Ela and Damien could be seen running through the forest. It had been quite a few hours since their earlier chat, and they had been on the move ever since.
After running for so long, they were finally approaching one of the mountains Damien had seen when he looked out the window.
By now, the sun was setting behind the mountain, giving it a shadowed feeling.
After hours of silence, Damien glanced at Ela before speaking, “How much longer are we going to run for?”
“We should try and make it over the mountain before tomorrow; even though you are level one, you should be just fine, considering you have your bloodline, which makes you much stronger than the average level one,” she responded while moving forward.
Damien was prepared to ask something else, but Ela spotted the look on his face and could guess what he wanted to ask.
“I think you're greatly underestimating how much they value you or your bloodline. When I say they will do anything to recapture you, I mean ANYTHING,” she said before continuing.
“The reason for this is the effects they have understood your bloodline has on its user.”
“What affects?” Damien asked.
“Damien, I’ll be honest, that was a kind of dumb question even if you were in a simulation. Let's not talk about the raw stat boost you get from bloodlines but the fact you're still alive.
“I am because I'm much higher level than you, and reaching certain levels causes you to have increased longevity; you, however, are alive solely because of your bloodline.”
“Alright, so you're saying I'm pretty much a walking miracle, nice,” he responded in a joking tone.
“Yep, and before you ask, I have no idea as to why your bloodline can do so, although just a heads up you can be killed quite easily so dont go thinking your immortal.
Damien responded sarcastically, “Sorry, I'm so weak; it's not like I was kidnapped before even having the chance to become stronger.”
Laughing at Damien’s antics, Ela’s lips curved into a slight smile before speaking.
“You have not changed, you know? Even if they wiped your memoirs, you are still the Damien I knew 180 years ago.
“Same looks, same personality, same humor….” she said while looking at Damien with nostalgia.
Hearing her speak, Damien smiled and said. “Well, I wish I could say the same about you, but you know, no memoirs and all,” Damien said jokingly before continuing.
“But just the fact that you were looking for me all this time, well, I think that speaks volumes about you as a person.”
Ela’s face lit up a bit, and a slight blush crossed her cheeks. Looking opposite of Damien and taking a small breath to calm herself, she turned back before saying anything.
“Damien, I—” Ela paused as her face turned severe before saying, “We need to move, Damien. They are catching up to us.”
Hearing this, a look of surprise crossed his face before nodding.
Now, running up the mountain, Damien looks to his side and asks. “So, how did you know they were getting close?”
“I have a skill that allows me to detect things within a certain radius of me. Also, the perception stat gives you increased instincts regarding your surroundings.”
“Even without the skill, just that stat alone would have given me plenty of time to get us out of here,” Ela said while weaving between two trees.
Now curious, Damien asked, “So how high are your stats anyway.”
“Well, let me go ahead and tell you some basic information. Assuming you already don't know, when the system descended, the average stat of a human was ten, aside from mana and health being 100. Once you leveled up, you would get five in each stat and five to distribute however you liked.”
Pausing for a moment, she continued, “So my average stat sits around 110 - 120, with my highest being agility at 150 since I put most of my distributable points in there,”
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After listening to what she said, Damien got an idea.
“Wait, if your agility is so high, then would it not be faster if you just carried me to wherever we are going? Also, why are your stats so low? It’s been 180+ years, right? So, should your stats not be well within the 1000+ range? He asked.
“Yes, it would be faster, but I don't want you to rely on my strength. While I won't let you be recaptured, I also won't interfere in a fight I believe you can win, and this situation is one of them. As for why my stats are so low, for some reason, no one has been able to get past level 20 since the system disappeared.”
Thinking about what she said, Damien found it really weird. Why would the system cap people at level 20? Before he could think further, Ela spoke.
“Anyways, the people pursuing us only have three people that are level 20; the other four are all level 10 weaklings, with their most vital stat probably being 60 to 70. You should be able to handle all four if you are careful.”
Hearing what she said, Damien had to admit it made sense. He also agreed with her not helping him in fights, as he wanted to get stronger by himself, and relying on others to win fights he could himself would just make him weak.
“I understand, but did you always plan to have me fight the people behind us?” Damien asked curiously.
“That was indeed the plan. I want to see what you can do while also allowing you to get combat experience,” she said with a slight smirk before continuing.
“Once we get over the mountain, we will wait for them and attack once they are close enough. Oh, and what kind of weapon do you want?”
While Ela and Damien were making their way over the mountain, their pursuers were not far behind.
“Madam, will we continue to chase if they make it over the mountain? We won't be able to receive reinforcements in time if needed.” one of the men said with a complicated look.
The woman turned to the man who spoke, looking at him as if he was stupid before responding in a huff, “Listen here, you dumbass, that subject is of TOP priority now and quite frankly is worth more than all of your lives combined with that being said yes we are going to keep chasing him because if he gets away, we are all in for a world of trouble and ill be the last thing you have to worry about.”
“Are we clear?” she asked.
“Crystal, madam,” he responded, looking dreary.
“Good, now no more speaking unless we have captured him. Let's move,” she said before resuming the chase.
Ela and Damien were now on the other side of the mountain. It did not take long for them to scale it even with their stats, even if Damien himself was massively weaker than Ela
Quickly finding a spot to set up their ambush and getting into position now, they just had to wait, and it would not take long as their perusers were much closer than Damien expected Ela however, was not surprised when they entered the range of her ability and quickly warned Damien.
“Get ready; they will be here any minute now. I’ll take the woman and the two men in front of her; you take the two at her side and back. Got it?” she asked seriously.
“Got it,” Damien replied while waiting for them to appear. Not even two minutes later, six men and one woman appeared in his line of sight.
The men were not anything special; they looked average, except for the two men in front that Ela would be fighting. The aura they gave off was insane. ‘Yeah, definitely not fighting those two,’ Damien thought before focusing on the woman.
Looking at her, Damien felt nothing special coming from her, and everything seemed average. She had no crazy aura like the two men, and her looks were leagues below Ela if he was honest.
A few seconds after Damien had looked at her, the woman’s head snapped in the direction he was hiding, surprising him.
Before the woman could say anything, though, she pulled her sword out and blocked a dagger that Ela had thrown at her.
Seeing Damien take action, he stopped sitting around as well and dashed toward the other four men while taking out the katana Ela had given him.
If Damien was being honest, he had picked the katana because it looked cool; the sword was primarily black, with only the handle having splashes of red under the wrap.
Now, right in front of one of his opponents, Damien slashed downward with the sword, making his opponent block the attack with his axe before countering with an attack of his own
Swinging the axe, the man saw Damien go to block. A mocking look appeared on his face. After all, Damien was just a level one. How was he going to block his axe? Especially with that flimsy-looking sword of his.
Surprisingly for the man, though, Damien blocked the attack quickly before rolling to the side as one of the other men tried to sneak attack him from behind.
Once Damien was on his feet, the four men sprang into action and quickly surrounded him. At first, they had all assumed this would be an easy fight when they saw Damien coming their way, but after seeing him block that attack from earlier, they decided not to play around anymore.
Seeing the men surround him, Damien’s face turned severe while he quickly thought of his next move.
‘Maybe it's time to use my first skill,’ he thought, causing a smile to form on his face at the thought of seeing what his skills could do.
Seeing Damien smile, one of the men got irritated, “Don’t get cocky, brat!” he yelled before attacking with his axe
Watching the attack descend, Damien activated Lighting fast and felt the world begin to slow down around him, almost to the point of a crawl.
“Woah,” he said aloud while moving out of the trajectory of the axe. Seeing the world move so slowly was almost exhilarating to Damien.
Deciding not to waste more time, Damien quickly went behind the man and slit his throat before backing away from the other three right as the skill ended.
*DING* User killed level 10 Warrior (human).