Witnessing all of this, Melvin was furious. A rude thought tugged his mind saying, 'I don't know how strong are they, and there are guards nearby, I should back down...'
But he gritted his teeth and mumbled, "Fuck it." Knowing that they wouldn't let him go, he took out the dagger from his waistband, as his eyes glazed over the four surrounding him.
The man who first approached him grabbed the hilt of his sword with two hands and vertically slashed from a distance.
Melvin was momentarily puzzled over the stupidity of his actions, but before the thought could even flow through the end of its course, A light red vertical sword of energy sliced through the air as it approached him with tremendous speed.
At that moment realized that if he hadn't absorbed the last Endless Carnage Rune, his agility wouldn't have been high enough to react to its speed. However, as things stood, he could still somewhat follow its trajectory and narrowly dodged to the right.
The tiger's owner seemed to expect his move, and so the moment he dodged, all he could see in front of him was a scarlet wall of fire. Fortunately, his reactions proved to be somewhat quick, and he let himself fall to his back.
The fireball grazed past him burning some of his hair, as that stink wafted. But before he could even stabilize himself, he felt a kick hitting him on his left side. The strength behind it was so powerful he was tossed several meters to the side, and he had even heard a faint cracking sound accompanying it.
Just as he made one long painful cough as his lungs struggled to breathe, he felt another stabbing pain in the back of his knee. He quickly turned his body to the ground, and the pain became even more apparent as he could feel something stuck there.
His eyes instantly caught the woman with a bow in hand, preparing to shoot another arrow. Under the onslaught of those attacks and seemingly unending pain, his rage slightly crumbled and was replaced by both disbelief and apprehension, 'Are they trying to kill me? In the center of the city?'
In fact, the main reason why he stood up to those guys could be attributed to what he learned about the city thus far. The security was rather tight, and the guards roamed every corner. However, now he was at the heart of the city and several people were trying to kill him.
His eyes quickly darted to the guards by the church to his left, and he saw that they were unmoving, much to his dismay.
Melvin quickly stood up, or it'd better to say, he jumped as another arrow raced through the air aiming for his throat. 'They're really trying to kill me.' He thought in a flash, shocked by this turn of events.
The original instigator, the girl, threw another fireball in his direction which he dodged as well. However, the bald man who broke one of his ribs with the kick proved to be too cunning. He of all of the people here knew how to take the perfect opportunity to land a blow.
When he dodged the fireball by moving to the left, a strong kick connected with his chest sending him flying backward. Still, suffering through the momentum of the fall, a swift wooden arrow with a razor-sharp tip cruised toward his heart.
Melvin who was still too disoriented from the dual onslaught of both pain and imbalance, wasn't even aware of the approaching arrow, much less dodge it.
Just as it was about to pierce through his flesh, a rough hand easily grabbed the arrow and broke it in half.
It was a neat well build, neat-dressed, dark-haired man. Waving his hand, the incoming fireball seemed to crumble into tiny embers before disappearing. Witnessing this sight, the incoming four paused dead in their tracks.
The man shook his head and disappointment and rebutted, "What are you doing? Do you think there is no law in this city?"
The rest of the group felt as if a lump was struck in their throat when they saw and heard what the man said, but that wasn't what terrified them, it was the man's identity.
The Chief Guard of Nightmond.
The girl on the other hand, although aware of the man's identity, didn't show any remore nor indication of giving up. With raging steps, she approached the man and shouted, "Chief Dulan, this criminal killed my beast. I should be able to avenge him."
Chief Dulan's face quickly contorted into one of disgust, before he masked it in a flash. He deeply sighed and explained in a fake amicable voice, "It's not dead, it had just lost consciousness."
This piece of news seemed to have an effect on the girl, her steps halted as her expression went through a subtle change. Just as quickly as that happened, she continued to complain, "Still... He kick.."
The man waved his hand, and cut her off, "I saw everything. Your tiger tried to bite him." He then turned to look at Melvin who had already stood up and approached them, he pointed toward the three with his hands and asked, "Young man, do you want to file a report against these three" His meaning was clear, these three, as for the other lady, just forget it.
As much as the Chief loved to uphold the law and follow the rules, he knew that when things involved great powers, justice would always become fickle and untrustworthy. After all, Justice needed the capital to uphold its rule and execute its laws, otherwise, the laws become mere suggestions at best.
Although Melvin was overwhelmed internally, he was very composed. Now that death was no longer on the menu, his mind got to register the silver lining in all of this. 'You gave me a reason,' He thought, smiling with a deep meaning toward the three.
The reason he had been staying for a long while in front of the church without actually doing anything, was precisely just that. He was dealing with the ethics of the matter. The idea of just going randomly to any religious person and killing them in cold blood felt too insurmountable for someone who had been watching Netflix and browsing YouTube Shorts just a day ago.
Now, with a reason, his mind was at ease and laser-focused on the task ahead. As for the priest, he would find them eventually. It was time to hunt, and rank up.
He friendly nodded toward the Chief, and replied, "It's fine, it was just all a big misunderstanding."
The three who he now knew were adventurers from the same guild due to the matching colors were surprised when they heard his answer. The tall bald one, however, had a deep pondering look on his face.
The tiger's owner only glared at him, but he quickly averted his gaze. He understood the Chief's underlying meaning, and he didn't want to waste his time with her, for now.
Chief Dulan was surprised when he heard that, and he couldn't help but give the young man another glance. 'His face looks familiar,' He thought, but he quickly brushed such a thought because the crowd was becoming too big and he hated these sorts of gatherings.
He turned around, and due to his tall stature, he could see beyond the gathered crowd. His eyes quickly met a group of four guards who were patrolling the area. Raising his hand, he quickly clicked his fingers together, and the sound magically traversed to the ears of the distant guards who immediately turned to look. Witnessing the face, they rushed toward him with hurried rhythmic steps.
The Chief then approached the tall bald guy of the guild, and coldly ordered, "Give the young man a healing potion. You're lucky you're getting off easy this time." If they were regular civilians, he would have made them spend a few days in jail. Unfortunately, the adventurers were a rowdy violent bunch. A fight of this caliber wasn't something that he took seriously unless an official complaint was filed of course.
Awkwardly smiling the bald guy explained, "We don't have it here..." He then approached Melvin and stretched out his palm before him, "Here take these 2 gold coins. You can get two with it."
Although he didn't want to accept the money, Melvin knew better than to reject two gold coins in this vulnerable time of his. He was also wary of the incoming guards, the fact that the Chief was unaware of his face didn't mean they would be too.
Without looking at the bald guy, he snatched the two cold coins and put them in his pockets. He gave a smiling nod to the Chief and limped towards the southern main road.
Remembering that the arrow was still lodged behind his knee, he paused his steps. His eyes observed the faces in the crowd, looking at him with different expressions. He vowed to make his exit at least somewhat respectable, unlike the way he was thrown around by that group of people. He gritted his teeth, wrapped his hand around the arrow's shaft, and deeply inhaled and held it in.
With a quick tug, the arrow was removed from his body. Followed by both a fountain of blood dripping down his legs, and a pained groan. In but two seconds, his forehead was dripping with sweat as his limp became even more pronounced. His every step left a trail of blood and bloody bootprints.
After a while, he reached the buildings at the southern side of the plaza, and began walking on the sidewalk. After passing by an alchemy shop, hehesitated, 'Should I buy the potion or save the money?'
After a quick back and forth, he walked in. As much as he wanted to save up money for the Class Stones, walking with a bloodied leg in a bustling street was too much attention for a wanted man.
The young attendant inside didn't waste time after seeing his state, and so he quickly brought back a short thick glass bottle with a red liquid once he asked for a healing potion.
Holding the bottle in his hand, he mused, 'It's a lot cheaper than the five gold coins potion I got the other day.' He removed the cork with his teeth and chugged the whole content inside of his mouth.
'Berry flavored?' He thought, as he still enjoyed the aftertaste lingering in his mouth, 'But for a gold coin it's to be expected I guess.'
Fortunately, just a couple of seconds after he downed it down, his wound began closing down. Although he couldn't see much, he quickly noticed how the blood flow had completely stopped, and the degree of pain the wound was sending his brain lessened by a lot. After a while, the wound began to feel super itchy, but he controlled himself and let the process run its course without obstruction.
His rib was more or less giving him the same inputs, he knew that he got one of his ribs broken after the first kick. Remembering how they treated him, he clenched his fists in anger, scaring the nearby attendant who was waiting for him to leave because he soiled their floor with blood.
'Those fuckers wanted to build connections on my back.' He hatefully thought, gnashing his teeth. The moment the Chief spoke and more or less conveyed to him that the girl had a backing, he instantly understood why those fellows acted in such a manner.
Witnessing all of this, Melvin was furious. A rude thought tugged his mind saying, 'I don't know how strong are they, and there are guards nearby, I should back down...'
But he gritted his teeth and mumbled, "Fuck it." Knowing that they wouldn't let him go, he took out the dagger from his waistband, as his eyes glazed over the four surrounding him.
The man who first approached him grabbed the hilt of his sword with two hands and vertically slashed from a distance.
Melvin was momentarily puzzled over the stupidity of his actions, but before the thought could even flow through the end of its course, A light red vertical sword of energy sliced through the air as it approached him with tremendous speed.
At that moment realized that if he hadn't absorbed the last Endless Carnage Rune, his agility wouldn't have been high enough to react to its speed. However, as things stood, he could still somewhat follow its trajectory and narrowly dodged to the right.
The tiger's owner seemed to expect his move, and so the moment he dodged, all he could see in front of him was a scarlet wall of fire. Fortunately, his reactions proved to be somewhat quick, and he let himself fall to his back.
The fireball grazed past him burning some of his hair, as that stink wafted. But before he could even stabilize himself, he felt a kick hitting him on his left side. The strength behind it was so powerful he was tossed several meters to the side, and he had even heard a faint cracking sound accompanying it.
Just as he made one long painful cough as his lungs struggled to breathe, he felt another stabbing pain in the back of his knee. He quickly turned his body to the ground, and the pain became even more apparent as he could feel something stuck there.
His eyes instantly caught the woman with a bow in hand, preparing to shoot another arrow. Under the onslaught of those attacks and seemingly unending pain, his rage slightly crumbled and was replaced by both disbelief and apprehension, 'Are they trying to kill me? In the center of the city?'
In fact, the main reason why he stood up to those guys could be attributed to what he learned about the city thus far. The security was rather tight, and the guards roamed every corner. However, now he was at the heart of the city and several people were trying to kill him.
His eyes quickly darted to the guards by the church to his left, and he saw that they were unmoving, much to his dismay.
Melvin quickly stood up, or it'd better to say, he jumped as another arrow raced through the air aiming for his throat. 'They're really trying to kill me.' He thought in a flash, shocked by this turn of events.
The original instigator, the girl, threw another fireball in his direction which he dodged as well. However, the bald man who broke one of his ribs with the kick proved to be too cunning. He of all of the people here knew how to take the perfect opportunity to land a blow.
When he dodged the fireball by moving to the left, a strong kick connected with his chest sending him flying backward. Still, suffering through the momentum of the fall, a swift wooden arrow with a razor-sharp tip cruised toward his heart.
Melvin who was still too disoriented from the dual onslaught of both pain and imbalance, wasn't even aware of the approaching arrow, much less dodge it.
Just as it was about to pierce through his flesh, a rough hand easily grabbed the arrow and broke it in half.
It was a neat well build, neat-dressed, dark-haired man. Waving his hand, the incoming fireball seemed to crumble into tiny embers before disappearing. Witnessing this sight, the incoming four paused dead in their tracks.
The man shook his head and disappointment and rebutted, "What are you doing? Do you think there is no law in this city?"
The rest of the group felt as if a lump was struck in their throat when they saw and heard what the man said, but that wasn't what terrified them, it was the man's identity.
The Chief Guard of Nightmond.
The girl on the other hand, although aware of the man's identity, didn't show any remore nor indication of giving up. With raging steps, she approached the man and shouted, "Chief Dulan, this criminal killed my beast. I should be able to avenge him."
Chief Dulan's face quickly contorted into one of disgust, before he masked it in a flash. He deeply sighed and explained in a fake amicable voice, "It's not dead, it had just lost consciousness."
This piece of news seemed to have an effect on the girl, her steps halted as her expression went through a subtle change. Just as quickly as that happened, she continued to complain, "Still... He kick.."
The man waved his hand, and cut her off, "I saw everything. Your tiger tried to bite him." He then turned to look at Melvin who had already stood up and approached them, he pointed toward the three with his hands and asked, "Young man, do you want to file a report against these three" His meaning was clear, these three, as for the other lady, just forget it.
As much as the Chief loved to uphold the law and follow the rules, he knew that when things involved great powers, justice would always become fickle and untrustworthy. After all, Justice needed the capital to uphold its rule and execute its laws, otherwise, the laws become mere suggestions at best.
Although Melvin was overwhelmed internally, he was very composed. Now that death was no longer on the menu, his mind got to register the silver lining in all of this. 'You gave me a reason,' He thought, smiling with a deep meaning toward the three.
The reason he had been staying for a long while in front of the church without actually doing anything, was precisely just that. He was dealing with the ethics of the matter. The idea of just going randomly to any religious person and killing them in cold blood felt too insurmountable for someone who had been watching Netflix and browsing YouTube Shorts just a day ago.
Now, with a reason, his mind was at ease and laser-focused on the task ahead. As for the priest, he would find them eventually. It was time to hunt, and rank up.
He friendly nodded toward the Chief, and replied, "It's fine, it was just all a big misunderstanding."
The three who he now knew were adventurers from the same guild due to the matching colors were surprised when they heard his answer. The tall bald one, however, had a deep pondering look on his face.
The tiger's owner only glared at him, but he quickly averted his gaze. He understood the Chief's underlying meaning, and he didn't want to waste his time with her, for now.
Chief Dulan was surprised when he heard that, and he couldn't help but give the young man another glance. 'His face looks familiar,' He thought, but he quickly brushed such a thought because the crowd was becoming too big and he hated these sorts of gatherings.
He turned around, and due to his tall stature, he could see beyond the gathered crowd. His eyes quickly met a group of four guards who were patrolling the area. Raising his hand, he quickly clicked his fingers together, and the sound magically traversed to the ears of the distant guards who immediately turned to look. Witnessing the face, they rushed toward him with hurried rhythmic steps.
The Chief then approached the tall bald guy of the guild, and coldly ordered, "Give the young man a healing potion. You're lucky you're getting off easy this time." If they were regular civilians, he would have made them spend a few days in jail. Unfortunately, the adventurers were a rowdy violent bunch. A fight of this caliber wasn't something that he took seriously unless an official complaint was filed of course.
Awkwardly smiling the bald guy explained, "We don't have it here..." He then approached Melvin and stretched out his palm before him, "Here take these 2 gold coins. You can get two with it."
Although he didn't want to accept the money, Melvin knew better than to reject two gold coins in this vulnerable time of his. He was also wary of the incoming guards, the fact that the Chief was unaware of his face didn't mean they would be too.
Without looking at the bald guy, he snatched the two cold coins and put them in his pockets. He gave a smiling nod to the Chief and limped towards the southern main road.
Remembering that the arrow was still lodged behind his knee, he paused his steps. His eyes observed the faces in the crowd, looking at him with different expressions. He vowed to make his exit at least somewhat respectable, unlike the way he was thrown around by that group of people. He gritted his teeth, wrapped his hand around the arrow's shaft, and deeply inhaled and held it in.
With a quick tug, the arrow was removed from his body. Followed by both a fountain of blood dripping down his legs, and a pained groan. In but two seconds, his forehead was dripping with sweat as his limp became even more pronounced. His every step left a trail of blood and bloody bootprints.
After a while, he reached the buildings at the southern side of the plaza, and began walking on the sidewalk. After passing by an alchemy shop, hehesitated, 'Should I buy the potion or save the money?'
After a quick back and forth, he walked in. As much as he wanted to save up money for the Class Stones, walking with a bloodied leg in a bustling street was too much attention for a wanted man.
The young attendant inside didn't waste time after seeing his state, and so he quickly brought back a short thick glass bottle with a red liquid once he asked for a healing potion.
Holding the bottle in his hand, he mused, 'It's a lot cheaper than the five gold coins potion I got the other day.' He removed the cork with his teeth and chugged the whole content inside of his mouth.
'Berry flavored?' He thought, as he still enjoyed the aftertaste lingering in his mouth, 'But for a gold coin it's to be expected I guess.'
Fortunately, just a couple of seconds after he downed it down, his wound began closing down. Although he couldn't see much, he quickly noticed how the blood flow had completely stopped, and the degree of pain the wound was sending his brain lessened by a lot. After a while, the wound began to feel super itchy, but he controlled himself and let the process run its course without obstruction.
His rib was more or less giving him the same inputs, he knew that he got one of his ribs broken after the first kick. Remembering how they treated him, he clenched his fists in anger, scaring the nearby attendant who was waiting for him to leave because he soiled their floor with blood.
'Those fuckers wanted to build connections on my back.' He hatefully thought, gnashing his teeth. The moment the Chief spoke and more or less conveyed to him that the girl had a backing, he instantly understood why those fellows acted in such a manner.
