“What? You can’t say? Is it because you don’t know or you’re just too afraid to say? No, that doesn’t make sense. A man of your calibre fears nothing.”
Jacko let out a sigh as he studied the Trickster’s face, trying to see what laid behind those emotionless and cold eyes. What laid behind the dark curtains cloaking the entirety of this mysterious man.
“I seek the thrill of battle…” Wolfram glanced at the luxurious room and the expensive wine then resumed “…Something that’s, unfortunately, not present here.”
The chubby-man burst out in laughter, patting his belly while saying:
“Hahahaha I didn’t expect such a plain answer."
“Actions speak louder than words, Jacko.”
“Not necessarily.” Jacko walked toward the exit, ignoring Wolfram’s piercing gaze, which followed him wherever he went. The man momentarily halted at the doorstep and added:
“Leave, Wolfram, before I change my mind and force you into submission.”
A grin plastered itself on the Trickster’s face, he shrugged his shoulders and retorted
“You’re free to try.”
That was the end of the conversation between these two ‘acquaintances', whose meeting was brief. Perhaps because Jacko 'swords were nothing short of the truth, it was as if he saw the situation outside, and for this reason, decided to remain here, where it was a safer environment in which he could grow his forces and prepare himself for the incoming chaos, which, sooner or later, would come knocking on his doors.
Thereafter, Wolfram picked his weapons and left the floor, unobstructed by the criminals, who threw a couple of unfriendly gazes at him. Jacko went back to his desk, playing with the voluptuous woman, not even sparing a second glance at the man wearing a soldier’s uniform. He already considered him something of the past.
The two weren’t compatible, each had a way to deal with problems and neither of them was willing to follow the other. It was for this reason that they parted ways here… only time would tell if they'd ever meet again or if it was their last meeting. One was a bloodthirsty battle freak who believed in strength and strength alone while the other handled things using his eloquence, choosing diplomacy over violence.
Truthfully, Wolfram very much wanted to fight Jacko, however, the ending wouldn't be a good one, especially for him. They held the number advantage, plus, Jacko had an unknown special power. If it were on versus one, he would definitely stand a chance, but if they ganged up on him, he would die.
They weren’t like the fragile goblins which could be disposed of with one punch or a kick. These criminals were murders and fighters, some could even best the well-trained Special ops... add to that the bonus of the System, it really wasn’t something Wolfram could deal with alone, at least not in his current state.
----------------------------------------
Ten minutes later, the Trickster was back in the eerie staircase, making his way toward the upper floor, eager to encounter new monsters. The distance between the two floors wasn’t big, so, just when he was about to arrive at his destination, he managed to hear hurried footsteps heading his way.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Thanks to [Sensor Hearing], he was able to hear them even though they were a bit far: He could also hear unpleasant shrieking, different from the goblin noises yet equally annoying.
With a knife in one hand and several cards in the other, the Trickster regulated his breathing and lowered his presence, crouching and waiting for whoever was running towards the stairs.
Apparently, the noises originated from the floor he was heading towards, which meant the situation was rather chaotic. The footsteps indicated that there were still survivors there.
‘Uneven and clumsy, definitely not a soldier.’
As he heard the incoming footsteps, Wolfram speculated about the escapee’s identity. In the next few seconds, he managed to confirm his guess as a balding man wearing a bloodied lab coat appeared from the exit. He stopped for a split second, thinking whether to go up or down, finally, he chose upwards only to trip in the next few steps and fall on his face, breaking his nose in the process.
Despite hurting himself, he still kept crazily climbing the stairs, unfortunately, three flying silhouettes appeared from behind and jumped at him, stabbing him with their tiny lances while laughing creepily. They were smaller than goblins, much smaller in fact, and their skin was dark red. They had particularly ugly face with long pointy noses and wide mouths.
They had long tails and bat wings, two small horns protruding out of their hairless heads and a pair of abyssal black eyes.
As he saw their appearance, the Trickster immediately recognized them. Malevolent and perverted creatures that found joy in torturing people, especially males. these monsters were known to be creatures from Hell, notorious for their cruelty and sexual deviancy.
Imps: uncommon creatures that need a special environment to survive so their appearance in this facility greatly surprised the Trickster.
He watched as the imps continuously stabbed the wailing scientist, ripping his genitals and clawing his throat, causing his body to convulse then lay on the staircase, lifeless and motionless.
As there were no more reactions from the deceased scientist, the imps grew bored and were about to depart only for a figure to appear out of nowhere and jump at them. The imp closest to Wolfram was violently kicked, causing it to hit the nearby wall and struggle to get up as it shrieked in agony.
As for the other two, they were hit by flying cards, which weren’t able to kill them but still caused enough pain to to make them plummet and thud against the ground.
The Trickster showed them an ugly smile as he wielded his knife and easily killed them, stabbing them to death. Their skin was much more resistant than Goblins but they were still weak due to their small physique.
*You have killed an Imp Lv2 :+0.18 Card Points.*
*You have killed an Imp Lv2 : +0.12 Card Points.*
*You have killed an Imp Lv2 : +0.15 Card Points.*
*+0.17 Magic (Stat Card)*
*+0.09 Speed (Stats Card)*
UPDATED STATUS
Class: 1 Star Trickster
--
Cards Control : 3
Cards Sharpness : 4.7
Cards Speed : 3
--
Strength : 3.61
Vitality : 3.09
Speed : 3.34
Perception : 4.22
Magic : 2.7
Magic Control : 1.4
Magic Resistance : 1.29
--
Card Points : 0.91
---
Skills: Sneak Lv2. Dagger Mastery Lv2. Sensor Hearing Lv2. Lightsteps Lv2. Search Lv2. Gun Mastery lv1, Run Lv2. {Training Lv1}:[Push-up Lv2. Sit-up Lv2. Squat Lv2]
—
Buffs : Cards will now deal 5% more damage to Darkness Monsters.
After he disposed of the three pests, Wolfram controlled his widening ugly smile and entered the floor, which was visibly different than the rest. The roof was strangely red-colored and there was an inexplicable heat emitting from the end of the long hallway. With just one glance, he was able to see more than five corpses lying on the ground, most of them belonging to either scientists or soldiers.
He pocketed his knife, held cards in both his hands and marched deeper into the hallway, his fighting spirit rising as he was expecting to see a lot of imps, monsters that he regarded as preys... preys that would feed his stats and empower him.