Chapter 41: Chapter. 41: Beatdown

There was a brief silence between Matt and I, as the notification rang on both of our ears. We both knew what it meant, but I remembered the words of the emperor. Prophecies now are not really worth it. Too much trash among the treasure. Wait for the Selection Process, the second round, the second day. It was better to wait, even if it happened two days from now. With all that in mind I shook my head at myself and turned in a different direction of the forest. The skyline had hardly any pillars remaining and the star-rain had almost completely ceased. The Prophecy time was coming to a close.

I began my walk, leaving Matt stranded there. It didn’t take long before he regained his bearings and called for me.

“Blair, where are you going?” He asked with a weird voice.

“Leaving?” I looked at him strangely.

Matt took a deep breath. “Can you help me see this Prophecy? Please?”

I frowned, which Matt took as a cue to get on the ground and beg. He grasped onto the ground with futile strength, not daring to meet my eyes.

“Please, I need to be strong to protect my companions… I felt jealous of you, whenever you did something I didn’t like⁠—something that I, myself wouldn’t do I would feel anger…” he lamented. “But, please, help me just this once⁠; this last time.”

A sigh left me. “Fine.”

Being honest, Matt was pathetic. To beg. But part of me empathized with him, that said⁠ — he could’ve joined the demons and none of this would be happening, and that was the reason it bothered me⁠. Just that small speck of sympathy for his love for humans made me agree. But I had to make it clear.

“It will only be this time,” I said with finality.

He hurriedly nodded, before going to seek his companions. Not more than a few seconds later he came back.

“I told them to wait, we can go now…”

With that done, I headed back to the clearing along with Matt. It didn’t take more than a few seconds before the new battlefield was revealed. Raging fires, charred ground, and the elves had been turned to ash or small pieces of bone. The grass burned seemingly eternally, the fire did not spread past the places the Prophecy had landed on. And at the center of everything was the place where I had ransacked the elder. His body was still there, but now devoid of flesh. Instead he was no more than a skeleton, its skull was cracked on the forehead, and atop of it was a small stick in the shape of a finger. At its tip, there was a small bead of incandescent light. It was the Prophecy.

[D ranked Prophecy: Fires of Abrasion

“...” ⁠— ???

Trial grounds: Yes.

Conditions: None.]

It was surprisingly, straight-forward. That said, I didn't know what Trial Grounds were. Matt was looking as well, probably looking at the same text as I did. He hesitated before turning to me.

“Will you protect me?”

“Sure,” I agreed without a second thought, grabbing my bow and the rest of my arrows. “But first, refill the quiver.” I handed it to Matt without thinking too much about it.

He hesitated but did as told. In no more than a few seconds there were ten arrows inside of it. Matt looked a bit pale. “This is three-fourths of my mana, I can’t give you more,” he hesitantly informed me.

I simply nodded and gestured to the Prophecy, which seemed to bring him back to normality. He closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them once more⁠, this time with a sharpened gaze, and an unwavering will.

“I will be counting on you.”

I just let him go, as I too made up my mind. Whoever tries to take it from Matt or me, will die. I was done hesitating with things, perhaps ambushes made me feel bad, but it was also part of The System. Kill or be killed. I took a deep breath as I waited at the edge of the forest with utmost focus.

Matt slowly walked in an almost crouch-like position. He weaved through the fire afraid of touching it and slowly made his way to the Prophecy. I kept some of my attention on Matt, and the other on the lookout for any sudden movements, paying extra attention to Penumbral Instinct if it were to come. Though perhaps it wasn’t the best choice of a skill in retrospect, since it seldom saved me.

As I awaited for any new developments, Matt was slowly creeping up on the Prophecy, no more than a few meters away. The demons showed no signs of showing up, probably from the command of the emperor. And someone who I now owed a bit too much apparently. He encroached on the finger as I tried to spot any sudden movements. Just as he was about to touch it, a bellow came from the west side of the forest.

“Wait!” It was an unfamiliar voice. “Cunt, that Prophecy will be mine!”

I aimed and saw a shadow, I instantly shot the arrow with Power Draw, the arrow whispered death towards the man, his mud filled face flashed with surprise for a second before he dashed to the side with explosive speed. He turned to me, meeting my gaze.

“I am not the same as before, elf!” He seemed familiar? Covered in grime and various things, his outfit, reminiscent of a bush.

[Human. Lvl. 15]

It was that man. He smiled at me. “You might be level 14, but I am 15 now!”

Level 14, me? That was a surprise. Was it from killing the elves? Though that didn’t matter. Matt looked at the man and gritted his teeth, rage had overcome him out of nowhere.

“Dante!” I remembered as Matt spat his name. They had a grudge.

“What’s up, looks like you remember me!” Dante smiled before turning to me. “I have figured out your secrets, just you wait for me to get a System Assistant! Your edge has been exposed by the demon!”

Ha? Glim? An edge?

[Ooh! It called me an edge! See, Blair? I am truly useful! Ah by the way, you can totally wreck the human. This scenario is much less dangerous than the last one!] Well that was something.

He continued. “Anyway, I won’t let you have that Prophecy, it shall be mine!” He began to run and dash towards Matt, who decided to wait like a dumbass, pulling his knife in preparation. I felt a small amount of annoyance at being totally disregarded by the human, and at Matt not focusing on the Prophecy. Moreover, Dante had tried to use me as Knell Boar bait.

I snorted and pulled an arrow, turning it into the explosive kind. Firing it into his linear path, the arrow broke through the air, and in an instant it exploded on the ground, almost hitting the human. He dashed back once more, leaving a trail of black shadows in his path.

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He looked at my eyes directly, visible disdain in his face. “Tsk, if you insist then I will dispose of you first. You are nothing anymore! Witness true strength!” He rushed towards me with intermittent dashes, though apparently fast they were not instant teleportation. A movement skill I assumed. His expression told me he saw me as nothing but an obstacle, which annoyed me. His words did not help either.

With a gruff, I grabbed my spear more than willing to meet him head on, the arrows from before still lingered on my hand. He had a knife in hand and his bow, which he was getting ready to shoot at me. Using the opportunity I overwhelmed an arrow with mana⁠—the bare minimum for a fake explosive shot⁠—and tossed it towards him. His eyes momentarily widened seeing the radiant stick coming for him, but he dashed through it as my smile widened.

It exploded, its mana losing control in an instant, he grunted bearing the blast on his back and was launched towards me at breakneck speeds due to his dash. I pondered whether to stab him, but it was too generous. Instead I raised my leg, and with my knee⁠, I pushed⁠—it connected with his stomach as I felt his torso deform under my strength. I heard a very audible crack as his innards gave way. His face distorted in an instant as his eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets.

He was launched back a few meters back, skating through the flames and ground. He slid as air left his body. I didn’t let go of the opportunity as I walked towards him, as he attempted to not cough his stomach out. I saw him going for his satchel, probably retrieving a potion. I could’ve stopped him but decided against it. Instead, I turned towards Matt who was still in a reverie.

“Go pick up the Prophecy, I’ll deal with him.”

He awakened from his stupor and gave me a firm nod before turning back to the Prophecy.

“Don’t kill him!” Matt called. “I want to get payback myself!”

Meanwhile I resumed my walk towards the human. His hand trembled as he brought a vial to his mouth, some of the liquid spilling over his cheek as he tried to lick it with his tongue, his ribcage heaved up and down in a rush.

Seconds passed as he slowly began to get up wobbling, just in time for me to reach him. Using my spear like a stick, just like always, I swung. His eyes widened for a moment before the shaft collided with his ribs, knocking the wind out of him once more. He fell to the side, tumbling through the ground like a doll. I walked towards him once more, but he wasn’t even shaking any more. He was simply breathing on the ground. And then I paused, shaking my head. He surely was stupid. Penumbral instinct triggered by my side, but it was weak and non-existent, probably a Loa Vulpe.

Matt wanted him alive, I was still going to kill him, but something about how weak he was made me feel pity. He was a pitiful human. There was no glory in it, no satisfaction, he was simply ignorant, undeserving of things; deserving only of death. I walked up over to him, and prepared my spear to pierce his heart once in for all.

“Goodbye.” I lunged the spear⁠—

“Stop!” A desperate plea entered my ears. I turned only to see a woman rush to Dante’s side, she was one of Matt’s companions. “You can’t kill Dante!”

I frowned. “Why not?”

She met my eyes. “He helped me when I needed him! He helped all of us even in his delusions!”

“That’s not a good reason to.” I flicked my spear but she lunged over it, making me stop it once more.

She breathed heavily. “If⁠—If you insist on killing him, then you’ll have to kill me too.”

Fine⁠— I almost said, but I wasn’t keen on killing Matt’s companions. A sigh left me as I shook my head. How stupid.

In the end, I turned, leaving him there.

[Damn, you totally destroyed him!] Glim cheered. [By the way, he is now passed out. Killing him would get you a whole level due to bonuses, and if you kill the girl you might get close to another one!]

I ignored Glim and paid attention to my surroundings, I wasn’t in a killing mood anymore. Things were deadly quiet now, even the fire did not produce sound ⁠— there was only the wind to accompany me along with my breaths. Matt was gone, and so was the finger. Which was weird to me, and Glim did not take long to explain it.

[He left for a trial ground! Forcefully teleported away! Anyway, now we should just leave before things get hectic! I don’t think the demons will come, but what if more humans or anything comes? Shouldn’t you focus on leveling now? That Dante and Samantha girl might die so, yeah.]

I inwardly agreed with Glim, and headed out. I gave the site of the Prophecy a brief look, pondering on whether to wait for Matt or not. In the end I decided against it looking at the timer. The sky too was almost devoid of light pillars, and only a star passed occasionally every few seconds.

[Incubation Period: 3 days 12 hours 10 minutes]

In the end I simply decided to head north towards the mountains and perhaps seek more guardians. I looked at my notifications and stats in the process.

[You have killed (E) Woodland Elf. Lvl. 9]

[You have killed (E) Woodland Elf. Lvl. 7]

[You have killed…

[Level up: You have achieved level 13.]

[You have killed (E) Daem Demon Lvl. 11]

[You have killed (E) W…

[You have…

[Level up: You have achieved level 14.]

It seemed that I had killed about twelve of them total, between the elves and the demons. There was also a notification I found curious amongst them.

[Friendly fire detected.]

It seemed there was a system in place regarding that. But it clearly hadn’t stopped me. However, I didn’t get any Feats from killing the elves or the demons.

With new horizons in mind, I headed north towards the mountains. Where hopefully I would find something interesting. New foes, and new monsters to defeat. The forest seemed to hold nothing more than Everwood Moose and Loa Vulpes, with the occasional Boar and Kame.

I couldn’t wait.

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