At What Cost?

Carter, in a flash of light, went away with the woman's body. The heat from earlier was long gone. It was replaced by worries about him and his friends.

'Fuck! How long has it been already? I hope that I still have HP left when I go back.'

His eyes stared in fascinated horror. Elizabeth on the other hand was bewildered by the sudden changes of action coming from the man.

"Darling, I thought we would have fun?" The woman asked in a soft voice.

Carter glared over Elizabeth. "You're just an illusion! Bring me back to my friends." The muscles in his jaw tensed as he said the words full of disgust.

He couldn't believe that he was seduced by an illusion!

Elizabeth's face immediately changed when she heard the word illusion. She automatically stood up straight and firmly on the ground. Her face turned into pixels until her features slowly transformed.

Carter's eyes widened in shock. He stood up without moving.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" He uttered in surprise.

The almost perfect woman from earlier was nowhere to be seen. It was replaced by an old woman with a wrinkled face and big tummy. The old woman smiled showing her gums that had no signs of teeth.

'Did I just kiss that old woman?' He asked himself, almost traumatized.

"Congratulations! You successfully passed the test. You should be thankful that it didn't take 15 minutes. But before you come back, do you mind giving me a kiss, baby boy?" The old woman winked and blew a flying kiss in the air.

Carter immediately shook her head and ran. He firmly closed his eyes and held his breath. He wants to vomit. He couldn't believe it.

When Carter opened his eyes, he was already back from the scene before the white room. Terror flickered in his eyes when he saw his HP.

< Name: Hairy Man >

[ Level: 5 ]

[ EXP: 60/150 ]

[ HP: 185/350 ]

[ Mana: 125/125 ]

[ Strength: 20 (+5) ]

[ Agility: 14 ]

[ Stamina: 13 ]

[ Intelligence: 12 ]

[Weapon: Silver Sword (+5 STR)]

[ Skills: Fire Knuckles (2/6) | Stone Wall (1/6) | Air Steps (1/6) ]

[ Rank: Bronze 2 ]

[Stat points Available: 0]

[Skill Points Available: 0]

'1855? This is quite low already…' Tilting his head to the side, that's the only time that he remembered that he needed to help his friends.

"Carter!" Joseph smiled widely as he waved his hands midair.

Dandrik who heard it immediately looked back. They saw that Carter was already moving. Different from earlier when he was just standing with closed eyes.

Carter's lips rose up. But when he looked at the side, he wasn't able to be sick. "I will help you guys later! I just need to release this." He yelled out before he ran to a nearby tree.

- 98 HP

[1492/3500 Remaining! (Seductress Maiden)]

Joseph grinned as he lightly blew his fingers. "Bullseyes,"

"Take your time Carter!" Dandrik shouted since they were in a distance.

Both the men couldn't help but breathe heavily. They had been fighting with this monster for such a long period of time that their mana would almost run out if this continued on.

Carter took almost a minute to release everything that was keeping him from helping his friends. He took a bottle of water in his inventory and gargled them.

When he was done, he opened up his palms until a silver sword appeared abruptly.

"Let's go." The man smiled from ear to ear.

"Fire Knuckles Activate,"

The look in Carter's eyes immediately changed. He needs to kill this monster so he could take avenge for what happened to him.

"Air Steps," he called as both of his teeth raced on their way.

"Ahhh!" He shouted as he swung his sword with full force.

The woman jumped skillfully avoiding the men's attack. She ducked in when she saw a card flying on her way.

While Carter, on the other hand, waited for the right time. He struck his sword to the left when he saw the woman backing away. It was followed by Dandrik and Joseph's attack.

The continuous damage that the 3 men had caused put them into victory.

Carter ran around. He used his remaining mana to activate Air Steps. He swung his sword, attacking with the two other two men, hitting the vital points of the woman that caused huge damage. With his speed, the woman couldn't follow his moves.

-208 HP

[ 0/3500 Remaining! (Seductress Maiden) ]

[ Congratulations! You have successfully defeated Seductress Maiden.]

[You gained 5 silver bald coins.]

[You have been rewarded 120 exp.]

[You have been rewarded an extra 50 exp for killing your first level C monster.]

[You have been rewarded 10 exp for finishing your daily quest]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up to Level 6.]

[Loot will be coming shortly…]

The woman slowly turned into pixels as notification keeps bombarding Carter's screen. A smile formed on his lips. 'Finally, I have done my revenge on the old woman!"

Carter sighed and tilted her head to the side. "I'm level 6 now, but at what cost?" he whispered in the air silently.

"How should we divide these items?" Dandrik asked them after they appeared on the ground.

" 3 Blood fangs, 1 Rosewater, 1 Endless Beauty, and 1 Golden Stain. Let's have 1 blood fang each and then let's decide what should we take for the other." Carter suggested.

Joseph nodded and distributed the Blood Fangs. It was a one-inch fang that was covered in red dots.

They played Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide the other item that they will take. Carter took the Rose Water. Joseph was the one who took the Endless Beauty while the Golden Stain was taken care of by Dandrik.

The three were focused on dividing the items that they didn't notice a group of 3 people coming in their way. The three men slowly walked in their way until one of them stood out.

"You three! Give us all of your items if you don't want to die in our hands!"

======

Carter is Level 6 now! After all of what happened to him just to reach this level! Now, let's see what he needs to overcome to reach higher levels!