by Pegaz
John retrieved his rope and put it into storage before leaving the cave.
He was headed back to town now to see if Agent had another job for him yet. If not, he maybe should start hunting B Rank creatures again. Werewolves were too few for the amount he was thinking of killing. He only had three years and a few months to complete as many of the skills as possible while travelling towards the capital. And now he needs to collect as many Life Stones as he can too.
"Who's there?"
John was momentarily stunned at the voice of another person. They must have come here because of the noise from the collapsing underground cave. He turned towards the sound and recognised the person immediately.
It was the chubby guy from the Newbie Town's survival course.
"Aren't you the guy from Newbie Town?" The guy recognised John too. John just nodded to this question and turned Life Vision skill on to look around.
Other than the chubby guy and his party, there was someone in the tree not far away. This kid probably didn't even realise he had a secret guard. John used the analyser on him.
???
Attack: 835
Defence: 600
John was less worried. He checked each of the members; there were four people total, and three of them he recognised from the same survival course.
The chubby guy.
???
Attack: 210
Defence: 450
The guy on the left behind the chubby guy.
???
Attack: 240
Defence: 110
The woman to the right of the chubby guy.
???
Attack: 290
Defence: 200
The last woman directly behind the chubby guy.
???
Attack: 350
Defence: 30
John was finally worry-free. Even if all five of these guys teamed up he could probably handle the whole group all at once with ease. He turned around and started walking.
"Hey, don't ignore me! What happened here?" The chubby guy’s voice grated on John’s ears.
"Don't know." Not turning around or stopping, that was his only answer.
"Don't you know who I am? Come back here and answer me properly!"
John stopped for a few seconds without turning around. "Don't know, don't care. Don't order me around." Then, he carried on walking away from them.
John didn't want to get close to anyone until he turned twenty-one at the very least. From his novels, he’d learned that immortality could be a curse if you were friends with mortals. Outliving everyone you cared about most certainly seemed curse-like. Any family he would have in the future, he wanted to become immortals too. John didn't think he could survive the pain of watching them die of old age.
Snapping back to reality, he knew the chubby guy wasn't going to let him just leave, so he shouted, "You in the tree, tell the guy you're protecting to quit, otherwise it won't end well. If it isn't him you're protecting, then tell him anyway for both of your sakes."
The chubby guy didn't know what he was talking about and thought he was trying to scare him. Suddenly, the person John had spoken to stood in front of him, showing no signs as to how he got there. The man bowed towards him.
"Young master, your father ordered me to protect you in the dark. That man is far more dangerous than you realise. Please swallow your anger for now, if you want to get out of this alive."
Chapter 35
The Order
"You say he's dangerous? Why? Because he found you? That does not make him dangerous." The chubby guy wasn't convinced.
"Young master, let me put it this way. Even your father can't find me while I'm hiding without at least three minutes of time. This young man here discovered me after a few seconds of looking around. He looked at me directly and smiled. He saw through me, and he knew I was no match for him." The man had cold shivers from just thinking of that smile.
"And if we compare me to your whole party,” he continued, “I could kill all four of you within 2 seconds." It was this remark that left the whole party stunned. They then realised how lucky they were for not pissing that guy off.
"Then I want you to send people to investigate him! If he doesn't have a stronger supporter than my dad, I want him killed. He could be displeased with how I talked to him just now and could come back any time."
"Very well, I'll send someone to investigate him. While we know he was on that survival course with you, do you happen to know his name? That would make it a lot easier and get faster results."
"No, I don't, even on the course he didn't talk to anyone and kept out of everyone's way. He even left in the middle of the night, before the course finished. That's the only reason I remember him." That's what the chubby guy remembered the most. He had to learn everything, but some guy had walked away in the middle of the night. Unbelievable.
"If I remember right, he only paid attention to the skinning and cooking part of the course. I remember because he was in front of me, squatting down," one of the women chimed in.
"So that means he already knew how to survive in the wild, but didn't know how to do the things that the guild requested to make money. That is troubling, young master. If my guess is right, he's the type who was already able to survive for months or even years in the harshest weathers, the roughest terrains, and against the strongest of monsters. If it's true then even if he has no backers, he would, by himself, cause the whole family to have nightmares. We must not make an enemy out of this man."
"Fine, investigate him and ask my dad on what we should do. Make sure to tell him that about this encounter, too."
"Yes, young master. Please be careful for a few hours while I get this sorted for you." The man nodded then disappeared as subtly as he’d arrived. The four people decided to set up camp and wait for his return.
If John had only known that he’d caught people's attention by walking away in the middle of the night during that training course, he’d want to murder his past self… He originally did that specifically to AVOID people's’ attention!
Yet, the past was in the past and John was currently unaware what had just transpired. He was currently tracking down the Life Stones that were buried in this area, avoiding all wolves when possible. After he collected all seven that the map indicated, he returned to town.
Back at the inn, he was looking at one of the Life Stones in his hands. Even though he knew what they were, for now, he had no idea how to gain Life Power from the stones. With a sigh, he put the stones away. He wanted to start on the immortal road as soon as he hit the proper age, and to do that he needed to know how to take the first step.
John went downstairs to have his meal when the inn manager passed him a note again. After he had his lunch, he went to see the Agent, as per directed by the note.
" ‘Yo, we got all the information for the other four targets' surrounding people. There's even a fifth special target. A little blast from the past." The agent smiled and placed five parchments on the table.
"The prince?"
"Yup, we've found out he's only staying in this town tonight. He won't be here in the morning. The only problem is he's got an elite army surrounding him, and he knows the count has died already."
John shook his head. "I'm too weak to kill the prince now, so if another guy wants to take the job then let him. What of the other four? Give me the summaries, please."
"Okay then, first is another count by the name of Lee. He has over three hundred bodyguards now, a recent addition after hearing about your first little tirade. All the new bodyguards are innocent, only eighty-nine including Lee is guilty. The second is a Baron, and his name is Tony. He can't afford new bodyguards, and only five including Tony are guilty. The third is the head of a hunter group, no bodyguards. Only he and one other is guilty. Fourth and final is a lone adventurer."
The four contracts bummed John out. He wanted to kill hundreds of people for the Time Pool compensation. He chose to take them all.
&n
bsp; "After I've completed these, I'll probably be leaving town for a while, maybe to go south to the next town," John told Agent his plans with a twinge of soberness.
The Agent smiled and nodded, writing something down on a piece of leather and giving it to him. It was an address in the next residential town, and he was to make contact with the agent there if he wanted work. John thanked him, then started memorising the sketches of the people he had to kill tonight.
Back at the chubby guy's party, the guard had just returned. Out of breath, he choked out his message.
"Young master, your father has ordered you and your party members to leave as soon as possible, forget everything about that man. The order also states that if you do not listen, I have the right to force you to return, the only thing it said to avoid was killing you. If you meet that man again, you must ignore him, walk away, and do anything BUT annoy him."
The man's words stunned the group entirely. "Just who is that guy? Did my dad tell you that, at least?"
The man shook his head. "No, just these orders. We have to leave, now. That guy might still be in this area. I'll take you back to Rocky town tonight, and we'll head back to the capital in the morning. Your party members have been welcomed to join you if they so wish, but even if they don't, your adventure is over for a while."
The other party members decided to join him going to the capital.
It was now 7pm, and it’s starting to get dark. John was leaning on a tree inside the town centre, crossing his arms. He was just taking in the sights for a while. When it got completely dark at 8pm, John changed his clothes to black, took off his boots, and put his mask on.
It's time to hunt.
He first went and killed the adventurer, who had just left town. This took John fifteen minutes including the trip to and back.
He killed the two hunters next, both in their own homes inside of the town.
Then it was the baron’s turn, he killed all five people a mere few seconds apart.
It was 6am by the time John finished killing the count and his eighty-eight loyal people.
Monitoring his Time Pool, he had gained 3mo 12d as reward. He put it all in Blood's Capacity, levelling it to 95. The new time needed read as 12d 12h at Level 90, which confirmed his suspicions that the time reduced a little whenever it hit a digit with a zero at the end.
John changed his clothes colours when he finished the jobs and went to the inn. In the morning, he went into the guild to look for B Rank quests to take him to the next town. It was time to move on.
Quest: Escort 5 Prisoners to Visitors Town.
Rank: B
Pay: £40,000 per week for a maximum of 5 weeks.
Dangers: Bandits, friends and family of prisoners. Rank B monster area is strongest you'll have to go through.
Leaves: Monday morning. Meet at the town centre.
John took this quest down from the board.
Chapter 36
Attacking Bandits
John walked to the town centre to meet with his party for the quest he’d accepted. As he approached, he saw ten carriages lined up and a familiar face was leading them.
"Didn't think I'd meet you again, nor did I expect you to climb the ranks so fast! I was only here visiting family, and you’ve already shot from E to B Rank!?"
It was the driver of the merchant's wagon from his first E Rank mission.
"Didn't think you'd be here either,” John tilted his head curiously, “Aren't you a... high ranking member? Why are you doing a B rank mission?" John almost let it slip that he knew the driver was S Rank.
"I’m on my way home. Might as well earn a bit of pocket money. Only came here to give my family some money and try to convince them to come with me to the capital. They love it here though, so only thing I can do is leave."
"Oh, well as long as they like it here and aren't being forced to stay, then it's home. I don’t know if I’ll like the big city life in the capital either," John especially wanted to avoid the capital main sources of trouble: political figures, nobles, and royalty. He then rechecked the driver.
???
Attack: 1,200
Defence: 1,100
"Anyway, what did these five men do to be taken to Visitor Town, anyway? I heard it's named that way because it's the only prison in the capital. Must be huge."
The man nodded. "It is huge, it's bigger than Rocky Town by about ten times. All the kingdom's criminals go there. They either serve their sentence and leave, or find their death by execution."
The mood grew cold at these words.
"Only high ranking guild staff are allowed to work there, and they only answer to the royal members too. I don't know about the whole system, but if you're found guilty, that's where you go for the punishment. These five men have been proven guilty of murder. Plus, four of them are bandits from a local group."
"The bandit group have a name?" John thought he’d better ask.
"Nope, just a leader and about forty members. It's a small group, not much in their hideout."
"Alright,” John shrugged and changed the subject. “Hey, well, I hate to ask this but is there a carriage where I can sleep? I’m still a bit worn out, I was hunting all night. Oh, and what's your name, by the way? I never got it."
"Haha, yeah, nap all you want, I trust your work ethic. You're the ninth member of our party, so you'll be in Carriage Five. You'll be on your own unless another member comes. Also, my name is Shaun. Nice to meet you again."
The five carriages transporting the prisoners were in the centre, the other carriages are split up. There were three up front and two behind. Carriage Five turned out to be the last carriage, assigned to protect the group’s rear. Shaun explained that he would be in the first carriage in case of any ambushes. He then introduced John to the other seven adventurers, who were also Rank B.
"Nice to meet you,” John spoke to the group. “If you didn't catch my name, it's John. I'm an A Rank adventurer, but I can't beat an A Rank creature just yet, so I’m stuck with B Rank quests for now."
This statement stunned Shaun for a second. "Wait... You went from E to A rank in what, a few months?”
John just smiled. "I'm going to go take a nap now. It's this carriage, right? Wake me up for dinner if I'm not up by then, please.”
And with that, he climbed into the carriage and lied down to sleep.
John checked out the other seven adventurers as they were setting off. There were four men and three women, all roughly C Rank by the system's standards. He rechecked Shaun, finding the information had updated with his name.
He drifted into a light sleep.
A month later, John was lying down inside his carriage. He’d grown used to leaving his Life Vision and Night Vision skills both on at all times. Through the carriage’s walls he spotted the outline of a group huddled together over the hill. It's either monsters or a group of humans. Either way, I need to check it out.
John got out of his carriage and ran to Shaun in the first carriage. He sat in the driver's seat next to Shaun, leaned back, and casually closed his eyes. He spoke in a whisper meant only for Shaun’s ears.
"Don't panic, but we've got stalkers. It's a group over the mountain to our right, though I don't know if it's monsters or humans yet. I'm going to take a look." Shaun discreetly nodded his head, staring straight ahead.
John got down and went back to his carriage. He waited for a big tree to come in between his targets and the caravan, obscuring their view of him for extra measure. He stayed in the path of the tree and broke into a sprint toward the hill. Once arriving close to his cover, he knelt down. After a moment of contemplation, he ran around the hill making sure not to be spotted. Just to be safe, he took his boots off and stored them, held his breath, and then carried on.
He came right up to the group of people without being spotted. They are all wearing black cloaks and armed with swords, maces, and crossbows from what John could see. He snuck up behind the furthest person in the back. He put his right hand over
their mouth, giving their temples a sound knock. The person soundlessly fell unconscious.
John moved the body as quietly as possible to a few feet behind, then approached once more in the safety of cover. Seeing the opportunity for a little fun, John grinned and snuck closer to another member. He leaned over and ever so slightly whispered to the man in front of him.
"So when do we attack?"
Without turning around the person just replied. "Soon, rookie. You still remember the plan, right?"
"Of course I do, but could you run it by me one more time." John knew he was reaching and enjoyed every moment of it.
"Dammit, you need to remember things like this. Fine, last time though. We're going to kill all the adventurers in those carriages and save our bandit members. If we're lucky, then there are a few women in that group we can bring back to play with, too. Boss has brought the whole crew for this job, so don't you screw it up."
John nodded his head. Now he had the confirmation that these guys are bandits, up to no good. If left alone, they could be dangerous to his group. Especially those three women adventurers.
Satisfied with the information, John held his breath again and abruptly crushed the guard’s neck into asphyxiation. He picked up the body and placed it back where he’d left the other unconscious person.
Looking down at the sleeping man, John felt no sense of mercy. With a soft ‘crunch,’ he killed the unconscious person too.
He repeated this tactic over and over again until only the boss was left alive.
Unbeknownst to this leader, John approached him from behind. The man was still bent over the cover of a rock, gazing deeply into the horizon. The caravan was his only concern. John was just about to make his killing move, when the boss stood up and shouted "Attack!" then charged at the carriages.
John was stunned for a second and then just smiled. He put his boots back on and walked after the boss.