Chapter 15 First Kill

Klop Klop Klop

Snow was falling and the road looked like it was covered with cotton. Cold winds blew from time to time, howls of wild animals echoing from the nearby mountains and forest. A horse pulling a wooden cart with a boy covered in fur coat and hat was traveling on this lonely road.

The sound of the horse’s breathing could be heard with steam coming from its nose, the cart driver was like a statue sitting on top with no visible movements, his hands were also covered by the coat.

Swoosh!

A glint of metal from an arrowhead suddenly came rushing from the nearby trees aiming towards his heart. The arrow was so fast and sudden giving him no time to react.

Pffft!

The arrow struck the boy, droplets of blood bloomed and stained the coat and some splashed on the road.

Ack!

Eznho groaned and was sent tumbling towards the back of the cart and fell on the road.

Neigh!

The horse was frightened and reared in terror then galloped forward and only stopped after a hundred meters. Everything happened too fast.

“That was easy,”

A thin man with sharp eyes came out from the woods holding a bow on his hand with a quiver of arrows on his back was grinning and walked towards the body lying on road. He did not care about the horse and only thought about the bank card with a beaming smile.

....

A body laid down on the road covered in fur coat lying on his stomach. Blood stained the snow on his left side, a shadow slowly approached.

Thud!

Eagle Eye kicked the body but there was no reaction, even so, he did not let his guard down and brought out a dagger. He was still cautious and used his feet to turn the body around.

“No hard feelings boy, just doing business.”

There was no remorse on his voice.

A pool of blood painted the snow, both of the boy’s hand were still covered by the fur that made him narrow his eyes. But the boy’s necklace caught his attention, the ring of gold. With his sharp vision, he could see the engraved patterns on it that made him curious.

“Hmmm?”

Greed took the better of him and actually kneeled on one knee on the boy’s left side and extended his hand.

“What have we got here?”

Before he could touch the ring, the boy’s eyes suddenly snapped open showing a pair of cold black eyes at the same time a tearing sound could be heard and a dagger coated with heavenly energy penetrated the fur coat and went straight to his chest.

Shit!

He knew he fucked up and immediately leaped backward but it was too late. Blood gushed from his chest and painted the snow red in front of him. He covered it with his hand and tried to stop the bleeding by revolving his energy but his heart has taken a serious damage. Blood started to flow from his mouth and nose.

Eznho slowly got up with difficulty and pulled his right hand from his chest that was pinned by the arrow. He was on guard all the time because of Randolph’s warning, it turns out it was not for naught.

But he still underestimated the enemy’s power and nearly cost him his life. He barely had any time to react due to the arrow’s speed and could only raise his right hand in front of his chest and cover it with heavenly energy. Despite that, the power behind the arrow was tremendous and actually penetrated his hand and went straight to his chest.

Luckily, it hit a rib, with his bone strengthened and the heavenly energy’s protection, the arrow did not push through. Still, he was pushed back due to the impact and pretended to be dead, he knew the enemy was strong and only had a slim chance of survival.

.....

That was close.

Eznho’s heart was palpitating, cold sweats ran on his back. This was technically the second time death stared at him. He tried to calm down and assessed the situation, blood was dripping from his chest and hand.

“Fuck! You shitty brat, to actually think that me? The Eagle Eye fell for a brat’s scheme! You think you’ve won? I’ll drag you down with me boy!”

Eagle Eye cursed and shouted, he could not accept this. A mere brat actually will be the cause of his death, no, he knew deep inside it was greed. A moment of weakness due to greed.

He knew he would die today, there is no saving him, his heart has already been penetrated. With madness in his eyes, he threw caution to the wind and prepared to shoot another arrow.

How could Eznho let him do what he wants? Gritting his teeth, he covered his dagger with heavenly energy together with his feet then leaped forward with all his might and pointed the dagger. The distance between them was only about six meters.

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“What?”

Seeing the boy’s reaction, Eagle Eye was startled but could only twist his body sideways to dodge. The boy moved faster than him but with crude movements, obviously with no battle experience. After successfully dodging, he pulled the bowstring with an arrow and released it aiming for the head.

.....

Seeing that he missed, upon landing, Eznho immediately twisted his foot and leaped again towards his enemy but he was met with an arrow aiming for his head. It was already a few feet in front of him but his body immediately reacted and moved his head to the side making the arrow barely miss and leave a horizontal red mark on his cheek.

Third!

Only a short amount of time passed and another encounter with death happened. He could only steel his nerves and do everything to survive.

His attack was not interrupted and aimed for the enemy’s throat. Everything happened too fast,

Ssskk!

The dagger successfully penetrated the enemy’s throat then pulled it out, another gush of blood came out rushing.

“Gluurgghh!”

Eagle Eye wanted to say something but could not and subconsciously covered his throat, unwillingness could be seen in his eyes but he started to feel cold inside. He knelt down and looked up on the boy’s face then fell on his chest.

Dead.

“Haaa, Haaa,”

Eznho was breathing fast and his heart was still palpitating. Looking at the dead body in front of him, his bloody hands started to tremble.

This was his first kill, not an animal but a man! A living human being, he might be an enemy but still...

He knelt down on his knees with a blank look, snow began to settle on his head and shoulders. The smell of blood permeated the air, many thoughts ran through his head. He remembered the old man’s reminder.

Let me warn you, once you start, your road will be filled with blood and countless killing.

In the end, he was still an eleven-year-old boy with little experience in life.

.....

Awoooo!

Awoooo!

Howls woke Eznho up from his trance, he was a bit dizzy due to the loss of blood and exhaustion. Listening to the howls, they were not too far. Blood attracted them so this place will become dangerous, he got himself up, tried to focus and slowly walked towards the horse who was listless after hearing the howls. Looting the enemy did not even cross his mind.

Blood was still dripping from his wounds, he reached for the horse and calmed it down. Blood was even smeared on it. He climbed up the cart and urged the horse to start walking. The wounds stopped bleeding after he applied medicine and started to replenish his energy.

.....

A few kilometers from the mines, Old man Dan was leisurely sitting on a tree branch while scanning the mines.

“The show is about to start, I have finally found one of the core ingredients for the pill.”

He mumbled to himself with a look of excitement and at the same time ruthlessness. Nobody is stopping him from obtaining what he needed to heal his wounds.

.....

Inside the mines, the eight mercenary captains and the two military officials were getting ready. Only a few meters and they will reach where the energy fluctuation was located. Different kinds of dead beast piled on the side, they did not value them and just left it there for others to collect later.

Wilky and Wilfred was on the front leading the team, Wilky turned around and faced the captains,

“We do not know what kind of magical beast is inside but we are sure it is a high-level one. Based on our agreement, half of the total loot will belong to us and the other to your group. However you divide it, I don’t care. Due to the energy fluctuations, we cannot determine how many enemies will be on the other side, which means we have to watch out for them and the magical beast. As long as we work together, we can prevent casualties, understood?”

He announced with a stern and serious voice.

“Naturally,”

Winston answered and forced a smile. They obviously were at the disadvantage but they had no choice but to agree.

“Good, get ready then.”

He called to the miners and instructed them to leave, only the ten of them were left inside.

After the miners left, Wilfred casually nocked an arrow, pulled it then infused heavenly energy and released it towards the end of the tunnel.

Boom!

The tip of the arrow collided with the rocky wall and debris scattered, a vibration could be felt after the impact. Dust filled the area limiting visibility to nearly zero. Wilfred casually waved his hand and a gust of wind carried the dust going outside.

Light with a hint of golden color shone from the end of the tunnel, everybody started to walk towards it while raising their guards and brandishing their weapons.

Wilky took the lead with a sword in hand and circulated heavenly energy around his body and stepped inside the light.

Shudder.

Once he was in the light, he started to tremble as if he carried a boulder on his shoulders.

“Hmph!”

He was surprised but immediately came back to his senses and circulated more energy. Only then that the heavy feeling disappeared.

Everyone felt the same pressure and exerted more effort before removing it. These energy fluctuations were the reason they could not sense what was inside and could only vaguely guess.

A cavern of golden nuggets with different sizes entered their sight, just like what Eznho found previously but the difference is like a grain and a bar of gold entered their sight.

The hell?

Everyone widened their eyes, this is a treasure trove!

Before they could regain their composure, another surprise caught them. Some of the golden nuggets were melting like they were on fire and flowed towards the middle of the cavern and formed a golden lake about twenty meters wide. Every time a golden nugget is fully melted, another one starts to melt and flowed towards the center like the others. One could only imagine how much gold has already melted.

Ten meters above the lake, a huge golden ball floated about fifty meters in size. Large droplets of gold from the lake were floating and moved towards the golden ball to be absorbed. The golden ball was expanding and contracting like a beating heart.

Upon looking at the huge golden ball, everybody turned serious. Whatever was inside that golden ball was the reason for these events and it was giving a tremendous pressure.

“What kind of magical beast would use gold to cultivate?”

Winston could not help but ask out of curiosity. Even though he was old, compared to the vast world, his knowledge and information were close to nothing.

Hearing Winston’s question, a thought suddenly passed Wilky’s mind and remembered something he read in an old book when he was at the academy. After a while, he shook his head and thought inwardly,

“Impossible, according to what I read they are nearly extinct and nobody has seen one in thousands of years. Why would one appear here?”

He was skeptical but could not think of any other beasts that use gold to cultivate and a hope sprouted in his heart.

Boom!

Before everyone could even talk, an explosion on their opposite side caught their attention.

“They’re here,”

Wilky commented with a serious tone while trying to focus his vision. They were prepared for them and did not even try to communicate with them. By his estimate, the cavern was about three hundred meters wide, silhouettes started to appear on the other side but he could not discern their faces.

Normally, with his cultivation, it was easy to identify a person a kilometer away from him. But due to the energy fluctuations, vision and soul sense was limited.

.....

Ignoring the other party, they started to move closer cautiously towards the golden ball but the pressure was increasing. Their plan was to observe in close range and if possible, interrupt the magical beast’s attempt to break through and cause him damage.

The other group seemed to have the same idea and started moving.

Halfway through the golden ball, it started to shine brightly like the sun. Everybody could not help but close their eyes.