A Traitor Amongst The Town - Part 4

𝗛𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗿𝗮 𝗦𝗮𝘁ō

They all moved weirdly as if constrained by magic. I rushed toward the two of them and challenged them by hitting both of their weapons.

They stopped in their tracks and turned their head to me as if they had no spine.

Two abominations with one who wields two scimitars and a small round shield and the other who wields a trident in one hand and a great sword with its second and third hand.

Both of them charged with crazed ferocity but I simply went around a tree, disobeying my own orders.

An abomination thrust his spears onto me but hit a tree while the other went around the tree and slashed at me twice with both of its scimitars so I blocked the first one and ducked at the second.

They both lost vision of me as I went behind another tree.

I breathed out and put my katana near my chest so that I could slash at my right immediately. Two seconds passed and I appeared in front of an abomination, it tried to horizontally slash me with a greatsword but a simply ducked, his greatsword slashed at the tree halfway through getting it stuck and I stabbed it with my katana to the stomach before spinning my body and going around the abomination leaving it while the other follows me after going around the tree.

I ran towards the path as the other abomination slithers towards me. I jumped back at the path, taking subtle glances at the others, they seemed to be faring well but they already sustained cuts on their body except for the woman that wields a spear and was keeping the abomination at a distance.

I turned around and saw the abomination raising both of its scimitars for a full-power slash which I simply turned my body to dodge while raising my katana to my back.

I flexed my right arm and hardened my grip before returning a full-power slash of my own, slashing at its arms before it could pull out.

Its scaly hands fall to the ground and scream an annoying screech which soon falls silent as its head falls as well. I look at the second abomination as the first one falls to the ground with a thud, its spear was pointed at my liver.

My right foot made its way to the left of my left foot then I raised it and kicked it down to the side, pinned by my right foot. The greatsword that was hidden behind it appeared with a brutal slash so I hopped to the left. However, with a subtle glance to my right, I saw an old man, scared to death as he looked at the approaching greatsword heading down his head.

With a quick click of the tongue, I once again pinned the spear to the ground and raised my katana above my head at a diagonal angle, and braced for it.

Sparks fly as the katana met the greatsword but with only a single arm and barely any strength, the katana bashed my head along with the greatsword.

A single stream of blood drips from my head and I slowly turn my head on the old man, still paralyzed. "Move, man!" I shouted angrily and Alice slowly dragged him away.

I dashed to the right with my foot still pinning the spear, the greatsword lands on the ground with great force, and I quickly end the fight with a quick slash to the neck.

The others seem to have struggled so I ran to the nearest one and helped them by slashing the abominations at their back then running to the next as if I was doing a hit and run.

They caught their own breath for a while, somewhat surprised at how fast this battle ended which gave a sense of dread.

"What happened to not going to the forest?" The man with a kite shield and a longsword asked while I was wiping the blood on my head, there wasn't any blood that was spilling but whenever I squeeze the wound, an alarming amount spills out.

After a good second or so, I opened my mouth with some traces of blood left. "Expect the very least of people and you'll never be disappointed, been my mindset for years."

"That was the most casual slander that I've ever heard." He comments as I approach the dead bodies of the abominations.

"Incidentally, having the very least of expectations of people means they'll likely exceed them so good job, I guess.

"Kinda late, should've said that first because now, you sound like a hypocritical ass."

"I second that opinion."

Akira adds.

"I'll...take it into account."

I said as I grabbed a nearby spear from the abomination that also wielded a greatsword and inspected it.

There was some sort of marking on it and a closer look it seemed to read "Olock" on it. I held it in my hand, covering the mark on my hand.

"I'll be taking this, pick what you want, we don't want our enemies to be taking back their weapons right?"

I sat at a nearby rock as they took their pick. "Any reason you're picking a spear?" The woman who wields a spear asked.

'I could probably ask her to teach me.' I thought.

"The more weapons I become proficient at, the more versatile I become. For a more specific reason, I've recently learned to ride a horse so knowing how to wield a spear would surely be great."

I responded. 'Having knowledge of most swords is great and all, but other types of weapons just do certain jobs better so becoming proficient at a lot of them would increase my chances of surviving but then again...how am I supposed the carry those many weapons?'

"Planning to become a weapon master aye? I respect it. I could probably teach you how to wield a spear but with one arm is...problematic." She said it bluntly, not even a hint of sympathy, not that I'm looking for it.

'Neat looks like I got myself a teacher. I'm finally realizing why I had such a high charisma even though, I mostly talk to my clients in a chat room with the occasional voice chat.'

That was the real reason for my high charisma, I can't converse with someone without thinking about what to say next, be it a witty remark, an insult, or a joke because I learned that communication is far too important as a human being so whether or not, I like it, I would need that charisma to land myself in various jobs before I decided to become a freelance artist who specialized in making concept art.

'More importantly, what the hell is a weapon master?"

The title was self-explanatory, with proficiency and expertise in every type of weapon be it swords, bows, and staves, that was what it meant to become one.

To put it more simply, a weapon master is a jack of all trades in terms of weaponry but instead of being master of none, you are master of all.

It was one of the highest titles a warrior can get along such titles such as swordmaster and archmage.

We continued along the path till we arrived at a clearing, I stopped along with them as the researchers approached with one hand until one of them touched some sort of invisible wall which gleamed for a moment before returning into a very transparent state.

Around this clear were about four to six wreckage of wagons, full of tears in the covered ones and many splintered kinds of wood laying about. Although the path here was tight, it was possible for wagons to fit through here but I highly doubt this was the main road so it was either a smuggling route or a backdoor to this land considering how well hidden it was.

Below the wreckage were traces of destroyed bags, satchels, and crates that were full of items, like destroyed clothes, tools, and small weapons. Crates that survived were deprived of their loot and some left a disgusting smell of rotting food but strangely no dried-up blood from bodies that were also missing from the area.

All I could think of was a small band of families using this path to get out of the land in panic as the main road was packed with families but they were too late the barrier was already cast, trapping them all.

I offered a small prayer to them, not that it matters coming from someone who doesn't follow any religion.

With an ear and an eye observing the researchers, I barely dodged a powerful thrust which was followed up by her quickly putting the spear behind her and changing grips, and slashing my feet.

"You might wanna focus, Himura." She taunts.

But I blocked her attack by stabbing the ground with my own spear and using my spear as a crutch, I used my left foot to close the distance with her and high kicked her head with my right, but it didn't land as she used her left hand to closely block it, her body not even moving from her spot even though I kicked at full power.

"Trust me, I am very focused."

I said and took another glance at them. It seems I managed to pop a vessel as she twitches and quickly attacks again while others cheered us up.

We continue to spar as some sort of test to see what I need to improve my ability in spears, all the while my activity log alerts me of a new skill: Spearmanship