Chpt. 34) Hero Hunters
Ace ran as fast as he could for hours without stopping for even a moment. When we saw the town in the distance, it was nearly ten in the morning. Ford turned to Farah and said, “Can you contact Benet yet?”
“I’m trying, but he’s ignoring me.”
“Fuck! We need to find him fast,” Ford cursed.
“How? There’s too much ground to cover?” Max pointed out.
Ford thought for a moment, “Everyone get your disguises ready. Helmets on, faces concealed. We split into two teams. Farah, Kii, Gimble, and Max check the east side of the town. Lilly, Morgan, Ace, Mizu, and I will check the west side. Look for any sign of him and stay in contact with each other.”
“Heard,” everyone agreed, and once Ace was a couple of hundred meters away from the town, they stopped, and Ford stored the wagon in her storage. Leaving Ee and Tanya behind, they split up and ran to the town.
The town didn’t have any walls around it and looked surprisingly peaceful. The houses were all one-story-high wood homes with gardens on their roofs. Grass either grew on the rooftops or flowers. Some even looked to have vegetables growing in them. Ford slipped between two buildings and waited for everyone else to catch up. Lilly was the first to reach her, followed by Ace, whom Ford shrank into a puppy again, Morgan, and Mizu.
“Is everyone all right?” Ford asked over comms.
“We’re good. We just got into the town,” Came Farah’s response.
Ford nodded, “Good. Everyone split up and started searching. I want to be out of here by noon.”
“Heard,” everyone confirmed. Morgan and Lilly walked out of the ally into a crowd of halflings going about their days, not sticking out at all as Lilly towered over everyone. Mizu, on the other hand, climbed one of the nearby walls and got onto the rooftops.
Ace put his nose to the ground, sniffed, trying to pick up a scent, and ran down the alley opposite Lilly and Morgan. “Find something, Ace?” Ford asked as she followed him.
“Maybe. I found a familiar scent, but it’s not Benet’s,” Ace answered promptly.
Ford nodded and added, “You sound smarter for some reason. Why is that?”
“It might be because you put Intelligence points from your stats instead of adding to it from the ones I earn,” Ace hedged, weaving through people as he sniffed the air.
“That would make sense,” Ford said, nodding. Then, she saw a red dot appear on her radar, and she grabbed Ace’s spiked scruff, cutting her right hand as she pulled back and crouched.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Ford removed her hand and shook it as spikes of pain shot through her hand for a second before it healed. She peered over the curious gazes of the crowd in the direction of the red dot. One kilometer away, she saw a tall woman with golden armor peering around the corner of a building toward a street full of stalls for a farmer’s market.
Cursing under her breath, Ford immediately spoke over comms, “General Tse is here.”
“WHAT!?” Farah exclaimed.
“Guards up, everyone. If she’s here, then so is Mr.Smith.”
“’eard. We’ll be careful,” Lilly confirmed.
“Who’s she? And who’s Mr.Smith?” Ace asked, cocking his head.
“Bad guys,” Ford answered, pulling her Smiling cloak from her inventory and putting it on. Her helmet still covered her face, and she dared not pull her weapons. She watched the General for a moment longer before deciding to gamble and yelled over comms, “Benet! Where are you!?”
“Leave me alone, Ford!” came a surprisingly fast response from Benet.
“Benet! Thank the gods, you’re all right. Listen—”
“I’m done listening to you!” Benet yelled, cutting Ford off, “I’m with my family right now, and I won’t be going on the journey with you anymore! So go away!”
“No, you don’t understand—”
“NO! YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND! I’m happy with my family, and if I go with you, there is a chance that I will die and never see them again! I will spend what time I have left with them, and you can’t stop me.” Benet cut her off again.
Ford gritted her teeth and said, “Fine. You might as well say your goodbyes now because General Tse is here, and she probably has others with her like Mr.Smith.”
Silence followed her statement before Benet asked, “How long do I have?”
“Depends. Where are you now?”
“At the farmers market with my mom and grandma.”
“I give you about ten seconds,” Ford said before she began moving again. Crouching she made her way slowly to the General. “Ee, if you can hear me, please come and help us with this,” Ford said over comms, half praying. She received no answer. Ford cursed under her breath and said, “Everyone come to me. There’s going to be a fight soon.”
“Heard,” Farah confirmed and went silent.
General Tse kept her eyes around the corner, ignoring Ford’s approach. Ford stood again and began walking normally, changing her helmet’s color from blood red to black. And within a minute, she walked past the General without her noticing. As she did, she used Linchpin on the General.
Name: General Iris Tse
Class: Knight
Level: 263
Weakness: None
Cursing her luck and hoping not to fight her and Mr.Smith again, Ford kept walking, trying to act as casually as possible. She soon reached the market where dozens of people perused the fresh produce offered. “Do you smell him, Ace?” Ford asked over comms.
Ace nodded and began leading the way through the crowd. Within moments, she saw Benet hugging two small older women. Ford waited a moment to let him enjoy his time with his family. Then she took three quick strides forward and tapped his shoulder. The two women jumped, and Benet reluctantly relinquished his hug.
“It’s time,” Ford said gently.
Benet nodded, putting up his hood. “Goodbye, Mom, Grandma,” Benet said, his voice sounding choked.
“Take care of yourself, pumpkin,” one woman said.
“Thanks, Mom. I will.”
“Yes, yes, you said your goodbyes. Now let’s go,” Ford said, trying to rush out of there.
Benet scoffed and shook his head, “You never will understand, will you?”
“What?”
“You don’t care about anybody else’s feelings, do you? You just want to kill monsters and get that sweet adrenalin high, right?” Benet said, turning to me and looking up at me with tears in his eyes, “You will never understand me.”
Ford felt her anger build up in her chest again and opened her mouth to snap at him when several loud booms sounded around them, making the civilians scream and run in all directions. Ford turned and saw General Tse and Mr.Smith with a dozen men in full battle armor surrounding them.
“Well, hello again, Mrs.Ford. Long time no see,” Mr.Smith said with a sly smile.
Ford cursed her luck and fixed a smile on her face before morphing her helmet into her usual hat, “Mr.Smith,” she said cheerily, stalling for time and playing her role, “How did you find us this time?”
“It was pure luck this time. I would like to know what you’re doing here, though. Your path is taking us around the world, and it’s getting rather troublesome. So what are you doing here?”
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“That is none of your concern, Mr.Smith,” Ford answered, then added threateningly, “It would be best if you let us leave. We wouldn’t want to hurt the civilians around us now, wouldn’t we?”
Mr.Smith nodded and looked around at the civilians hiding behind stalls and peering out windows to see the commotion. “Yes, that would be problematic. Why don’t you surrender yourself, and I’ll make your death quick and painless,” Mr.Smith countered and waved his hand forward.
Ford’s Linchpin activated automatically, and she activated her Hard-Shell and took one step to the right in front of Benet. A gleaming arrow bounced off her thigh a split second later and disappeared into dust. The arrow would have gone through Benet and his mom if she hadn’t moved. He noticed her actions and gaped in astonishment.
Another second passed, and Ford’s Warning skill went off as a second arrow struck her chest with a loud boom, breaking through her Hard-Shell skill and planting itself in her left shoulder. Ford gritted her teeth as her HP dropped one hundred points. A third arrow with even more power behind it boomed and struck her gut, breaking through her skill again and costing her another hundred points of HP.
She doubled over and refused to move. She spread her arms protectively and said, “Was that all you got?”
Mr.Smith smiled and waved his hand again. A second passed, then two, three, and nothing happened. Mr.Smith scowled as he asked, “What did you do?” Ford smiled and looked at her stats.
HP: 515/715
STM: 6,630/6,630
MN: 351,759/351,759
MNP: 9,958,000/10,000,000
EXP: 98,250/8,143
“I just killed your sniper. How do you like that?” Ford said, boasting.
Mr.Smith looked briefly shocked as he said, “They were level one-hundred eighty-nine. How did you kill them?”
Ford chuckled, “A special skill of mine,” she said as she dispelled her Hard-Shell and pulled the arrow out of her shoulder and gut, “If I receive a fatal wound, it will be reflected to the person who caused it. In this case, your sniper. It doesn’t always work, though.”
With a look of frustration, Mr.Smith said, “Then I’ll take you on again.”
Ford immediately pulled her knife from her waist and said, “Ah, ah, ah. Take one step closer, and I’ll level this town.”
Mr.Smith scowled, “You wouldn’t dare. Nor is it possible for someone as low level as you. You’re only level twenty-three. It’s impossible.”
“Try me,” Ford said with a smirk dispelling her Hard-Shell. Mr.Smith didn’t dare move and kept his eyes locked on Ford. Nobody dared move. Taking the opportunity, Ford spoke over comms, “Benet, take your family and get out of here.”
Benet shook his head, “What about you?”
“I’ll be fine. Just go.”
“But—”
“But nothing! Run!!”
At that, Benet turned, grabbed his Mom and Grandma by the waist, jumped to the roof of a nearby building, and began running with Ace hot on his heels. Mr.Smith noticed but did nothing, preferring to wait for my next move. General Tse clicked her tongue, and a flash of light shot out of nowhere, putting a massive hole in Ford’s chest. She had no time to react. Looking down, she saw the massive hole in the center of her chest where her heart should’ve been, and her HP had fallen to fifty points.
“A waste of time,” the General grumbled and turned to leave.
“Hey!” Ford gargled as blood filled her lungs, and she refused to fall. The General stopped in her tracks and turned around to see Ford still standing and the hole in her chest swiftly closing by the second. “You missed,” she said, spitting out a glob of blood.
General Tse growled, “How!?”
Ford smiled, “Fucking magic, bitch.” Then she summoned her seven swords and her Links Of Fate. “You seem to be ready for a fight. Why don’t I give it to you?” Ford said, addressing the General and Mr.Smith while she also spoke over comms, “I need some help over here!”
“We’re pinned down!” Farah answered, “Kii, Gimble, and I were separated from Max, and we can’t get out of this forsaken corner because of a couple of elves and a sniper!”
“Seem ‘ere!” Lilly answered right after Farah, “Morgan an’ I are cornered by a giant in full-plate armor. We can’t git raun ‘im!”
“Mizu! Where are you!?” Ford asked in a panic.
“Heading to my brother right now! I’ll get them out of the corner.”
“Don’t forget about me,” Benet spoke over comms, “I’ll head to Lilly and Morgan. You take care of things where you are, and don’t worry about us!”
As the chains Ford summoned landed in her hands, Ford nodded, “Keep them safe.”
“Heard!” Mizu and Benet answered in unison as they went to help their comrades.
Mr.Smith chuckled, “You think you can beat me in a one-on-one fight? You remember how the last fight went, right?”
“He’s right,” Wrath whispered in Ford’s ear, “Let me fight him. I’ll win.”
The seven blades came hovering out from behind Ford, creating a circle behind her. She nodded, “You’re threatening my friends. If there’s one thing that infuriates me, it’s people like you who think they can get away with it!” Ford blinked, and her eyes turned blood red as Wrath took over to finish the sentence with a growl.
Mr.Smith blinked in surprise, noticing the change, “What just happened?” he asked.
“Ford’s being kind enough to let me out and play a little. And I’m going to enjoy every second of it!” Wrath roared, and a black meteor shot down from the sky, crashing into the General, who noticed in time to get a radiant barrier up and keep herself from being crushed instantly.
Ee had made her entrance as she yelled, “DIE!” and unleashed a flurry of shadowed attacks at the General.
Wrath took the opportunity to use the Links Of Fate to wrap around the surrounding spearmen, capturing them. Mr. Smith barely had time to react as several swords came for his throat. He backpedaled, avoiding the attack and throwing a dagger that embedded itself in Wrath’s heart. She laughed and pulled the blade from her chest, tossing it aside and creating a two-meter Destructive Field behind him, destroying a vegetable stand.
One of the civilians nearby yelled in anguish, “MY CABBAGES!!”
Wrath ignored them as Mr.Smith stopped before reaching the destructive field and instead jumped to a nearby rooftop in a blur of motion. Wrath cursed, “Your speed is annoying.” She cast Sleight Of Hand for three-hundred fifty-thousand mana on Mr.Smith’s Agility, taking thirty-five points from the man.
Mr. Smith stumbled back a step and looked down at his hand, then glared at Wrath, “What did you do?”
“Nothing much, just trying to even the playing field,” Wrath said with a manic smile and jumped after him. “And you know what?!” Wrath continued as she swiped at him with her dagger, missing as he deftly dodged the attack.
With a quick blur of motion, Ford’s hand wrapped around his arm as he dodged. “Let’s see if we can cheat the system,” Ford said as her eyes changed from red to violet and gold to Emerald green.
“Fox Den,” Greed stated un-necessarily, and Mr.Smith’s eyes widened as he felt the skill activate, and he wrenched his wrist free from Greed’s grasp.
“WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!” Mr.Smith demanded angrily.
Greed smiled and summoned her new grimoire. It had a black cover with a hooded figure and two blades on the cover. She waved the book before him and said, “I got a brand new book.” She paused as a notification appeared.
Third grimoire occuired.
Error.
You possess too many grimoires.
Storing grimoire.
Error.
Skill required.
Skill: Dragon’s Horde. Passive ability: Store extra grimoires for later retrieval. Capacity: 0/5. Requirements: INT 80, WIS 80, AGI 100, SOL 25. Level: 0/20.
Ford took her body back and quickly placed a point in the skill, and the grimoire in her hand dissolved into nothing. Mr.Smith’s eyes widened in horror as he watched his grimoire dissolve. “NOOOOO!!” Mr.Smith yelled in anguish. His sorrow quickly turned to anger as he yelled, “I’LL KILL YOU!” He lunged at her.
His movements appeared slow, and she quickly stepped to one side, letting him run past her. ‘This just became too easy,’ she thought as Mr.Smith stumbled and fell over.
“Ford, in case you forgot, you don’t have any mana, stamina, or health right now. And the soldiers are getting free from their bindings,” Wrath pointed out.
Looking down to the street below, Ford saw the men wriggling free from the Links Of Fate and also saw her HP, STM, and MN bars.
HP: 1/715
STM: 1/6,630
MN: 1/351,759
MNP: 9,958,500/10,000,000
EXP: 98,250/8,143
Ford cursed and opened her stat screen, deciding to level up just once. If at all possible. She concentrated on only using 8,143 EXP, and a notification appeared in her vision.
18 ability points available
25 skill points available
She quickly allocated the points between INT and END with a triumphant grin.
Name: Ford Sinn; Gender: Female; Race: Human; Grimoire: Phosphophyllite; Class: Ruler/Sin/Angelic; Level: 24.
Abilities: STR: 55 + 10 (65); PER: 40 + 20 (60); END: 74; INT: 70 + 20 (90); AGI: 103+ 20 (123); CHR: 32 + 15 (47); LCK: 25 + 10 (35); WIS: 60 + 20 (80); SOL: 42.
Open skills? Yes/No?
HP: 814/814
STM: 7,548/7,548
MN: 371,423/371,423
MNP: 9,958,500/10,000,000
EXP: 90,107/8,957
STM Recharge: 853/sec
MN Recharge: 740/sec
Grimoire Level Progression: 0%.
‘It worked!’ Ford’s grin widened as she saw her HP, STM, and MN return to full capacity. She re-asserted her control over her weapons and noted that her stats began dropping fast without regenerating. With a sigh, she recalled her weapons and stored them away along with her cloak. She couldn’t afford to waste her stamina, which led to a new problem.
The now free soldiers began getting up to fight quickly. Ford cursed and began running west toward a few higher buildings, where she could see a few flashes of colored light in the distance. As she ran, Mr.Smith yelled behind her, “Nobody kills her! I want her alive!!” Ford couldn’t help but smirk and mentally ran through her skills as she double-checked her stats in the top right of her vision.
STM: 7,048
MN: 347,423
She lost four thousand mana when she put away her weapons and was losing fifty stamina per second as she ran. Then, she noticed that she had no movement skills. ‘Great,’ she thought, then she heard the soldiers catching up behind her, ‘Just fucking perfect,’ she cursed internally before mentally activating her Linchpin skill to look for a way out of her predicament. A white arrow appeared in her vision, pointing down off the rooftops ten meters away.
She quickly made it there and jumped down only to see an X on the ground to her right. She threw her dagger down into the ground and another arrow appeared, pointing down the alley, which she quickly followed. As she ran the soldiers following her jumped down and tripped and fell over her knife and each other, creating an amusing pile of cursing men and women in armor. Ford soon reached a point where the alley split up and she followed the arrow left then up to a rooftop garden where she quickly dropped to the ground and hid.
The soldiers soon passed her as her dagger reappeared in its sheath. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw her skill deactivate automatically and she turned to see three halfling kids staring at her with sprouting carrots and potatoes in their hands, ready to plant. Ford laughed nervously as she said, “Stay out of trouble kids.” Then jumped to a different rooftop a few buildings over to pull up her skill tree quickly and get a movement skill.
***