"Look out!" I shouted on top of my lungs as the two pursuers reduced the gap between them and Patricia. Their eyes were a menace and there were no signs of purity in it. Before they could finish her off, Patricia focused on me instead of her pursuers and shouted back at me. Blood spurted from her mouth as she shouted.
"They.. are wolves!"
Then her body arched backwards, a silver blade penetrated through her chest. The person who rammed the sword was Keon. My eyes grew wide for a moment as Patricia's body fell to the ground but I immediately regained my composure. I gave the two people who stood and glared atop of Patricia's body and icy stare. Below, I could see Patricia's blood dying the overgrown weeds into crimson hue, almost identical to her hair.
After pulling out the blade from her chest, Keon and Tina locked eyes with me but I did not falter.
"So much for suggesting a peaceful plan, Keon." Even at a distance, I managed to start a small talk with them.
"And you believe her just like that?"
I shook my head. "No. But I wouldn't want to hang out with two people ganging up on one person."
Keon jerked his head and bursted into laughter but he quickly returned his icy stare at me. "Tell me now, Jin. Are you also a wolf? If not, you'd better run."
Behind him, Tina did not say a word but she unsheathed her dagger, ready to pounce at any given moment.
Then there's no mistaking it. These two wolves have already made up their mind.
Can I beat them? Was the question I have in my mind. If I have to judge only with what they have shown so far during the past encounters with monsters, I may have a shot. But seeing how they did not have any kinds of bruise against Patricia who was my fellow melee combatant, I could be putting myself in danger. But maybe with this new skill..
"No. Let's reconsider." I whispered to myself.
It would be a different story if I were not alone. So I thought of regrouping with the twins.
"And if I said yes? Would you believe me?"
"Ha! You wish! I wouldn't believe myself either I were you."
After that, the two of them pumped their legs and exploded at me. At the same time, I darted towards the direction of the twins as fast I could, gambling to myself that they were my allies. My pace was faster than theirs thanks to my ability rankings being high.
I waded through the thick vines and branches in front of me as the two behind me also struggled to do the same.
After awhile a strange voice rang in my head, telling me to duck. Instinctively, I did what I was told. Then a magic arrow flew past above my head, it was hidden by the dark patches of thick leaves. Shit that was close!
I turned and saw the twins a few meters away. The magic arrow was shot by Emily. Behind me, I heard the deflecting sound of a metal sword clanking against the magic arrow that flew over my head. The accuracy was too precise but it seems that Keon was able to react at the right time even though he barely saw it coming.
"Ah. Damn it. There's more of you now. If only that little gym-rat died quickly and did not ran off. This is such a mess."
Evan and Emily approached my back. They saw the blood stains on my pursuers' bodies and did not even bother to ask me to confirm their assumption. Evan scowled and cursed Keon and Tina.
"Keon. You sly bastard. And Tina too, I see. So it has come to this."
Tina, for the first time since earlier, opened her mouth.
"Nothing personal, people. Just doing my homework."
Her face was smirking behind Keon's shoulders. Her tone was far different from the first time she talked back in the shore.
So she was just putting up a persona.
As always, Evan took this matter again as he stepped forward in front of me.
"But you see, it's three on two now. Do you still think you can win?" He grabbed his spear from his inventory and stomped it beside him, like a guard on duty.
Both Tina and Keon paused, hesitant of the current situation they are in. Evan knows this fact and used it to his advantage.
For the second time, I heard another voice in my head. I doubted it for a second but the voice was too real to be ignored just like earlier.
"Jin, it's me Emily. I am using telepathy right now to communicate with you and my brother but I can only connect to one person at a time. My brother is asking if you can fight with us. He says we need to deal with these wolves now that they are in front of us. If we let them go now and they plan to come after us later on, we may find ourselves in a tight spot."
Now I am sure it wasn't just a random voice in my head.
"Then which of you is the sheep I must protect?"
"It's me."
"Then go tell your brother I'm down for it. Just send the signal and I'll charge in."
"Alright."
In the meantime, Evan and Keon were stalling each other, neither side wanted to make the first move. I could tell that by now, Evan and Emily are conversing through telepathy while he is talking with Keon. A high level of concentration right there.
I waited for Emily's voice again in order to know what signal will Evan use.
Finally, Emily contacted me again. "He says you can charge in any time. We'll both back you up quick."
"Gotcha."
My body was itching to try and test my new skill so it was time to experiment on these two wolves. I felt excited instead of fear. Probably because I now have two people by my side.
The gap between our group to Keon's is not entirely far so my skill would work perfectly fine.
BLINK*
In a split second, I was in midair, right in front of Keon who had a puzzled expression on his face. Perhaps, the speed on which I appeared right in front of him stunned him temporarily. He could not react on time and my fist met his chin. I was sure I heard and felt his jaws cracked and he was sent back. In that moment, Evan who also barely hid the shock in face, charged forward with his weapon spear on hand. Emily from the rear fired a magic arrow, this time to Tina to cut her approach. But she was able to evade it with ease.
Keon stood up again from his knees. While Evan was still rushing forward for the kill, my scythe was already swinging to Keon's vulnerable head. He felt the threat to his life and impulsively lifted his weapon to try and parry mine but I wanted to surprise him yet again.
I used the second charge of my skill, Blink, to warp on his opposite side where he was vulnerable.
BLINK*
By the time I got teleported beside him—"Cut!" was already casted and his neck got severed. A jet of blood erupted from his body before collapsing to the ground, knees first then his upper torso. With a thud, his body became lifeless. Evan looked at me again, his eyes wide and was speechless.
But we were not done. Our eyes automatically searched for Tina.
Seeing her only companion meeting the same fate as Patricia, Tina started losing face and tried to retreat knowing she could definitely not win against the three of us. However, Evan and I also did not stay idle for long. We both kicked off the ground to shorten the distance except I used the third charge of my Blink, leaving Evan a little behind.
Tina ceased her legs from running when I instantly got in front of her. She too, was startled and her body staggered but managed to regain self-control. Using her dagger, she aimed to stab my neck but I quickly dropped down to avoid it. Utilizing the crouching position I am in, I propelled and stretched my entire body upwards using my legs and gave her a frontal kick in the head, smacking her hard in the chin.
THWACK*
Her body flew for a short distance towards the person who was behind me earlier. Evan, with the right distance and positioning, thrusted his spear, impaling her from behind.
We thought Tina would be paralyzed by having impaled by a spear but she did not give up on her life. With her dying seconds, she made one last motion, not wanting to be dragged alone to the pits of hell. With a flick of her hand her dagger zoomed right past Evan, towards the rear where the person I must protect at all cost stood.
Concern creeped through my veins as the dagger flew nonstop.
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But all my worries were swatted away when Emily swung her head in the slightest movement to dodge the dagger, grazing her cheeks, barely escaping death.
Impaled on top of the spear, Tina's body went limp when she saw her last attempt of struggle failed.
Evan clicked his tongue against her attempt to kill his sister but eventually pulled his spear out of her body.
Emily came running to us from behind. Her forehead also had a trace of worry but seeing that her brother was alright, it quickly disappeared. The sudden turn of events were unfolding too fast for us. We wanted to burry at least Patricia's body but the strong smell of blood may attract monsters out of nowhere so we returned to where we originally planned to camp. Not that we can just randomly dig a pit for the dead body in the middle of a forest filled with thick ravines anyway.
Night came and we were not able to gather food to satiate our hunger. The hut we built was also a little too shabby but at least we can sleep inside. We agreed on taking turns for guard duties. Emily volunteered to be the first. Evan said he will be next. So I fell to slumber instantly after hearing them going first and unintentionally missed the point ranking update held at midnight. Not long before sunrise, I woke up and switched guard duties with Evan who was sitting on a log in front of the campfire. His bloodshot eyes was apparent but he did not complain and just told me we were far below in the rankings. My mind was still hazy so I rubbed the news off of my mind. When I replaced Evan's butt on the log, the burning wood kept me warm. In order for me to not fall back to sleep, I kept myself occupied by checking my status window while the gentle morning wind casually stroked the campfire we built that lit up our place, making it look like a dancing devil performing a ritual.
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STATUS WINDOW
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NAME: Jin Kirkland
Level: 5
HP (2600/2600) - HP gradually regenerates over time. (10 HP per sec) - Affected by VIT and Level
MP (600/600) - MP gradually regenerate over time. (3 MP per sec) - Affected by Mana Pool Level
PHYSICAL POWER: A
ABILITY POWER: A
DEFENSIVE POWER: A
DEXTERITY: A+
VITALITY: A
LUCK: S+
MANA POOL: A
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SKILLS: (6)
Passive: Divine Blessing (Pink)
Description:
-When leveling up, all stat points will increase and a random two stat points gained are doubled.
Passive: Super Sense (Red)
Description:
-All six senses are greatly enhanced by 40%.
Passive: Carnage (Red)
Description:
-When successfully landing successive hits to an opponent, each hit will increase the user's damage output by 0.01%. Can be stacked up to 50% damage bonus. NOTE: Combo meter and passive
effect will reset if the user fails to hit an opponent within 5 seconds after a hit landed.
-When damage bonus hits 5%/10%/15%/20%, attacks will also apply life steal and will also increase respectively.
Passive: Alone or With Friends! I shall See through The End! (Red)
Description:
-The user can either hunt alone or with a party. Will naturally gain 2x more experience points than normal when hunting alone. Will naturally gain 1.2x more experience points when hunting with a
party, plus there is an increase of 1.5x drop rate of soul cards from monsters.
Passive: Auto Guard (Blue)
Description:
-The user is permanently coated with a thin barrier of mana to protect the user from unwanted and unexpected attacks. The barrier's toughness surmounts to 10% of the user's current mana. Higher
mana means tougher barrier. If the attack power received by the user is too high, the barrier will break and the user will suffer from the damage received.
-Auto Guard will not take effect if mana has been depleted.
Active: Cut (Green)
Description:
-The user will utilize and coat any weapon with mana to produce a swift and sharp swing to cut the opponent. Damage=(100%PP*DEX)
-Mana Consumption: 20 MP
-Skill CD: 10 seconds
Active: Blink (Red)
Description:
-The user is able to teleport at a short distance (Max=10 meters) for three times within 20 seconds.
-Mana Consumption: 100 MP
-Skill CD: 20 seconds
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Another red. I can feel this skill as a top tier when put into good use. The confrontation earlier with Keon and Tina would have been more difficult to handle if it wasn't for this.
With my eyes closed, I lifted up my chin towards the sky and let out a heavy sigh. When I opened my eyes, I got to peek what night sky looks like in this new world. The stars were more visible in the eyes. The tiny grains of shimmering light flooded the empty void up above just like how the sand had taken over the space back on the shore. I could see no moon from my angle due to the dense umbrella shade of the trees but I could see the gradient of the sky turning brighter as time passes by. The sun will be up again soon.
My thoughts were interrupted by a noise coming from the hut. From the darkness inside, Emily emerged. Her hair was a mess but rather than looking like a witch, she effortlessly made herself more charming that my heart started fluttering for a moment. She tucked her own arms in front of her chest as the morning breeze embraced her soft pajamas. She eventually walked up towards where I sit and settled down beside me who welcomed the warmth emanating from the campfire.
"You can sleep for a few more hours."
She shook her head. "I'm not a lengthy sleeper. I'll be fine."
I could see her cupping her hands and blowing inside of it. With nothing better to do, I tried to keep the conversation going.
"Is your brother also a shepherd like me?"
She again shook her head. "No. He's a wolf."
I shot a glance at her and she met me in the eyes before lowering her head in discomfort. I returned my gaze into the dancing fire and asked her more.
"What's his plan now knowing that our side can't be traveling with a wolf."
"He plans to see through this tutorial with both of us. He'll just have to accept his fate when the final second ticks in."
"And you're fine with that?"
A long silence threaded the small distance between us. She did not answer my question but that only shows how she feels for her brother.
The content of the quest requires the wolves to kill us shepherds and sheep if they had drawn first blood. Emily is the sheep while Evan is a wolf. Two contradicting identities that could have coexists if the two wolves maintained their bloodlust and greed to themselves.
Emily and I had a few more exchanges, telling me how Evan tried to prepared for the worst from the start when we left the shore, especially the part where there would be a betrayal that was going to happen sooner or later since the rewards for the personal quests are too good to be ignored. She explained to me how he showed her the contents and rewards for killing all shepherds and the sheep. Apparently, the wolves would receive twice the amount compared to ours, shepherds and sheep, but she added more details and told me that the wolves can also cut each other's throat to monopolize the rewards six folds. When his brother knew all this, he made the decision to either make all of us pass the tutorial without rewards or have Emily and the shepherds protect her against wolves even if he has to sacrifice both his life and role.
We began to notice our surroundings becoming more vivid with the golden rays of the sun that snaked through the branches above us. The cold wind also departed from our camp so we completely extinguished the already-dying fire from the ground. When Evan woke up, he smiled at us but not before long our stomachs growled in hunger. With that in mind, we started walking deeper into the forest. Both in search for monsters to kill and food to eat.
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In an unknown place where the everlasting cosmos filled the oblivion, there hovered three absolute beings with no distinctive features. One of the three beings, with a low burly voice, brought the news with eagerness and started speaking.
"I ASKED FOR THIS MEETING TO DISCLOSE SOMETHING I HAVE BEEN INFORMED."
"YOU CALLED FOR US WITH A SHORT NOTICE, ADAM. I WAS IN CONTACT WITH MY APOSTLE FOR SOMETHING THAT CAME UP. PERHAPS, THIS IS WORTH THE TROUBLE?
"MY APOLOGIES, ABBA, ADION. AND YES, APPARENTLY, "SHE" HAD FINALLY ROLLEN A DIE FOR SOMEONE."
Both beings who heard the news were bewildered by the thought of someone gaining the favor of the being they consider giving high approbation.
'AND WHAT MAKES YOU SO SURE SHE HAD?"
"HER EXISTENCE FROM THE EASTERN CONTINENT HAD STARTED TO WANE. ALTHOUGH WE CAN'T FEEL IT FROM HERE, TWO OF MY PEOPLE FROM THE ASLATAN EMPIRE TOLD ME."
"THEN, IS IT HER? IKAIRO'S PRODIGY?"
"NO. AT LEAST, FOR NOW WE DON'T KNOW WHO. BUT IT WAS DEFINITELY NOT "THAT" PERSON FROM IKAIRO. I BELIEVE SHE WORSHIPS BAAL AND WOULD DEFINITELY NOT RECEIVE THE BLESSINGS OF CAERA."
"HMMM. ANOTHER PRODIGY FROM AN UNKNOWN LAND?"
"PERHAPS. BUT THAT'S ALL WE KNOW SO FAR, THAT HER POWERS ARE WANING. A SIGN SHE HAD USED IT FOR SOMEONE."
The three beings fell into short silence, weighing the implication of the goddess Caera's actions in favoring a mortal being.
"THEN SO BE IT. WE'LL EVENTUALLY FIND THAT PERSON. ARE THERE ANY ELSE YOU WISH TO INFORM US, ADAM?"
"THE PURPOSE OF THIS MEETING WAS MEANT FOR THAT INFORMATION ALONE. I HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO ADD."
"WE MUST FIND THAT PERSON AND JUDGE WHETHER HE'S AN ALLY. CAERA'S ACTION IS LIKE A BOULDER BEING THROWN AT A POND."
They nodded in agreement and their meeting came to an end. The space where they gathered vanished as simple as lights being switched off.
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END
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