Part 2
Hi there, my name is Third, and I’m an entity of this world. I am neither alive nor dead, I simply exist. I don’t have a physical form, cannot interfere with anything in this world, and nothing can affect me, physically anyway, my emotions are still as fragile as some man’s ego. I like to find someone interesting and watch over them, I can even read their mind and emotions, I just can’t interact with anyone, except with you. So I’ll share with you anything interesting. Just ignore me (or consider me your friends (please?)), and continue reading the story to keep this world going. Thanks!
Right now, I’m watching over this guy called Eden, I don’t know who he is but he seems interesting. Why do you ask? Because some of his characteristics are abnormally good, while some are unusually bad. Hmm….from what I see, he knows how to use his sword exceptionally well, and is fairly intelligent, exceptional when it comes to battle tactics, actually. But...he’s not very bright. I mean...just look at him, walking alone in an empty road, with food and valuables by his side. It’s like he’s inviting bandits to attack him. And no, it’s not a Big Brain, “all according to plan” move, I can read his mind, he’s just completely unaware of this possibility. Maybe it actually works to his advantage, maybe not, that’s why he’s interesting to see. Okay, here he goes!
Eden continues walking on the empty highway, he feels like someone is watching him, but he can’t see anyone, aside from the bandits planning to ambush him, that is. He’s walking towards Ella, the Capital of Narn Empire, to search for quests and make a name for himself. Still, Eden is realistic, and he knows that he’s just a son of a humble farmer, coming from a humble village, his chance of becoming someone like Narnatic only exists in his dream. It doesn’t mean Eden can’t change the world for the better. He strives to gain fame while purging evil from this world. Starting with them.
Eden has walked to the perfect spot for their ambush, and the bandits start jumping from their hiding positions and surrounding him. Their leader, a bony and scary-looking man, looks at Eden and sneers: “Boy, you shoulda been smart enough ta avoid going in our turf, alone at that. Now strip out all of your belongings and beg, I may let you go.” The bandits start laughing at Eden after their boss’s taunt.
“There are 10 of you. Priority targets, 5.12m 12 o’clock, 4.97m...3:47, 3.82m...6 o’clock? No, 5:51...” Eden mumbles, barely inaudible to his opponents.
“What are you whispering boy? Praying ta God? Don’t worry, we ain’t gonna hurt you.” The bandit in front him smiles, he seems to be enjoying this.
“No range attacks? No wizards, no archers? That makes things less risky. You’re going to die today.” Eden answers right after he finishes mumbling. He wastes no time and pulls out his iron sword and equips his shield. Seeing Eden does this, the bandits start laughing out loud.
“Hahaha...do you see that? This little wuss tryna fight back with a sword. Hahaha.” One of the bandits, barely able to hold back his tears, tells the man next to him.
Eden doesn’t answer, it’s not the first time he has seen people react like this, and he will use their moment of distraction to his advantage. He lunges forward towards their leader at inhuman speed and stabs him right through the heart. The bandits stop laughing; instead, their expressions are replaced with shock.
“H-how?” The leader whimpers, his chest is greatly armored, it’s impossible for an iron sword to stab right through it like butter.
Once again, Eden doesn’t answer. He pulls his sword out of the leader in a quick movement and lunges towards the opponent on his right, back when he was surrounded. This time this brute manages to react in time and raises his club to block Eden’s overhead attack. Eden is surprised for a split second and quickly changes his sword movement from vertical to horizontal. This time, the brute cannot react, and before he knows it, both his arms and his head have left his body, and he falls lifeless into the ground.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Eden doesn’t let them reorganize and start ganging up on him, that’s the only way they can win. He needs to execute the final push that breaks their cohesions, perhaps it will make some run away, easy picking for him. Eden’s eyes are locked on the man wearing an iron helmet and armors covering his whole body, who stood right behind him when he was surrounded. He’s the leader of the rear bandits, killing him would definitely seal their fates. Eden cannot see his face, but his quick movements show that he’s prepared to defend against Eden’s attacks. Eden has lost his element of surprise, now it’s going to be much tougher, but he cannot change the plan now.
Eden raises his shield to the front and charges towards the armored bandit. One bandit tries to intercept him and attack him on his right, unguarded side. With a quick slash, Eden cuts this poor soul into two, while remaining focused on the target on his sight.
“CLANG!” A loud noise after Eden’s sword hits the handle of his Morningstar, the bandit manages to parry his charge attack. This sound wakes up the shocked bandits who were standing around, and they start charging towards Eden as well.
Before they can do so, Eden pulls back his sword and stabs into the bandit’s exposed armpit, but he manages to react quickly and changes his position slightly. As a result, Eden penetrates into his armored breastplate instead, he dents it, but fails to harm the bandit. The rest are closing in on them fast, the gears in Eden’s brain are grinding quickly to think of a way to turn this situation around. Eden sighs in disappointment and tackles the armored bandit into the ground.
“I really didn’t want to do this, I'm sorry.” Eden says in an unenthusiastic tone as he uses his backhand and slams the bandit’s helmet off his head. In front of him is a woman around her forties, her determined face shows that she’s no stranger to battles. This catches Eden off guard, but he quickly snaps out of it. “Life forces you into this, eh? No matter, man or woman, you still have to pay for your crime.” Eden says as he awkwardly holds his sword upward, with the sword tip facing downwards. This maneuver would have been much easier with a dagger, but Eden refuses to use any other weapon. The woman does not stop him as he does so, her face is full of dignity. Eden stabs between her eyes, killing her instantly. Very few people are strong enough to make such a clean kill with a sword.
The bandits stop charging, shocked at the death of their remaining leader. They also seem to be surprised that the armored bandit was a woman. Eden slowly stands up, sword and shield ready in his hand. He looks at the rest with pure confidence: “Anyone else?” He shouts. 4 bandits charge straight at him in anger, while the other 2 drop their weapons and run away. They run and run, still hearing their comrades’ screams from behind, and the screams suddenly stop. They sense chills down their spines, but they cannot stop running. They have to get away from this monster.
Suddenly, one bandit turns to his partner and cannot see him anywhere, then he feels pain in his stomach. After that, everything goes black, his eyes are never opened again.
Eden returns to the scene full of blood and starts dragging the bodies into a pile on the side of the road. It is customary in his village to burn the dead bodies as a sign of respect. Eden is thankful to the bandits for giving him the first life-threatening fight against intelligent beings in his life, and he has learned a lot from it. Before he burns the bodies, Eden also loots the bandits all of their valuables. His clothing and armors are now much better than before; he now looks less degrading than wearing a peasant outfit. Still, commoner’s clothing is not that much of an upgrade. It is enough for him, nevertheless. Too bad the full body armor of that woman is not of his size. As he’s about to drag the leader’s body towards the pile, Eden notices that the man is still breathing, so he pulls out his sword to put the leader out of his misery.
“You...” the leader says his last words before drawing his last breath. “How you beat us with just sword?”
Eden smiles. He remembers a joke his teacher used to make during fights like this. He obviously didn’t hear the leader’s last words and stabs in between his eyes, killing him.