Ryo was slashed.
While he was stunned, fiery feathers from Roja's blade scattered through the
air until they all vanished. Ryo fell to his knees, blood dripping from his
mouth, a bleeding slash across his chest. Then his body collapsed to the
ground.
**************************************
-Ryo-
LEVEL:35
LIFE
POINTS: 50/2300
MANA:
200/699
**************************************
Roja glanced at the
screen near Ryo's body. "Good thing I only used my level 1 skill. I could have
killed him completely if I'd used one of my higher-level skills. Now it's time
to take him out of Lenor," Roja thought.
He was about to cast
a spell when General Sylvaris appeared on the screen beside him.
"Don't finish him
yet. Heal him, then beat him again. His death alone will not be enough to pay
for the thousand lives of Birigan soldiers he took," General Sylvaris said with
contempt.
Roja wanted to refuse
Sylvaris's orders, but he suspected that they weren't coming from Sylvaris
alone—they were from the goddess herself. Roja was deeply hesitant to disobey
the goddess, fearing that she might punish him in a way that would separate him
from Princess Jewel.
He looked at General
Sylvaris hesitantly, but he realized that this punishment of the criminal named
Ryo would soon be over. Roja didn't really care about Ryo; he was only worried
about Princess Jewel, who was watching. He knew she was suffering, seeing Ryo
being beaten.
So he reached out to
Princess Jewel through telepathy.
"Princess, I don't
want you to witness this. But I promise, after this execution event, I'll make
sure Ryo survives. Please, leave the coliseum now. I don't want to see you
hurting."
Princess Jewel
replied, "No. I will not leave until I see Ryo leave the city. After this
event, I want you to take me wherever you're taking him, so I can be sure he'll
be okay."
"All right, Princess.
If that's what you want," Roja said.
"What are you waiting
for, Roja? Heal him!" General Sylvaris demanded.
Roja swiped the
screen, and Sylvaris's image disappeared.
He glanced at Ryo's
body and saw that Ryo was healing himself. Slowly, he began to rise, a green
light swirling around him, restoring his life points.
Quickly, Roja grabbed
Ryo by the hair and began kicking him in the face—again and again..
////////////////////////////////////////////////
"Shiiit! Why is he
torturing him?! Why not just kill him already?!" Wei exclaimed, watching Ryo
get beaten by Roja.
One of the nearby
elves heard him, turned, and snapped, "So what if he's getting tortured? He's
just a stupid human who came into this world craving power. He deserves it—he
slaughtered thousands of Birigan soldiers just to level up. What a vile,
pathetic creature. But then again, that's just human nature: stupid and evil."
The elf scoffed.
Then, noticing Wei's
features, the elf narrowed his eyes. "Ah, now I get it. You're sympathizing
with that criminal because you're human too. In that case, maybe you should
join him in the arena—and get executed too! Hahaha!" the elf mocked, loud
enough to draw the attention of the other elves around them.
Wei's anger exploded.
He grabbed the elf by the collar and pulled his arm back, fist clenched,
building up full force. In a split second, he released a solid, human-level
punch.
His fist landed
squarely on the elf's mouth, sending the elf's entire body spinning through the
air before crashing to the ground.
The other elves stood
frozen, speechless, stunned by what they'd just witnessed.
"You better stay dead
on the floor. Because after I head to that arena and beat that elf swordsman,
I'll come looking for you. Believe me—you don't want to feel that punch again.
Death tastes sweeter than my fist. So stay freaking dead," Wei said with contempt.
He walked past the
elf's crumpled body, then spat on him without a second glance.
Wei stepped into the
coliseum. As he walked through the dimly lit passage, the arena came into
view—not too far ahead. His thoughts began to spiral.
What the hell did I
just do? Why did I have to smack that poor elf in the face? I could've just
walked away. Was that even necessary? And now I'm heading into the arena... for
what? To help that human? They say he killed a thousand Birigan soldiers, but maybe
that's just an accusation. He didn't look like some heartless killer. Honestly,
he didn't even look evil. Ugh... what am I doing? Maybe I'm just too confident,
thinking I can beat that elf swordsman. I probably can—but is it worth it? I
might be digging myself into an even deeper hole. Still, taking down a
high-level swordsman could earn me serious gold and a big chunk of experience.
That might get me one step closer to finding a way back to the human world.
Power… yeah, power is everything here. I guess I'll just have to keep fighting.
Get strong enough to face the portal guardian... or strong enough to force one
of the elf kings to hand over a teleportation scroll.
He clenched his fists
as he approached the light at the end of the corridor, the roar of the arena
slowly growing louder. Wei sprinted straight toward the arena. As he neared the
edge, he leapt into the air and landed cleanly on top of the stage's barrier. He
summoned his sword and began stabbing at the barrier. "Hey! Let me in! Let me
help that human!" Wei shouted angrily. "I'm gonna beat you, you weak-ass elf
swordsman!" Wei immediately caught the attention of King Elarion and the
surrounding generals.
"Wisdom, who is this
being?" General Sylvaris asked. A glowing screen materialized in front of
them.
*************************************************
Name:
Wei
Race:
Human/Elf
Class:
Blader
Level:
23
Status:
Not registered as a Birigan knight
or
soldier. Possibly classified as a rogue.
*************************************************
"Surely he's an
associate of Ryo," General Sylvaris said with a mocking grin. "And ignorant,
too. I'll let him join his friend's execution."
With a flick of his
hand, Sylvaris cast a spell. The barrier opened.
Wei lost his footing
slightly but landed cleanly on the stage. Instantly, a new screen appeared
beside Roja.
"Roja, I also want
you to play with this low-level rogue," Sylvaris said. "Make sure he suffers
just like his associate."
Roja paused his
assault on Ryo, who collapsed limply to the ground.
He turned to Wei,
brows furrowed. "Who the hell are you?"
Wei smirked. "Your
executioner."
"What?!?" Roja
blinked, confused, as a screen showing Wei's level popped up before him.
"Level 23? Are you
joking?" Roja scoffed. "If this is a comedy act, you should've worn a clown
costume. If you're here to put on a circus show, go ahead—I'll be sitting right
here until you're done."
Wei smirked, then
burst into a low, eerie laugh.
"Hehehe... You
know, this is actually the first time I'm going to see how my special ability
works." His eyes narrowed, glowing with a sinister light. "So once it kicks in,
I'll be laughing even harder—especially when I see how useless your little fire
magic really is! Hahahaha!"
His pupils
dilated like a demon's as the laughter deepened.
A murmur rippled
through the crowd. Some elves jeered, others leaned forward with curiosity,
intrigued by this half-human rogue who dared to challenge one of their elite. A
few even laughed nervously, unsure if Wei was mad—or dangerous.
High above in the
royal viewing box, Princess Jewel stood abruptly, her eyes wide.
She whispered,
"Now who the heck is that? Is he Ryo's friend?"
Beside her, King
Elarion observed silently, his expression unreadable. The king's eyes narrowed
slightly as he studied Wei.
"Curious," he finally
murmured. "That hybrid… he acted like an elite warrior. And yet, his level is
low. Is he for real?"
Roja chuckled back,
unfazed.
"Hahaha! Not
bad. Your jokes are actually decent." He raised his sword and pointed it
directly at Wei. "Because of that, I'll give you the honor of tasting my
blade."
As the two warriors
locked eyes, the crowd erupted—half in cheers, half in anticipation of blood.
The stage was set.
"Sure," Wei muttered
in a low, sinister tone.
Suddenly, his entire
body sank into the ground as if it had turned to liquid. Gasps echoed through
the arena.
Roja's eyes widened
in disbelief. The ground where Wei had stood was no longer solid—it rippled
like water. Before he could investigate further, he felt a presence behind him.
Instinct took over.
Roja spun around and slashed his blade.
His sword tore
cleanly through a creature—its form gelatinous, a shimmering blue. It let out a
gurgling hiss as it split in half and collapsed to the floor, vanishing
instantly upon impact.
"What the hell…?"
Roja muttered, stepping back.
Then, one after
another, more of the blue liquid monsters began rising from the stage floor,
their forms pulsing and shapeless, eyes glowing faintly with an otherworldly
light.
Roja gritted his
teeth and sprinted toward the cluster of creatures.
"So this is your
special ability, huh? Fine then—let's see if these blobs can bleed!"