Shocked, Melvin's eyes darted to the side to see what was happening. In the corner of the shack, he could see George, Henry, William, and Big Mouse huddled together, their hands gripped tightly around their knees, visibly trembling with fear as three ominous figures loomed over them.
Witnessing such a scene, his eyes retreated to the man who had him by the collar. "What, who are you?" He muttered, his face couldn't help but grimace as another jolt of pain coursed through him as his lips moved, sending even more blood dripping down the corner of his mouth.
'Wait, I am strong.' His previous life-changing moment flashed before him when he absorbed the runes and subsequently became a new man.
Without waiting for the man to say anything else, he used his hands and gripped those that held into his collar, and using all of his force he pulled them down.
The gaze that had never left the man quickly noticed his surprise, and before a victorious smile could even begin to take shop in Melvin's face, a knee with astonishing speed and prowess connected with his abdomen.
His eyes bulged in shock as an intense pain ripped through his stomach, the force of the kick knocking the wind out of him. He collapsed to the ground, his body convulsing as he gasped for air, each breath a struggle amidst the waves of agony coursing through him.
"You are not too bad, brat." Echoed a sound above him, but he paid it no heed as his body struggled to deal with the pain, and even breathing became difficult.
The man bent his knees crouching down, and gripped his hair which sent another bout of pain into his brain.
Melvin's eyes forcefully opened his eyes although he just wanted to curl up into a ball and wait out the pain.
"Listen, kid." Said the man after he pulled his hair back even harder, "You owe the boss 30 gold coins. He knows what happened, but he doesn't care. You said you'll sell them all and give him his money, and that's all he cares about, his money."
"Wait," Melvin muttered, and this time he successfully pushed the man's hand and with it several strands of hair which made him grimace in pain once again.
Due to the sudden force and the unsteady way he was balancing himself, the man was pushed backward and landed on his back.
Falling in such a humiliating position in front of the other men with him, made him furious as his eyes coldly formed a furious scowl. He swiftly propelled his legs upward towards the sky, expertly arching his back and skillfully landing on his feet.
'Oh no.' Melvin exclaimed in his mind after he saw how the man was looking at him, the pain was just too much for him to bear and he unconsciously used too much strength to push his arms away, he didn't know he would fall as such.
He quickly noticed how the skin around the approaching man's clenched fist was hardening at a rate visible to the naked eye, 'Skill', he thought, and to him, that word only symbolized one single thing, profound strength.
Understanding the danger he would be in if that attack landed, his mind was immediately alert like it had never been before as adrenaline coursed through his body and his heart vigorously thumped in his chest.
The man who was originally a few meters back took only two or three steps, but his left-hand punch had already arrived in front of Melvin's face.
Fortunately, due to the intense alertness and focus he was going through, he was able to evade the punch.
The man's teeth bit hard into his lower lip until they became a darker shade of white as his brows furrowed even more closely, he closed the distance and threw another punch.
Facing the man's right-hand punch, Melvin narrowly dodged it by pushing it to the side, and his right arm which was intensely gripping into his dagger that always stayed in his waistband horizontally sailed towards the man's throat.
The man's forward momentum and the dagger's amazing speed collaborated to facilitate a dance that would shock everyone present.
A stabbing sound echoed through the silent shack as the dagger pierced the man's jugular, scaring him out of his wits.
Melvin was even more caught off guard by that even though that was theoretically the attack he had in mind, he had never envisioned it working, and so he unconsciously let go of the dagger as the man stumbled backward, eyes widening in fear as his arms gripped into the dagger.
In his absolute fear and madness, the man pulled the dagger out of his throat, which sent a fountain of red liquid gushing out coloring both the ground and his grey sweatshirt in blood.
The man's steps shakily retreated a step or two backward before he fell on top of the rugs, beside the group of three men whose eyes and mouth were agape.
A strange silence ensued interrupted only by the man's body convulsing or the splurting of blood out of his throat.
[You have killed a Human Monk(Initiate: Rank 7). You have received 1700 XP]
The appearance of the bold golden characters woke Melvin from his stupor, but he immediately made them disappear as he fixed his eyes on the remaining three men who had already been watching him.
"Wait, brother. Don't be rash." One of them jumped forward with his hands raised and uttered, "It was an accident, please let us leave and we won't inform the boss, I swear to the gods. Please."
The man's words made Melvin pause, he was just contemplating running away because the guy who died was already strong and he didn't have much confidence handling three more, especially without his dagger.
His gaze quickly shifted to the dagger lying on the ground beside the corpse, on top of a small puddle of blood that was gradually moving through the shack's uneven ground.
He took one step forward with his eyes locked on the three and saw that all of them backed away. Witnessing this sight he was sure they weren't as strong as the dead man, and so his steps steadily approached the dagger.
Soon his boots which he forgot to take off yesterday, stepped on the blood with a splat, and after he coldly glared at the three he gently bent down and picked up the dagger.
However, internally, none of his outward calm and connected mannerisms could be found. His emotional state was in a mess, the man's death was purely accidental, and it was just something that resulted in him not understanding his power, but more so an action born out of fear and an attempt to protect himself.
Feeling the warmth emanating from the blood all over the dagger's handle, he hesitated, 'Should I let them go?'
After an uncomfortable intense silence. "Leave all of your money, and go," He ordered looking at the man who first spoke, who in turn sighed in relief and brought out a small pouch from his pocket and gave it to the even more terrified Henry.
The other two followed suit, and with careful steps, they headed slowly towards the door.
Along the way they kept stealing glances at both Melvin and their dead colleague, and that was precisely when they saw a shadow hurling in their direction.
The man who spoke was the target of Melvin's attack because he was at the forefront, and so he was unable to see anything before he felt an intense sharp pain in the back of his head, and that was the last thing he had ever felt.
[You have killed a Human Classless(Initiate: Rank 1). You have received 200 XP]
The other two immediately retreated in shock and fear, stepping all over the rug Melvin was previously sleeping in with their dirty boots.
"Stop! What are you doing, you're crazy. The boss won't let you off." One of them shouted with a quivery voice, unable to accept what might happen to them.
Melvin's mind on the other hand was too overwhelmed with how things unexpectedly unfolded, and so he was unable to even register what they were saying. He just wanted to end this as soon as possible, and so he jumped toward the remaining two with a crazed look in his bloodshot eyes.
One of them tried to punch him, but Melvin finally understood what it meant to have high agility stats, the man's movement seemed slow compared to both how his eyes moved and the speed his body was capable of.
Easily dodging the punch, he kicked the man's stomach tossing him with a loud thud towards the shack's walls. The combination of the strength behind the kick and the fragility of the shabby shack made even the ceiling unsteadily creak as it subtly swayed.
He took notice of that as he was rushing towards the other, who predictably tried the same thing, a punch that seemed too slow and stupid in Melvin's eyes.
Dreading the feeling of stabbing the dagger into someone else's body, he simply grabbed the man's hand and threw him to the ground with a huge force that the man's eyes widened due to the shock and pain as he began to furiously cough tilting his body to side, attempting to stand.
Melvin gritted his teeth in both fear and unwillingness and stabbed the already blood-filled dagger into the man's throat from the side.
[You have killed a Human Classless(Initiate: Rank 1). You have received 200 XP]
He immediately pulled after enough damage was done, and walked back toward the unconscious one of them. The same process repeated itself, and he finally stood up turning his back against the last corpse. His eyes fixed on the ceiling, face contorted into an indiscernible grimace, he stood, heart filled with both confusion and disbelief.
[You have killed a Human Classless(Initiate: Rank 1). You have received 200 XP]
[Congratulations! You have reached Rank 2]
[Legendary Class(Rune Mythomancer) Stats Assigned: + 3 Wisdom, + 2 Vitality, + 2 Strength, + 2 Agility, + 1 Intelligence, + 1 Charm]
His mind moved and cleared up the golden bold characters out of the darkness of his closed eyes, as he just stood there, heart thumping, fists clenched, and a subtle metallic taste of blood coursing through his tongue.
The four boys all looked at him with different expressions on their faces, but all of them without exceptions were terrified. They had never witnessed such a bloody scene in their entire life, and they felt as if their friend had forgotten his memories and become a demon.
George's mind was in a mess, but even through that, his eyes caught sight of the blood that was gradually moving down in the direction of the wooden wall where their door was.
He knew that around this time, a lot of the other neighbors would be going in to work, and if they walked by their shack and noticed blood they would start asking questions. Questions that George knew would make things even more difficult.
Thus, he quickly stood up from the corner, picked up a light brown shirt that was on his path, and stopped the flow of the blood.
Sensing a sudden movement, Melvin's eyes opened and he saw what the former was doing. By then he had already calmed down a bit, but the weight of what he had done still weighed heavily on his mind.
Quickly dismissing such pointless ruminations that had no place in that moment, he approached George with steady steps, and along the way, he glanced at the three who were still sitting and muttered, "Get a hold of yourself and stand up."
Hearing that, the three quickly stood up, slightly afraid of this murderer. Originally the only thing that would have stopped him from harming them was his knowledge of them, but they knew he had none.
A somewhat ironic smile tugged at Melvin's lips when he saw the blonde William's lips quivering, he could still remember how he disrespected him yesterday because of his show of weakness in front of the coachman.
George was on his knee, shirt in hand, soaking up the tremendous amount of blood as Melvin studied the scene of the three bodies.
Shocked, Melvin's eyes darted to the side to see what was happening. In the corner of the shack, he could see George, Henry, William, and Big Mouse huddled together, their hands gripped tightly around their knees, visibly trembling with fear as three ominous figures loomed over them.
Witnessing such a scene, his eyes retreated to the man who had him by the collar. "What, who are you?" He muttered, his face couldn't help but grimace as another jolt of pain coursed through him as his lips moved, sending even more blood dripping down the corner of his mouth.
'Wait, I am strong.' His previous life-changing moment flashed before him when he absorbed the runes and subsequently became a new man.
Without waiting for the man to say anything else, he used his hands and gripped those that held into his collar, and using all of his force he pulled them down.
The gaze that had never left the man quickly noticed his surprise, and before a victorious smile could even begin to take shop in Melvin's face, a knee with astonishing speed and prowess connected with his abdomen.
His eyes bulged in shock as an intense pain ripped through his stomach, the force of the kick knocking the wind out of him. He collapsed to the ground, his body convulsing as he gasped for air, each breath a struggle amidst the waves of agony coursing through him.
"You are not too bad, brat." Echoed a sound above him, but he paid it no heed as his body struggled to deal with the pain, and even breathing became difficult.
The man bent his knees crouching down, and gripped his hair which sent another bout of pain into his brain.
Melvin's eyes forcefully opened his eyes although he just wanted to curl up into a ball and wait out the pain.
"Listen, kid." Said the man after he pulled his hair back even harder, "You owe the boss 30 gold coins. He knows what happened, but he doesn't care. You said you'll sell them all and give him his money, and that's all he cares about, his money."
"Wait," Melvin muttered, and this time he successfully pushed the man's hand and with it several strands of hair which made him grimace in pain once again.
Due to the sudden force and the unsteady way he was balancing himself, the man was pushed backward and landed on his back.
Falling in such a humiliating position in front of the other men with him, made him furious as his eyes coldly formed a furious scowl. He swiftly propelled his legs upward towards the sky, expertly arching his back and skillfully landing on his feet.
'Oh no.' Melvin exclaimed in his mind after he saw how the man was looking at him, the pain was just too much for him to bear and he unconsciously used too much strength to push his arms away, he didn't know he would fall as such.
He quickly noticed how the skin around the approaching man's clenched fist was hardening at a rate visible to the naked eye, 'Skill', he thought, and to him, that word only symbolized one single thing, profound strength.
Understanding the danger he would be in if that attack landed, his mind was immediately alert like it had never been before as adrenaline coursed through his body and his heart vigorously thumped in his chest.
The man who was originally a few meters back took only two or three steps, but his left-hand punch had already arrived in front of Melvin's face.
Fortunately, due to the intense alertness and focus he was going through, he was able to evade the punch.
The man's teeth bit hard into his lower lip until they became a darker shade of white as his brows furrowed even more closely, he closed the distance and threw another punch.
Facing the man's right-hand punch, Melvin narrowly dodged it by pushing it to the side, and his right arm which was intensely gripping into his dagger that always stayed in his waistband horizontally sailed towards the man's throat.
The man's forward momentum and the dagger's amazing speed collaborated to facilitate a dance that would shock everyone present.
A stabbing sound echoed through the silent shack as the dagger pierced the man's jugular, scaring him out of his wits.
Melvin was even more caught off guard by that even though that was theoretically the attack he had in mind, he had never envisioned it working, and so he unconsciously let go of the dagger as the man stumbled backward, eyes widening in fear as his arms gripped into the dagger.
In his absolute fear and madness, the man pulled the dagger out of his throat, which sent a fountain of red liquid gushing out coloring both the ground and his grey sweatshirt in blood.
The man's steps shakily retreated a step or two backward before he fell on top of the rugs, beside the group of three men whose eyes and mouth were agape.
A strange silence ensued interrupted only by the man's body convulsing or the splurting of blood out of his throat.
[You have killed a Human Monk(Initiate: Rank 7). You have received 1700 XP]
The appearance of the bold golden characters woke Melvin from his stupor, but he immediately made them disappear as he fixed his eyes on the remaining three men who had already been watching him.
"Wait, brother. Don't be rash." One of them jumped forward with his hands raised and uttered, "It was an accident, please let us leave and we won't inform the boss, I swear to the gods. Please."
The man's words made Melvin pause, he was just contemplating running away because the guy who died was already strong and he didn't have much confidence handling three more, especially without his dagger.
His gaze quickly shifted to the dagger lying on the ground beside the corpse, on top of a small puddle of blood that was gradually moving through the shack's uneven ground.
He took one step forward with his eyes locked on the three and saw that all of them backed away. Witnessing this sight he was sure they weren't as strong as the dead man, and so his steps steadily approached the dagger.
Soon his boots which he forgot to take off yesterday, stepped on the blood with a splat, and after he coldly glared at the three he gently bent down and picked up the dagger.
However, internally, none of his outward calm and connected mannerisms could be found. His emotional state was in a mess, the man's death was purely accidental, and it was just something that resulted in him not understanding his power, but more so an action born out of fear and an attempt to protect himself.
Feeling the warmth emanating from the blood all over the dagger's handle, he hesitated, 'Should I let them go?'
After an uncomfortable intense silence. "Leave all of your money, and go," He ordered looking at the man who first spoke, who in turn sighed in relief and brought out a small pouch from his pocket and gave it to the even more terrified Henry.
The other two followed suit, and with careful steps, they headed slowly towards the door.
Along the way they kept stealing glances at both Melvin and their dead colleague, and that was precisely when they saw a shadow hurling in their direction.
The man who spoke was the target of Melvin's attack because he was at the forefront, and so he was unable to see anything before he felt an intense sharp pain in the back of his head, and that was the last thing he had ever felt.
[You have killed a Human Classless(Initiate: Rank 1). You have received 200 XP]
The other two immediately retreated in shock and fear, stepping all over the rug Melvin was previously sleeping in with their dirty boots.
"Stop! What are you doing, you're crazy. The boss won't let you off." One of them shouted with a quivery voice, unable to accept what might happen to them.
Melvin's mind on the other hand was too overwhelmed with how things unexpectedly unfolded, and so he was unable to even register what they were saying. He just wanted to end this as soon as possible, and so he jumped toward the remaining two with a crazed look in his bloodshot eyes.
One of them tried to punch him, but Melvin finally understood what it meant to have high agility stats, the man's movement seemed slow compared to both how his eyes moved and the speed his body was capable of.
Easily dodging the punch, he kicked the man's stomach tossing him with a loud thud towards the shack's walls. The combination of the strength behind the kick and the fragility of the shabby shack made even the ceiling unsteadily creak as it subtly swayed.
He took notice of that as he was rushing towards the other, who predictably tried the same thing, a punch that seemed too slow and stupid in Melvin's eyes.
Dreading the feeling of stabbing the dagger into someone else's body, he simply grabbed the man's hand and threw him to the ground with a huge force that the man's eyes widened due to the shock and pain as he began to furiously cough tilting his body to side, attempting to stand.
Melvin gritted his teeth in both fear and unwillingness and stabbed the already blood-filled dagger into the man's throat from the side.
[You have killed a Human Classless(Initiate: Rank 1). You have received 200 XP]
He immediately pulled after enough damage was done, and walked back toward the unconscious one of them. The same process repeated itself, and he finally stood up turning his back against the last corpse. His eyes fixed on the ceiling, face contorted into an indiscernible grimace, he stood, heart filled with both confusion and disbelief.
[You have killed a Human Classless(Initiate: Rank 1). You have received 200 XP]
[Congratulations! You have reached Rank 2]
[Legendary Class(Rune Mythomancer) Stats Assigned: + 3 Wisdom, + 2 Vitality, + 2 Strength, + 2 Agility, + 1 Intelligence, + 1 Charm]
His mind moved and cleared up the golden bold characters out of the darkness of his closed eyes, as he just stood there, heart thumping, fists clenched, and a subtle metallic taste of blood coursing through his tongue.
The four boys all looked at him with different expressions on their faces, but all of them without exceptions were terrified. They had never witnessed such a bloody scene in their entire life, and they felt as if their friend had forgotten his memories and become a demon.
George's mind was in a mess, but even through that, his eyes caught sight of the blood that was gradually moving down in the direction of the wooden wall where their door was.
He knew that around this time, a lot of the other neighbors would be going in to work, and if they walked by their shack and noticed blood they would start asking questions. Questions that George knew would make things even more difficult.
Thus, he quickly stood up from the corner, picked up a light brown shirt that was on his path, and stopped the flow of the blood.
Sensing a sudden movement, Melvin's eyes opened and he saw what the former was doing. By then he had already calmed down a bit, but the weight of what he had done still weighed heavily on his mind.
Quickly dismissing such pointless ruminations that had no place in that moment, he approached George with steady steps, and along the way, he glanced at the three who were still sitting and muttered, "Get a hold of yourself and stand up."
Hearing that, the three quickly stood up, slightly afraid of this murderer. Originally the only thing that would have stopped him from harming them was his knowledge of them, but they knew he had none.
A somewhat ironic smile tugged at Melvin's lips when he saw the blonde William's lips quivering, he could still remember how he disrespected him yesterday because of his show of weakness in front of the coachman.
George was on his knee, shirt in hand, soaking up the tremendous amount of blood as Melvin studied the scene of the three bodies.
