Chapter 42: Chapter 42

‘’After you’ve killed two of my men, you actually made my son apologize to you. It must’ve been fun. Did you have a good laugh after he left?’’

You gotta be kidding me! ‘’So, you’re Travis McGregor?’’ Ethan asked with a deadpan face while freaking out inside. If this man was the acting leader of McGregors, then he was at tier-7 and god knows what kinds of artifacts he had. 

The man neither denied nor confirmed. ‘’Normally, I’d have killed you instantly and given your head to the families of the ones you’ve killed. But, I have to ask. Where did you hear the name of Inane Cultus from?’’

‘’I told your son already.’’

Travis sighed in relief and smiled. ‘’Thank you. For not making it easy.’’

When Travis took a step forward, Ethan called his armor and daggers at once. He first tried his [Shadow Spikes] with a [Fabric Tear], but the same shield Aiden-Sparky- used showed itself and blocked it easily. Then, he used [Void Wrap] and a [Blink], but his invisibility meant nothing to someone with a rank-3 [Mana Sense], not to mention Travis was still bound to his [Blink].

Frustrated, he canceled his skill and gritted his teeth with a look of a cornered animal. No matter what he thought, it didn’t end well for him. They were beyond the point of talking things through, escape wasn’t an option, and he didn’t know anybody in the city who would help him.

Trying to calm himself down, he gave a long breath as a shadow of resolve settled on his eyes. ‘’As the saying goes, if you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance.’’

He charged directly with a [Long Jump] and gave a solid stab with Devi, sadly even his priceless dagger couldn’t pass the shield. The only tactic he could think of was the same one he used against Aiden. This shield protected the skin, so he had to attack the eyes, nose, or mouth. But this time, the enemy’s speed was nothing he could match. Let alone attacking, in order to dodge, he even used [Blink]s to change his direction, but even that wasn’t enough.

A casual punch hit his ribs and threw him to the building’s wall. He got up with blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, staggering.

‘’It’s called [Mana Catch]. The moment you used the first [Blink], I literally caught your mana, and now your skill thinks that my mana is yours, so it carries me alongside you,’’ Travis said, walking toward him slowly. ‘’You see, killing tier-4s at tier-3 is rather easy for someone talented, but against a true high tier, your skills are meaningless. It’s impressive that you can hold your ground for so long.’’

‘’You’re really having fun bullying someone weak, huh?’’ Ethan asked, spitting the blood in his mouth. ‘’Tough childhood? Or a small dick perhaps?’’

Travis appeared right in front of him, holding his two fingers like a spear, he stabbed Ethan’s shoulder in a blur. It tore his cloak, shattered his armor, and pierced into his body. 

Despite the agony, Ethan’s eyes lit up as he held his arm, just like he did to Aiden, he aimed one [Shadow Spike] for his nose and another for his eye. 

With a simple tilt of his head, Travis avoided both of them and gave a kick to his leg, breaking it thoroughly. Ethan collapsed to the ground with a scream and Travis got closer. ‘’As I was saying, Inane Cultus?’’

Between the ragged breaths, Ethan managed to murmur. ‘’Definitely… small… dick.’’

Travis raised his leg and stumped it to Ethan’s uninjured leg, and the sounds of bone cracking mixed with the high-pitched cry. Despite the apathetic face, the glee in his eyes was clear. He was enjoying this very much, but before resuming his torture, Travis noticed that the tear in the cloak already fixed itself, and a smile formed on his face. ‘’Heh. Now that I’m thinking, wearing this cloak above your armor was unnecessary. I wonder what else it does?’’

‘’It’s for–’’

With the back of his hand, Travis slapped Ethan hard enough to send him a few yards away with a few missing teeth. ‘’Hush now. You’ll have your time for confessions,’’ he said, getting closer once again at a slow pace. ‘’Did you know? The biggest mistake in your story wasn’t the army of tier-9s, which is both impossible and ridiculous. The mistake was the lie itself. It’s true that ascendants could send their seedlings to the lower realms for training, but it’d be always without any artifacts and with an oath to bind them. They could never mention which factions they belong to, whether it’s to threaten or ask for favors. So, my guess is that you somehow ended up with the inheritance of Inane Cultus, or even better, you’ve found their trial site and there is a much bigger prize you’re hiding.’’

‘’What makes you think that I was sent here to train?’’ Ethan asked, pretending to be amused.

Travis narrowed his eyes as he looked down at him. ‘’It doesn’t matter anymore. What’s done is done, even if there is some kind of truth in your lies, there is nothing but profit for me. So, let us continue this conversation someplace else, where you’ll be more cooperative after I rip that arrogance from you.’’

The moment Travis extended his hand to grab his throat, the time slowed down. Or more correctly, Ethan was able to perceive everything much faster. His new skill [Blood Rush] finally showed its worth. Not only was he able to realize the smallest details, but he could also predict how things would go if he changed their way. He calculated every move of himself and his enemy in a single moment and lifted his right hand to air toward Travis’s chest like he was trying to protect himself. 

Just before Travis’s hand reached him, a [Fabric Tear] appeared in front of it. Ethan’s right hand grabbed his clothes, pulled them toward himself, and the hand passed through the [Fabric Tear], appearing behind him. At the same time, he raised his left hand and gave a push to Travis’s shoulder. 

In a careless moment, the inner circle of the [Fabric Tear], without a care for the shield, effortlessly sliced his arm above the elbow. As the blood gushed over Ethan's face, he was already laughing aloud, enjoying the fact that he wasn’t the one screaming this time.

Looking at the furious face of Travis, he couldn’t help himself and flashed a bloody smile. ‘’Hey, maybe call for your father? You know, against a true high tier our skills are meaningless.’’

Travis opened his [Mana Aura] and Ethan experienced the fear effect of the skill firsthand. It was like his instincts were screaming at him to escape, while the pressure of the abundant mana hit his internal wounds like a tide, increasing his pain manyfold. 

‘’You little shit! I hope you’re enjoying it. From now on, this is your new life,’’ Travis said seethingly and took out a chain with runes from his storage. But before he had a chance to use it, someone else made an appearance next to him and gave an impossibly fast kick to his side, blasting him off to the building and even collapsing the building on top of him.

The young-looking redhead man seemed pleased with his kick. He first glanced at Travis’s arm, then turned to look at Ethan, who was staring at him with wide eyes. ‘’You actually managed to cut his arm off? Man, I’d have given you a pat on the back, but I’m afraid you might die from it,’’ he said and tossed a high-grade potion to Ethan. ‘’Here.’’

Might? Didn’t you see that kick? He caught the potion and immediately drank it. What came next was more screams. As the life energy poured into his body, it mended his broken bones and even fixed every torn muscle. His body healed rapidly, but the searing pain brought him to the point of losing consciousness.

‘’Yeah, that happens with a lot of broken bones and internal bleeding.’’

Ethan didn’t even hear it clearly as he was throwing up blood. Thankfully, it didn’t take long, but even after his body healed completely, the pain was still lingering. He tried to get up but couldn’t manage it. There was a vague sense of wrongness in his legs. ‘’T-Thanks. W-Who… are you?’’

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With a bang, the debris of the collapsed building scattered all around, and the sorry-looking Travis walked out inside of a dust cloud, looking everywhere for the attacker. When his gaze locked with the redhead, he yelled in rage. ‘’Justin! What is the meaning of this!?’’

Justin offered a nonchalant shrug and pointed to Ethan. ‘’He is a friend of the Olsen family. Matriarch told me to protect him.’’

‘’Are you kidding me?’’ Travis asked and raised his halved arm to air as he grit his teeth. ‘’Do you expect me to back off after this?’’

Justin nodded with pressed lips, trying to hold his laughter. ‘’Yes, I do. Though, I hope you wouldn’t.’’

Same lines, Ethan thought. Did he watch us from the start? Or are these maniacs all just eager to fight? Olsen… Olsen, right! The lady with the snake. Pete had mentioned that she might be Kathrine Olsen. But what does she want from me?

The fuming Travis took another look at Ethan, to which he returned with a calm expression. This time, there was no taunt or rage in his eyes, just a sincere promise: One day, he would collect this debt, and it’d be the most natural thing in the world. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Travis calmed himself slowly and spoke to Justin with indifference. ‘’She has to pay for this.’’

‘’She always does.’’

Walking next to Ethan, Travis stored his limb with a gloomy face and flew away without a word. 

Ethan finally relaxed and turned to Justin. ‘’May I ask, what is your matriarch wants from me?’’

‘’Who knows?’’ Justin said, pursing his lips. He took out a spatial bag and chucked it to Ethan. ‘’She told me to give this to you and thank you on her behalf for the cake. Whatever that means.’’

The cake I ordered in the Pink Pearl? The one that cost a silver coin? He looked inside the bag and saw his dream wooden cabin, the one he wished to buy at the Dragon’s Trove. But rather than being happy, a frown formed on his face. How does she even know about this? And why give me 50 mana stones worth a gift all of a sudden?

He threw the spatial bag back to Justin. ‘’Look, I’m grateful to you and your matriarch for saving my life, but I’m not looking for a sugar momma. Just tell her to ask me whatever she wants, and we’ll talk about it.’’

Justin stared at the bag for a moment before bursting out laughing. ‘’Oh, man,’’ he said before taking a deep breath and starting to laugh again. When he calmed down a little, he looked to his left, to an empty space. ‘’Sugar momma. Did you hear that? He said, sugar momma.’’

An old man with sword-like brows showed himself where Justin looked and pointed at the destroyed building, irritated. ‘’That wasn’t necessary.’’

‘’So?’’

The old man’s face darkened, ‘’Go play in Ehrendil. This city has enough troubles already,’’ he snapped and disappeared again like a ghost.

Justin shook his head with a smile. ‘’Alright. I’m going back. The McGregors shouldn’t be a problem anymore. I liked you, Ethan, don’t die too quickly.’’

Ethan watched Justin dissolve to air speechless. What the hell is wrong with these people? Did too many stats make them a little cuckoo in the head? Maybe it’s the long life span, but I don’t think they were that old. 

Feeling a little better, he got up with effort and looked around to see where he was exactly. He heard something from the rubble and started walking toward it with a frown. His new bones still felt strange but he was getting used to it. Next to the destroyed building, he used [Mana Sense] with his ears and scowled. 

Picking up the big stones one after another, he reached the people underneath shortly. There was a tier-3 father who used his body as a shield to protect his little daughters. Both of the little kids were okay, but the father was unconscious from the damage he took to his head. 

Thankfully, there was no one else in the building, but if their father wasn’t close by, the chance for little girls to survive was minimal. Both Justin and the old man must’ve noticed them, but they did nothing to help. This family’s lives were nothing but inconvenient to them. Even if Justin somehow didn’t realize it, it still didn’t make his actions any right. The only reason Ethan wasn’t enraged was the fact he wasn’t collecting bodies from the rubble. Maybe he calculated that they would be okay. Who knows how these people think or act?

Ethan brought them all out and gave the father a low-grade health potion. As the man woke up slowly, he assured the little girls that their father was okay. Soon after, the small family was hugging each other with cries. With high-tier people gone, many others were also starting to gather around them cautiously, shadows of fear in their eyes.

‘’Is there a place you could stay?’’ he asked the father, kneeling. 

‘’Y-Yes. I can go to my brother. T-Thank you for helping us.’’ 

Ethan gave a sympathetic nod. ‘’Don’t worry about it. Does your brother live close by? Let me help you guys to go there.’’

‘’There is no need, really. He lives a few streets away,’’ the man said, standing up. ‘’What was this about, anyway?’’

Ethan chuckled wryly. ‘’I don’t know. A lesson about regret?’’

The little girls were still holding their father tightly, seemingly afraid of him. Though, it wasn’t surprising since he was covered with blood all over. So, he decided to leave them to themselves, lest he gave the girls more trauma.

From his mini-map, he found where the biochip users gathered and turned in their direction, closing his eyes. A treacherous bastard, a sadistic sociopath, and an unreasonable lunatic. What a day…  He inhaled a deep breath and exhaled it slowly before opening his eyes sharply. I still have a long way to go before I can deal with the last two. Killing Travis and slapping the back of Justin’s head have to wait. But the first one… Oh, Leo, I hope you’ll be enough to blow my steam off.

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