novelraw Chapter 181: First Time Bandit Slaying!
Chapter 181: First Time Bandit Slaying!
"..."
Silence permeated the surroundings.
The bandits, the butler, and the young master all could not believe what they had just seen.
In one smooth motion, Zen’s body looked like it glided through the winds itself as he decapitated the bandit boss with one swing of his sword.
Ba— Thump! Ba— Thump! Ba— Thump!
Oblivious to everyone’s reactions, Zen’s sense of hearing was currently being drowned by the deafening sound of his heartbeats.
Especially the Heart of Evil located in his left chest.
’This is bad...’
Using his fingers to trace the smile that involuntarily appeared on his face, he thought, ’I didn’t expect it to feel so good...’
[Ding!]
[Detected that the Heart of Evil is trying to corrupt its host’s mind!]
[Ding!]
[The player’s Immortal Cells have subjugated the Heart of Evil.]
Fortunately, the feeling of ecstasy followed by Zen’s first kill soon disappeared after the system notifications sounded.
’Thank you, cancer... I guess?’
He did not know whether to laugh or cry, thinking that the very thing that made him suffer for most of his life was now helping him.
’Is this an example of an enemies-to-lovers trope?’
Zen used his optimistic tendency to drown the nervousness he felt earlier, ’Maybe I was able to ’Talk-no-Jutsu’ it when I talked to myself back then??’
Finally out of the strange state he was in earlier, he felt normal again.
Looking around, Zen saw that the bandits, as well as his employers, fell silent.
"Haha! Is that all that your boss amounts to? I expected bandits to be ruthless and bloodthirsty."
Seeing that the bandits still had hesitant expressions on their faces, he shouted, "Come! You have a mage among your midst, right!? Don’t tell me you’re all intimidated by my handsome face that easily!?"
"That brat’s getting cocky!"
"Well, he killed the boss in one shot..."
"Are you just going to let him go?"
"There are more than twenty of us, and he’s alone!"
"Right, maybe he spent all his strength in that one swing!"
...
The bandits were split into two groups: the ones who wanted to back out and the ones who wanted to avenge the bandit boss.
At this moment, a vibration could be felt within the air as a scroll flew above Zen’s head.
Wooong—
The scroll was torn open as a wave of mana pulsated from it and went towards Zen.
’What is this...? Let’s see what it can do...’
Zen’s eyes flashed with interest as he let the strange wave of mana work its magic despite his ability to cancel it.
However, what happened next was something h did never expected.
[Deadman Lv. 1]
His player name and level appeared and floated above his head.
’What the fuck?’ Zen could not help but curse inwardly.
Although he knew he was strong, he could not help but feel a little embarrassed when he saw the ’Lv. 1’ floating beside his name.
"Pfft— HAHAHAHAHA"
"He’s acting all mighty earlier, turns out he’s just a level 1!"
"Charge!"
...
The bandits laughed instantly the moment they saw Zen’s information and did not waste any time as they charged immediately from all directions.
Beside the carriage, Ferd and Verso were confused.
’Something’s wrong... He’s too strong to be a level 1... But equipment that can fake information from the System is almost nonexistent...’
The butler racked his brain, ’Could it be that... He’s not human?’
This was the only explanation he could possibly think of at this very moment.
After all, faking one’s level and name was extremely difficult.
However, there are many other races that have tried to shapeshift into a human and blend in with humanity.
While Ferd was trying to think of any other possible explanation regarding Zen’s situation, the battle with the bandits had just reached its climax.
More than ten bandits holding all sorts of weapons like swords, machetes, axes, and the like, all simultaneously charged towards the iron-armored Zen, who was merely holding a singular longsword.
’They’re slow...’
Zen thought as he felt like they were moving in slow motion.
Of course, this result was achieved by his monstrous stats, despite his not using any sort of skill yet.
Swoosh— Swoosh— Swoosh—
Swoosh— Swoosh— Swoosh—
...
In an instant, Zen was able to perform more than ten slashes as his body glided through the attacks of the bandits, dodging them smoothly without even breaking a sweat.
Thud— Thud— Thud—
Thud— Thud— Thud—
...
He appeared behind the group of bandits as the sounds of heads falling on the ground echoed in the area.
"H-He’s a monster!"
"R-Run!"
...
"They reacted quickly... Bandits in anime would normally be too stubborn to retreat..."
Zen muttered under his breath as he pushed his long sword to the ground to keep it from falling.
Then, he raised his left hand with his index and middle fingers extended outward.
"Ignite."
The steps of casting magic, Percieve, Interfere, and Infiltrate are all compressed in a single chant.
His imaginative energy was currently at an all-time high as a kindling soon appeared at the tip of his fingers.
Then, with Zen’s right hand, he slowly ’pulled’ the ball of fire at the tip of his left fingers like he was an archer knocking an arrow into a bow and pulling it towards his chest.
In this process, the ball of fire extended and really formed into the shape of an arrow.
[Infernal Arrow]
The chant that reflected the step of Manifest, and his making his imagination into reality, sounded as Zen let go of the flames.
Swoosh—
A streak of red line cut through the air and instantly arrived beside the group of bandits that wanted to escape.
Then...
BOOM!!!
A loud boom sounded, making Ferd’s ears ring due to the sheer sound of the explosion.
Then, under the butler and the young master’s amazed gazes, the flames from the explosion did not cause a forest fire.
Instead, it gathered back in a singular ball of fire and disappeared quietly after all the bandits’ bodies were turned into ashes.
White particles floated over towards Zen and absorbed into his body.
[Ding! You have killed a Human Lv. 7!]
[Ding! You have killed a Human Lv. 13!]
[Ding! You have killed a Human Lv. 9!]
[Ding! You have killed a Human Lv. 11!]
...
[Ding! You have killed a Human Lv. 15!]
[Ding! You have killed a Human Lv. 18!]
...
Strings of system notifications soon flashed in Zen’s eyes.
’Strange... the bandits’ bodies did not immediately disappear, unlike the wolves earlier...’
He shook his head, putting the idea at the back of his mind, ’I’ll just explore more about the death mechanics of the game as I go...’
Thud—!
Zen’s ears perked as he seemed to have heard a strange sound.
He instantly dashed in that direction and found a robed old man with a wooden staff beside him.
"You’re the mage earlier, right?"
"..."
"What’s the scroll you used on me earlier?"
"..."
"Do you hear me?"
"..."
No matter what Zen said, the old man remained silent.
His eyes were wide in shock, as if he saw something he could not believe.
Insanity. Surprise. Longing.
Were also the emotions present within his eyes.
"Normally, I’d let you live, but..."
Zen knew that even though the old man currently looked pitiful, he would never know how many innocent lives he had taken along with those bandits.
’It’s better to kill them than to let them harm another innocent life.’
Without delaying any further, he raised his steel longsword and struck at the old man’s neck.
"Y-You... How can you have the original magic s-ski—"
Swoosh— Thud!
Before the old man could finish his words, the longsword had already separated his head from his body.
"..."
Zen could not help but feel frustrated, "The heck? Why talk now when you’re about to die!? Argh, these kinds of characters are what I hate the most!"
"Oh well..."
He sighed helplessly as he took the old man’s satchel and placed it inside his storage artifact, before burning the corpse along with the old man’s wooden staff.
’I’ll check it for scrolls later...’
Zen soon rendezvoused with Ferd and Verso after cleaning up the other bandit corpses.
"Let’s go."
"Okay, Sir Deadman..." Ferd looked like he wanted to say something, but ultimately decided to hold back.
Verso decided to sleep in the carriage, seemingly in shock about everything that had happened.
As the carriage continued moving once again, Ferd and Zen sat together in the driver’s seat.
Seeing the butler glance at him multiple times, Zen chuckled lightly.
"Ferd, do you want to ask me anything?"
"N-No, I wouldn’t dare, Sir Deadman..."
"It’s fine."
"I don’t want to make you uncomfortable..."
"Just ask."
Seeing that Zen was about to snap, Ferd unintentionally swallowed his saliva and spoke, "W-Well, I just wanted to ask if Sir Deadman is a human? Of course, you don’t need to answer—"
"I am," Zen answered before he could even finish his words.
"H-Huh?"
"What? Don’t you believe me?"
"I-It’s not that, but..."
Zen knew that his situation did not make sense, ’This is why I didn’t try Profane Transfiguration earlier...’
Had he done so, he would not have been surprised if he were to be mistaken for a demon of some sort.
After all, this was not a normal game where you could do anything without NPCs judging you, nor their judgment of you affecting you in any way.