened? Letting my guard down, a sudden concentrated energy ball shot towards me, the pressure was huge, and ear-splitting screeching sound demonstrates the speed it travels. But it¡¯s not a big deal for me as I stood immovable. Raising my right arm up into a defensive stance, I blocked the rapid basketball sized energy ball with my forearm; I could feel my arm smouldered when the sphere came into contact! I deflected the sphere back effortlessly with my raw strength, causing it to explode upon contact with the trees few distance away. *BOOOOOM!* Smoke was rising rapidly and a crater was formed from the aftermath of the explosion. ¡°IMPOSSIBLE!¡± A sweet voice could be heard amidst the trees. There was a sting on my burned arm, and when I took a look at it wondering what happened, I was stunned, my burned forearm was slowly recovering, and back to the human¡¯s skin! In the game, a Vampire racial trait has regeneration ability, but it only displays upon the HP bar. Looking at it first handed made me truly feel eerier and creepy. I am after all a (Once) human too. ¡°You know, whoever you are, you could have done better. Why don¡¯t you show yourself?¡± A woman, with her birthday suit, long, sleek green hair, smooth, luxurious skin and have ample mounts, looking exceptionally tempting, walked out of the tree with heavy steps. The most remarkable features she has, was her striking green skin, blending into the surrounding forest. What is she? ---- Hello readers, I have been busy with my Final Year Project in school. So posting might delay. I asked for your understanding. Thank you for your support :) Chapter 7 - My condition is ... -- ¡°So, mind telling me why did you attack us?¡± "YOU¡­!" She screamed so loud that echoes throughout the forest, causing birds to fly away and trees swayed. "YOU ARE DANGEROUS!!!¡± I am? In what sense am I dangerous? Seriously ¡­ ¡°Aran Utzil...¡± Holding her palm together and gradually pulling both apart, a concentrated energy ball manifested in between her palm, the only difference was the massive amount of energy gathering inside the sphere, trees could be seen drying up due to the amount of energy drained from surroundings. Well, I supposed it¡¯s fascinating to see what sort of spells this creature could use. But this time round, I dare not say that I am confident in taking this massive energy ball; it was presumably a high tier spell as a last resort to kill me? I lift my right hand up, palm facing the sky and chanted, ¡®Mana Shield¡¯ As the name implies, a thin layer of hemisphere Mana manifested, covering only myself in it. But ¡­ Hah, I have to ¡®protect¡¯ everyone, right? Too troublesome. ¡®Booster¡¯ A low tier skill from Dark Knight Class in ¡®Phoenix Online¡¯, the effect is to enhance a skill, bestowing one higher tier, improved version of the skill. Moments later, the hemisphere extended its radius; a thick layer was soon replaced, with me standing on its end, sheltering everyone in the caravan. ¡°¡­ah Vi !¡± The massive amount of energy ball was shot towards me, a deafening sound was produced by the movement its travels. The instant it came into contact with my Mana Shield, cracks were abruptly formed; it was clashing furiously that I almost peed myself! NOT! ¡®¡®Booster¡¯¡®Booster¡¯¡®Booster¡¯¡®Booster¡¯¡®Booster¡¯ Ohhh! It worked! In an instant, the shield was reinforced, practically unbreakable, though there were some noticeable cracks and it signified my theory was correct. The energy ball was clashing with my ¡®now super booster shield¡¯, sparks were created, and the earth tremor as a result. Seconds later, my foot was burrowing into the ground, driving backwards. Eh?, I am being pushed back?! Exactly what sort of spell she used? Gah, play times over. ¡®Energy absorption¡¯ A glow of light before my hand, absorbed all the energy from the sphere, diffused them into the surroundings before disappearing into thin air. The sphere vanished without a trace like it wasn''t there in the first place. ¡°NO! N-not¡­even with this?¡± A hint of despair could be heard in her voice. She falls on her knees, sweat could be seen forming on her forehead, and she was panting roughly and heavily. ¡°Really, Now I am mad.¡± Muhaha, a villain speech I always wanted to say. I dismissed my spell and walked towards her with my eyebrows pulled down together and wide open, glaring eyes. Arriving in front of her, I put my hand forward, choked her and lift her up. She struggled, gasping for air and struck my right hand with her fist. ¡°You know, first you attack me without a reason, second, you want to kill me? And what makes you think that you will be able to kill me?¡± I applied pressure onto her throat, causing her to struggle even more violently. Even if she''s a beautiful lady, It''s no excuse when she is trying to kill you, you would be cruel right? ¡°S-stop¡­P-please!¡± Turning around to find the source, a woman with sharp pointy ears, blonde hair, blue eyes, slowly walking wobbly in protest. Thalia? What was it got to do with her? ¡°P-ple..ase.. let her off, Dryad is a gentle creature, she..must ha..ve her reasons.¡± Ohhhhhh! A Dryad! I wonder.... ¡°Fine, on one condition.¡± I dropped the Dryad as she gasps for air, coughing. Thalia on the other hand, rushes to the Dryad checking her condition. Seriously woman? She was trying to kill me! ¡°So, Miss¡­Dryad, Why do you attack me?¡± ¡°Y-you ¡­are dang..erous!¡± She spoke in a soft, tremulous voice while violently trembling and shrink back, moving backwards. ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know...¡± I Shrugged, about to threaten her.. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Wa..Wait ! .. We, Dryad can see the amount of Mana inside one¡¯s body. And.. I .. y-our Mana .. is differ-ent , mass-ive , danger-ous.. P-please, l-let.. me go..There won¡¯t be a next time..¡± I don¡¯t understand anything she spoke, although, you¡¯re lucky I am in a good mood! ¡°Yeah, yeah, screw off, and don¡¯t ever disturb me again.¡± I changed my eyes into that of a dragon and stared at her with menacing eye, threatening her, letting off a bit of my aura. ¡°Y-yes!¡± I watched her back as she vanished into the fore..... Oh damn! My condition!! Arg! ¡­whatever. There was still someone though, staring at me. ¡°Curiosity kills the cat, Miss Elf.¡± ¡°Y-you .. are strange.¡± ¡°Hah? What were you talking abo..?¡± ¡°Anyone cares to explain to me what the heck happened here?!¡± Interrupted by one gruff voice behind me, I turned around to see, one by one, those who passed out began to regain their consciousness, even the horses. ¡°Man, My head hurts! The heck happened?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just say that, there is a monster let loss here?¡± I looked over to Thalia, she smiled back and shrugged, I really couldn¡¯t come up with the best explanation, but whatever. It has been five days since travelling, without any major hinder; the caravan finally passes over the forest and reached the road that connected to the capital. Traveling at a regular speed, the capital was seen not far away from us. There was a great deal of people, some with wagons, and some on foot going to and fro from the capital. Soon after, we arrived at the outskirt of the city, distances away in the line, queuing for inspections. Then, there was a commotion before the gate; a middle-aged man was enclosed with soldiers wielding pole arms and some with swords. "Baron Valter, by the Council Of Sixth you''re hereby under arrest for assisting in illegal trading with the fallen guild, Phantom. Take him away." "Hah!" "I am innocent! I demand an audience with the king. You can''t just arrest me without a trial¡± The soldiers dragged him away, vanished into the city. "You never want to mess with them." Oshan said, suddenly appeared behind me "Who are they?" "You see the one eyed man over there?" He pointed towards a muscular man with shiny silver armor, even though we were a distance away, a visible long scar could be seen stretching across his right brow, cutting through his right eye to left mouth. "He¡¯s with the Council Of Sixth. They were said to be the strongest, chosen to be overseer of guilds. Even Ryle doesn¡¯t have the balls to mess with them." Heh, Interesting¡­ Our caravan was next in line, approaches the guards who gestured us to come over. ¡°Halt!¡± State your business¡± The guard has a pointed silver helm with a rounded, t-shaped opening, leaving the eyes and mouth exposed; a rounded nose guard protects the nose. The silver breastplate was straight forward without any decoration. It covers everything from the neck down and ending at the groin. All the guards were wielding sharp spears, except for one, who wield a sword, probably a leader of the guard? And upon close inspection, a majestic symbol of a lion, standing on top of a cliff was on its left side of the armor. All in all, it looked simple. Kole, still inside the carrier, hand over a piece of paper to a guard through the window, perhaps a permit? The remaining guards were checking the wagons for illegal goods. ¡°I¡¯m Kole, A merchant. These wagons are mine, and they are my convoy.¡± The guard took a good look at the paper before handing back to Kole. ¡°Clear!¡± One of the guards that inspected shouted out. ¡°Let them in.¡± The remaining guards who stood on standby greeted us, ¡°Welcome to Landow, The capital of Ocerissa!¡± ----- Chapter 8 - Landow, The capital --- The Ocerissa Kingdom ruled 1/3 of the land to the east and was one of the major powers in the continent. Its military might may altogether exceed 100 thousand with five famous divisions, leading 20 thousand soldiers each. The capital of Ocerissa, Landow, was an enormous city with a population of 80 thousand humans, with the majority of its citizens being a soldier. Tremendous heavily fortified stone walls encircled the entire city with tall and sturdy watchtowers constructed alongside the gates. On top of the watch towers, there was the kingdom¡¯s flag; a magnificent Lion holds its head high, standing on top of a cliff which symbolized strong authority, determination, and fearlessness that was greatly admired by the national, flying gloriously to the tune of the wind. There were three primary gates into Landow, heavily guard with armed sentry and thorough inspections were held routinely to prevent crime, wanted individual sneaking into Landow. The capital was divided into four areas, the Royal district, Noble district, Commoner district, and the Market district. In the North, there was the only academy and library solemnly for nobles and prestige individual to attend. The grandiose castle and its watch tower, the only skyscraper, where one could view the splendid city was where the King and his royal family lived, standing tall looking imposing upon entering from either side of the gates. The castle has strong imperial guards and armed forces, devoted only to the royal family. To put it plainly, the king has held the strongest military power, and once provoked, nobody could escape the wrath of a king. The commoners lived in the south. Houses and shop houses were incorporated as a part of the commoner¡¯s district. The houses were mainly built of logs and lumber. The amazing thing was that despite the fact that the streets were narrow, it was spotless, well- maintained and well-paved. Manor, mansion and shops, owned by wealthy merchants affordable only to noble were built in the east. Gates were constructed, separating the shops, granted access to the nobles or prestige merchants who lived in it. Inns, taverns, food stores, differently distinguish stores and shops and even adventure guild were located in the market district. There were merchants selling a mixture of goods from a different part of the world and commoners were able to own their store. With everything taken into account, Landow was the ideal city for individuals to live in. With a great caring King, treasuring its people, providing a sustainable environment for its people. However, beyond the fa?ade of immense walls lurked a big community of slum, hidden away from the eyes of mortal, deprived of rights as citizens of Ocerissa. Exiled. The people living in the slum were banished, banned on entry into Landow. The living condition in the slum was horrendous. Straws were used to build the feeble houses. Streets were soiled, filthy, and feces, animal poops were everywhere producing a disgusting odor across the slum. Hygiene was awful and diseases were common. There were laws in the slum made by an association, yet crimes were everyday life and death were high in number. If Landow was heaven, the slum beyond the walls was hell. Close upon the slum, rows of mould covered tombstones stood erected in silence, overflowing the cemetery, giving not even an inch of freedom. Indeed, you lived in the slum and, you died in the slum, even the dead have not been blessed with mercy. You might ask, how could they survive with such a terrible, dreadful living condition? But humans have their own ways of survival. When desperate, atrocious crimes could deem as a survival, and even kin¡¯s were probably slaughtered for food. That¡¯s the reality of the world. The kingdom of Ocerissa was known for its immense discrimination, denying passages to different races aside for humans, which explained why humans overwhelmed the territories of Ocerissa. Despite the discrimination, Landow in itself was an infamous destination among travelers and adventurers. There was trust in the merchants, giving appropriate prices towards the goods. There were guards patrolling periodically, and guard posts were meters away, thus owing to the tight securities, crimes were generally low in numbers. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. The kingdom acknowledged citizens with their rights, given their rights as a native; the citizens were contending with their life, the nobles were docile, living happily and appreciative. Rebels and opposition were few in numbers. However, to what extend the rights have? Nobody dares to question. How could they? Who dares to question the King, who blessed them with a safe living environment to live in? Who dares antagonize the king? With strong military power and the strong backing of the Council of Sixth who was said to be the strongest of the guild, aiding the king, providing an alternative solution to a problem. What¡¯s more, those individuals must bear the fatal consequence and its citizens knew. Nobody desires to be outcasts, being a citizen-less in this savage world means death. Every citizen wants a place they called home. The King does appear to be controlling the Council Of Sixth, and It was said that the Council of Sixth does all the dirty work, eliminating unnecessary threats behind the scene for the King. Then again, The Council of Sixth was strong, and humans were known for its greed. Will the one with power, proven to be the strongest among all, be wagging their tails at the kingdom? Or will ¡®they¡¯ bite and come into power? Who will truly in power, controlling the kingdom? -- In the south of Landow, Zeig and the caravan were done with inspection and were heading towards the Market district where the adventure guild lies. Zeig was in awed of the capital, it was way luxurious, orderly and cleaner than Crayon and he pondered why Crayon wasn¡¯t absorbed into the Ocerissa Kingdom, instead stayed as an impoverished town. They passed by a few narrow streets with a disgusted stare from the citizens. Was it because adventurers generally were looked down? Then Zeig realized. The people were starting at a specific individual, the only elf in the party. But the person herself seemed unaffected, so he brushed it aside. He observed that the citizens were filled with bustling life; the simple smile and the loud laughter were everywhere like they were living a stress ¨C free life. They stopped in front of an impressive wooden two-storey building with a wooden sign; a sword across a shield symbol hanging outside the building. ¡°Well, this is where we parted. Take this, the completion slip.¡± Kole handed over a plain piece of paper to Zeig and the other two parties, Twin Blade and Raven Cry before he and the mercenary, Hollow Light disappeared into the east of the city. The Twin Blade, Frost, and Bite, walked away silently upon receiving the plain slip of paper with bidding farewell. Zeig was puzzled by the piece of paper. What does this piece of paper do? Did he miss out something? Questions assault him while he stared intensely at the plain piece of paper. Silence filled the air as Raven Cry looked strangely at Zeig. Wolfe was the one who broke the awkward silence among them. ¡±Oii, Zeig, let¡¯s get going.¡± ¡°Yeah, I am tired; let¡¯s go already!¡± ¡°Alright, guys! Let¡¯s take 3 days off, and enjoy ourselves in the capital!.¡± ¡°Really Oshan?!, Thalia! It¡¯s shopping spree!¡± ¡°Y-yeah..¡± ¡°Alright, alright, let¡¯s go already. Geez... ¡° Wolfe complained as he opened the double heavy door to the adventure guild. -- Chapter 9 - Submission and ... -- As soon as I entered the adventure guild, it was already hustling and bustling with life, packed with adventurers. Because quests were of first come, first serve basis, the adventurers were hogging the notice board, obviously searching for suitable quests. The guild hall was wide could probably fit about 5 platoons. There were 6 receptionists working respectively on their counters. A small caf¨¦ was on the right side of the guild serving refreshment for adventurers. I parted ways with Raven Cry as they would submit the quest as a party, and proceeded to an empty - queue counter for submission of the quest. ¡°What can I help you with sir?¡± ¡°I have completed a quest.¡± ¡°May I have your guild rank card and the completion slip?¡± I handed over my guild card and completion slip where Kole gave to us, still puzzled by how it worked, though, the receptionist acknowledged and proceeded to the back before returning with a pouch of coins. ¡°Here¡¯s the promised reward, 50 silver. Anything else I could help you with? ¡± The reception lady with a beaming smile, handed over a pouch of coins. I slip it into my pocket without checking the amount. ¡°I would like to see the branch manager. Is he around?¡± Perhaps mentioning the branch manager was a big deal by itself, the lady stiffens up, trying to look more professional. ¡°Yes, the manager is in the guild room. May I ask for the reason?¡± I took out the letter from my ¡®pocket¡¯ and handed over to the lady. The letter was addressed to the branch manager and Ryle''s signature was on it. ¡°This.... Please wait here for a moment.¡± The reception lady took a bow before disappearing into the back of the house. ¡°Oi, Zeig.¡± A familiar hush voice called out to me. Well, There were only few who knew my name, so I could easily guess it. ¡°Hey, Wolfe¡­ and Oshan.¡± ¡°We came to say goodbye to you.¡± ¡°Mhm, it nice working with you, Zeig.¡± ¡°Likewise. Where are those ¡­ two?¡± ¡°Meh, they¡¯re gone. Probably went for shopping.¡± I bidded them farewell, with a firm handshake that businessmen do. They probably was about to invite me for a drink or something but knowing that I still have business with the guild, they opened the door and left. Moments later, the reception lady came back. ¡°The manager would like to see you. Please follow me.¡± I was led into the back of the guild, down the alley, passing a couple of doors before stopping in front of a door. As If hearing our footsteps, the person inside answered even before the lady knocked the door. ¡°Come in.¡± ¡°Yes, I have brought Zeig ¡± The lady took a bow and exited the room. A skinny young man, with black spectacle and black short hair, was sitting on a chair; his desk was surprisingly neatly arranged and just like any other room, it has a sofa slightly before the desk. ¡°The guild master has informed me of you Zeig, but I don''t comprehend the meaning of ¡®Don¡¯t cause unnecessary trouble for him.¡± He made an arrogant smirked that made me have the urge to smack him directly in his face. At least the guild master knew who not to mess with. ¡°Heh, is that so?¡± I smirked, releasing a little of my aura. The little aura spread through the room like a sea current almost entirely covered the room and the moment it touches him, an agony looked was shown instantly. "woah-woah ! Chill, I was just testing you!" He stood up abruptly, panting and gasping for breath and gave a bitter smile before introducing himself. ¡°I am Hemarc, the branch manager of Landow, disciple of the infamous Ryle Crayford¡± Ohhh! ¡®Infamous Ryle¡¯? So the guild master was probably¡­ I mean, obviously, he was after all the guild master. ¡°I am Zeig¡± I searched through the void storage and took out a damp bundle, warped with a cloth. Hemarc was looking at me with different kinds of expression. Mostly with shock as his eyes were wide and jaw was opened. I threw the bundle to him ¡°WHAT THE Hell IS THAT?!¡± ¡°That? The bandit leader¡¯s head¡­ what was his name again?.¡± ¡°NO ! not This! THAT! The black mass!¡± ¡°You mean this? The ¡­¡± What was it again? Hmm ¡­ Ahh! Yes! ¡°It is called Void Storage.¡± From what he told me, ''Void Storage'' was registered as a lost artifact from the ancient civilization documented in a book. Seriously? Was he lying to me? Since I just named it casually like ¡­ few moments prior. But then again, judging by his exaggerated reaction, it¡¯s probably the truth. I may have to borrow the said book for information. In the game, a click was all you have to do to open the Storage function. But now, even I do not understand the function of this¡­void storage. ¡°Well, I have completed my promised to Ryle. Adieu.¡± ¡°W-wait!, Please come back tomorrow, I have something for you.¡± I walked out of the room without answering back to the guild hall where a pair of blue eyes was watching me silently. ¡°C-care for a drink?¡± ¡°Oh!! You actually ask me out? Miss Elf. ¡± ¡°I-t¡¯s Thalia!, It¡¯s fine that you don¡¯t want to.¡± Gah, what¡¯s with the change of attitude? ¡°Hey, wait up!¡± I walked down the streets with Thalia leading me to find a tavern. The natives were by one means or another taking a gander at Thalia with a sickened face, yet none approached her. I guessed it, judging by the huge amount of humans and not other races here in the streets. Yet, not many show dissatisfaction towards her. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. She led me to a wooden house with a wooden sign hanging on top, ¡®Ye Olde¡¯. Outside of the tavern, it looked cheerful and pleasant. It''s impossible to see through the windows, but the blaring noises from within could be felt outside. As Thalia pushes through the thick, wooden door, we¡¯ll welcome by amazing, but unknown scents and a feeling of comfort. Rounded, wooden beams support the roof and the huge lamps attached to them. The walls are full of paintings in the surrounding area, all in a different style. There was a small crowd in the tavern, not disturbed by the sight of an elf. ¡°Welcome to Ye Olde!¡± A middle-aged man greeted us. His face changed instantly upon looking at Thalia¡­ ¡°Thalia!! Hahaha, I see you brought a.... friend here.¡± ¡°Y-yes, he is my friend, Zeig. Zeig, this is Olde, the owner of this tavern.¡± ¡°Pleased to meet you.¡± ¡°Ohh! A polite young man huh. Good for you, Thalia. The usual drink?¡± ¡°Yes, two please.¡± ¡°Alright!¡± So they knew each other. A human and an elf. I knew it, discrimination wasn¡¯t as a whole. We were guided to an empty table before the drinks were served. I took a sip from the mug and ¡­ Oh! It¡¯s ¡­ Barley? Delicious. A few tables away from us, three people were gossiping. And it piqued my interest. ¡°Hey, you heard? The Baron Valter has been executed.¡± ¡°Yeah! I heard that Foulk from the Council of Sixth took him into custody.¡± ¡°What?! The Beast Master, Foulk.¡± Ahh! So, that was the name of the one-eyed guy and judging by his title, he probably could command beast¡­. Geh! That''s right! So does that mean that the classes in this world were different from ¡®Phoenix Online¡¯?! Hmm ¡­ Am I forgetting something? Probably not¡­ ¡°And rumors said that ¡®they¡¯ are off the adventure guild ranking chart! ¡° ¡°That means they¡¯re a monster?¡± ¡°Sheesh, it¡¯s just a rumor and you know how rumors overdo stuff¡± That¡¯s nothing! I could destroy this continent if I wanted to! But seriously, if this information serves right, apparently they could pose a danger. While I was pondering intensely onto this matter, the intense stares from Thalia made me stop my inner monologue. ¡°Y-ou, what are you?¡± ¡°What kind of question is that? I am a well-living huma..-.¡± ¡°I have seen it.¡± Seen what? Was what I wanted to ask. But, I have already known. Should I go with the flow? Or should I .... ¡°Seen what?¡± ¡°T-the .. W-wings¡± ¡°Ha, Yes, I have wings; I am of a proud dragon race!¡± ¡®Vampire- Dragon¡¯ was what I wanted to say. But eh, was it a good idea to tell her? Too late. Better gave her a warning. ¡°You know, you should probably keep it as a secret, it could get ridiculously dangerous once I am exposed. But I certainly thought it was strange, though, how could you, a little elf knew?¡± ¡°N-no way, a dragon¡­.No wonder¡­¡± She stared at a blank space, probably still shocked from the outrages revelation. Seriously? Haven¡¯t you seen before a dragon in a human skin? Well, perhaps it¡¯s rare to see a dragon. After snapping back to reality, Thalia told me that elves, in general, excel in magic and able to sense Mana. But she was a unique born elf, with the ability to see a person¡¯s mana capacity and sense at the same time. And my Mana was insanely huge which the bottom couldn¡¯t be seen. It piques her interest as she had seen before, but not this huge. And when I asked her who and where did she saw it, she shakes her head. ¡°J-just .. Be careful.¡± Was what she said. Hmm... Someone out there could pose a threat to me? It was already nightfall, when we got out from the tavern. "Well, see you around, Thalia. Give my greetings to the other." "Yes. I will. Goodbye." I parted ways with Thalia and searched for the mentioned inn. Jak¡¯s inn. Was said to be the beginner¡¯s inn, cheap and comfortable. Not that I need sleep, but at least I could make my nest here for awhile. ¡°I need a room.¡± 10 silver for a night, 13 silver with meals, 15 silver with meals and water.¡± The receptionist must have worked for long, saying it in one shot. I took out 5 gold and placed it on the table. ¡°I would like to stay for a month.¡± Basically, the number of days are the same as Earth. There are 365days in a year and 31 days in a month. I took the room key and bid farewell to the young lady, who was probably shocked by a number of days I am staying in. The room was simple, a rectangle small window beside a single bed, desk, and chair. Moonlight filtered in through the open window as I stood by the window, gazing the moon, longing for the home I called Earth. It¡¯s absolutely scary, being tossed into an unknown world, feeling empty. What do I do now? Should I find my way home? Who send me here? What is the reason? Too many unanswered questions and too little information I have. Besides the objective I have in mind right now, I have no clear goals. And I need them, for my purpose in life, to keep me going, to keep my sanity intact. I am a living human (once) after all. Hah, well, on the bright side, at least for now, I knew that I am alive and all ¨C powerful. Yet, recalling the crucial information on the council of Sixth, I really wondered how strong they were and what threat could they posed to me. Well, since I am already here, perhaps having a little tiny test should help me ..... ---- Chapter 10 - Preparation -- Zeig climbed out of the small rectangular window just enough for him to pass through, in an awkward manner, reaching to the roof of the tavern. How pathetic. I am a proud Vampire - Dragon race. He could have just destroyed everything in his path, yet he restrained himself, for he could not move recklessly due to lacking of information about the world and other potential candidates who might threaten his existence. For that reason, he first must fish out who were the powerful ones, starting from this Kingdom. Ironically, what he had in mind completely blown away his thoughts on restraining and not moving recklessly. Zeig dispelled the illusion spell he cast the first time he met humans. Surprisingly, no one even suspected him. Though, he was dubious regardless of whether the magicians he met felt traces of magic cast. Could that mean the magicians were not strong enough to detect traces of magic he cast? Or probably meant that illusion spell generally does not exist, so there was no way of detection? But he remembered that Thalia said elves could sense Mana. Perhaps even Thalia did not realize due to the difference. In the game, ¡®Mask of deception¡¯ was a Tier 3 illusion spells which could alter appearance to certain extend to completely fooled low ranked monsters. The maximum time limit for this spell was 3 minutes. What more, he could most likely keep the spell forever if he did not cancel it. Does the restriction in the game not applied to this world? How about the topmost spells this world could use? It was still a mystery to him, yet the thrill of finding out pieces by pieces to solve the puzzle excited him. He spread his gigantic dragon¡¯s wings apart and flapped it gradually, hovering above the ground to adjust his balance. This was not his first time flying, still, the thought of flying made the adrenaline rushed faster. He took off to the sky, reaching up to the moon and hovered in the air, gazing the limitless vast sky filled with a luminous moon and thousands of stars that illuminated the gloomy night. It was indeed different, experiencing first-handed, high up in the air, admiring the breathtaking scenery. Even though it was dark, he could see with his dragon¡¯s eye. He reminisced about the sky he always saw. He sighed. The sky, it¡¯s similar, yet different. Reminding him of the unpleasant life back on the earth, but that was not the time right now as he pushed it aside. The wind gently brushed against his face as he flew in the direction where he took on his first quest, crossing the forest with that bunch of adventurers and mercenary. They were a group of nice guys. He thought. He hoped that they would stay out of danger in awhile. After a few moments of pleasant flight without stopping, the vast amount of forest came into sight. Zeig swiftly maneuvered himself down from the sky and landed onto a nearby thick tree branch. He looked at his surroundings, searching for the creature. He could see a different kind of beasts lurking around and a small colony of goblins distances away outside of a cave. But not the creature he wanted. Zeig truly wanted to use the easiest way to find that creature. But desperate times call for desperate measures. He took a deep breath and shouted, ¡°COME OUT YOU DAMN DRYAD!¡± A powerful outcry produced supersonic sound swept across the immense forest, causing the land to tremor. The beasts were shocked, some fainted on the spot, and some with strong will only get paralyzed. The goblins were pulling back, struggling to get back into the cave. ¡°Well, that was unexpected.¡± Dragon¡¯s roar A skill exclusive only to a dragon. In the game, it was a built-in skill to stun the enemy, providing a little time for a counter. Zeig remained still for that creature to show itself. The rustling sound of nearby bushes caught Zeig attention; a Dryad stepped out of it. In the game, Dryad was a tree deity, created to protect the forest. Its main body was the forest itself and could create a temporary physical body for mobility purposes. It uses nutrients from the trees to generate spells. The Dryad was considered one of the most hypocritical creatures. On the outside, they appeared to be gentle, loving and friendly. But their true skills lay in manipulating minds, exploit and injecting its will onto the victims, causing dismay among beginners. The Dryad pursued the enormous source of Mana, silently stepped out of the bushes. She knew that this being was dangerous, but she had no choice, that being was far from her reach. What does he want from me? Then, the creature spoke. ¡°I did mention to release you on a condition right?¡± Without a word, she nodded. ¡°Great. Listen, here¡¯s what you will do.¡­.¡± The creature marvelous plan came as a bombshell to her as she was gradually taking a step back, trembling. ¡°¡­ Two days, be there.¡± ¡°W-what, that¡¯s absurd!¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. You can¡¯t refuse you know, and you know the consequences.¡± Of course, she knew, biting her lips, she accepted. But there was another problem. ¡°B-but... It¡¯s impossible, within 2days!" ¡°Fine, three days. Be there.¡± With his wings spread wide, Zeig once again took off to the sky, leaving the dilemma Dryad with a difficult decision. For two days, Zeig explored the city aimlessly, obviously with his illusion spell to veil his appearance. While most medieval stories he read about was falling behind, this city was, however, way advanced. Zeig thought that people would not have any desire to travel to this city, considering this city was closed to the border to the opposite side of the continent. But he was wrong; Merchants overwhelmed the city, and generally travelers from the other Kingdom, judging by their accents, they were mainly different to that of a native. There were relatively few distinctive races scattered in this city, they were, expectedly regarded as a third class citizen, but not worse than slaves. He saw slaves with branded slaves marking and chained on their neck and feet being restrained, pushed around and sold in the Market district. He saw what the city had to offer, giving credit to the King for shaping it into a prosperous city. The King was not one to mess with. On the third day, he strolled the remaining part of the city and saw the huge East gates. Strangely enough, there was another small gates distance away from the East gates seemed to have more guards stationed than the other gates. Where does this small gate lead to? While thinking of such question, he arrived before the small gates intended to enter. ¡°Halt, State your business here.¡± The guards stopped him. Zeig was surprised; going out of the city supposedly does not need checks. ¡°Oh dear sir, I am a new adventurer. May I question, where does this gate lead to?¡± The guard was not amazed, aside from the resident here, not many knew what was beyond this gate. ¡°I suggest you turn back, beyond this gate lead to diseases and dirt.¡± What does he mean by that? His curiosity had reached its peak. ¡°I see, are there any other interesting things beyond this gate to take note of?¡± Zeig emphasized the word ¡®interesting¡¯. Is he serious? The guard examined Zeig¡¯s outward expression before he sighs, ¡°Interesting things you said? Kid, you truly know nothing, don¡¯t you? Beyond these walls are people who got banished for crimes they committed. But His Majesty demonstrated profound insight to let them live.¡± ¡°I see. So, people living in there are criminals?¡± The guard inspected his surroundings, gestured Zeig to come closer as he whispered. ¡°That¡¯s what the folks said, kid. You¡¯re still young and do not understand the truth of this world. The people commit no crime; they do not deserve this treatment, living with tombs and deceased family, having no chances of redeem- ¡± While having their conversation, they were inviting suspicious gazed from the other guards, contemplating what they were discussing. ¡°I see, so court Priests will once in a month go to the cemetery and cast a spell to prevent the undead from bringing forth due to negative energy. In that case, why bother preserving the cemetery, then?¡± The guard shrugged. ¡°There are rumors here and there, but, nobody knows the thoughts of a King.¡± ¡°I see. Thank you for your time.¡± ¡°Take care, kid.¡± Zeig bided farewell to the guard and returned to Jak¡¯s inn for the nightfall was about to arrive. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The aforementioned third midnight, The citizens generally slept early as there were not many night life¡¯s activities in this city except for taverns that opened till night and brothel, the remaining shops were closed and the streets were eerie silent. Zeig was high up in the sky flying to the cemetery he heard from the guard. In fact, I should probably invite him out for a drink. He could be of use. It was said that in the cemetery where the dead bodies were buried held the most negative energy, and the undead spell would amplify to a certain extent. However, he doesn''t comprehend the hypothesis behind it and was just going along with the flow. Zeig flew passed the east gate and saw the slum beyond the walls. He took a glance at the slum and was disturbed by it. Though he could certainly not see clearly from afar, he saw fragile straw houses, crowded together, leaving no walking space which could topple with added weight. He made a mental note to explore it after this had been done. Zeig hovered on top of the cemetery and examined it. There were several small presences spread around but it was not hostile to him. He saw broken pieces of stones scattered around the cemetery. Are they tombstone? No .. calling it a tombstone would be too luxury¡­ The stones were cramped together, leaving no space to walk, and then there was an Obsidian statue amidst the cemetery, emitting faint Mana that he did not recognize. Ah! That was the spell that guard mentioned. Zeig touchdown gradually into the center of the cemetery, and inspected the statue. A man, with a pair of wings, was kneeling down, holding its hands together, appeared to be praying. Stone tears were seemly falling at cheek. A weeping angel? But the version I saw back on earth was way different than this. Furthermore, this spell I am feeling, is it restraining something? Zeig held out his right hand and chanted, ¡®Fireball¡¯ A magical circle appeared before his hand, and red light converged into a ball of fire, swiftly fired at the statue. Subsequently destroying the statue, He felt the air around him changed, the negative energy was resurfacing after the suppression spell was gone. So this creepy thing I am feeling now is the negative energy? Interesting¡­ Well, better get things going. He held his hand out and chanted; ¡®Summoned: Vampire Baron, Rufus'' ¡®Summoned: Demonic Berserker Warrior, Gir¡¯ Among the summoned assist, both were top tier creatures which equivalent to an S ranked monster. Summoned creatures feeds on the user¡¯s Mana to prolong their stay. Rufus was a necromancer vampire specialized in undead magic. Reanimated corpses were his forte and that was exactly what Zeig required. Gir was a warrior, having an exceptional expertise in warfare. Berserk, a skill that temporarily boosts his strength, shifting to a state of frenzy. The downside of this skill was the aftermath; Gir would be vulnerable for awhile. Zeig felt a surge of Mana departing his body rapidly, and almost one-third of his Mana was drained. But being a magician, his Mana will recover in time, so he was not worried. Two magical circles appeared distances away before Zeig and two beings slowly manifested in the magical circles, kneeling down and gradually opened their eyes. On the right side of the circle was Rufus, an average body without fats with a height of 175cm. His face was pale as moonlight and had milky white eyes that shone with an aged intelligence as though he had lived for millennia, his rich ruby hair was long, reaching to the waist. Rufus wore cloth armor, made from spider silk and wielded a weapon, the infamous ¡®Staff of Undead¡¯ used by the Baron alone that amplified any undead spell with bones intertwined from the bottom reaching to the top of the staff holding an emerald gemstone. Right alongside him was a tall figure at 190cm with large body frame, Gir. He had jet black short spiky hair, two curved in reversed horns at his temple, crimson red skin, and scarlet iris resembled that of a madman. Gir wore a black gothic banded mail for protection and wielded a Titanium Sledgehammer as tall as him. ¡°Blood Moon¡±, with sharp spikes on both sides and long handle finishing with a steel sphere. The interesting part which had never happened before in the game was the letter ¡®Z¡¯ engraved on the right side of their neck. The pair looked at their master with anticipation. What was the first command their master will order? Furthermore, their master¡¯s will was theirs. Zeig knew that summoned creatures will be loyal to him, but who knows what could have happened? While thinking of such, an ancient husky voice called out to him. "Master, your orders?" Zeig was dumbfounded. He had never anticipated them to communicate since a summoned creature being a puppet, does not have a will. Their built-in command was simple ¡®Attack monster within a range of the host¡¯. A grin appeared on his face, frankly, Zeig had experienced ordering players around but that was in the game. And now that this became reality, it became terribly awkward for him. "Sorry folks, going to use your bones for awhile" Zeig said, while doing an inner prayer for the dead. ¡°Rufus, I need an army.¡± In the game, reanimated dead could go up to 10 undead soldiers fighting alongside with the host, and could last for 5 minutes. But now that he was thrown into this world, to what extend the spell could go? "Your words are my command." Sensing what his master¡¯s desired, Rufus stood up immediately, without wasting time; he lifted his staff up high and chanted; ¡®Raise undead¡¯ The emerald gemstone shone brightly and with the effect of the staff that amplified undead spells, it emitted radiant green lights that completely consumed the cemetery. Slowly, the tombstone shuddered; the first sight was a bony hand, digging its way out of the land. ¡°Raise my precious slaves; heed your master¡¯s call.¡± Eh, was that in a game? Zeig recalled the game does not have such dramatic effect; it was perhaps the influence of the world? Rufus grabbed the staff with both hands, violently pulled the staff down, smacking the base onto the ground. The impact produced a violent shock wave across the cemetery. In an instant, multiple figures steadily crawled out of the land, positioning themselves in front of Rufus, forming a Legion. The undead legion comprised of skeleton warriors, skeleton archers, and skeleton mages. They were equipped with dent armor and an open face helmet. Their weapons were inferior, armed with a rusty sword, bows, and broken wooden staff respectively. Amidst the legion, there were undead Centaurs Knight and Undead Commander. Centaurs Knight with a deformed face along with an upper rotten body of a human and lower decaying body of a horse equipped with broken pieces of armor, and worn-out lance. The undead commander armed with a long rusty sword, wore black plate armor covering their entire face and body, mounted on an undead horse with putrid open wounded in its belly showing its rib cage. All of the undead had a pair of azure blue orb glowing inside their empty eye socket, representing their life span in the mortal world. Once shattered, the undead will vanish, leaving their bodies behind. One could tell that the legion was a formidable enemy that nobody would want to mess with. Thousands of undead soldiers fully equipped stood at attention awaiting Rufus¡¯s command. And Rufus turned to look at his master, waiting for his master¡¯s consent to march forth the legion. Zeig was in deep thought; he was astonished at this result of the spell was out of his expectation. Was it because of the negative energy? Or was it the ¡®Staff of undead¡¯ which could multiply the effect of undead spell? Either way, this proved that the spell in ¡°Phoenix Online¡± was superior to this world. ¡°Master?¡± Rufus called out to him as he snapped back to reality and straighten up before he gave orders. ¡°Rufus, Gir lead the undead and raid the Kingdom¡± No question was asked as the pair acknowledged, took a bow and walked in front of the legion. ¡°March, my slaves, fulfilled the will of my master.¡± The voice echoed throughout the entire cemetery, instilled fear to crows that built their nest nearby... --- Chapter 11 - The beginning -- In the night sky full of blazing stars, the chilly wind whistled through the top walls, emitting a forceful sharp sound that resounded over the approaching breeze, fanning the dense fog formed from the cemetery to the Eastern walls. There were Mini campfires allocated evenly on top of the walls with guards stationed on their respective post in the cold breezy night. With such a pleasant weather, taking a break in-between was vital. The guards emptied their individual station, went ahead to the blazing campfire, warming themselves and took out processed ration to snack on. ¡°Man , today sure is a cold night¡± ¡°Yeah, a cup of warm tea right now would be nice ..¡± Footsteps vibrating through the stairs as a man, clothed in different armor walked up to the top of the walls ¡°Then should I get teas for you?¡± ¡°Aa-h ! Captain! No-¡± ¡°Get back to work, you loads of shit head!!¡± ¡°HAH!¡± Just when they were about to get back to their respective post, a loud impactful sound resonated through the air. Crows, hordes of crows that solely inhabit trees nearby circled on top of the cemetery, chirping frantically implied to be frightened of something. ¡°H-hey, you see that?¡± ¡°Yeah, crows? They are acting strange....¡± ¡°N-no! Not the sky, look there!¡± ¡°O-oi what is that .....¡± ¡°Un-undead!?¡± Thousands of azure blue faint light amidst the fog, swaying left and right, gradually emerged from the thick gray fog, approaching the giant walls. Shortly, the noise attracted the attention of the surrounding guards causing a huge commotion. ¡°W-what! Why are undead here?¡± ¡°T-they are marching here!¡± ¡°With b-blue light?!¡± ¡°humans are leading them?¡± ¡°We¡¯re under attack!¡± ¡°Oi! Move it!¡° ¡°Captain! Unde-¡± ¡°I can see it, you idiot! How many are there?!¡± ¡°Judging by the number of blues ...2 thou ... n-no .. At least f-five thousands!!¡± ¡°How could this be?, Oi! You! Inform the General, request for immediate assistance!¡± ¡°Y-yes!¡± Panicked, a guard clumsily dashed off the stairs, and rushed off to the noble district, finding the one in charge of defense in this city. In a study room filled with plenty of books on the bookshelves that filled the room with a rectangular window, a person with silvery white short hair and stern face with a thick bushy, well-cared beard was seated on a luxury chair was quietly enjoying the peaceful, serene night, holding a book in his left hand and a glass of red wine prepared by his servants on his right. Hartwig Myles Zealbe, a middle-aged veteran general that fought through various wars and due to his military feats, he was given his position. He had sworn genuine loyalty and serve only to the royal family, living in a luxury life on par with its position in the military, with immense wealth and thousands of soldiers under his command. A gentle knocked echoed through the silent room. ¡°Come in.¡± The wooden door slowly creaked open; a handsome butler clothed in gentlemen¡¯s suit stepped into the study room, took a graceful professional bow with his right hand on his chest and left on his back. ¡°My lord, a guard has brought urgent news from the Eastern gates.¡± ¡°Bring him in.¡± ¡°Yes¡± The butler took a bow and eexited the room. In the mean time, General Hartwig placed the glass onto the desk and marked the book he read before returning it onto the bookshelves. Moments later, the door was knocked and a guard came in without permission to speak, he blurted. ¡°S-Sire!! Un-undead-¡± Normally, it was rude and could be executed from the manners he portrayed, but General Hartwin appeared to close an eye due to the seemly urgency of the news. ¡°Hold your breath young man, speak clearly from the beginning.¡± ¡°Y-yes!¡± The guard reported everything he knew, from the beginning of the noise seemly made by crows and the march of an undead legion. ¡°Undead with blue glowing lights you say....¡± Hmm¡­Did the statue get destroyed? If it gets destroyed, who could have done that? What is the enemy objective? Still, blue lights..; it was similar to ¡®that¡¯, but ¡®that¡¯ had a different color¡­ Naturally spawned undead had an empty eye socket which, deprived of life and from the verbal report; it seemed to him that the undead was burning with life.Undead generally was troublesome to deal with; it took 2 soldiers to typically destroy an undead. And it was reported that they saw at least five thousand of them with several variations. With such, the Kingdom must muster at least ten thousand soldiers to deal with them. But will the undead granted them the required time to muster such large force? Obviously, that was out of the question. Yet, it was a taboo in this Kingdom to meddle the affair of death. Those corrupted were eliminated long ago and only those with authority knew the secrets of necromancy held within the Kingdom. Who could have known the secrets of necromancy? Was it the remains of them? Still, there were no reports of criminals able to perform such deeds. Moreover, it was reported that they were marching here in a neat formation. He naturally came to a conclusion; somebody was controlling the undead legion. The one leading must be a formidable foe, able to command thousands of undead was no easy feat. And to minimise the casualty, he must deal with them promptly. The only group of elites who was capable of such was under the command of the King. Only one decision was left for him. That was, to stall for time and wait for them to arrive. ¡°S-sire, your orders?¡± ¡°Gather any available nearby soldiers! Fortified the Eastern wall, go now.¡± ¡°Hah!¡± The guard dashed out the room following the given orders. General Hartwin took a golden bell on his neat desk and shook it violently before a butler came knocking. ¡°Your orders, my lord?¡± ¡°Send a messenger to the King, request permission of deployment for ¡°them¡¯.¡± ¡°Yes, My lord.¡± He stood up and walked to the window, gazing the luminous moon while stroking his white beard. Undead .. An unforeseen chaos was soon to sweep over the Kingdom¡­. Three days prior to the disturbance, Why is this happening to me? Melia, the only Dryad in this world, born of nature, and her solemn task was to defense the forest, fending off a hostile force that brought harm to the forest. Of course, to a certain extent, she allowed human hunters to hunt wild beasts for food. Only those who overstepped their boundary were deemed as hostile to her thus were her enemy. Yet, the boundary was still a gray area, what determined the boundary? How far could the hunter go? Only she will decide. Having lived for millennium, she had extensive knowledge of the world and naturally knew who not to mess with. Generally, nobody in this forest could threaten her existence. Until that being stepped into the forest, she cowered in fear for the first time. She could see every living being¡¯s Mana capacity. Yet, she couldn¡¯t see the flow of his Mana and the limit of his Mana capacity. She concluded that being was powerful, stronger than she could ever imagine and definitely had unimaginable Mana. I must get rid of him. That creature is dangerous! She thought. Even though her monster¡¯s instinct was screaming at her to run away, she will at least fight to protect. She went to borrow a few goblins from a creature that controlled a huge part of a forest, for random assault intended to kill the group he was travelling with. Surely, that group was no threat, butchering them was an easy feat for her. But she wanted time alone to deal with that being. The goblins failed. They couldn¡¯t get rid of the group. She used a spell to knock them coma. Expectedly, he was not affected, still, he allowed his guard down. Chance! She thought. She fired her topmost spell she had, draining the energy away from her precious trees she loved. She underestimated him. Not even a scratch was on him She finally came to a realization. She was too na?ve, that being was too from her reach. She sighed. Why is this happening to me? She walked with a heavy step into a part of the forest, unknown to humans, where a seemly large settlement secluded deep in the forest and pondered on that being¡¯s plan. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. He only told me a part of his plan! Without a doubt, he is hiding something. Then again, He was insane, regardless of how powerful he was, clashing with thousands of soldiers alone was suicide. Yet on second thought, with the Kingdom resources, they might not be able to destroy him. Especially that council, they were stronger than me. But comparing them to him, the distance was still far. I would rather take the Wrath of a kingdom, than an unknown creature that could shake the continent.... She sighed. According to that being¡¯s plan, Melia was tasked to assemble a large army to assault the kingdom from the south and was only given 3days to travel which was practically impossible. With the limited amount of time, mustering a large force was a challenge. Being a protector of this forest does not mean that she had the authority. She had to negotiate her way through, convinced that creature to assemble an army. She could use mind manipulating skill to control. But, there was a catch, if the victim had a strong will, the magic will not be useable. Furthermore, that would damage the relationship she had with that creature. Yet, even without a discussion and considering that creature was a hard nut to crack, she could already predict the outcome. Melia walked further into the deepest part of the forest and arrived at her destination, the goblin village. Ahead of her was a pair of wooden gates with a few green short humanoid guards armed with wooden spear safeguarding the village in front of the gates. The gatekeeper goblin recognized her presence and yelled to open the gates. The sounds of the gates swinging inwards attracted the attention of the resident; they identified the one before the gates to be a mighty one and everyone freeze, cease to move an inch of muscle. Melia stepped into the settlement; she came here often and was not surprised by the scene before her, thousands of green short and tall goblins filled the area. Tents manufactured using beast¡¯s leather was expanded out in this vast settlement. The tents were neatly arranged in a circular position accordingly to status. This goes without saying that the external were meant for small tents representing no status or peasants, and inner were for larger tents represented top brass of the community. Mainly two types of creatures lived in this settlement. Goblins, they had natural green skin and were all ugly, with a deformed face and were generally very short in height. They were unintelligent equivalent to that of a human baby, unable to process thoughts and only followed the command. Hobgoblin, an evolution of goblins that reached an adult stage that had an intellectual of a teenage human, able to process thoughts and gave simple orders and commands. Unlike the goblin, they have fern green skin, rough baby face with immature tusk protruded out of its mouth. They had an average height of 170cm. Goblins were over-flooding the village simply because they have a high fertility rate and they don¡¯t interbreed with each other. The goblins believed in order to breed strong and healthy offspring; they had to seek copulation with the other races and generally preferred humans because humans would be easier to break. A slight bow was given to her as she walked pass the swarms of goblins entering the circular tent formation searching for the largest. She entered an exotic large tent that befitted the status of a ruler in the center of the village. The interior was wide, decorated with the skull of beasts as a war trophy hanging on the sides of the tent. The ground was covered with beasts¡¯ leather, giving a smooth sensation to one¡¯s feet. A handful of the soft cushion was laid out left and right of the tent on the ground with a short wooden table placed in front of them. At a corner of the tent, a devilish menacing giant axe was hanging which seemed to be cursed with an evil aura enveloped the axe. On the front of the tent, a four-armed creature clothed with leather pants was seated on a short legged armed chair covered with wolf pelt that seemed like a throne to him. Unlike the goblin¡¯s skin, it had a dark green skin that made him a good predator in the forest. That creature was tall and had a large frame built like a giant. A long scar was beneath its eye, and it appeared to be proud of its scar. A pair of sharp tusk was protruding out from its mouth and war paint was applied onto its bare muscular body and face, further deepened his ferocious image. That creature was the King of the goblins, the final evolution of goblins, with an intellectual of a young adult; however, only one in a million chances that a goblin could evolve into a King. ¡°How nice of you to grace us with your presence, oh mighty one¡± ¡°Vurt, we meet again.¡± Melia took a seat at an emptied cushion before a female hobgoblin brought warm tea for both of them, and bow, leaving the pair alone. She took the teacup with a gracious movement befitting a lady and sipped the tea and began to mull over on revealing the incident to him, inclusive of the demised goblins. The strange silence persisted for a few moments before Vurt broke it. ¡°Well, What seems to trouble you? Share with me if you will.¡± A few days ago, Melia had asked to borrow a few goblins for unknown reasons. And now that she came back, Vurt related the incident to the troubled she faced. Of course, He was curious about the whereabouts of his kin, but since Vurt trusted her enough, if she does not have the desired to tell him, he would not insist. The atmosphere soon replaced with gloom and bitterness. With downcast eyes and a guilty face, she said. ¡°Did my face give way?¡± ¡°Undeniably.¡± ¡°Ha ... Indeed, you¡¯re right. There is one matter I need to consult you with.¡± ¡°Hoh... Surely you jest, you have lived for thousands of years, with all the accumulated knowledge, what matter involve me, a lowly bring, needed to consult with?¡± Apparently, compared to Melia, Vurt was still a young King. He had always admired her because she held immense power and profound knowledge which he strived to gain that seemly unreachable goal with his own effort; she was a being that he aimed to take over as a protector of this forest. The atmosphere soon turned around, she spoke with a mischievous grin. ¡°Heh, the fearsome King of goblins being humble, truly a rare occasion.¡± ¡°Fearsome? Sheesh, I¡¯m a pebble on the roadway in front of you, Oh mighty one.¡± A cheeky grin slowly formed on his mouth, but soon replaced with a serious face. ¡° So , tell me your problems, Melia. I might not be of use or wise, but I could at least suggest some rational ideas.¡± Melia sighed ¡°Very well¡­¡± His eyes widen as she shared the recent events that happened, not leaving any single detailed behind and that being¡¯s plan that could pose a threat to this forest. ¡°A-absurd.. a-a .. Being capable of such feats.¡± Throughout his entire hundreds of years; Melia was the only unbeatable opponent he had. She was strong. He used various ways together to try and defeat her, but to no avail. And here came a being out of nowhere, who literally had not used a single bit of his overwhelmed power, leaving Melia lay flat on the ground, getting her ass kicked. Who the hell is he? A moment later, Melia¡¯s bittersweet voice snapped him out of his thoughts. ¡°Vurt, what do you suggest? Shall we comply?¡± She was on the verges of crying but bit her lips hard to restrain her tears from falling. She added. ¡°No choice, Vurt. Unimaginable consequences were waiting at the end of the road for us if we chose the latter. He probably could with ease wiped out this land. The outcome was undesirable, the burden to bear was too heavy for me, lives would be deprived and races living among the forest would cease to exist. There is only a choice. We obey and we shall survive.¡± Vurt thought for a moment, but his answer was fixed long ago. ¡°Melia, you have known me for hundreds of years. I shall tell you my answer I will never bow down to anyone without a fight, even if the chances of defeating him are close to naught; I am willing to bet my life to opposing him with all I have. So, let me shoulder the sins you bear, let me shoulder the dreadful consequences we chose.¡± Vurt pause took a deep breath and proclaimed with dignity as a King. ¡°And let him come, for we shall unite as one, hold our ground and fight to our death as honorable warriors. Blood will be spilled, life will be destroyed and history will be recorded for the time we fought shall be our last we live. For you my dearest friend, I would not grieve over the choice I made today. And this is my decision as a King of goblins.¡± Crystal clear tears erupted, gradually streamed down from her watery eyes. She knew the outcome. But Vurt¡¯s verbal endorsement had backed her sense of security, she had a comrade, willing to lay down his life and defense her - the forest. With such an emotional speech, Melia had to stop the tears from flowing. She rubbed her eyes and wiped off the leaked tears with her hands. Gradually, she smirked. ¡°That was too much of a speech.¡± ¡°Tsk, just when I thought to be emotional.¡± The pair looked at each other and burst out laughing. The warm exchanged proved that the pair¡¯s relationship was beyond friends. ¡°But thank you, Vurt.¡± ----- More time is needed to write the next few chapters Due to final year project:( Stay tuned :) Announcement Hello dear readers, I''m sorry to disappoint you, but this is clearly not a chapter. But I do have some announcement to make. Firstly, I wanted to apologize for not posting recently, the reason being is my project entering the final phrase. My well deserved holidays will soon come ;) Secondly, I wish to inform you that I have plans to rewrite all chapters. I am extremely unsatisfied with the current work I''ve. Almost all were badly written and missing out a lot. So I am planning to take my time and rewrite the chapters. This time round the chapters will be well planned and hopefully well executed. Though, I do admit that my grammar isn''t good enough. But at least it will be readable. Thirdly , I have written Chapter 12 and 13. they''re almost done with a little bit of editing needed. Expecting at least 3k words for each. However, the problem is here, the rewrite chapters may or may not disrupt the flow of the current story. Maybe, I''ll write entirely different plots or add some plots to the current one. So depending on you reader, if you want to read chapter 12 and 13 of the current plot, I will grant your wish !~ This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. lastly, I have created a web recently for my work using Word Press( truly thankful) to be published.(still none at the moment:3 ) If my passion for writing still burn, I plan to write different stories with one common feature, OP!!! I know some readers might not like the OP feature. but I promise, hopefully, it will not be ridiculous and will be balanced. After all, who doesn''t like to be all powerful and all mighty? :3 Finally, depending on how much I can do, I hope the rewrites can be finished by the end of August, perhaps even earlier. That''s all readers. See you next time ~ Adios. AimlessSeeker P.S I know my fiction isn''t of much view and worth. And depending on the grammar and plots, It might be one of the worse. but I have honestly given my utmost best to write and I don''t mean to boast , but I can see the improve I made day by day. And to the 89 followers I have, I truly appreciate it ;) Chapter 12 - The fool ***** A man opened his eyes suddenly from his deep slumber. He jerked his body up and moved himself to the corner of his bed while panting and breathing heavily. His sleepwear was soaking wet and tear-like sweat formed on his forehead. I-I must report to the King! He got up immediately on his feet, walking wobbly to take his pure silver vestment neatly folded on a nearby desk and quickly went out of his room. The night in the castle was not bright, and handheld lanterns were used to brighten the darkness. But there were also lots of magic blue crystal fixture on the wall to light up paths along corridors. Additionally, security in the castle was extremely tight, even a fly could probably be crucified by the various protection spells cast on the outer castle. To increase the safety of the Royal family, night guards were always patrolled the castle. The man increased his speed walking, down a long corridor in the direction of the King¡¯s private study room. He knew that even at this wee hour, the King was a fine King to place his endless work and the concern of his citizen first before sleep came after. He came across various imperial guards along the corridor which was looking suspiciously at him. The imperial guards were highly trained elites and were given the toughest training to meet the standard of the best. Because they served as a protector of the King, no failure and mistakes were tolerated. To ensure the safety of the King, several imperial guards were to follow the King wherever He goes. ¡°Halt! Identify yourself.¡± ¡°I am Priest Hemart, I request an immediate audience with His Majesty!¡± ¡°Priest Hemart, His Majesty is occupied. Why don¡¯t you come back tomorrow?¡± The imperial guards deny him straight because they were suspecting him to have an ulterior motive. Truly, which sane person would come in the middle of the night to request an audience? ¡°Who is it? The husky voice came from the inside. Immediately, the imperial guards and Priest Hemart knelt down as if the King was before them. ¡°It¡¯s Priest Hemart, Your majesty.¡± ¡°Your Majesty! I-I bring you urgent news!¡± ¡°Very well, let him in.¡± ¡°Yes! Your majesty.¡± The guards stood up and glared at priest Hemart before opening the door for him to enter. The door creaked open and Priest Hemart entered the King¡¯s study room that filled with mountains of papers and book shelves. Immediately, he walked to the location before the King and prostrated on the ground, paying respect to his sovereignty. ¡°Hemart, what news of urgency must bring you here in the middle of the night.¡± ¡°Your Majesty!, Our years of hard work has been destroyed!¡± The King was surprised and frowned upon hearing the news, but he was not furious, after all, it¡¯s no use crying over spilled milk. He set aside his documents and asked. ¡°And what''s left over the summoned one?" ¡°100 of them, my king. Hidden away in the basement.¡± ¡°And who might be our enemy this time?¡± Priest Hemart could not answer. He too wanted to know who the enemy was. It took The Kingdom 10 years in order to acquire the book titled ¡°Secrets of necromancy¡± from a bunch of heretic organization who worshiped death. The book was a high level forbidden dark magic in this world due to the nature of the spell that exploits the living death. And to obtain it, many had sacrificed. And among the many, fellow magicians weigh the most. Once the Kingdom got their hands on the book, the King approved of a program to secretly research it and magician researchers were tasked to diligently study it. At first, the thousands of spells in the books were not understood at all, due to the complexity of the spell. But after numerous of meticulous analysis, they found that among the thousands of necromancy spell only one they could figure out. ¡°Create high tier undead¡± As the name implied, using the spell creates high tier undead and negative energy was the fuel of the spell. ` But the magicians in the Kingdom were not trained to be a necromancer and had no way of utilizing it. Thus, after several proposed ideas, all that came was a fruitful little angel statue that collects the negative energy produced by the death buried in the cemetery. And immediately, a cemetery was constructed beside the slum as a means of showering mercy to the people of the slum. Yet, a problem arises when there was too much death; undead began crawling out the land. So, a suppression spell was required to keep the energy in check. It was placed along with the statue in the middle of the cemetery to absorb yet suppress the energy. The only way to cease the spell was to destroy the statue. And the one responsible for casting the strong suppression spell was no other than Priest Hemart. In the beginning, Priest Hemart opted out to be involved in the program as it goes against his faith of using the dead. But once the information had been passed on to him, the only way to go out of the picture was death. In a way, he was forced to. ***** The city was in a state of emergency, news spread like wildfire that an undead Legion was about to launch an assault on the Kingdom and preparation were made in order to resist them. Soldiers were mobilized urgently to fortify the Eastern walls, but it took hours to move thousands of soldiers into one location. Therefore, only selected units were deployed to the Eastern walls. Fortunately, the assault was in midnight and the citizens were either asleep or stayed in their homes. Naturally, the awaken citizens knew about the development outside and deeply put their utmost trust on the Soldiers. They do not question nor was answer needed. A few distances away from the tall walls, a large tent was immediately constructed as a temporary war room for this situation. Inside the tent, General Hartwig and commanders from various units came together for an exchange of Intel on the situation. ¡°So with the use of detection magic, my mages were able to identify the numbers of them. But... There¡¯s one problem...¡± ¡°Carry on!¡± ¡°Yes. The result shows that the primary of the Legion centered on skeleton warriors which numbered at least 4000. There are Mages and archers sighted. And here¡¯s the problem, there is a group of cavalry-like undead which we have not seen nor have data on them and assuming they were in the same league as undead commander- ¡°They could pose a terrible threat to us ...Huh...¡± ¡°Y-es. It is as you say.¡± ¡°And? Any idea who¡¯s leading them?¡± Curiosity filled the tent as General Hartwig asked the question. In general, the existence of necromancy was unusual, that say, mingle with death was punishable in the Kingdom. ¡°Well, about that¡­ There are two unknown being that is leading so I have assumed them to be the mastermind of this crisis.¡± ¡°Unknowns huh¡­¡± Unknowns were a major headache for them. Without any Intel on the enemy, the movement of the soldiers would be limited. They must rack their brains and think of a suitable solution. ¡°Any suggestions commanders?¡± ¡°What about, I challenge them to a duel?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you know the gravity of this situation?!¡± General Hartwig turned to look at the one who utter such absurdity. Lord Bernar...huh. Unfortunately for him, he was the third son of Duke Andoe and being the third son, Bernar was unable to inherit any of the Duke¡¯s possessions. Through the recommendation of his father, he was brought to his position as a commander of a unit. However, that was also meant that he was cast aside. Naturally, as a commander who parachuted out of recommendation was looked down upon by his fellow mates and soldiers since he had no real power to utilize. But General Hartwig acknowledged Bernar for he had the qualities of being an outstanding leader due his desire to fight for the best and his determinations outsmart any of the commanders'' present in the tent. But that was also a weakness for him, which could cause his downfall. His desire for achievements and recognition was unimaginable, using lots of filthy means just to get noticed by the higher-ups. General Hartwig feared that Bernar might even betray his closest mate for that. Pity ¡­. Such a pity. General Hartwig sighed inwardly. ¡°No, we must prepare to make a move before the enemy does. All units on standby! prepare for my orders!¡± ¡°Hah!¡± ¡°But general! They¡¯re under-.¡± ¡° Bernar!!, Is my order not clear?.¡± ¡°Y-yes.¡± General Hartwig stayed in the tent as he held the highest authority. His duty was to assert the situation and gave the command when an unexpected situation arises. The various commanders went back to their respective units, and to make necessary arrangement in order to response sudden orders by General Hartwig and Bernar was the last to walk out of the tent. These people! They¡¯re looking down on me! Damn it! I¡¯ll show you what I¡¯m made of! ***** The core of the undead Legion was the skeleton warriors. They were positioned in front of the Legion marching with the centaur''s knight. Strangely, the undead commanders were situated behind the formation with skeleton archers and mages. And leading the Legion were Rufus and Gir. They marched the Legion and came to a halt distances away from the gates. ¡°Surrender, mortal, all who defied the great one, will die.¡± Rufus amplified his voice, in order to allow the soldiers to listen. The loud voice resounded across the Eastern walls and the soldiers ceased what they were doing, listened to the arrogant proclamation. Likewise, General Hartwig and the commanders were not spared. ¡°As expected, somebody must be the mastermind.¡± ¡°General?¡± ¡°Go, Mages and archers to be on top of the walls.¡± ¡°Hah!¡± A unit of 25 mages and 1000 archers were stationed along the path on the top walls. Because mages were rare and could turn the tide of wars, they were an important asset to a Kingdom. However, not many people could be a magician; rather, magicians in this world were inborn with magic affinity. Naturally, the Kingdom highly nurtures those eventual magicians, providing the finest study of magician¡¯s skills and the first class facilities. Therefore, to allow the magician to battle and die was a waste of resources. But this situation calls for the use of magic due to the size of the enemy. While mobilization was taking place, the sounds of gates suddenly opened garnered the attention of the soldiers. Because there were orders given to tightly shut the gates, the soldiers were thrown into confusion. Slowly, a man with silver armor and a large bizarre sword holstered by his waist rode an elegant white horse and darted out of the city. ¡°What the hell happened here?!¡± ¡°General ! I-it Lord Bernar!¡± ¡°That FOOL!¡± ¡°General! Shall we-¡° ¡°No! Leave him be! Prepare to engage the enemy!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Bernar continued to gallop the horse and ceased distances before the undead Legion. "I am a younger son of Duke Androu, Bernar and I challenge you to a duel! If you lose, return to your grave and never come back, or perhaps you could become my pet and obey me!" This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Even when faced with two monsters and a Legion of the undead, Bernar¡¯s composure was never broken. His arrogant smirked was broadly widened as he issued the challenge. "Annoying pest." ¡°Rufus, I¡¯ll go.¡± Rufus was about to lift his staff to chant, but Gir intervened. He took a glance at Gir for a moment, noticing his mischievous broad-grinned and resigned. "Fine, finish it quick." Acknowledged with a nod, he walked out of the Legion. ¡°I accept your challenge, foolish one.¡± An insult was hurled onto Bernar, baiting him to come at him. He truly thinks that the challenge was a fool. It doesn¡¯t make any sense. For a puny human to challenge a gigantic unknown creature that span at least 1.7meter in height and led thousands of undead, He should be afraid, he should have fled from such an encounter. Yet this fool in front proved otherwise. A fool indeed. And such insult thoroughly assaulted the thirsty Bernar as he contorted in rage. His eyes were reddening as anger surge into him; he gritted his teeth and gave a stare that could kill. Foolish one?! He dares call me a fool? He is looking down on me! Damn it! I will kill you! I will rip you into pieces! I will show you who the fool is! Nobody, nobody will look down on me! Bernar could not swallow the insult by his enemy. He clenched his hands into a fist and slowly reaching for his sword holstered by his waist. Gir smirked broadly, realizing the change in Bernar. ¡°Come¡± The final provocation led Bernar to unsheathe his long sword and gallop the horse, charging at him. The sword was moving down onto Gir, but Gir avoided the blow and sidestepped, evading the charge of the horse. In quick response, Bernar executed a roundabout turn, maneuvered the horse facing his enemy. Once more, He kicked onto the back of the horse and charged at Gir. ¡°heh? Is this really all you got? Come down and fight me, fool.¡± With a taunt, the charge was avoided as Gir swung his hammer sideways, violently smacked it into the belly of the horse. The horse blew backward and so does Bernar. He flew several meters through the air; hit the ground and tumbling head over heels several times before coming to a halt. Due to his high-quality armour, Bernar had not sustained much damage aside from bruises on his body. He wobbly rose to his feet using his sword as a support and quickly took a sword stance. In the meantime, Gir was distracted for a moment because, in the direction of the Legion, a purplish aura was seeping out. And he wondered why¡­ With the given opportunity, Bernar ran at top speed and swept his sword across Gir. The blow should have cut through Gir, but the armour he wore protected him from harm. Of course, even if Gir was bare skin, such a weak weapon was unable to cut a high tier summoned creature. ¡°I-impossible!¡± Gir turned to look at the mosquito and laughed coldly. ¡°Sneaky little bastard ain¡¯t you¡± The arrogant smirk awhile ago was gone. His sword was proven to be the finest and could cut almost anything, yet not a cut was on his enemy¡¯s exotic armour. He stood in a cold sweat and was unable to move. Seconds later, the sledgehammer was turned in reverse and pulled back. The next moment, the steel sphere on the hammer was smacked heavily onto Bernar. The impact had caused Bernar to cough out blood and brought him to his knee while holding his stomach. This time, he had suffered several internal injuries due to the heavy blow. Gir wanted to end this quick, he swung his hammer up high and brought it down, intended to end his miserable life. But the sharp spikes ceased in front of Bernar¡¯s face as he heard a pathetic voice. ¡°*cough* P-please, s-spare me!¡± Gir looked coldly toward Bernar. He was visibly trembling. Blood was dripping out from his mouth and his armor was dented deeply. A pathetic sight. The intention to kill was gone. Sparing him was not a problem as there were no orders given to kill. For summoned creatures, orders from their master¡¯s were absolute; no creatures could defy their master. And if there weren¡¯t any orders on such task, the judgment should go to the individual. Tsk, Coward¡­ Gir was a warrior and being a warrior, dying honorably on the battlefield should be proud of. He believed that a true warrior hones his skills, fight on the battlefield and die on the battlefield. A warrior shall never beg for mercy. Begging for mercy in the warrior¡¯s circle was frowned upon and he looked down on such people. He frowned and turned to walk away. And When Bernar saw him returned his hammer and walked away, he grinned broadly. Stupid, I will survive and I will get my revenge! But the movement of Gir was stopped suddenly. And coward shall live in shame. Gir turned on the heeled, faced the coward and smiled. A face of disgust appeared on Bernar¡¯s as he saw the evil grin on Gir¡¯s face. But it was soon replaced with horror as Gir was lifting his hammer up high in the air. Suddenly, the scene before him was delayed like the time had slow down; Gir¡¯s hammer was sinking bit by bit. No ! I couldn¡¯t die right now! I have yet to be recognized! Abundance thoughts flew into Bernar. He still has goals to achieve; he will never allow fate to take his life. He was determined to live. Bernar struggled and tried to avoid. He was able to leap a few distances and lay flat on the ground. Soon, the hammer slammed onto the ground, releasing a thunderous impact like the sound of an explosion causing much debris to fly in a different direction and dust to gust up. The smoke and dust blocked Bernar¡¯s vision. But that was not important as he knew he had avoided death. He felt relief and burst out laughing. Hahaha, fool, he missed. But not for long as he realized something was wrong. Eh? He couldn¡¯t feel his right arm. Yet he knew it was still intact. But the moment he turned and looked at it, he was frightened to death. An opened wound with exposed red flesh and blood spurted out endlessly which formed a pool of blood beneath his right arm. Apparently, until the last moment to dodge, the sharp spikes on the hammer managed to land a hit, latching onto his arm. His turning force pulled the spike and tore his arm in half. Soon, his brain registered the gruesome scene and unbearable pain surged through his right arm. ¡°HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! MY ARM!¡° He held onto his right arm with its left and screamed in agony. His voiced echoed across the top walls and despite the dust due to the impact made them difficult to see, they knew who that voice belonged to. Gir watched as Bernar rolled on the ground, perhaps hoping to ease the intolerable pain. He approached him with a vicious grin and squatted onto his level. He stopped Bernard¡¯s movement by grabbing his head and moving it near him. A sentence was whispered into Bernar¡¯s ear. Tears flew down endlessly and terror struck him as his life was in Gir¡¯s hand. ¡°P-please, h-have mercy¡± Bernar was wailing and sobbing like a baby as tears and mucus were constantly dripping on his face. Unsuspecting of what was going on; Gir shifted his hand onto Bernar¡¯s severally damaged arm and gripped it tightly before pulling it out forcefully. His right arm disconnected from his shoulder with a sound of snap. ¡°haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa¡± That night was the loudest howl the soldiers ever heard coming from a human being that felt like a dying beast. Just like that, Bernar passed out in pain and the loss of blood would put his life in danger. But Gir does not care as he threw the right arm away and returned to the Legion A few moments later, the gates swung open, five armed soldiers on horseback carried a flag behind them, which represented ceased fire in wartime, galloped through the fallen debris to retrieve the fallen Bernar. Upon arrival, they were unimpressive by the scene before them. Bernar was heavily injured. The soldiers felt pity towards him, yet at the same time, this was what he deserved for the foolish action he committed. They gently carried him onto the horseback and marched fast away into the city while looking back from time to time, still wary of movements made by the undead. In the mean time, when Gir returned to the Legion, Rufus was in a bad mood. ¡°Gir, you wasted too much time. Master is watching.¡± ¡°Right.¡­¡± Gir was somewhat guilty of the fact that time was wasted. He returned beside Rufus and remained still. ¡°Then, let us begin.¡± ***** The gates of the city were opened and five soldiers came back with Bernar unconscious. ¡°Bring him to the medical unit! Hurry¡± Even though Bernar had gone against the order, he was still a citizen of Occerissa and importantly a son of a duke. They could not watch him die as it would be troublesome to deal with a Duke of a Kingdom. On the top of the walls of the walkway, the commander of a mage unit turned to survey the Legion. Due to the moonlight that gleamed onto the battlefield, vision was not a problem. All of the sudden, he felt extremely uncomfortable, the reason was the purplish aura began seeping out of the being¡¯s body. What is that¡­.. A spell? The converge surges of purplish aura gradually surrounded the being. He spread his arms apart and a thick concentrated energy began to form on both his palm. Slowly manifested in front of him was a giant dark floating lance which could challenge the tall walls. ¡°Mages! Mana Shield, NOW!¡± Without wasting time, the commander ordered the 25 mages to quickly erect a shield. The mages do as they were told as they began chanting. Immediately, a thin but wide layer of Mana shield was manifested, covering and protecting soldiers and the gates. With the numbers of mages, the layer of a thin shield was increased by several folds and thus a thick layer of Mana shield was erected. ¡°Creation magic: Dark Lance¡± A loud sound resounded across the battlefield. The spell was fired at the gates. It emitted an ear-splitting sound that suppressed the speed of light and rapidly arrived at the gates. But the Mana shield erected halted the lance in placed, preventing it from penetrating. Once it clashed, the shield erected was proven insufficient as the impact caused several fissures on the shield. The mages persevered on reinforcing the shield, causing their Mana to deplete faster. But all the efforts devoted were futile as the shield was too weak to withstand. The commander cursed in his mind, if this carried on, the whole of mage unit and archers were to be wiped out, Likewise, if the shield was to collapse, the Kingdom would be vulnerable and the undead would advance their assault hence threatening the life of thousands. ¡°Archers! Fall back immediately!¡± A cruel decision was made to abandon the 25mages to save the 1000 soldiers. And to evacuate required extra time. Regrettably, the lance was making its way fast and does not provide them ample time. One by one, the mages began to fall on their knees due to exhaustion. As a result, the shield was weakened and cracks were increasing dramatically. Soon after, the spell pushed through the last layer of the shield and in an instant, it slowly reduced turning into particles and vanished into thin air. Without any hindered, Dark Lance violently slammed into the firm, sturdy walls and penetrated the gates. ¡°Now go, my slaves bring glory to my master!¡± ***** Chapter 13 - Interference ***** The blast from the spell caused the commander of mages unit to fall from a height. He was lucky to survive the fall and not getting himself buried by the fallen debris. He sat on his butt and examined himself. He had sustained not many injuries aside from a broken left foot and a few light scratches. He then surveyed his surroundings, He could not see clearly due to the seemly unsettled dust storm from the aftermath, but many figures were lying on the ground and beneath them was a pool of blood. There appeared to be some unfortunate soldiers who were buried under the fallen debris with only bloody arms and legs exposed. And from his blurry vision, the gates were nowhere to be seen. It was replaced with a huge hole in the enclosed walls surrounding the city. Soon, he heard sounds of horses galloping, approaching in his direction. Was it ally arrived to provide aid? He couldn¡¯t tell. But one thing for sure, judging by the amount of noise made, the group consisted of more than what he was expecting. The noise became louder every little second and by the time he regained his vision, a silhouette leaped over him with several followed after. What came after them was a stinky unbearable smell that assaulted his nostrils, causing him to swallow his vomit. He gradually turned to look at those mysterious figures. Fear ran through him as he froze in place. It was a four-legged creature, the lower body of a horse and its upper body was a human figure. The body of the figure was decaying, and a long laceration was on its belly with its inside exposed. It human figure was horrifying, half of its face was exposed rotten flesh and the other was a skeleton face. These creatures gave off a foul-smelling odor from their rotten flesh, which polluted the air even since they arrived. All of them wield a rusty long lance and equipped with broken armor and what amazed him was the pair of azure blue light glowing from their eye socket that seemed full of life. What are they!? The giants in front of him made him tremble. He wanted to shout, warning the healthy soldiers of the development here, but the words that he formed were silent as he feared for his life if these creatures were to register his presence. However, these creatures seemed oblivious of him as their glowing orbs were moving left and right before they scattered and galloped into the depth of the city. Relief spread through him as he watched the back of these creatures vanished into the city, but was soon horrified as he realized the blunder he made had to be costly. For allowing undead to access to the city, thousands of civilians were about to die from his blunder, they were mindless creatures after all. On the other hand, what could an injured one man army do? In any kind of situation, one must recognize their limits and do what you can. And being taken away the ability to move, what he could do right now was to warn the soldiers. ¡°The undead have invaded the city!¡± He shouted on top of his lungs, praying that some soldiers nearby would answer his cry. Yet, nobody heeded his call as the majority of the available soldiers were all occupied, resisting the undead Legion advancement. At the same time, the spell was fired, the reserved soldiers were ordered to prepare immediately, taking over the front line once the gates had fallen. True enough, the gates fell while the reserved soldiers were mobilized to the gates. And making full use of the granted access, the undead centaurs¡¯ knight galloped through the hole created and rushed into the city, all in a short amount of time. 24 centaurs¡¯ knights successfully infiltrated the city before the majority of the Legion was obstructed by the soldiers arrived. ***** A young, lively boy was jumping from roof to roof and taking a quick glance here and there once in awhile. He made a giant leap, that span over a meter as the wind blew gently, pushing him forward and landed on top of a wooden house. He surveyed his surroundings and smiled brightly. "Found you ~" He found his toys. In the meantime, the infantry unit of 1800men had been dispatched to the front line. The moment they stepped foot onto the remains of the once tall gates, endless undead swarmed and commenced onslaught. Immediately, they formed up out of the rumbles and fought against the undead. The first to clash was the core of the undead Legion, skeleton warriors. They were agile and fast and had the bones of steels that reinforced by their underperformance armor. They did not adopt any formation and simply charging ahead to engage the enemy, with no stratagem to speak of. On the other hand, the infantry unit charged with their shields rose and formed a shield wall to tackle the incoming charge of the undead. An intense collision, but they soon realized that piercing weapons were ineffective against the skeletons as they were made up of bones and the skeletons had had resistance towards slashing attacks. Hence, for the infantry unit with swords and axes as their primary weapons, it would be difficult to deal effective damage against the skeleton. The difference in numbers was clearly shown on the battlefield with 1 soldier against at least 2 of the skeleton warriors. However, if it was to include stronger enemy like the undead commander, the ratio would be 3 against 1. Thus to boost morale, the commander of the infantry unit stood in the front line and led them to the battlefield. In an instant, the overwhelming skeleton warriors crashed a hole into the infantry formation. Angry roars accompanied with sounds of metal clashing and occasionally moaning of pains were incredibly loud. The soldiers were wounded and some with missing limbs and the smell of blood filled the battlefield. The commander was observing the pattern of the skeleton warriors so as to predict their moves and counter them. But what he found instead, bewildered him. ¡°What are they planning?¡± The enemy¡¯s movements were random, but he found that the skeleton would only wound the soldiers and if they deemed the soldiers unfit to fight, they would continue to the next victim. Simply to say, there were no single corpses in sight. And what further confused him was the fact he believed the Legion had the potential to push through and invade the Kingdom once their dominant units made a move. However, the Legion had creased their advancement and was on defensive. You, creating a mess out of my kingdom and stayed on defensive? Then, why the hell do you invade my kingdom?! He wanted to ask, to whoever initiated the invasion. But time was tight as a skeleton charged at him in his blind spot. He noticed a presence and dodged sideways, and by his warrior¡¯s instinct, he accelerated his sword towards the skeleton. The sword pierced through the right eye socket of the skeleton. He knew it was useless and kicked the skeleton away to put a good distance between them. The skeleton stumbled back and lay flat on the ground. He was expecting the skeleton to rise, but it was on the ground lying lifelessly. Suddenly, an unexpected cried of pain came from the skeleton startled him. Curiously, he moved near the skeleton. Cracks formed on the skeleton¡¯s azure blue glowing orb. The blue lights were flicking and getting dimmer by seconds. Slowly, the blue glowing orb shattered and the skeleton was reduced to a pile of bones. Eh?¡­ He could not grasp the relationship between the skeleton and their orbs, but one thing for certain; he had by chance found their weakness. ¡°Their eyes! Aim for their eyes!¡± He roared to gain the attention of the soldiers; the information disclosed by him began to spread across the battlefield. The soldiers began to pierce their sword through the eyes of the skeletons. Having realized that the eyes were the weakness of them, the tides of war had changed; the humans were gaining the upper hand and soon, the numbers of skeletons had decreased significantly. Just as they were pushing the undead back, an unknown projectile punctured onto the commander¡¯s right shoulder and shortly, more of his soldiers were hit by these unknown projectiles. He surveyed his surroundings fast and turned to look at the gloomy night sky. The dark night obstructed his vision, but thousands of blurry mini sized projectiles lighted up by the moon, sinking gradually from the sky. ¡°ARROW!¡± ¡°Shield formation!¡± The soldiers fought their way through the hordes of skeleton warriors and quickly huddled together in a bundle, raising their shields closely to prevent arrows from penetrating. The shield formed like a tortoise¡¯s shield that seemed impregnable. And they waited¡­..10 seconds¡­ 30 seconds¡­50 second¡­ A minute. Yet, the impact of the arrows was never to be felt. Puzzled, they broke their shield formation and looked at the dark night. What appeared before them was jaw dropping. ***** Rufus and Gir were watching the entire battlefield calmly. Along with skeleton archers, mages, and undead Knights, both of them had stayed in position. ¡°Good, the horses are in. We will proceed with the next step.¡± The summoned undead had a special connection with Rufus; he could feel the movements of the undead and transmit thought to them. Likewise, his Master could feel what Rufus does. ¡°Archers.¡± Receiving their master¡¯s order, the skeleton archers began to unsling their bows and nocked an arrow, aiming at the sky. On pr¨¦cised movement, the bony fingers drew back on the bowstring and in one fluid motion; hundreds of arrows were fired simultaneously. With the gentle wind blew towards the battlefield, the barrage of arrows held the advantage and glided through the air. A few arrows were faster and shot several soldiers at once. And while the majority of arrows began raining upon the battlefield, a sudden figure flashed across the barrage of arrows. ¡°Rufus!¡± ¡°Yes, I noticed.¡± The figure appeared to be making a strange hand gesture and danced around the abundance arrows. Somehow or other, the arrows were synchronizing with the movements of the figure and the trajectory of the arrows began to change. It started to gradually glide through the air, whirling around and slowly but surely, danced around the figure. From the top view, the arrows were whirling in a clockwise direction, forming a big giant sphere that centered on the figure. The arrows continue whirling around for awhile before the figure gestured it towards the Legion. Bit by bit, the arrows began to move, breaking away from the sphere formation beginning from the top. A Mana shield was immediately erected, big enough to cover two people and obstruct the movements of arrows. Rufus was not worried about his slaves as arrows had no means to inflict a damaged upon them. Either way, he could summon them again if they were dead. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Instantly, the arrows strike onto the shield one after another. Hordes of arrows continued to bombard the shield, but however the arrows tried to penetrate, breaking it; the shield did not even flinch. Subsequently, the impact from the arrows was subdued, and a heap of fallen arrows was before the shield. Meanwhile, the figure was shocked that the shield could hold. A bitter smiled appeared on the figure and he began to chant a lengthy spell. A complex magical circle manifested before the sky as if another dimension was opened, the air got sucked in and soon, a big giant rock gradually crawled out of the circle. And upon fully in sight, the last words of the spell were chanted. It was completed. The atmosphere suddenly became scorching hot. It was difficult to breathe for any humans near the rock. Perhaps it was caused by the atmosphere; the giant rock was suddenly set ablaze. The heat and pressure emitted by it caused the environment to strain even further. As a grand finale, the figure gestured the blazing giant rock-meteor to the Legion. Just when Rufus thought that the barrage of arrows had ceased, Gir noticed the changed atmosphere. ¡°Rufus, a big one is coming.¡± Gir said it casually, having high regards that Rufus could handle it. But a sign of irritation was shown by the composer Rufus. He did not expect this to happen, nor does he believe he could take on this giant meteor. Even so, he had to give it a shot for the meteor was coming in any second. The scorching heat made the both sweat profusely. Rufus was prepared to take on the meteor; he stood upright and rooted his feet to the ground. Eventually, the blazing meteor collided with the shield. Upon contact, Rufus was being pushed back and the shield couldn¡¯t even hold as cracks were gradually formed. Na?ve! The shield couldn¡¯t even last! Rufus blamed himself for the obvious. It was evident that the meteor was way larger than his puny shield. He cursed in his mind. ¡°Er .. Rufus, are you trying your best? Because it is breaking.¡± ¡°Shut it, Gir. Hold onto me.¡± Again, Gir said without regards of Rufus. His ignorant thinking was ¡°Rufus could handle it no matter what.¡± Following after Rufus, Gir positioned his right hand onto Rufus¡¯s shoulder. And in a while, Rufus chanted. ¡°Teleportation¡± Because teleportation was a basic spell of the magician class in Phoenix Online it was no surprise that Rufus was able to use. The pair teleported away from the trajectory of the meteor and reappeared meters away. They watched as the meteor smashed onto the ground. The noise of the impact was deafening, the shock-waves of the explosion caused them to protect their ears. Rufus cast heat protections¡¯ spell in order to resist the high temperature. The result of the collision was a giant hole. But it does not stop there as the meteor dragged all the way to the Legion, destroying a lot of unfortunate undead and buried them beneath before it came to a halt few meters after. The trace of the track made by the meteor was split open and burning with fire. The plentiful lands filled with grass and trees were destroyed in seconds. The Legion was, half annihilated. What will be left of the Kingdom if this was to use in the Kingdom? As a fellow magician, Rufus began to admire the figure. This was the first time he saw this extent of an AOE spell. Considering the range, the spell could probably deem as a 4th or 5th tier. Was it the highest spell the humans could use? Then again, he probably had no idea what was the highest tier this world could use. The pair slowly watched the raging fire and Rufus¡¯ trains of thought were running wildly. Just then, they heard a voice. ¡°Intelligent creatures that use dark magic. Now tell me, how do you know of necromancy?¡± The feminine voice came from the sky. ***** The 24 centaur¡¯s knights split themselves into 6''s and scattered to the four cardinal directions. Closer to the east street, the 6 centaurs¡¯ knight galloped down a path and began thrashing their lance around, destroying everything in their path. It was dark at night, but that does not pose a problem to the undead as their eyes could see through the darkness like during the day. Meanwhile, they heard sounds of clattering hooves and the ground seemed to vibrate violently with it. ¡°I¡¯ve found them!" The noise came from the path the knights travelled through and soon appeared a group of soldiers approaching them. The soldiers were chasing madly at them, but the knights had anticipated their presence long ago. They did not confront the soldiers as there were no orders given. They turned on their heeled, galloped away and leave the scene quickly. ¡°Faster! Don¡¯t let them get away!¡± The soldiers couldn¡¯t chase after them as the invaders¡¯ hooves were twice as fast as their horse. They were no ordinary horses, the undead centaur¡¯s knight held pride in their speed. They were agile and could run up to thrice the speed a normal horse. However, they were not built to fight. Their strength was as weak as skeleton soldiers. But one could pose a threat to a human. The 6 centaurs¡¯ knights galloped as fast as they could to shake the enemy away from pursuing. They travelled a narrowed alley and eventually arrived at a 3-way intersection of a street. The soldiers watched the intruders vanished from sight. They were searching desperately for them, but to no avail. However, the search must carry on as the human¡¯s life was on the line. ¡°Damn it! Find them!¡± Meanwhile, the young boy leaped over the roof and landed near the invaders. ¡°Here you¡¯re!¡± The boy said with a beaming smile. But his smile was soon replaced with a frowned of disgust as the unbearable odour made him pinched his nose and waved his hand back and forth in front of his face. "Wah , stinky!" The loud exclaimed seemed intentional as the dozen of azure blue eyes gazed at the source of the noise. It was a black haired young boy with a pair of mischievous bright orange eyes. Below his eyes were two long visible stitches, ending at the sides of his mouth. He wore a regular long sleeve cloth shirt along with long leather pants and strapped over his shoulder was a large iron cabinet, the shaped of an adult human that seemed malicious at one glance. Why would an immature boy doing here, wandering alone in bewitching hour? The boy jumped and landed in front of them. His feet buried in the ground that revealed the weight of the iron cabinet. ¡°Hello! I''m Noir, nice to meet you.¡± The boy waved his hand childishly and the knights stared blankly at him, confused at this situation. They have no idea what should they do. ¡°Boss said to finish it quickly and backed Foulk,but-¡° He shrugged like a lovely child, but the next words he spoke caused them to involuntarily move a step back. "I really don''t like corpses, they''re no fun. Will you please be quick to die?... Oh, sorry, you¡¯re already dead. Hahahaha!" It was a simple, na?ve laughter of a child. Yet for a brief second, the knights could clearly feel a surge of killing intent directed at them. Their train of thoughts were all set in one direction. This boy was, no doubt, dangerous. ¡°Well, boss permits me to catch living ones after this, so it¡¯s a fair trade, I guess.¡± At the same moment the boy finished his sentence, he vanished from sight. Where did he go? The knights pondered. They search for him in all directions, covering even the smallest opening, but not a single soul was on the streets. A moment later, the 6 centaur¡¯s knights felt fear, out of the norm for undead living puppet. A chill ran down their spine, as they froze in place. The knights tried to lift their hooves, to be freed of restrained, but they couldn¡¯t as the fear conquered their limbs, binding their hooves onto the ground. Simultaneously, 5 loud sounds reverberated. The remaining one knight could even guess what had happened. He struggled to free himself from the restraints of fear. Ample time he tried and finally freed of binding. He galloped away and looked at his fellow knights. In a short amount of time, the boy had their azure blue eyes pierced. It was broken to pieces and deprived of light. Their legs were chopped off and without any support; the bodies of the knights plunged onto the ground. They were slaughtered unknowingly. "you''re next~ " The knight jumped backwards in surprise. It was an insane movement he could not comprehend. When did the boy get near his skeleton ears? He examined carefully at the boy. He was now carrying a large menacing scythe bigger than him that reeked of evil. Where did his weapon come from? The boy felt different. No¡­ His aura was different. The aura he was emitting felt like thousands of sinful souls tormenting him. He was an undead, yet the sight gave him to chill. He should feel no emotion, but now, he was afraid. This was no longer the young boy he first saw. The boy was too sinful to be an ordinary young boy. The knight was afraid to move. But in hopes of eliminating a threat, he sprang with his lance pushed forward. Upon contact, the boy parries the lance with his scythe. ¡°Tsk, there¡¯s no fun, how boring.¡± The last words the knight heard before his vision was robbed and fell to the ground, resting in eternal slumber. Sometime later, the bodies of the undead turned and vanished into particles. ¡°Ahhh, Helk, did I do a good job? Boss has no means of scolding me, right?¡± Noir said to no one in particular. But a heavy sound of exhaled breath came from the iron cabinet he carried seemed to respond. "He won''t? Of course, he won''t. I''m his precious member after all hahahahaha." The boy jumped up to the roof. He sighed. All he wanted was to have fun yet this task given was a pain in the ass. But his vicious grin said otherwise. ¡°6 down, 18 to go.¡± *****