Chapter 12: Chapter 12.

After a few more twists and turns, and plenty of stairs delving deeper, we had walked out to grand chamber. It was as big as a cathedral. I couldn’t believe something of this size was under the city.

There were other groups around us too, and we could see them from the light they carried with them. They were hurrying along from one passage and into another.

“Did you take up the adventuring life only recently?” Summer asked me.

“Yeah, exactly. So, I might need a few tips here and there. I’m sort of new to all this.”

“That explains why I haven’t seen you at the guild. What did you do before this? You must have worked as a smith, right?”

I put on a sad face. “Yeah, exactly, but … tragedy hit, and here I am, doing what I can.”

“Aw, I’m sorry to hear that. If you have any questions, ask away,” Summer said.

And that I did, plenty too. Summer was warm and very chatty. She’d often speak much more than I had asked about. I learned that most of the spells were generic, and could be found across many races and classes.

Classes depended on race, and some races had unique classes that no other race had access to. These unique classes often had unique spells that no other class could get.

“Most people have only three spell slots,” Summer said. “But if you’re lucky, when you upgrade your class you could get an additional spell slot, but that’s very rare. I heard of a legendary mage that had six active spells slots. Could you imagine that? Insane.”

“Yeah that’s .. that’s amazing,” I said.

We hadn’t found any monsters yet. The vast chamber was more like a staging area for the adventurers. A couple of groups were resting out to the side, having a meal.

“Let’s do crypts,” Arina said. “I can’t stand the stench of the sewers.”

We took one of the numerous passages leading out of the chamber. The air felt drier and colder the deeper we went. Bone fragments crunched under foot. Decorated stone coffins stood in the passages and out in the alcoves. Shelves carved out in the walls were full of bones.

“With all the groups killing the monsters, where do the new ones keep coming from?”

“There’s a lot of magic that runs through the cities and the ground underneath,” Summer said. “Things rise up, especially during the night. If nobody cleared them out, the city above would be overrun in no time. That’s where we come in.”

Something moved ahead. I floated the shield up front. Star to the side.

A skeleton burst out. It ran straight at us. Its feet clacked loud against the stone ground. It raised its weapon high. It ran right into the tower shield and got stopped. I buzzed the star right through the center of it. Bones scattered everywhere. A scimitar like sword clattered to the ground.

[Essence gained: 23]

“Hrm, that was easy,” I said.

“Well, of course,” Arina said.

“Do we get any coin for killing it?”

Summer shook her head. “No, but you can take whatever they dropped.” She pointed at the weapon on the ground.

I picked it up, but found the grip and the balance to be awkward. Instead, I took a minute and reshaped it into a Gladius. The sort of a sword that ancient Roman foot soldiers had used. Two-edged blade about as long as my forearm. Knobbed hilt with ridges for the fingers. All steel. Now I wasn’t walking around empty handed.

We continued on forward, but didn’t find anything. Just more bones, coffins and empty pots.

“Hrm, someone has already been here, and recently,” Arina said. “We should head back and try another area.”

I spotted a foot peaking out the side of a coffin. I came around to find a gruesome sight. Four bodies were piled up, stripped almost naked. One was human and the others were covered in fur. The blood and wounds appeared fresh.

“The hell?” I said.

Arina cursed, spoke in a hushed voice. “We have to get the hell out of here.”

Summer gasped. “Arina, look, look. T-That’s .. that’s Ember. This is her group.”

Arina stared in disgust. “Oh. You’re right.”

“Who would do this?”

“It’s a long list.”

A victim of murder? It gave me an idea. I upgraded the Bounty Hunter profession, hoping it might help in this situation. I gasped as a sudden headache stabbed my mind, had me gritting my teeth. It passed and I breathed out in relief.

[Passive skill unlocked: On the Hunt]

[On the Hunt]

You are reading story Fearless Jack: Bounty Hunter [OP][LITRPG][Isekai] at novel35.com

• Track a killer to within 1,000 feet.

• Activation method: physical contact of the victim.

• Tracking limit: 1.

This was perfect. I brushed my hand over Ember’s foot and a sudden feeling of wariness jolted me up. The killer was here. Somewhere close, but which way or how far? I scanned around us, but couldn’t see far with the kind of light that Summer’s staff provided.

“I think the killers are close by. We have to go. Now. Keep your eyes open and move silently.”

We stepped light. Summer dimmed her staff to a quarter of light. Arina had her mace out, shield at the ready. Before leaving, I checked for signs as to which direction the perps could have gone to, but didn’t see any.

It made sense that there would be groups killing other groups instead of hunting lowly skeletons and rats. It would be a lot more profitable. They’d steal their gear, and ...

“Do you get Essence for killing other people?” I asked in a whisper.

Summer nodded.

“A lot?”

“Depends.” She tapped on her right hand.

It was the shortest sentence I heard her say. The grisly scene must have gotten to her. As we walked, she’d jump at every sudden noise. The feeling of wariness didn’t change one bit, and I couldn’t get the sense of where the killer might be.

We didn’t get very far. A group walked out of a side passage and right into us. Oddly, they didn’t use any sources of light. Did they have some magical way to see in the dark? I knew a very likely suspect when I saw one. Six in this case.

Three were in plate with shields and swords. Three wore chainmail and leather, daggers at the hip. Each one carried a backpack or a satchel over their shoulder.

“Shit, it’s them,” Arina whispered.

“Arina, is that you?” a man’s voice came from the group.

Her gaze hardened, yet it betrayed a hint of fear. “What do you want, Stefan?”

Stefan approached with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. “That’s no way to greet a good friend. Haven’t I been good to you?”

Arina glared at him. “I told you already. I’m done with you.”

I noticed a splotch of blood on his boots. Skeletons didn’t bleed, and he didn’t appear injured. None of them were. I didn’t want to butt in just yet. I wanted to see how Arina would handle it.

“But maybe I wasn’t done with you?” Stefan said.

“Go fuck a pig,” she told him.

He slapped her across the face with the back of his gauntlet. Arina reeled from the attack, blood dripped from her nose.

I groaned internally. Now it was my turn. I attached my gladius to the tower shield, lowered them both to the grown along with the star.

“See Dandee,” I spoke loud with a cheery tone so everyone could hear me. “This is how you treat a woman that doesn’t know her place.”

Unarmed, I walked up to the guy with smirk on my face. He looked at me with caution, hand on his sword’s hilt. Others appeared antsy. These boys were looking for a fight.

“This little bitch has been mouthing off for hours now,” I said. “How did you ever manage to stand her for so long?”

Arina glared at me. I had to hand it to her, she was in control of her temper. It must have taken a great deal of restraint to not to charging in, mace swinging. She had to know we were outmatched against them. Summer looked downright terrified. I couldn’t see Dandee, but I bet he looked confused.

The guy relaxed his grip on the sword’s hilt. His facial expression softened. Signs of wariness smoothed out. He was buying my act.

“My name’s Jack,” I said with a pleasant smile on my face, and extended my hand to shake his. “Do you need a vanguard by any chance? Because, I don’t know if I can stand to be in this group of weaklings any longer.”

Stefan scoffed, looked amused. Others in his group chuckled. He reached and shook my hand.

“Perhaps, what can you do?” he asked.

Fool.

Let me show you.

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