A young man sat at the edge of a river in a lotus position, his eyes were closed, and his breathing was steady and clearly controlled. He had a light haori on and on his feet were nothing much except socks and sandals , along with black pants.
Not so far from the man, hiding behind tall trees in the forest were three older men obviously seeing this as an opportunity - a young fool dropping his guard and even daring as far to sit and cross his legs in the open wild, this was a great opportunity to plunder his possessions.
The three men were of the same group, wearing similar clothing with matching bandanas, vests and jeans with light weight boots. They each were equipped with poisonous daggers - long knives that could inflict a lethal poison to every living organism they cut, mainly those with tissues and bloody systems like humans, A single cut was all it was needed to pour the poison into a target's body and they'd be dead within 4 hours , this was the men's secret weapon to rob the man.
There were two brown bags hanged on the man's waist - the one who sat near the edge of the river. The three men had no doubt that those bags held either silver or gold coins as they themselves had a history plundering targets who foolishly showed off their money by visibly hanging it somewhere on their body in a silmilar bag the young man had.
The leader of the group took the initiative to make an appearance, his name was Hanzo, and he was the strongest of the two - a B rank; but by Azania's standards, he was nothing short of a failure and his two other friends were even worse than him being in C rank.
One had to be either be skilled or strong to earn money, Hanzo who had none of those options decided make his own option - plundering the money from others who worked hard. His friends were fools who didn't think much for themselves, they'd follow Hanzo's orders to the letter without any complaints which was exactly why Hanzo was the leader in this little bandit squad of theirs.
They were three for now , Hanzo hoped the numbers would increase in the near future - the higher the numbers, the higher the success rate of plundering and of course there would be more money plundered from others especially since the TOA was coming up.
" What kind of idiot sits that comfortably in a forest without expecting to be attacked? Even if we hadn't come along he would have been mangled by the forest's monsters tearing his arrogant ass to bits. "
The younger looking one of the three said, this was Brandon. Ultimately, he was an idiot but it was his quick wits when it came to robbing others where his true worth mattered, he could throw a bunch of words to coerce the target to hand over their money, of course the group believed in gender equality so not even women survived their plundering.
" I know right, I'll punch some sense into him after hauling all his money stash. "
The bigger and fit looking other guy commented, unlike Brandon who had a slimmer body, this one was large in width with bulking muscles ; he was taller too. The muscles weren't too bulky though, just enough to put a scare on somebody which was exactly what the guy's job was for.
Klaus' job was to intimidate hard to come by targets who wouldn't fall for Brandon's coercion with his huge muscles. Some people would get a big scare when seeing a larger and more stronger looking person than them, it was instinct and as a result some people got afraid just by seeing Klaus and finally gave in and gave away their money.
If worse came to be , Hanzo would finally jump in. Using the bit of wind and water magic to further scare them. For a B-rank, it was quite inferior which was probably because Hanzo's abilities has degraded after resigning as an Adventurer.
Adventurers were individuals who travelled from place to place in a seek for adventure and sense of purpose, an adventurer normally had to be strong so they could take on any monster they met along with their journey. Monsters in Azania wouldn't be normally found in dungeons like Voz, here they roamed free in some forests and mountains instead of being secluded but these monsters were weak and couldn't cause significant damage to society as the stronger ones were either in far away lands or exterminated.
Regardless , the 'inferior' monsters started from B-rank to C-rank and to the bottom, they could be lethal to a large degree to normal and defenseless humans which was exactly why it was necessary for an Adventurer to at least be a B rank to qualify for the Job. Adventurers earned quite more than Hunters, unlike the latter , Adventurers had a passport to everywhere in Azania meaning they had a wider range to pick up and sell monster parts and valuable items , but this didn't mean they could freely invade other people's territories. Hunters could only place their bets on the dungeon and it's level of difficulty to gain monster parts to sell. The higher the level of the monster ,the higher it's body parts auctioned for.
In the three years of his retiring , Hanzo slacked off and didn't even bother training his magic which was probably why he was stuck at B rank with degraded abilities. But he wouldn't whine about it, he didn't need much power to make a living out of anyways and most of the plundered targets were easy to come by and easily yielded to his wind and water magic which was why he and his pals thought this plunder would be easy like taking candy from a baby.
" Hey punk, give me all your money or else.... "
Hanzo shouted to the younger man who had his back facing Hanzo - he didn't even move an inch from hearing the words. However ,Hanzo made sure the man could hear the clatter of the metal poisonous daggers as they swayed from side to side on this waist so the man would be aware they were carrying weapons and quickly give in.
Fool , even trying to run won't help you.. Hehe
Hanzo came from the back ; Brandon and Klaus from the sides with their daggers already drawn out and in front of the man was a large river- it was impossible to jump across it and even he tried swimming away Hanzo could always shoot at him with his magic and take the money pouches after.
" Hey punk, didn't you hear m- "
A rustle of leaves cut through Hanzo's words, the sound of leaves came from underneath the man as he stood up silently. Hanzo wasn't alarmed, there was a possibility of the man being stronger than him but Hanzo had long passed by a green hilted Katana laid on one of the trees - the man's only hope of defense.
The man turned his body and faced Hanzo, he had brown hair covering his right region of his face and had eyes that could only be defined as 'lazy' as they stared at Hanzo.
Hanzo could make out the expression of annoyance clearly on the man's face.
" Can't even take a peaceful meditation without having idiots nagging at me. "
Hanzo heard the words come from the man, he was infuriated at how he was lumped with those idiots that were his friends. Nobody but him called them idiots.
He shouted one word that both Brandon and Klaus would immediately understand;
" Kill ! "
They both dived into action, readying the knives to stab the arrogant fool and be done with him in that moment. Even if the poison took hours to have an effect , the dagger was still a weapon, and a lethal stab could kill the man.
Swish
Dust particles scattered around the guy. Hanzo had caught a glimpse of the man quickly and forcefully running his right leg across the ground in a circular shape a circle.
But why? His mind took a little longer to process that but he got an idea of what he was trying to do.
He was trying to disrupt the two's perception so they couldn't stab him.
Hanzo heard the sound of metal dropping , figuring somehow the metal daggers his henchmen held were knocked out of their hands since it was the only metal object they had in their possession.
Wham !
Hanzo felt a harsh hit against his neck, feeling an unfamiliar tingle all over his body causing him to shudder and fall over to the ground.
His body was locked , he didn't even have the strength to move a limb nor move his lips making his magic ultimately useless. By a coincidence, his eyes were facing the two idiots who came to appearance after the dust cloud came apart - they were also in quite the very similar situation as him with their eyes foolishly opened wide with helplessness that made Hanzo boil with rage not at the man who had clearly somehow caused this, but having to see their stupid faces as he was locked in that state.
When I get out of this state... I swear I am going to kill these two idiots with my own hands!!
In that moment, Hanzo had a new goal set in mind.
Punishing and training these two so they wouldn't put him in this embarrassing moment ever again even if the training killed them.
***
17 minutes after, the effects of paralysis had vanished from their body and as a result Brandon and Klaus acknowledged their own helplessness and were walking behind Hanzo in cower and slight anxiety.
Hanzo wasn't planning on doing something to them anymore, figuring it would end in failure trying to train the two idiots.
The failing to plunder the other guy's money wasn't something to lose sleep over, there were plenty to come later due to the incoming TOA.
The TOA was an eye-catching event everyone in Azania and even in Voz wanted to see, meaning more audiences were to cross the forest or Hanzo would meet along the pathway to the tournament so he didn't hold a grudge or anything, if anything he took this as a lesson learnt, he'd be way more cautious in his next plundering.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Right now, Hanzo and the two were walking towards the TOA arena. The weird guy had disappeared long after knocking them down, the green Katana gone with him too. Hanzo was planning on selling it if he had left it but now it was a different stor-
Crunch.
Hanzo heard the familiar sound again, taking him back to when the meditating guy he had tried to poach beat them.
That made him feel a bit of fury and thus made him look towards where the sound was resonating by instinct, in his line of sight he caught figures of two younger guys who seemed to be in a heated foolish argument against each other, another one with blonde hair and yellow eyes and another with slightly unruly brown hair and blue eyes.
" I told you we should have taken the road I pointed at like others, but no you had to insist on taking a 'shortcut', now we're lost you dimwit! "
The yellow headed one shouted.
" it's partially your fault for not knowing I suck at making critical decisions, and besides It's not like we can turn back now anyways. "
" Know you suck at making decisions?! I literally just met you a couple of days ago ! "
" Just shut up , let's just go ask those guys over there. They've been looking at us for quite a while now, so they ought to know something. "
Hanzo heard the two argue and conclude and then saw them walking towards their direction, facing them which made him pissed.
Why am I always surrounded by idiots?
On the other hand, Hanzo saw this as an excellent opportunity to haul all their stash. The two young men had nothing much equipped, not even a lousy platinum sword could be seen, and the blonde had unfamiliar garments which matched the word 'Foreign', he was undoubtedly a foreigner and judging by the content of their argument, they were spectators going to the TOA arena since participants themselves would have been long in the Arena and preparing by now. The foreigner probably took his other friend along because he himself didn't know where the arena was, and it seemed the friend too was an idiot who got both of them lost.
It was as if the heavens were blessing Hanzo as compensation for that earlier incident with these two idiots who clearly didn't even know where they were going.
Hanzo coughed, this was a signal to the two to prepare to plunder the idiots' money and items. The two understood, coughing back to signal that they intercepted the first signal.
The two fellows had been near enough to hear the trio cough to each other, the one with blue eyes and light weight clothes gave all of them a strange look which spelt caution.
Hanzo began panicking, had he already figured out that they were bandits? They hadn't fully physically recovered from the last plunder yet so they wouldn't be able to catch them if they ran away even if they are puny spectators.
" You guys seem to be sick, do you have fever or something ? "
The cautious looking kid asked and in that moment, Hanzo realized the brat was cautious because he assumed he and his gang had been caught by a severe fever, Hanzo felt like a burden was lifted from his shoulders and he smiled so much that it turned to a grin.
" Hey, you don't just ask random strangers personal questions like that ! "
The blonde intercepted his friend before Hanzo could, sparing him the trouble and giving him the chance to act all goody two shoes.
" It's alright kid , your friend is right we do have a cold - fever you call it , which is why we're going to the tournament of artists to look for medicine since some practitioners of health will most likely be there. From my hometown, they can't heal this you see. "
Hanzo was spilling out random nonsense, the two idiots could never be able to separate the truth from the lues. He had prepared the bait, it was time for the prey to bite, falling for the trap.
" You're going to the tournament of artists as well? Would you mind directing us to it, we need to hurry to it. "
The blonde requested, Hanzo smiled even more, loving how everything was going the way he wanted it to.
" Of course, Junior, come closer and I'll tell you. "
Hanzo said to the blonde, who looked unsure whether to go nearer or not.
The plan was to get him to be as close as possible , jump at him and pull out the poisonous dagger - holding it against his throat and making him hand out all his money stash, obviously with his life at risk he wouldn't think twice of trying to think of a stupid thing like escaping, and even if he did , Hanzo was visibly more physically fit than him so he even if he tried escaping , it would end in immediate failure.
" Hmm I don't know, can't you just speak a little louder so I can hear you? "
The blonde said.
" But I can't Junior , I have fever remember? "
Hanzo said, trying his best to make his voice sound pitiful.
" What does fever have anything to do with your throat? "
Persistent brat !
Hanzo angrily thought to himself , not letting it show on his face much except for a little vein that began showing itself on his forehead.
He smiled despite the anger he was feeling inside of him.
" Look, I have a different kind of fever not the one you know about so can you just get a little closer so I can tell you the directions? "
" It's not that I don't trust you mister, I just have a terrible gut feeling right now and I think I should follow it. "
Gut feeling ? This brat's danger sense is sharp eh.
" You're probably hungry from all the walking, perhaps you should take a rest under the tree, and I'll brief you about the direction, how about it? "
" For a shady looking person, you're quite considerate. "
The brown headed one commented, Hanzo didn't give much of a damn to bother replying to him. His time would come as well so he ignored him.
" Prove it. "
" What? "
" Prove that you know the directions. "
This yellow headed brat!!
" For what possible reasons would I be deceiving you for? "
The blonde stopped to think, looking between Hanzo, Brandon and Klaus.
" I get it, you guys are quite lonely and need some friends. That's why you're being so nice, you could have asked you know? "
" Need some friends...? "
Hanzo muttered to himself. Now the kid had crossed the line, how stupid could one person be?! By the look of things, the brat would never come closer and would keep on making excuses or reasons not to, there was no other reason to keep him alive if he would make things this difficult.
" Kill them! "
Hanzo shouted with fury, it had been quite long since he tolerated these two idiots' foolishness - the blonde and browny, he'd take their money after killing them and at least after pissing on their corpses.
The three bandits all simultaneously jumped towards the blonde, the browny had somehow dashed back by a distance that wouldn't put him along the paths their poisonous daggers took in a short time span.
He probably had sharp senses and good reflexes. Meanwhile his friend - the blonde, stared at the three with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
What a shame it would be to die without even trying to fight back, even though it wouldn't help much anyways.
The three bandits stabbed the blonde idiot at the same time; at the back, the chest and shoulders.
" Hmm ? "
Hanzo heard the blonde mutter. Making him look at where he had aimed for the chest.
Hanzo eyes peeled wide open from what he saw; instead of the dagger penetrating the blonde's skin and harming the brat , it shriveled and was pushed back against his skin as if it was stabbing an impenetrable wall.
Hanzo couldn't stop himself from shouting out of shock before jumping back out of instinct.
" What the flying fuck ?! "
The daggers were atleast B+ ranked, expensive and deadly by Voz's standards so this foreigner should have been penetrated by it if not killed instantaneously, so why was he still standing with no wound whatsoever? instead the daggers' blades were crunched into a permanent shape.
Brandon and Klaus seemed to be in an exact same situation, as they stepped back slowly with a bit of terror on their faces.
" What the heck is he ? "
Klaus asked , terrified.
" A fucken monster , those daggers cost us 80 silver coins you swine! "
While Klaus was completely terrified on his side , Brandon had mixed emotions on his side - a bit of terror and a lot of anger, which was quite very similar to what Hanzo himself was feeling.
Their power had been completely deteriorated. Without the daggers , the two were practically useless, Klaus' muscles were for show , he actually didn't know any fighting styles to accommodate them except throwing random attacks - The blonde brat was no ordinary spectator in TOA so such attacks wouldn't even leave a scratch on him , but instead cause Klaus' fingers to break.
" Why ..why is a measly spectator this strong, what are you planning kid ?! "
Hanzo shouted out, most spectators were either B rank or below, they would have made some real money if they were above B-rank instead of spectating after all.
They had just now stabbed him with a B ranked dagger which had no effect on him it was more than natural to assume he was higher than B rank, unusual for your typical audience since those higher than that also took a chance to enter the tournament.
" You guys, did you just try to kill me? I thought you were swatting away a mosquito on me or something. "
The blonde sighed, walking near Hanzo who was backing away.
" Stay away, you monster. "
Hanzo hadn't recovered from the earlier attack , his mana passages were temporarily blocked from being hit on a pressure point therefore he had no hope of casting magic to defend himself so backing away was the only option. There was also no telling what the kid was planning to do with his unreadable expression. It was a clever move to hide his facial expression.
" Monster ? I am just a person looking for the arena so I can sign up. That doesn't define me as a monster does it, since you all attacked me first. "
'Arena' ? 'Sign up' ? Don't tell me he is a....
" You're a T-O-A participant?! "
Hanzo shouted in disbelief.
The blonde nodded, a smug look on his face.
Suddenly an idea crossed Hanzo's mind, he immediately used
He shot a glance at the blonde and then the browny , this was to enable the skill to be able to collect both their information in parallel and present their status' in the little time.
Just as he expected, the blue pamphlets showing their information finally presented themselves, one above another.
Name : Jain Mcguire
Age : 19 years old
Race : Human
[ HP : 5 000 ] [ ATK : 5 000 ] [ MP : None ] [ SPD : 5 000 ] [ DEF : 5 000 ]
Resistance : Cold , Poison , Fear Inducement , Aura Inducement , Status ailments = Paralysis.
Magic : None
Skills :
Skill Type : Unique Skill
- END -
Name : Shawn Lupesfreude
Age : 19 years old
Race : human
[ HP : 7 000 ] [ ATK : 4 000 ] [ MP : None ] [ SPD : 6 500 ] [ DEF : 3 000 ]
Resistance : Cold , Perception Disruption , Aura Attack
Magic : None
Skill :
Skill Type : Unique Skill
- END -
What the flying fuck?! These guys are unique skill holders! No wonder the browny was able to quickly react to our attacks and the blonde remained unfazed after we stabbed him.T-These guys are absolute monsters!
Hanzo was aware of what Unique Skill holders were - people with their 'own' kind of magic , that's how he had heard it. Unique skill holders were said to be superior to magic users in physique and sometimes even in intelligence too.
Unique skill holders were the kind of monsters that shouldn't be messed with, they could cast their magic instantly while it took time for the magic users to set up and cast the spell, it was clear who had the superior advantage in such a fight. It was like being in a gun fight - one had to set up the gun first and the other was ready to shoot.
The browny's speed stat was crazy, he could have snapped the trio's necks in a blink of an eye if he wanted to. Hanzo's stats themselves were lower than the two monsters with DEF points of below 2 000 and adding to the two monster's attack points which were levels higher than his, Hanzo was sure he would receive instant death if he ever took a serious attack from any of them.
Even if the trio besieged one of them, it would be like toddlers ganging up on an adult.
Hanzo shivered, looking at the two power freaks who had relaxed expressions.
" Yes, this is a punishment.... God is punishing us for our greedy ways! "
Hanzo muttered in self-induced delusion, as the two power freaks stared at him - purely dumbfounded.
In that brief moment, Hanzo thought of changing the error of his ways.