Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Tracking is not a simple matter. Especially for those without years of training. But it was without a doubt an important skill nonetheless. And if you're in the wild, this skill's usefulness will be even more apparent. It might even save your life in crucial moments.

Just like now, if I didn't dabble in tracking techniques when I was in my previous world. There's a high chance that these villains will successfully kidnap Tenya.

You can find out whether there's a people who had come in a certain direction by just observing the surroundings such as the uneven grasses, broken branches, footprints, and many others. Paired with [Vision of Life] no one could escape from me even if they had an invisible quirk.

Sure enough, a few minutes into the forest and I caught a few traces of an odd branch. It bent in a weird direction. I took in the surroundings carefully and saw a few faint footprints on the soil. 

I went down to take a closer look. The footprints went to the northeast. By the size of the boots, they belong to an adult. It's not good news since if I count it right, there should be three adults chasing after Tenya.

This time I was clouded by hesitation. I wonder if it's worth it for me to involve myself any further in this mess.

Now that it involves more than one adult, the situation might be a bit tricky.

Adult

It's a simple word, but carry a big meaning for children living in this world. I experienced this first-hand a few years ago. The power of an adult.

With the existence of the dungeon, comes the existence of forced conscription. This made even the lazy and untalented bunches experience an increase in power by just diving into the dungeon. 

Considering the conscription started at the age of 16 years old, the second year of hero academy. Just imagine how strong an adult had in strength after years of killing monsters. Even if untalented, they had to be at least a third-class hero, which is a Level 2 hero. And if they're talented and managed to survive, they could become a second-class hero which is ranging from Level 3 to Level 5 heroes.

They're not an existence a child in Level 1 could face against. Is it worth it to risk my life just for a character in a show? 

Of course, It's not worth it.

Nothing is more important than my life. But why am I going deeper to chase the pursuers? Heh, that's because I'm not one to shy away from the opportunity. 

Right, I smell it. 

This is the smell of opportunity.

I have been having a bottleneck in my quest to increase my stats lately. Maybe these "adults" could help me solve the problem plaguing me these days. But even though I said so, that doesn't mean I'll go gun blazing on these adults. Without sufficient strength, open confrontation is a stupid move.

I leap between trees toward the northeast where the pursuers went. As I get closer, I finally caught two green silhouettes dashing deeper into the forest.

Only two? Where's the third one?

I gave the surrounding a look but I only saw these two, not even a sight of Tenya.

It's weird. 

It might be a trap, but it could also be a chance to thin their number. There's no time to hesitate at a moment like this. So I went down from the tree and moved as quietly as possible as I chase after their back. Moving on the ground makes it less likely for me to be spotted. Leaping between trees causes some noise, at least it was noisier than running on the ground. Or maybe that was because I'm a novice in the art of tree leaping.

Anyway, they're moving quite fast, so I was having trouble making my move. In the end, I keep shadowing them while maintaining the [Vision of Life], looking for a chance to finish them off. I also tried to keep my surroundings clean to avoid any kind of ambush.

Three and a half minutes later, the two suddenly stopped. I was caught off guard by this, but I managed to leap to the branch beside me, hiding my figure behind the thick trunk.

Did they see me?

My heart thumped violently.

I could track them from afar with [Vision of Life], it gives me safety but that way I can't kill them as I have no long-distance killing weapon. So I have no choice but to risk it. Get close and personal.

I took a deep breath and pull out a pen from my inner pocket. At a glance, it looks like an ordinary pen. But if you look closer, you would soon see something weird about the pen.

I rolled the pen between my fingers. The light seeping through the foliage caused the pen to gleam with a deep metallic tinge. It looks abnormal as hell. 

Yup, this pen is a customized killing weapon. Although it was lacking in impact compared to a knife. But in terms of potential, it had a higher chance of killing the target. After all who would have thought a pen could be a deadly tool that ends their life. But the range is a bit short. The longer the distance, the less likely I could reap my target's life. Hence, it can't be used as a long-range attack.

I stilled while watching the two green silhouettes making a weird movement with their hands.

Hand sign?

As I thought, they already discovered me. There's no way they failed to notice a Level 1 tailing them from behind.

Is this the strength of Level 2?

I examined the intensity of their life force once again, just to be sure. And yeah, they're around early Level 2. Still way ahead from the mid not to mention peak Level 2. I should still have some chance at landing a killing blow.

Through the tree's thick trunk, I could see the two parted and moving in different directions.

This... not good! They're planning to flank me!

Without hesitation, I turn back and escaped. Using various obstacles as a cover. But if they could see me, they might realize that the direction of my escape is weird.

That was because I was not doing a normal escape.

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By using the [Vision of Life] I managed to steer my escape slightly toward one of the pursuers. True enough, a moment later, I saw the pursuer in the flesh. An adult with a mask!

I used the forest obstacles as a cover to get closer to him. The moment I saw him, he also spotted my figure shifting between the trees. When our eyes meet, I saw the disbelief in his eyes. No doubt wondering why a kid is chasing after them with unbelievable speed.

That's right, now I was pumping more juice to my feet and I burst with more speed than a Level 2 newbie. The man was caught off guard but he managed to raise his hand to block my hand chop to the neck.

Splurt~

A silver tinge glinted between my fingers and a splatter of blood landed on the man's mask as my attack went through his leather jacket and cleft his hand.

"Khuaaaghhh!!" 

The man whined in pain as his hand dangled on his wrist.

"Sorry about that, I messed up. this is my first time so I failed to sever your hand entirely." I was aiming for his neck though.

But my intimidation is working as he looked at the smiling me with fear in his eyes. His pain and massive loss of blood started to cloud his judgment. It can be seen by his escape, turning his back on me which is an unwise move.

I didn't bother to chase him. I flicked my fingers and a deep metallic flash flickered amidst the foliage before blooming into a fountain of red as my pen pierced his head.

I stared down at the blood dripping from the dagger. He's stronger than me, I can tell. But it ended in my victory, and with such ease. 

I flicked the small silver knife in my hand, splattering the lingering blood away from the blade. It might be because of this knife. It made the whole thing easier. But he managed to block my attack even while caught off guard. That's not a good sign.

As expected, Level 2 is stronger than I thought. Good thing I decided to go all out. I even used a magic knife. Although it's weaker than an artifact, the quality is not bad. It's sharp as hell.

With a bit of sleight of hand, I managed to make him think that it was just a hand chop. Hence his decision to block my attack instead of avoiding it. Which ended in his death.

This might look unexpected and somewhat surprising for the people in this world but not for me.

Even if you're strong, it doesn't guarantee that you'll come out of the battlefield in one piece. Strength alone is not enough to survive on the battlefield. The corpse in front of me is the prime example of it.

I eyed the forest on my left while cracking my knuckles. 

"I guess it's time."

I leap back to the tree branch and went in another direction without giving the corpse another look. There's no more life force emanating from his body. He's 100℅ dead.

I hide myself a few meters from the fallen man and hold my breath on top of the branch. From here, I could oversee the clearing and the approaching green silhouette.

Soon enough, a moment later a figure come out from the bushes and halted in shock when he saw his dead comrade. 

The man sensed something bad, but he was too late as a pen is flying at high speed toward his temple.

He managed to dodge to the side, but a portion of his left ear was gone, leaving a trace of red stain on his balaclava.

This time I was impressed.

Unlike his companion, he didn't scream like a little bitch even though his whole ear was scrapped off. 

As a sign of respect, I'll give him a proper ending as a warrior. 

"Don't disappoint me."

I dashed toward him in a burst of speed. The man turned to his left, trying to keep me in his sight. But there's a bit of a delay due to his missing left ear. It causes his hearing to worsen by more than a half.

I used this chance to close in the distance and went for the throat. But he deflected it with his right hand. I can't help but clicked my tongue in annoyance. 

The man breath steadily even though there's a copious amount of blood trickling down his cheek. I failed to do any real harm.

As I thought, without a magic knife, it won't be that easy. But maybe it's for the best. Killing him would be a waste.

I observed the surrounding with [Vision of Life] but saw no other human in sight, just some small animals running away in fright. It's possible that the third pursuer already fled from the forest or already completed his mission. If that is the case, then this guy might be my only loot. By killing him, the whole trip will be wasted.

"Nope, that must not happen."

So I can't let this guy flee from my grasp. It might be a bit hard to subdue him without using a magic knife. But I have no choice. My sword mastery is far from Ais. It would be bad if I accidentally killed him. I have no choice but to end this the old-fashioned way.

This man had about the same amount of life force as his dead comrade but he's way more skilled at fighting.

I can feel it with that one exchange. He's a veteran with real combat experience!

This is going to be fun.

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