Chapter 18 Village
I stared at the woman with cautious eyes. I felt her power rise with each second. If the people from before were as strong as the Demons, she felt as if she could take on two of them.
"I will kill you. I will kill you," she kept on repeating, and her eyes grew hazy.
The princess was batshit crazy.
I dashed in first. Moving hurt a lot, but I ignored the pain because I knew I couldn't let her gain the upper hand.
Unlike when attacking the Demons, I didn't use all of my Mana to launch the most devastating strikes.
Instead, I kept a good amount in my legs and arms to allow myself to dodge if needed, while attacking as fast as possible.
My tactic proved to be the right one as the girl swiped her claw-like nails towards me. I wouldn't have been able to dodge that attack. Her strikes were vicious. Some were even able to reach me and draw blood.
But for each attack, I returned a blow to one of her vital parts: Liver. Spleen. Heart. Solar Plexus. I hit them all in exchange for a little amount of blood. I liked this deal. The batshit crazy princess didn't.
She screamed like a banshee and charged at me, accompanied by wild swings. Her strikes left multiple marks on the trees around us. She grew angrier. She grew faster. But most importantly, she grew irrational.
She overextended one of her strikes. I grabbed her wrist tightly before pulling.
She stumbled towards me and was met with a mana-infused headbutt.
Her nose broke into a bloody mess, and her skull caved in.
I repeated the process. Her brain turned to mush.
Her body turned limp. I let go of her, and she dropped to the ground like a wet sack of potatoes.
Bonus Objective Completed: You have killed the one who set you up.
I just stared at the woman. I hadn't expected...
her. I wasn't talking about her being the perpetrator.
I didn't care. That was Timothy's life, not mine.
I was talking about her...Skill? Her Martial Arts?
I was sure the people in this Simulation didn't have access to the System.
But whatever it was that she used...it was dangerous.
She suddenly grew in strength and turned mindless.
I hadn't predicted that, and were I weaker, I would have died.
What an exciting discovery.
I shrugged and pushed away the feelings I felt.
Instead, I went back to the makeshift camp and looted the people whom I killed.
First, I rummaged through their robes. I found nothing.
Then I checked their wrists and fingers.
Nothing again. It was only after I checked in on Max that I discovered a small, black bracelet glinting in a metallic sheen wrapped around his wrist. It was inconspicuous, but I knew what it was: a Storage Bracelet.
I took it from him and put it around my own wrist. Sending mana inside, I was able to see its contents, in the same way I would imagine having a hologram inside your mind's eye.
It was distracting. I kept in mind not to use it during a fight.
The contents of the bracelet were simple. Deer meat, cooked and uncooked; other meal provisions that looked like emergency food. Fire tools, tents, flare guns, torches, a couple of crystals and jewelry; multiple pairs of clothes and undergarments; and lastly, an old book.
I took out the cooked deer meat and the book. I salvaged the food and read the book for the next few hours, simply recovering from the fight. It was dawn when I closed the book, put it into my Storage Bracelet, and sighed.
The book was interesting. It was a sort of journal about Max's blacksmithing experience. Not only did he talk in detail about what he was creating but also his struggles, either skill-wise or just mindset-wise. It was an interesting read, especially with nothing else to do.
I looked into the distance. The sun rose in the distance, breaking away the night and covering the horizon in an orange hue. It was time to move again.
I stopped every night to camp. The first few times setting up a tent and fire ended miserably, but eventually, I got the hang of it. With food covered—the deer would last months—I continued to review Timothy's Martial Arts experience and integrate it into my own.
I passed the clearing where the previous portal was located on day 2.
On day 4, I spotted the next clearing, and on day 5, I was able to see the Demons guarding another 20-foot giant portal.
It was all the same: 3 Demons. One Portal.
All within a barren clearing surrounded by simple plains for a few hundred feet before being encompassed by a giant forest.
The process of taking care of the Demons was the same as before.
I lured out one by creating as much sound as possible.
It was a Demon with a boar head. I took care of it with a few mana-infused strikes to its organs before delivering a final blow that blasted apart all of its insides.
The attack took a toll on me, but it went better than last time.
I rested. Then, I took care of the last two Demons by fighting them head-on. This time, it resulted in just my arm being slightly numb while my ribs remained intact. I looked at the two corpses and grinned brightly. Not only was I less injured, but what I called Mana Strike worked much better now.
Mana Strike allowed me to send Mana into my enemies' bodies, allowing me to hurt their insides.
Of course, the attack had its drawback. It took a lot of Mana to send the attack into my enemies' bodies, and secondly, the stronger the defense on the outside, the more Mana the attack cost. I couldn't just bypass armor like nothing.
Still, the ability was fucking awesome. It was not a Skill but rather just me manipulating Mana in a certain way and giving it a name.
I shattered the portal with one Mana Strike.
The third portal ended very much the same way. It took me 3 days to get there. The clearings were getting closer to each other. I lured out one monster and took on the last two Demons head-on. I guessed I could now take on all three, but I decided not to take that risk.
Standing in front of the third, crumbled portal, I checked my objectives.
Objective One: 3/3
Objective Two: 9/25
Bonus Objective: Complete.
No new Objective appeared. I was happy, at least somewhat. I guessed that the more objectives I completed, the better the rewards I would receive. In fact, I had already checked my level, but it didn't change at all.
The objectives stayed the same for the next few days as I wandered through the forest, trying to find the next demon. It wasn't until I found a change in routine that a new objective appeared in front of my vision.
Bonus Objective added. Save the village from a small group of Demons. You have 24 hours to prepare.
I was once again at the edge of the forest. But instead of looking at a clearing with a portal in the distance, I could see a small village built next to a small river.
Inhabitants were running around wildly, with people shouting at each other.
Weapons were drawn. Orders were barked. And even makeshift traps and spikes were being placed around the village.
There were maybe 20 people total, looking at the amount of houses. All combatants.
My first instinct from all the fighting was hiding and helping the village from the shadows. But there was a reason why I was told that I had 24 hours to prepare. I probably couldn't take them on my own.
I stopped hiding, and twenty minutes later, I arrived in front of the village. The villagers' eyes went from panicked to relieved to scared in a span of seconds. I stood just outside the village after seeing those fear-filled eyes. Nobody talked to me. In fact, they didn't even talk to each other.
It wasn't until an older gentleman, who reminded me of Samuel, arrived that somebody spoke.
"What do these honorable Martial Artists want from our small village?" The man said and bowed deeply.
"My name is Timothy. I am a Core Disciple from the Mana Martial Sect. It has come to our attention that the village is under attack from Demons. It is our mission to protect this village and vanquish all of the foes that dare to step into humanity's lands."
I decided to create a story; I thought it would sound believable and would get them to listen to me.
"The Mana Martial Sect?"
"Aren't they one of the strongest–"
"Silence! Do not interrupt our conversation!" the elder screamed, then turned back to me. His tone much more meek. "Is there proof of identity you could show us? A token perhaps? Where are your comrades?"
I froze for a moment, not having an answer prepared. Then I shook my head sorrowfully, "Unfortunately not. I lost my token fighting multiple Demons a week ago. A nasty bunch. Injured me badly."
I showed them the three cuts across my chest. The scars were still there. They gasped in shock.
I continued, "My comrades and I had to split up after we got overwhelmed. We agreed to meet here and fulfill our mission...alas...I-I don't think they will join us."
The elder nodded slowly. I knew he was still unsure of my intentions. I felt for his strength and that of the villagers. They were quite weak. Maybe at the level of the Goblins I previously fought. No threat. I looked into my Storage Bracelet, being vulnerable for a brief moment.
I nodded. I still had enough cooked deer meat for multiple months. Besides this, I was also lucky enough to catch another one. This one wasn't skinned nor prepared, however. Just a corpse.
"I know it's hard to believe that somebody is coming to help you, so let me show you my goodwill."