laulau20

Chapter 104: Rendezvous

Added 2025-08-09 17:26:40 +0000 UTC

“I wonder if Andrew got the message,” James muttered to himself in the clearing a little further from the cave. He then stabbed three arrows into the ground as a marker. It would take some time for Andrew to arrive—if he could read the message—and James didn’t want to stay idle in the meantime.

After scouting the surroundings, he discovered another nest—this time filled with orcs and trolls. It wasn’t just goblins, but trolls too. James could easily defeat them one-on-one, but he was hesitant. Trolls were strong. Even a normal attack from one could knock him unconscious if it struck his head.

“Let’s do it. They must have treasure chests inside.” James readied his bow. There were two trolls, over thirty orcs, and fifty goblins in the camp. All of them were half-infected. James hoped that defeating them would help him level up.

If not, he could only hope there was something valuable in the village’s treasure chest. He suspected that half-infected enemies didn’t give experience. The system said they did, but James still hadn’t leveled up from killing any of them so far.

James drew back the bowstring. He wasn’t an expert archer, but thanks to his bow skill—Homing Shot—as long as he had the troll’s head in his sights, the arrow would correct itself mid-flight.

Golden motes of light gathered on the arrow. After locking onto the target, James aimed his bow higher and released. Drawing a beautiful parabolic arc, the golden comet struck the troll’s skull, passed through its head, and exploded behind it.

The nest erupted into chaos. James nocked another arrow and aimed at the second troll’s chest. Goblins and orcs picked up their weapons and rushed toward him.

He released another arrow before the second troll got too close, but it deflected the arrow with a swing of its mace.

“Tch!” James cursed as he drew his swords. The horde began with goblins. Their spears bounced harmlessly off James’s hardened body and armor.

He began to cull them, cutting through the creatures like weeds. Each swing of his sword cleaved through one goblin after another. Bodies piled up quickly, until the orcs finally caught up. Golden motes of light flickered around their axes and spears.

James responded with a skill of his own.

“The right hand is physical. Don’t forget,” he reminded himself.

His golem arm, which held his black sword, began to glow with golden light. As the orcs unleashed their weapon skills, James countered with a sword technique of his own.

Every orc that rushed him was sent flying—like leaves blown away by the wind. Even though both of them use weapon skill, the stats make the difference.

James’s gaze locked onto the troll as it bulldozed its way toward him. He raised his sword, preparing to face the troll with a lunging sword skill.

“Hm? No... let’s test the new skill,” James changed his mind.

The troll stopped just a few steps away. Golden light flared from its club as it swung from the left, aiming to send James flying.

Sword met club. A shockwave followed. James had known the troll’s strength from the troll he had fought before. He knew he would win the clash—and he did. His blade completed the slash, sending the troll stumbling backward. His second strike severed the troll’s arm.

But James knew it wasn’t enough. It was half-infected—the limb would just reattach itself.

Raising his red sword, James chained into another sword skill: Vorpal Strike. He dashed forward, a burst of red light trailing behind him, and cleaved off the troll’s head.

The troll burst into flames.

Now that it was defeated, James moved on to clean up the remaining enemies. Using his ice magic and fire breath, he wiped out the last of the goblins and orcs. None of the monsters escaped. The infection dulled their pain, and their devotion to the pestilence god made them fearless.

James then moved on to the villages. As expected, he found two chests inside.

With his usual ritual—this time using wires frozen into the chest instead of spider’s thread—he opened them from afar. Neither chest had any traps, much to his dismay. One chest contained a blue axe with a metallic handle engraved with delicate ornaments to improve grip strength. The other held an eye and 500 coins.

[Congratulations. You have obtained 500 coins, the Axe of Everwinter, and the Eye of Pestilence.]

“Yes! Finally, an axe!” James pumped his fist. A short axe, no less. He preferred axes to swords, as they took better advantage of his strength. He felt powerful when wielding one. But as he inspected the blue axe, his expression darkened.

[Axe of Everwinter.
Crafted by a mage of eternal frost. This axe will imbue all axe skills with a frost enchantment, converting their damage into ice attacks.]

“Shit! Is there any way I can disable the enchantment? I don’t need it. This enchantment is useless in a skill clash!”

[The enchantments from weapons cannot be removed.]

“But I remember I can modify weapons in the shop!”

[Would you like to upgrade your Axe of Everwinter into the Halberd of Everwinter?]

“No! Are you picking a fight with me?” James cursed the useless system. After a few deep breaths, he calmed down.

“Nah… it’s fine. I can still use its boomerang skills. But damn… I miss my lightning axe. I upgraded it from a beginner axe. That thing only added lightning—it didn’t convert damage!”

[That is correct. Lightning and flame axes, upgraded from beginner axes, do not convert damage. They merely add elemental damage to attacks.]

The system confirmed James’ words. He sighed as he inspected the other treasure. Judging by its name, he wasn’t expecting much.

[Eye of Pestilence:
An eye from the God of Pestilence. By installing it, you will be blessed by the Pestilence God, granting you near-immortality as infection governs your body. You can also infect others if you gaze upon them long enough.]

“Hah… as I said before, I don’t want to infect others. Well, at the very least, I got an axe and some coins.” James consoled himself. With nothing else to do, he returned to the meeting point.

The meeting point was still empty, but it didn’t take long for Andrew and the others to find him.

“James! I was worried about you!” Andrew opened his arms and hugged him.

“Boss James! I knew it would take more than that to bring you down. You even killed one of those knights! You’re on a wanted list now!” Sanders laughed as he patted James on the shoulder.

“I am?” James looked at Sanders. He then joked back, “So, are you here to kill me?”

“Huh? Of course not. But did you really have to kill them, James? The knights at headquarters said you ambushed a group of them and killed seven. It sounded like you intentionally picked a fight with them—why?” Andrew, taking the joke seriously, asked.

“Well, I had to kill one knight who chased me during that town escape. The system told me I was basically a cop killer and that their hostility toward me was at maximum, so I figured I might as well kill them all. Each knight netted me a thousand coins. So I didn’t kill them because I enjoyed it.”

“I see.” Andrew looked at James with a harsh glare. He then sighed at the looming task before him and recalled a cursed item James might possess. “James, do you have any items with the Pestilence God mentioned in their description? I need them to raise my reputation within the knights’ order. If our reputation is high enough, we could probably smuggle you into the upper floor. The only portal leading to the upper floor is at the tower.”

“That tower with the sun, huh? Fuck me.” James stared at the structure. Even now, from so far away, the tower was still visible. He had a hunch it was important. Too important to ignore. He wanted to blame the system for forcing him into hostility with the pestilence gods.

“Yes, I’ve been to this floor before, and there’s no other portal besides that one. So, do you have it?”

“Yeah. Eye of Pestilence, Dark Blade of Pestilence, and Thumb of Pestilence.” James handed Andrew the tools. He had no use for them, so he didn’t mind giving them away.

“Whoa! As expected of Boss James. We only found two, even with Andrew knowing the layout of the map, and you still outperformed us.”

“Cut the flattery. Take this stuff and bring it to your knight order. I expect a reward later. Got it?”

“Yes, thank you, James. Should we make this our headquarters?” Andrew beamed. With three more artifacts, he would gain an exceptional reputation among the knights—enough for five favors.

In his previous run, Andrew only managed to earn three favors across the first and second floors. One was used to open a portal, another to access the third floor, and one more to get an escort through the Darklands. With five favors now—four if you subtract the portal—he had more flexibility.

With those favors, he could probably trade for a knighthood under Mystis. He knew the coronation required a favor. Originally, he had only planned to make himself a knight due to the limited number of favors, but now he could possibly include Kouki and Hain as well.

“So, how do I get to the next floor? Do I have to kill every single one of these people to reach the top of the tower?” James asked.

“No. I know another way in. You could sneak through the sewers. They connect directly to the tower. From there—no, wait. I’ll find a way to sneak you in without you needing to kill the knights. I’m sorry, but I plan to hire them to fight the bosses on the fourth and fifth floors. Please don’t kill them.”

“...Alright. But I make no promises,” James nodded. “Let me know if you figure something out. I’ll wait here and explore a bit more.”

“Yes, please wait for good news. The sewers are on the east and west sides of the city. There should be gaps in the guards’ patrol routes. If you find them, you can sneak in undetected.”

“Got it. I’ll look for the sewers while I wait. Let’s meet here again in two or three days.” James gave a casual wave and walked off.

“Wait—how are we going to keep track of time? There’s no day or night here.”

“Just go by your sleep cycle. If you arrive first, leave an arrow or bullet here,” James replied.

“Will do. See you in two days, James.”

[Name: James]
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 57
Coins: 900
Merit: 10
Biomass: 0

Stats:

STR: 174 (↑2)
DEX: 173 (↑3)
MAGIC: 134 (↑3)
MANA: 1200 (↑20)

Skills:

Novice Axe Mastery Level 5 (Powerstrike, V-Slash, Boomerang)
Novice Sword Mastery Level 5 (Hurricane, Vorpal Lunge, Twin Fang)
Novice Bow Mastery Level 1 (Quickshot, Homing Shot)
*Beginner Dagger Mastery Level 1

Magic:

Mind Flay
Sense Alteration
Mana Sonar

Class:

Attacker (Level 38) (↑1)
+10% bonus when attacking
+1 STR, DEX per level

Shop (Level 2):

Health Potion (100 coins)
Hematonic Potion (50 coins)
High Potion (300 coins)
Antidote (50 coins)
Bullets (10 coins / round)
Grenades / Flashbangs (50 coins / piece)
Arrows (50 coins / dozen)
Metal Pocket Arrows (100 coins / dozen)
Poison Darts (10 coins / round)
Sell Function / Repair Function
Body Modding (Human: 100 Biomass / part)
Merit Shop (10 Merit / Skill)

Unique Skill – Chimera (Level 3)

3 Extra Slots Available

Goblin Stomach (Iron Guts) (Stomach Slot)
Eyes of Mana (Mana Sense) (Right Eye Slot)
Golem Arm of Valhalla (STR +30%, Physical Resistance +30%, Repairable, Mana -200) (Right Arm Slot)
Ratking’s Legs (STR +25%) (Leg Slot)
Flaming Tiger’s Fire Lung (Fire Breathing, Mana -100, Magic -10) (Lung Slot)
Golem Core (Poison Resistance, Mana -250, Magic -10, Repairable) (Heart Slot)
Orc’s Torso (Torso Slot)
Shadow Snake Fang (Intermediate Life Leeching) (Mouth Slot)
Flaming Tiger Lord’s Firefur (Fire Cloak, Fire Resist, Physical Resist +15%, Mana -100, Magic -10) (Skin Slot)
Land Shark’s Ear (Echolocation: 10m) (Ear Slot)
Mana Core (Water Spells: Ice Spear, Water Manipulation, Magic +60, Mana +1000) (Extra Slot)
Quetzalcoatl Horn (Lightning Shot: 20 Mana/Shot) (Extra Slot 3)
Mana Core (Wind Spells: Wind Gust, Wind Wall, Magic +20, Mana +300) (Extra Slot 4)