> @insurgent-liberty.HRC to @langelihle
>
> You're the one who killed Sasani, right? Perinda's going to kill you.
>
>
>
> @langelihle to @insurgent-liberty.HRC
>
> Fuck him.
>
>
>
> @insurgent-liberty.HRC to @langelihle
>
> No thanks, he's not my type.
>
> I'm serious, though. Word is he's pissed off and about to go on a rampage. He and Sasani are very close and you messed with his toy.
>
>
>
> @langelihle to @insurgent-liberty.HRC
>
> I can guess how he found out, but how the hell do you know already?
>
>
>
> @insurgent-liberty.HRC to @langelihle
>
> The Guardians may be keeping this info hush hush, but Anarchist has ears everywhere.
>
> He's paying attention to you now, so watch your step.
>
>
>
> @langelihle to @insurgent-liberty.HRC
>
> I don't give a shit.
>
> Why'd you contact me? Do you need something?
>
>
>
> @insurgent-liberty.HRC to @langelihle
>
> I just wanted to give you a warning. Leave the ACs alone. No matter how much injustice you see, look away. You're too weak to be poking the monsters that you're provoking.
>
>
>
> @langelihle to @insurgent-liberty.HRC
>
> I'll continue doing whatever the hell I want.
>
> Also, I don't care what you think. Screw you.
>
>
>
> @insurgent-liberty.HRC to @langelihle
>
> Get to know a girl first, sweetheart.
>
>
Langa didn't respond after that. He could not believe Liberty's nerve. How the hell could she ask him to look away after what he had seen? He hadn't expected her to be a good person, not after she threatened, albeit seductively, to kill him if he had Amalgam's key. But she was his only link to the Hallow Reaper Cult.
He shook his head and looked around. He had just stepped off the teleportation wheel and was in the middle of Sorrento Creek. He'd actually opened his comcer interface to tell Liv that he had arrived and would meet him at the inn when he saw Liberty's message.
The small town was packed with players, all walking around with purpose in different types of armour, carrying weapons and leather bags. The NPCs were also lively, and everywhere Langa stepped, someone came up to him, trying to sell him something. It was like walking the streets of the Johannesburg CBD at 8 in the morning, minus the traffic. Langa watched as lucent carriages travelled along the streets, passing right next to the market stalls that were all over the place.
The quaint little town had narrow streets, each with old but well-kept stone buildings. It was much smaller than Risa’s Plateau, and surprisingly, some of the homes in this place were built on top of a large network of massive trees. The sun cast a red hue over the streets as Langa made his way across town.
Magic was everywhere, almost tangible, with the glow of lucent crystals visible from every shop he passed. In the middle of the town, there was a large stone castle with ancient runes carved into the walls, and around it, there were elves, dwarves, birdkin and goblinkin mingling together, doing various activities within the town.
It was his first time in a yellow zone that served as a residential area, and it took some getting used to seeing the distinct lack of Federation Police and the large number of red players walking around. Uniformed guards were patrolling here and there, but the security here was negligible compared to Risa's Plateau. He shook his head at the realisation that many more Federation Military officers were guarding one level 25 NPC than there were guarding an entire town. Granted, the NPC in question was the High Commissioner, but the difference was still staggering.
He almost caught a stray laser blast as he walked past a pair of arguing players, both level 17 and 18, when one fired the blast from his shooter. If Langa had been a bit slower, he would have failed to dodge it. Even after he did, though, the blast grazed his jumpsuit, and a jolt of pain stung his leg. The spot on his armour that was struck by the laser melted, leaving a hole in the jumpsuit.
“What the fuck?!” Langa cursed, drawing Tonare and dashing towards the offender. He had just gotten his jumpsuit repaired, for shit’s sake. “Hey, watch where you are shooting, you dumbass,” he said, kicking him in the abdomen, causing him to fall over.
The other player laughed as the kicked one stood up, red-faced in anger. “Hey, what the hell was that for?” he shouted at Langa.
“I should be asking you that,” Langa said. "Your little laser blast could have done a lot more damage if I hadn't dodged. My entire leg could have been burnt off! I'll take two silvers for the damage to my armour.”
He held out his hand expectantly. Sure, the player was level 18, and maybe it was a mistake to confront him like this, but Langa did not play regarding money. He was poor right now, and he'd spent a lot of money getting this armour fixed after his battle with Sasani. He was getting the money to fix the armour no matter what, so he folded his arms and looked at the two players, who were staring at him uncomprehendingly. He was sure they were scanning him, but thanks to his Shroud, they weren't able to tell what level he was at.
“Go to Death's third hell,” the player snapped and raised his shooter again. Langa was sure another laser blast was coming, and he prepared himself to use Flash Step to dodge when a glowing golden sword flew between Langa and the player. It emitted a yellow light and was clearly filled with power. Both Langa and the player stepped back and looked at the person who'd thrown the sword.
A demigod with long blue hair and scales on his arms, casually dressed in simple leather armour, was walking towards them.
Langa’s annoyed face broke into a grin. “Liv!” he shouted, happy to see his friend.
“You've been here for two seconds, and you're already causing trouble,” Liv said, shaking his head.
People around them had stopped walking and were now watching the scene, whispering in low voices. The two players looked from Langa to Liv apprehensively.
Liv glowered at them, but he maintained his smile as he turned to face the two of them. “Fellows, you know the rules. This town isn't a lawless zone. If you want to fight in town, create a PvP zone so that other people aren't affected,” he said sternly, like a teacher talking to naughty children and not a player addressing those at a higher level than him. “I don't think my friend was in the wrong, but do I need to call the town guardsmen?”
They were red players, so while they did not get arrested on sight here like they did in safe zones, if they were reported for causing a disturbance in a neutral zone, they might get arrested.
“Of course not, Liv’Kungsadu, we didn't know that this shithe-... this player was your friend,” the calmer player said quickly and bowed, while the aggressive one shrank back.
“That's right, there's no need to call the guardsmen,” he said, fishing two silver coins out of his pouch and throwing them at Langa. “Sorry about your armour.”
“Wonderful, I do love a peaceful resolution,” Liv said, clapping his hands together as the two slinked away.
Langa picked up the coins. “Hey,” he said, holding out a hand. The two of them clasped hands and had a one-armed hug.
“It feels like it's been forever since I saw you; your karma feels so much more powerful,” Liv said, nodding approvingly.
“Well, duh. I wasn't even in Tier 1 the last time we saw each other,” Langa said as Liv led him down the street.
At first, he figured they were going to the inn where Liv had said Synn should go, but they seemed to leave the busy district entirely, walking towards an area with broken buildings and fewer people.
“There are no guardsmen in this area. Where are you taking me?” Langa asked as they turned into a darker, more quiet area of the town.
He’d turned his Avatar title off when he got here because there was too much life and too many people, but now he equipped it again. The red sky cast long shadows across the narrow, abandoned alleyway, its silence broken only by the distant sounds of the town. He didn't think Liv was going to set him up or anything, but he wanted to be prepared in an area like this.
“There is a place I wanted to show you before we went to the inn. I know you're tired and you probably want to rest, but there is something I have to tell you. I'd prefer to do it when we're alone, because I know you will get mad, and if I don't tell you now, I might lose the courage," Liv said, looking away.
"That's not like you," Langa said, frowning as he sensed a breath of life approaching them. "I've never known you to be scared of anything."
I know, right? Honestly, I thought this would only take a few minutes at most, however," Liv said, turning to look at him. “There's a small pest I just noticed nagging at me right now. You don't mind if I take care of it right here, do you?"
Langa sighed. "I can sense them, but why couldn't you have dropped me off first? I'm tired," he complained.
"I know. You can just stand out of the way and relax. It won't take long, I promise. Five minutes at most," Liv said, looking honest.
“It'll be over quicker if I help, Liv,” Langa said, unsheathing Tonare and Flash Stepping behind Liv. He kept it a shortsword and plunged the blade into the breath he felt behind Liv, and blood splattered onto his hand.
It appeared that he’d stabbed straight between the ribs as a body clothed in black robes resembling those of a ninja materialised into existence in front of him with a groan. He clutched his bleeding wound as the extra damage from attacking with Flash Step dealt a critical hit to him.
Liv’s leg blurred past Langa’s ear as Liv launched a powerful kick, catching the ninja in the chest and sending him sprawling to the ground towards the other side of the alley.
[You have attacked another player in a neutral zone. They may retaliate without penalty to their alignment for 60 seconds.
Create a PvP Zone? Yes/No?]
He dismissed the notification as he wondered why he hadn’t received the notification when he got grazed by the level 18 player’s laser earlier. Was it because of the intent? Since that had been an accident, did it not count? He didn’t know the answer to that, and there was no time to think. When the ninja sat up, Langa managed to catch a guild symbol on his robes. He belonged to The Hallow Reaper Cult. He tried to use the regular system to scan him, but to his surprise, he received an error message. He was itching to try his Team Player title and see if it could get some information on this guy, but that would mean unequipping his Avatar title, and he would not do that.
Was this person following them because of Liv, or had Langa been found already? Even if the Vonelle Heilliege Guild knew he was the one who took out Sasani, they couldn't know he was here already, could they? Otherwise, they would have intercepted the delivery of the children.
Langa concentrated hard on his Avatar title, trying to sense if there was anyone else around. It was the strangest breath he’d received from his title. He could feel four breaths from behind the alley. It was odd because three of them were identical and one was different. He had never sensed any living beings with the same exact breath of life.
“There are more of them,” he told Liv.
“I figured as much since he never comes alone,” he said as the ninja straightened up, lowering his mask. “Octavius. Of course it's you, again,” Liv muttered through gritted teeth.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
The ninja, Octavius, had a thin, bony face. He was pale, with pointed ears not as sharp as an elf, but not human either. Langa could not tell what race he was as his large grey eyes looked from Liv to Langa then back to Liv again. He stood there, his body so thin that it looked like it was swaying slightly in the breeze, a smile playing on his lips.
"Liv’Kungsadu," he said, his voice quiet. "I’ve come for your answer."
Liv grabbed the hilt of his sword, his eyes narrowing. "Really? I see you’re still sending your clones after me. Does The Demon Reaper not teach his followers simple courtesy in battle?”
Octavius, or his clone, apparently, laughed. “Sending my clone to you is a courtesy. My orders are to force your hand, not kill you. You may be a demigod, but don’t overestimate yourself."
“Sorry for dragging you into this, Langa,” Liv sighed, stepping in front of Langa and drawing his sword.
“Don’t be sorry to him. It's true that I wanted to ruffle your scales again, but when I saw that you were with Langa Zulu, a person of interest to GM Nocnitsa, I decided to arrange matters so that I could deal with two rookies in one afternoon. So, we are actually here for both of you,” Octavius said as he chuckled. "Now, are we doing things the easy way or the hard way today?”
"I told you ten times before that I am not interested in joining The Hallow Reapers," Liv snapped.
"Really, and here I-"
Langa infused two of his daggers with lightning and threw them at Octavius. "Look, I'm sorry to interrupt your monologue or whatever, but can you either fuck off or we get to fighting? I'm hungry, and I would like to sleep on a real bed after spending so many nights in a moving vehicle!"
"You don't have to be rude about it, but fine." Octavius took two steps back, easily evading the two daggers. "But it is such a shame about you, Liv’Kungsadu. Master seems to think you have so much potential, even if you’re bound to his enemy. But if you won't join us willingly, then you leave me no choice but to keep pushing."
In an instant, two of the identical breaths of life Langa sensed earlier rushed into the alley in the form of two more clones. The first attack came from above. One of the clones unleashed a rainfall of red magical droplets, casting a red light in the dark alley. Liv hastily muttered something and raised the golden shield that materialised in his hand so that it protected Langa from the rain as well.
“Careful. He uses necrotic rain,” Liv warned.
Before he could catch his breath, another clone appeared behind him, a magical crossbow aimed at his back, and Liv twisted around just in time, the bolt whizzing past his face. In order to disrupt the spellcaster, Langa infused mana into Tonare and chucked the glaive at the clone, who was too slow to dodge, leaving him with no choice but to cast a movement spell on himself so that it looked like the wind pushed him away from the live. As soon as he landed, Liv charged at him, his sword drawn.
As much as Langa wanted to enjoy fighting next to Liv again, he had enough to worry about. He faced the last clone, the ninja, armed with two short swords. He attempted to go into stealth and backstab Langa, but he spun around, deflecting the shortsword with the flat of Tonare's blade while maintaining his range. He could see how frustrating it had to be for Octavius that the range of his weapon was too short to reach Langa. Perhaps that was why, instead of engaging Langa, the clone ran off towards Liv with his blade raised.
Liv shifted his stance and leapt back, his feet barely touching the ground as he parried the shortsword clone’s blade. The spellcasting clone unleashed another rain of magic droplets, and instead of blocking or dodging them all, Liv charged forward, tanking the blasts with ease. It felt satisfying for Langa to see his seamless movements again, and he got distracted watching how easily Liv shifted between his stances.
The shift in targets made Langa slow to react, but when the third clone's crossbow bolts came for Liv, who was now facing the three of them by himself, Langa shot to the left, stabbing his glaive towards the shortsword clone’s side. The clone managed to dodge, but instead of retaliating, he circled Langa, watching him warily.
Strangely, it seemed Octavius was more interested in attacking Liv and evading Langa than actually fighting him. “What, I thought you said you were here for me too. Got cold feet?” he asked.
“No,” the clone said. “You're off-limits for me. One of the Insurgents claimed you and put you on the No-Hit List. No Reaper is allowed to touch you without the Insurgent’s permission. It’s highly inconvenient since the guildmaster had originally assigned me to kill you.”
Langa halted. What the hell did the fact that someone claimed him mean? That wasn’t creepy at all. Was it Liberty? Or was it Anarchist himself, since she said he was paying attention to Langa now? While he was distracted, something bright flashed from behind the alley, slicing through the broken-down wall and very nearly cutting into Langa’s throat. Thankfully, he managed a quick turn, and the light scraped into the skin of his shoulder.
“Yhoo!” he cursed. It was merely a light cut, but fuck did the pain that seared through Langa hurt. He had no time to nurse his wounds, though, as he saw multiple black spheres soaring through the air towards him. Langa quickly executed the movements of Legacy of the Tonare Thunderbirds Spearmanship and wove through the oncoming mana balls. He raised his glaive with his uninjured arm, deflecting one of the balls while he dodged the rest.
"Just because I can't attack you, doesn't mean I can't call someone who can," Octavius said with a smirk as he ran back towards Liv.
The fourth unique breath of life he'd felt earlier was the one who attacked him, and when he turned to face him, Langa saw the perplexed look on his opponent's face before throwing two daggers towards his thigh. Another mass of black mana balls shot forward to block Langa's attack, but without even activating Flash Step, Langa evaded the balls.
Wait a second, this was a type of magic he had faced before. This was someone he knew! “Statia?” he asked.
"Langa," Statia said, "Good. You haven’t forgotten me."
Langa stepped back, his eyes narrowing. "What are you doing here?” He needed more space, this alley was too narrow for someone like him who needed range, so he moved backwards, towards the entrance to the alley.
Statia glared at him. “Why do you think? I’m here to kill you, of course.” His voice echoed through the narrow passage as he followed him.
Langa frowned. “Why? I have no business with you,” he said. He was now out of the passage and onto a deserted, wide, open road. If Statia was from the Vonelle Heilliege Guild, then he would understand why he’d be going after him, but he was from the Retessa Guild. Their only interaction was when Langa tricked him and took the dungeon Psike's Grotto from him. “Don’t tell me you’re still mad because I ran away from you.”
"Shut up!" Statia said, and two tall wooden spikes rose up from the ground under Langa but instead of his feet getting pierced, Langa activated his boots’ Jumper Skill and as soon as he landed, he Flash Stepped behind Statia, and infused his spear with lightning. He thrust Tonare forward, hoping to end the fight before he activated his troublesome defensive skill.
“You humiliated me!” he shouted again. The instant Langa’s spear shot forward, it was stopped by a wall, the force of which pushed him back over 5 metres onto the wide-open road He caught his balance on one of the broken-down buildings on the side of the road.
Dammit, it seemed Statia must have already activated his force shield, the barrier of light both surrounding and protecting him. Langa knew this barrier well; it was nearly impenetrable but immobilised Statia while active. He'd managed to trick him last time, but he was sure he could defeat him now. Strangely, the system scan showed that Statia was level 14 now, and Langa distinctly remembered him being level 15 before. Had he died at some point after their initial meeting?
“What?” Langa said incredulously, unfazed by being pushed back. “Dude, you were in my way, and I found a way to get past you. That was a fair fight. You chose to surround me with your men and then got fucked over when I still managed to get away. You humiliated yourself. What are you even doing with The Hallow Reapers?”
Statia summoned three balls of darkness that floated around him, then shot towards Langa with alarming speed. Langa dodged the first few, his agility and speed serving him well, but one ball grazed his arm. He felt a sudden drain on his energy, his mana being leached away by the dark magic.
“Everyone knows you're participating in the exhibition match tomorrow, and that Liv'Kungsadu invited all the participating players to this dead-end town. With how recklessly you've been hunting the Accari Crows, I figured hanging around a Reaper would lead me to you,” he said, launching more balls at Langa. “I was punished for losing the dungeon to you. I lost a level, and you’re going to pay for that.”
He conjured more than ten mana balls with his wand, arranging them to surround Langa in a seven-metre radius to stop him from escaping his attack with Flash Step. Langa was envious of Statia's insanely fast casting speed because he barely had time to move before a beam of white light shot from his wand, slicing through the alley with a terrifying flash. Statia had trapped him so he could slice him up with his light beam. Langa leapt to the side as the beam carved a path into the stone wall behind him.
In the dark alley, the light was a blinding assault on his eyes. Fuck, he could not see anything. He landed on top of a mana ball and cursed, as he lost 10% of his total mana to it. Langa's instincts went on high alert. He was blinded, but with his Avatar title active, he could sense the breath in Statia’s magic. He could sense the other nine balls converging on him, and it would be hard to dodge without seeing them.
He needed to disrupt his casting before he stole his mana, so Langa infused lightning into his spear and drove it into the ground right in front of him, but this time, Statia did not lose his balance, and the shield remained sturdy even though the ground surrounding it was breaking apart. He had to recall his balls to focus all his mana on maintaining the shield, which was what Langa was aiming for.
"Do you really think the same trick will work on me twice?" Statia taunted, recalling their previous encounter.
"It was worth a try. You look stupid, so I figured you might be too," Langa retorted, as more spikes emerged from the ground. This was not his end game.
“When I kill you, I’m going to wipe that arrogance from your face,” Statia sneered, raising his arms.
The sudden emergence of large, thorny spikes from the ground blocked the path ahead of him up to 3 metres. He could feel them like knives with a life of their own, all aiming at him. It was the most sensational feeling ever; he could sense tiny wisps of life from every single spike, even if he could not see them. There was life in a person's mana signature, and that was perhaps why it was possible to die from mana exhaustion.
Honestly, he'd just been toying with Statia. He could end the fight easily with Thunderbird's Stunning Strike if he wanted, or if he wanted to waste a spell scroll, he could destroy Statia with Lightning Lance, but now the fun was over. He'd sized him up, and he didn't pose a challenge to Langa.
He was no longer a beginner spearman who could be stopped by something so trivial, so with his eyes closed, he infused mana into Tonare, stretching the shaft to 2 metres, and then he spun at high speed 360 degrees over and over again, nearly making himself dizzy as the force of the spear tore through the spikes at breakneck speed like paper.
Man, Tonare sure had some weird techniques embedded into the intermediate rank of his spearmanship. But then again, he had been a thunderbird, so this much vertigo would not have been an issue for him. Either way, Langa cleared the path in front of him of spikes and dashed forward at Statia, who was gaping at him like he was an alien.
“Shit! What the hell is that?” he shouted. The divine skill must cost mana to maintain, and since his mana-draining dark balls could not touch Langa anymore, he was not replenishing his mana nearly fast enough. Maintaining two magic skills at once had to be a strain on his mana. Statia's face was screwed up tightly as he concentrated on maintaining the barrier while activating more mana balls to attack Langa.
Langa sighed. He was tired of this. His vision was clearing, so it was time to go on the offensive. Liv was fighting three clones by himself, and he needed to end this quickly so he could go and help him. He couldn't keep dodging forever. This barely got his blood pumping, and he knew that it was barely enough to fuel his attribute.
“Impulse Pulse,” he said, activating his attribute. Half of his total stamina disappeared in an instant, and he charged up his velocity, speeding straight towards Statia at double his normal speed, with time slowed down.
He activated Thunderbird’s Stunning Strike the instant he reached the force shield. The lightning surged inside the glaive, and the force shield shimmered, wavering as the lightning exploded through it. The force shield shattered, fragments of magical energy dispersing into the air. Statia staggered back, his eyes wide with shock and fury.
[Thunderbird's Stunning Strike Activated!]
(Force Shield) - 989 Damage
Lightning discipline damage: (Force Shield) - 989 Damage
Shield destroyed.
Backlash (Langa Zulu) - 179 HP]
The backlash sent Langa stumbling back and unbalanced him. The pain was tolerable, especially considering how bad the backlash had been the last time he used this skill . He shook his head, not wanting to think about the Void Star.
Statia had two respawns the last time they met, which meant he only had one more left. If he only had one life, then he would learn to value his life more, and stop bothering Langa like this or putting bounties on him. Langa didn't give him a moment to recover. He drove his spear into Statia's chest, lightning coursing through the mage's body.
Statia's scream cut through the silent alley, and his remaining balls of darkness dissipated, as their energy was lost. “I hope losing another level will be enough to teach you that you and I are not the same, you lost your only chance to defeat me three weeks ago. What was it you said to me back then? This is the Tower, you're weak, so don't provoke the strong, or you will die."
Langa made sure to look down at him as he bled out on the ground in pain. He could see anger, pain, and hate in Statia’s eyes as life left his body and he died.
[You have killed a level 14 Player (Statia X Caur)
+560 EXP
+30 bonus EXP
+14 karma
+7 Silver coins]
Done with that, he ran back into the alley to help Liv, only to find blood pooling on the ground from a beheaded clone's body and another body cut into more than five pieces, limbs strewn about as Liv walked over their bodies.
The magical crossbow-wielding clone was the last one left standing. He took aim again, but Liv was faster as he closed the distance in a heartbeat, his sword cleaving through the clone's chest, causing blood to pour out of the wound profusely. To Langa’s disgust, a tongue jutted out of the sword’s tip, drinking in the blood.
“Sorry,” Liv said, catching Langa’s look. “Bloodraven has nasty habits, that's why I don't like to take it anywhere.”
"And I thought my glaive was weird. Wow, you didn't need my help at all, did you?" he asked. "Where's the fourth one?"
“He's here. Always watching. Come out, Octavius. I’m sick of seeing your stupid face. Let’s end this now,” Liv said, looking around tensely.
“Two on one, that’s hardly fair. Especially since I’m not allowed to kill either of you,” Octavius said from above. He was standing on the nearby rooftop, smirking down at them.
“I am not going to join your guild, no matter what you do. So, please stop bothering me,” Liv snapped at him.
“Nope. This is a Challenge from Master, and every time I pay you a visit and annoy you, I earn tonnes of karma. I get to toy with a rookie ranker and earn free karma, I’m living the life,” he said with a shrug. "I've never known him to be this petty, so you should probably apologise for whatever you did to make him mad."
“That bastard won’t let me have any peace,” Liv muttered.
Octavius looked past the alley at the disappearing body of Statia on the road. “That idiot followed me around and promised to get rid of you, but I guess you get to live another day, Langa Zulu,” he said.
This guy was annoying, so Langa activated his Jumper skill and leapt up onto the rooftop with Tonare extended. He slashed at Octavius, but he bent his back unnaturally like a contortionist, and the glaive merely grazed his hair.
“You started it, so don’t tell on me, okay?” he asked. He was still bent unnaturally, almost parallel to the ground, as he brought his leg up to strike Langa’s temple. His highly trained reflexes were the only thing that saved Langa from what was certain to be a critical hit as he stepped back, losing his balance.
What the hell was this guy made of? How did he manage that kick from that angle?
“So close,” Octavius said, straightening up. “But I shouldn't tempt fate. See you around. Langa Zulu, Liv’Kungsadu.” From within his body, four more clones emerged, and they each ran in a different direction.
"Should we chase him?" Langa asked.
"Are you kidding? He's infuriating, but he is level 20. If you want to try your luck, be my guest," Liv said.
"What? You had me fighting a Tier 2 player?" He asked incredulously, as he stepped over a clone's body and walked out of the alley with Liv.
"I thought you liked a challenge?" Liv asked with raised eyebrows.
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but I'm not fighting a losing battle. I like a challenge that I can win, like with you."
Liv placed a hand on Langa's shoulder with mock sympathy. "Keep telling yourself that."
His arrogance made Langa glare at him. "You know, if I wasn't tired, I'd challenge you right now." He bent down to pick up what Statia had dropped when he died. He did not drop any equipment, much to Langa's annoyance, but he did drop 7 silver coins, so he was going to buy himself something good to drink tonight.
"Sure, whatever you say," Liv said, glancing back at him. "You killed him. I've only ever seen you kill voidents and monsters before. I wasn't sure you'd have the stomach for it."
Langa shrugged. "I only kill when it's necessary. Statia put a bounty on me, and if I didn't kill him, he was just going to keep coming. At least now he'll respawn and rethink his life on the 3rd Floor," he said. "Now, that inn of yours better have a warm meal ready for me, because this just made me hungrier," he added, pocketing his coins and following him.
"Fine, let's go to the inn. I'll show you the other place once you've had your meal and aren't as irritable. Come on," Liv said, walking ahead of him.