“It looks like we found another group out here. I was wondering when we would find other people. After leaving the village everyone seems to want to run off to their corner of the tower to farm XP. You seem to have found a nice-looking area to grind for levels,” said the man in the front.
Alex looked up and inspected him and felt a feeling of a level 3 being radiating from him. He lowered his weapon but kept it at his side. He glanced at Kai who was currently closest to him and then back to Rich as he stood up slowly. Both men were tense. No one had let off their weapons yet. The man in the lead was followed by three others who were all level 2.
Alex wasn’t sure what to say and hoped that one of the others, maybe Rich, would be the intermediary between the two groups. He knew that there should be no reason to worry but at the same time out in the forest, anything could happen. There was a few rules set up in the village and the city but that was not the case here. It was only the kindness of the human soul that kept things civil out in the wilds.
The stranger took a step forward. His compatriots stayed a step behind. Alex could sense the tension emanating from his group as well. They were armed to the teeth, with weapons ranging from long swords to crossbows. It was clear that they were not here to make friends.
The unknown man spoke again, "We don't want any trouble, just passing through. We heard that this area was a good place to farm for XP, and we didn't expect to run into anyone else out here."
Alex couldn't help but feel a little relieved at the man's words, but he still couldn't let his guard down.
“It seems that we had the same thought as well,” said Rich. He took a step forward, keeping his weapon at his side, and replied, "We're just here doing the same thing. There's plenty of room for both of our groups to farm here without getting in each other's way."
The lead man looked to the corpses of the deer and then to the forest. “I don’t see much more space, or wildlife.”
The tension in the air was palpable as both groups eyed each other warily. Alex could feel the sweat trickling down his back as he tried to gauge the situation. He knew that a wrong move could result in bloodshed, and he didn't want to risk that.
Suddenly, one of the strangers stepped forward, brandishing a sword. "We don't need your permission to be here. This is a free zone, and we'll do what we want. We need this area for power and for the monsters that will come to this place."
Alex could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he raised his weapon, ready for a fight. He could hear his companions shuffling behind him, preparing themselves for battle. Then Taylor stepped forward.
Taylor hesitated for a moment before lowering her hands. "We were just gathering the results of our hunt. We don’t mean to cause any trouble. We were moving to another area soon anyway."
Rich nodded adding, "We're all just trying to get ahead in the Tower, right? No need for anyone to get hurt."
The lead man surveyed his companion, sword in hand, and gave a small nod. He signaled for the other man to lower his weapon as the group considered Rich's proposal. Suddenly, one of the strangers made a move, drawing his sword and lunging at Alex. The peaceful negotiation erupted into a chaotic melee as swords and crossbows clashed in the air.
He was already on the balls of his feet ready to move. Alex quickly dodged the stranger's attack, swinging his dagger in retaliation. The sound of clanging metal filled the air as both groups clashed, swords and crossbows at the ready. Alex was forced back, and the lead man took Alex’s failure as motivation. The lead man jumped forward to attack Alex.
Kai and Taylor hurried to engage the two men holding ranged weapons. The fighting was fast and intense, with both sides unleashing their full power. Spells and arrows flew through the air, and the sound of swords clashing echoed through the forest. Taylor’s power was focused on restriction and entrapment. Her powers were their strongest out here in the forest. Even Kai was slightly empowered by the rush of water to their backs. Instead of summoning water from the air he was able to pull it out of the stream as a part of his attacks.
As the fight raged on, Rich jumped in to take the place of Alex. He found himself face to face with the lead man, who was the most skilled fighter among the strangers. They locked their eyes for a moment before engaging in a fierce battle of swords. Each move was calculated, with both men trying to gain the upper hand. Eric joined in the fight against the lead man who was faster and stronger than the others while Alex moved his focus to the remaining swordsman.
The swordsman lunged forward, trying to catch Alex off guard. Alex was ready, and he parried the attack, using his momentum to swing his dagger in a sweeping arc. The swordsman barely managed to dodge, and the tip of the dagger grazed his arm. He winced in pain but quickly regained his composure, raising his sword to strike again.
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Alex could feel his strength waning. He was tired, and his muscles were starting to ache from the exertion. But he refused to give up so soon. The swordsman deflected his dagger, moved closer, and pushed. Alex’s feet were already unsteady, and he fell back into the grass. He hurriedly grabbed the cloak of the swordsman and they fell in a tumble.
Meanwhile, Taylor and Kai were working together, their powers complementing each other perfectly. Taylor created a web of vines and roots that snaked around the enemies, immobilizing them, and making them easy targets for Kai's water-based attacks. He summoned a powerful wave, sending it crashing into the group and knocking them off their feet.
As the battle raged on, Taylor's attention was drawn to the struggle between Alex and his foe. With the swordsman's sword now dropped and unused, Taylor knew that she needed to intervene to help Alex gain the upper hand. “Kai already has these two covered. I need to help Alex,” she thought.
Alex had his back on the grass. He had his knife pointed up toward the sky and was pushing with all his might toward the swordsman above him. The swordsman was trying to do the opposite and twist the knife around back into Alex. He could feel his forearms burning and fingers twitching as he struggled. He groaned and gasped, tilting his head to see anyone who could help. He even tried to activate his magic, but it just made him feel weak as the swordsman also followed his gaze and looked at how the others were doing.
Alex’s relief came in the form of a sharpened vine. Spike grew out of the hardened roots and pierced the man’s chest. He didn’t realize until it was too late. Alex let out a long beath and released his tight grip on the dagger letting it fall to the side as the dead man’s body did the same.
Rich was holding his own against the lead man, but he could feel his strength starting to fade. The man was relentless, his swordsmanship flawless. Rich was forced back, step by step, until his back was against a tree. The man raised his sword for the final blow, but Rich managed to dodge at the last second, causing the sword to embed itself in the trunk of the tree.
With a burst of adrenaline, Rich launched himself at the man, tackling him. Rich roared as he push the man towards Eric. The leader spun around and didn’t have his weapon placed well as Eric struck. His longsword flew forward and in between the seams of the man’s armor. With a gasp, the lead man froze. He tried weakly to swing back at either Eric or Rich, but the attack fell short. Eric released the man and he fell dead.
“Now that was a nice burst of XP. If we spend another hour here I can get to level 3,” said Rich loudly. “And would you look at that? Their deaths also dumped their Tower Points for us and their gear. We should probably sell all of it.”
“It looks like they dropped a few other sets of gear as well from their bags,” said Eric. “Seems like they attacked other people either today or yesterday as well.”
“Well, it is their loss and our gain,” said Rich. He started collecting the items and combining the bags of items into one of the larger bags.
Alex got up slowly, strapping his knife back onto his vest he began to strip the armor from the man he had helped kill.
Alex’s hands trembled as he worked to remove the armor. The weight of the metal felt heavier than ever before. His breaths came in ragged gasps, and his heart pounded in his chest. He had never killed anyone before, not like this, in cold blood. The man he had fought with just moments ago, who had tried to take his life, was now lying dead at his feet. Sure, he had not done the final blow, but did that matter? He had helped kill the man.
As he looked at the lifeless body, he couldn't help but feel a surge of conflicting emotions. Relief that he had survived, mixed with a deep sense of guilt for taking another life. The man had been an enemy, but he had also been a person, with a family, friends, and a life of his own. Now, all of that was gone, ended by Alex's hand.
He felt sick to his stomach, and a wave of nausea swept over him. He wondered if this feeling would ever go away. Would he ever be able to forget the sight of the man's bloodied body? The sound of his last gasp? The weight of his armor as Alex stripped it off of him?
He couldn't help but wonder what the man's story was. Who were they beyond the Tower? What caused them to do this so soon after the Tower’s opening? Or was he a bandit, robbing and pillaging for personal gain? Alex knew he would never know the truth, and that made him feel even more unsettled.
He looked around at the new battlefield, littered with the bodies of the fallen. The stench of death hung heavy in the air, and the once-beautiful forest was now scarred by violence. He felt a sense of despair wash over him. Was this what their world had become? Was this all they had to look forward to? It saddened him to realize that there would likely be more to come.
The quest for power would bring out the worst in people. For a moment he wondered if he was cut out for life in the Tower. He looked over to Rich and Eric. They held smiled on their faces happy to have received the XP and Tower Points for their reward in the fight. To him, they seemed much more suited to life in the Tower. Alex felt another rush of emotions as he saw the bodies of his attacks start to dissipate, like the wolves and deer he had fought before. The Tower turned them into energy and mana for some other purpose Alex could only speculate about.
Alex stood there for a few moments, lost in his thoughts. He was trying to make sense of what had just happened, but it all felt like a blur. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Taylor standing behind him.
"Are you okay?" she asked, her eyes filled with concern.
Alex forced a smile and nodded, but he knew that she could see right through him. He felt a lump forming in his throat, and he struggled to speak. "I don't know. I just...I never thought it would be like this," he managed to say, his voice barely above a whisper.
Taylor put her arm around him, offering him comfort. "I know. It's hard. But you did what you had to do to survive," she said softly. Alex looked at her, grateful for her words, but he still couldn't shake the feeling of guilt. He knew that he had to come to terms with what he had done, but he wasn't sure how.