Illusionary Fairy a nice nickname for an absolute devil. This nice young lady, that nearly killed me over and over again when my body was at its peak. Encountering her here was just proving how rotten my luck was.
"Sorry I have to refuse I would like to keep my life"
[Your refusal was succesfull]
I have to locate her and then move away as far as possible from her. Throwing my head to the side I dodged a fist that came flying to my face. Slitting the throat of the attacker, I moved into the now wounded body to use it as cover to hide my next actions.
I tried my best to cover as much area as possible but I could not find a trace of her. Where could she be, she has to have the vision of me, otherwise, she could have sent the request. But where I doubt, that she is part of the crowd, that is not her style. She strikes me more of the reserved type who would not even think about entering this chaotic crowd.
I can't discard the idea, that she might be using her magic to have a view at me. Or at least she is using an elevated position to have a nice view of the entire situation.
I have to switch the battlefield, fighting here in the streets offers too little protection from me. Lifting the body upwards I threw it at the people in front of me. I fought myself through and arrived at the small houses. Instead of trying to hide in narrow paths and alleys I jumped upwards and embedded my nails inside of the walls to climb the house.
The roof of the house was slightly uneven and made out of stone. Its surface was quite small making it easy to defend from those who had hunted me for the time being. Though those NPCs did not care about that and they began to try and climb up this roof.
It is time to set an example then. The first head that came over the edge came into contact with my foot that had been launched at it. A loud and clear crack resounded after the impact nearly caved in his head. My body truly was pitiful as of now.
I did not think this would stop any of them. I just hoped that I would force those players to switch to another strategize. They will soon have to realize, that they will not get to me by relying on a simple order like " Get him".
The next one who dared to come up met the same fate as the previous fellow. More and more people followed their footsteps. I made sure not to kill any of them, as those NPCs could be revived again and return to their full strength. I wanted to conserve as much energy as possible, I do not know what was still ahead of me.
To spice things up I stomped on their fingers that grabbed onto the ledges to pull themselves upwards. It's hard to climb when your fingers are broken after all.
Where is the Observer when you need him?
" What a silly nickname. Just call me Laura."
I heard a faint chuckle in the distance as those words sounded inside of my head. I forgot she was capable of communicating with me that way.
So what brings you to me? I doubt you are interested in talking about pleasantries.
" We have not met for such a long time, why are so cold towards me?
Even if I put all of our histories aside. In my current situation talking to you is the biggest sign of sincerity I can give you.
" Or is it the situation forcing you to? I do wonder about that. But someone as strong as you will not require the help of such a weak maiden as me"
If I was not in the safety of a town you would have taken action by now. So what is your real aim?
" Can't a lady is smitten by love talk to the person she favours?"
Can't a young boy under severe distress not expect a serious answer?
" You have to work on your appeal, behaviour like that does not leave a favourable impression."
Thank you for your insight, I will be sure to ponder on it when I am not preoccupied with staying alive or breathing.
" How considerate. this selflessness just makes me fall in love over and over again."
Thank you for stopping those pesky invites. But are you sure you want to tease me and waste valuable time? Those who are not bothered by your presence will surely not wait.
[Do you accept the contract from player " Absolute Glaciation " ?]
Who the hell even is "Absolute Glaciation? At least she does not seem to fear your presence.
" Am I not enough for you? Are you even going after my friend sitting right beside me?"
Sadly I have to decline. The reasoning should be obvious.
[Your refusal was succesfull]
" Declining the advances of 2 beautiful young women. Would a "special service" change your mind?"
If I were not a battle-hardened veteran at defending my virginity I would have taken you up on that offer.
A long period of silence was the only answer I received. I can't blame her I would not have expected a reply like that either if I were her.
So can we focus on the important stuff now?
" Why do you always have to stoop so low?"
You are assuming, that I have ever left it. Besides speaking of the distance, staying so far away from me is lacking any form of sincerity. Do you think I am keeping this roof clean for my amusement? While I am still in a good mood I will give you the opportunity off a lifetime. If you get me off of this roof without the use of magic I will do whatever you want.
Turning around I saw 2 women of considerable beauty. Both of them was someone I had fought against but won only due to them severely underestimating me. Laura, you have cut your black hair, I must admit, short hair like that suits you.
" The conversation in my head can stop, for now, you can understand me verbally aswell. "
" Thank you for your compliment. Though I never thought that something like that could come out of your mouth" said Laura smiling brightly. Her appearance had not changed despite her hair being shorter. Though I still knew that she was as psychotic as before.
" You still know that I can read your thoughts right?" her tone had become a lot more aggressive after my evaluation. " Your offer is quite nice but I will not be the one to take you up on that."
" I will " the one who spoke was the young women who had specialized in ice magic. I had yet to hear her name but only 2 words and she had my full attention.
The offer I proposed to put her at so much of a disadvantage that I had previously just offered it as a joke. Yet, her reply was steadfast with no signs of weakness. She was not the type to throw caution to the wind and act without any plans. So why was she that confident?
She showed no signs of hesitation as she began to move towards me. As a gentleman, I waited and let her attack first. I had high expectations for this fight, Would she use kicks against me using her legs to keep me at a distance or would she use her fists? But using brute force against me is not something that works, she of all people should know that.
So will she rely on weaponry to fight against me? It would be a probable solution, but those weapons have to be light otherwise it will be too taxing on her body. I may be weakened but even now I should be easily able to fight her under these conditions.
Or would she just try and keep me busy while another person uses magic to attack me and force me off this roof? This is a valid strategy as I only forbad them the usage of magic, not anyone else. Though this tactic seems a bit too underhanded for them. Still, it does not hurt to be aware of the possibility even though it does not seem likely.
Another option would be to use her to divert my attention and then attack from an angle I can not see and push me off the roof that way. Yeah, they might have thought about using something like this.
This fight is not going to be a simple 1vs1 I have to be careful about the interference of any kind. They might even use NPCs to their advantage. If they get their NPCs up here, they are still not using magic but are responsible for getting me off the roof.
I should stop using such vague terms if I offer something like this. Or she could have just read my thoughts and then use one of the strategies I have just thought off? Well looks like a startled cat, is not leaving much to the imagination whatever her goal was.
Still deep in my thoughts, I was caught off guard, as a petit fist embedded itself onto my face. Caught by its massive force I was launched over the edge of the roof and kept on tumbling on the ground before coming to a standstill after sliding several meters on the ground.
Everyone was shocked, including the person who had just delivered the punch. She looked at her hand in disbelief doubting her own eyes what kind of power was contained within her.
This seconds of silence came to an end with the tosing applause of the crowd. NPCs and players alike could only clap upon seeing such a spectacle. Even Laura could not fathom what had just occurred, she stared at me and afterwards at her friend.
" What did you just do?" her voice was nearly shaking as she refused to believe this irrational act.
Samantha could not reply, she still was dazed and utterly confused. She did not possess such a level of strength in the real world, so why did she manage to unleash this level of strength without any magic?
" We were just trying to keep him occupied until we got more information out of him. How did it end like this?" she whispered. Those words were only meant for Samanthas ears.
" But isn't it better this way? We can get every information we want from him." Samantha said after regaining her cool.
" Now for the part that bothers me the most. This usual tradition of keeping up appearances." her aura returned to the usual calmness and her entire aura became aloof.
She raised her right hand and silenced the crowd. Samantha's gaze went over the crowd and began to speak loud and clear.
" This is power. Words, strategy, tactics everything is useless in front of absolute power. Men or Monster everything has to bow down in front of it. It does not care about young or old, small or big. Everything is pointless in front of it. Numbers? They don't matter. Talent? It does not matter. Conviction? It does not matter."
She looked around once more, she knew all too well what kind of effect those like words had. Maintain the prestige, by showcasing the gigantic difference between her and everyone else.
" But power is not born without talent. Power needs perseverance, conviction and ambition to grow. Words, tactics and strategy help the weak to become strong"
The heavy and sullen mood was lifted after those words full of compassion. The crowd became noisy once more. The speech had resonated with them on a deep level.
"Being weak is not a crime, losing is not a sin, giving up is. Live your dreams and strive for greatness. Today I am standing here, but tomorrow it might be you."
The end of her speech was met with the crowd exploding once more. But Samantha could not care less about it. She had grown tired of repeating the same agenda, the same nonsense since her childhood.
Looking at Laura she nodded indicating that her speech was now over and they could focus on the much more important part. They had finally managed to take this strange NPC under their control. Now she would finally get all the answers that had been on her mind for quite some time.
But the object of her desire had been long gone by then. It would not take too long before they realized what exactly happened here. They did not expect an apostle to behave and act in such a shameful manner.
It was the first time in their life that they had been played and made fun of to that extent. They lacked the words to put their feelings into words. Angry and fuming were 2 words that could be associated with their current mood.
Both of them jumped from the roof to avoid the upcoming trouble and to start their search. They wanted to get their hands on this brazen fellow who made them look like utter fools.
Samantha mentally had to add one thing to her speech. In front of absolute power, only lacking morals stand a chance. Though she did not know how fitting that saying would turn out to be.
The NPC had yet again slipped through their fingers and they had to start their search anew.
-----------
I did not know what exactly happened as I moved away through the cheering crowd who had been mesmerized by the content of her speech. Doing something unpredictable always works.
Running into both of them while I try to escape was something I could have done without with. I was still right inside of the city and confined in its borders. My burning hair surely did not help at times like this.
Running around flaunting my fiery presence is not a valid approach to stay unnoticed. That's why I had to borrow someone's clothes against his will. I am sure he will have a fun time deep down in the well.
Who knows I might need to join him depending on how the situation develops. While hiding in plain sight would not be something they would expect, I am not willing to throw myself in that kind of danger. Just because they don't expect it does not mean that others will recognize me.
Just like this NPC in front of me acting like he totally did not notice me. He just stood there acting all casual while throwing glances at me. I approached him with a smile on my face putting my hand over his shoulders and spoke without any worry in the world.
" Long time no see, why don't you come with me for a little chat? I am sure we have a lot of things to discuess"
" You truly are a magnet for trouble, we will talk into this house"
As we marched into the house I made sure that no one was following me. In this world it never hurts to be too careful.
" Shall we?" said the NPC smiling at me.
I nodded and started the talk that would massivly influence my future.