Chapter 60 - Yuki’s First Spell, and Traitor?

The group of 3 players watched Arthur and Thalindra from a distance. Their lineup was kind of... unique to say the least.

Chris was a mage who specialized in fire magic. Another player was named Vans, a swordsman who used the same class as Arthur. The last one was a priest named Divine.

Thalindra was busy dodging attacks from the soldiers, leaping back and forth with crazy agility, but she couldn’t keep that up forever. She was waiting for Arthur to help her, and now that these 3 players had ambushed them, things were getting messy.

"Hurry up and deal with them, then come help me!" Thalindra shouted from across the way.

Arthur would have to take on 3 players by himself. That wouldn’t be easy at all. These players were almost the exact same level as him.

Chris, the mage who had cast the fireball earlier, stared at the name floating above Arthur’s head and frowned. In the heat of the moment, he hadn’t looked that closely, but now he could see it plain as day.

"Cinder! Are you kidding me?" Chris said, bursting into laughter. "Our luck is way too good."

Vans was already drawing his sword, looking pumped to jump right in and fight Arthur.

"We can get way more famous if we kill him," Vans said, itching to charge in. "This is too good to be true."

All 3 of them were already somewhat famous for sitting near the top of the level rankings, but the Kingdom of Aldora got the lion’s share of the spotlight solely because of Arthur. Most players from other kingdoms didn’t like Arthur much because of that.

They felt sidelined, forced to watch everyone talk only about the kingdom where the mysterious player "Cinder" was based.

In situations like this, especially against someone like him, players loved to talk trash so they would have a better clip to post on the forums later. Arthur decided to use that to stall for a second.

"Don’t you think it’s kind of stupid to pick a fight with me? You must’ve seen what happened to the last Chosen Ones who tried," Arthur said, his eyes turning cold as he looked at the group.

Chris laughed in his face again.

"You’re way too full of yourself, man," Chris said. He gripped his staff and started channeling mana again. The bastard wanted to cast another spell and blast Arthur with it.

In less than 2 seconds, magic runes lit up the air, and a fireball shot straight toward Arthur. The exact same spell he had used before. At low levels, mages didn’t have much spell variety.

Arthur was just about to dodge the attack when Yuki spoke right into his ear.

"Let me handle this trash spell of his," Yuki said. "It’ll create a smoke screen. Go after the Priest."

Arthur frowned, not sure what Yuki had planned, but he decided to trust his tamed beast. Froststeel Sword in hand, Arthur waited to see what Yuki would do.

The fireball closed in fast, and for a split second, Arthur’s heart jumped.

’Do something already, Yuki, damn it!’

The tiny snake on his right shoulder opened its mouth and cast a spell. For the first time ever, Yuki was using an actual useful spell! Arthur didn’t even know he had one.

"Frost Breath!"

A wave of ice blasted out of Yuki’s mouth and flew straight into the fireball. The two spells collided in midair, and a loud bang echoed through the forest as the opposing energies slammed into each other.

Just like Yuki said, Frost Breath created a thick haze the second it hit the fireball. That was Arthur’s cue to move. He broke into a sprint, heading straight for Divine, the group’s Priest, who was still standing up in a tree.

Vans, the Swordsman, shouted, "Watch out, I don’t know where he is! I’m sticking close to Divine, Chris!"

Arthur had way more agility than Vans thanks to his dragon bloodline and his contracts. Even if Vans was skilled, the stat gap was just too big.

"Blade Dash."

He activated the skill, blinked, and appeared right next to Divine almost instantly. Arthur slashed with his sword and dealt heavy damage right off the bat.

[310 damage dealt]

Divine had tried to cast a divine shield to reduce the damage he would take, but he never expected Arthur to blink like that. Vans, his Swordsman buddy, hadn’t unlocked that kind of attack yet.

"He’s right next to me! Get over here, Vans, damn it!" Divine shouted.

But it wasn’t enough. Arthur followed up with a basic attack, and that was all it took to empty the Priest’s HP. Divine died right there, and his lifeless body fell from the tree.

Vans rushed in right after and used the standard Swordsman skill, Basic Slash. Arthur turned around and activated his guard skill, blocking the attack with ease.

[30 damage taken (50% blocked)]

Right after the block, Arthur struck back with another basic attack without using any skills. But because he had blocked the hit, his damage was boosted by 30%, plus an extra 20% agility bonus.

[160 damage dealt]

Vans leaped back to put some distance between them.

Meanwhile, Chris was still kind of lost inside the mist Yuki had created. It took about 5 seconds for the mist to finally clear, and Chris realized the situation had gone completely south.

"Divine’s dead already? Shit. And you already lost 30% of your HP?"

All that cockiness from before was completely gone. The players finally realized Arthur’s reputation existed for a reason. He wasn’t the kind of player they wanted to fight.

"How about we just forget about this?" Chris pleaded with an awkward smile.

He didn’t want to die and lose his precious EXP. At this stage of the game, losing any EXP progress could mean dropping several spots on the level rankings, and nobody wanted that.

Arthur, of course, didn’t give a damn. They had attacked him first, so they were going to die no matter what they said. Nothing was going to change his mind about that.

"I think it’s a little too late for that," Arthur said as he walked slowly toward Vans. "Besides, we aren’t even from the same kingdom. Why the hell would I show you any mercy?"

If he already killed players from his own kingdom, his treatment would be even worse toward players from a kingdom trying to invade the Kingdom of Aldora. That was obvious.

Arthur rushed toward Vans and activated Phantom Slash. He unleashed multiple strikes in a matter of seconds.

A slash hit every part of Vans’s body. His armor broke, and blood sprayed everywhere. It was pretty grotesque.

[830 damage dealt]

Vans dropped dead, just like Divine. Chris was the only one left, and he had completely lost the will to fight. Without his 2 friends, he didn’t stand a chance against Arthur.

"Could you let me go? I don’t want to lose EXP, please! I’ll do whatever you want!"

He begged again. Arthur didn’t attack right away.

Could he help me out and betray his own kingdom? That would be hilarious.

"How about you help me kill these soldiers first, and then we talk?" Arthur said.

Chris didn’t think twice. He started channeling a spell and hurled a fireball straight at a soldier from his own kingdom...

Arthur had never seen anyone betray their allies that fast.