SWNOVELXO Chapter 11: Players/Chosen
Zane and Lucy left the scene of the dead bear and headed in the direction of the Raven City. But as they walked, they heard the footsteps of people coming toward them, and it wasn't just one or two people, there were at least ten or so.
"Aren't we going to hide?" Zane asked.
"No, the followers of Lumis would never have such a large group out like this," Lucy said.
Finally, the people came into view, and the moment Zane laid eyes on them, he could tell one thing—they were players.
There was some sort of aura around them that differentiated them from the actual NPCs of the bloodline realm.
'Players? Already? What are they doing here? Did they come because of notification of an event?' Zane wondered.
There were ten of them, and all they had were some low-grade weapons and simple armor. Zane could tell that they didn't have enough time to gather resources. After all, the game only just began for them.
The man that was leading the group was a blonde man, probably in his mid-twenties. He had an athletic build and looked like he knew how to fight.
The moment the man saw Zane and Lucy, he pulled his sword and pointed at them.
'Hmmm? Can he tell that I'm a player as well?' Zane wondered.
"Boss, those are NPCs. What are they doing in the forest?" a short brown-haired boy told the blonde man.
'Boss? Already? I guess that makes sense. People are desperate for leadership, some so much that they are unable to do anything on their own, so they allow someone else to carry the weight,' Zane thought. Then another thought hit him.
'Wait, they called me an NPC. What the hell? I'm supposed to be a player. I have the system and all. Wait, could it be that in this body I really am an NPC?'
"Don't forget, this is no longer a game. This is real, and all the NPCs are real people now, so they can do whatever they want," the blonde man said.
'Hmmm, he is smart at least. I guess something like that is enough to make someone the leader early on,' Zane thought.
'Master, should I take them out?" Lucy asked, her voice just loud enough for Zane to hear.
"No, I want to see how this goes, and if it turns bad, I'll try to handle it myself," Zane said. He seriously wanted to try out the martial art, and now was the best opportunity—that was if they tried to do something against him.
"Hey, two of you, tell us where the Demon Beast King is," the blonde man asked.
'I said it, they were here because of the event. Sadly, that had passed. Now should I tell them about it, or should I not?' Zane wondered, and after a few seconds of thinking, he came up with a good solution.
"Let's go," he said to Lucy, and they started walking away. The blonde, along with everyone in his party, was stunned instantly.
The blonde guy gritted his teeth so hard the sound of scratching could be heard. "How dare you?" he roared and lunged forward, thrusting his spear at full speed.
Zane turned to look at the man. His level flashed above his head now that he was ready to fight, and he was a measly level three. And to be honest, getting to level three on the first day simply meant he got a very good bloodline.
But sadly, he had to come against the wrong person. Zane looked at the blade, and he immediately knew that this blonde dude had very little practice with the sword.
Zane waited for the sword to get really close, and then he dodged to the side and sent a kick right into the man's chest, throwing him back.
The blonde man flew through the air and slammed into the ground. His party was immediately shocked to see what happened to him; they looked at Zane with anger and fear.
Zane slowly took out the dagger and held it in a reverse grip, his stance low with his feet spread apart.
Lucy took a few steps back to allow Zane to fight. The blonde man got on his feet, his face covered in rage.
"You, you bastard! I'll make sure I kill you," he roared. Zane looked at him with cold, expressionless eyes, then suddenly he yawned, like this was boring him.
Seeing this, the blonde man couldn't take it anymore. "Take him down!" he yelled. Six out of the ten were close-ranged fighters, all using swords and daggers, while the remaining two ladies were some sort of mages. They extended their staves and started casting spells.
Zane smiled as he saw them coming. "Swift Blade," he muttered and lunged at them. The first man swung his sword, but all that he cut through was an afterimage. Zane got behind him and stabbed through his back—a place that would not kill instantly but was still a lethal attack.
With the use of his nose, his eyes, and his ears, he could tell where and where each organ was in the body with precision. He pulled the blade out and instantly stabbed the other side as well.
The man screamed in pain as he fell to the floor. Before his body hit the floor, Zane had already lunged at the next man. The man tried to hack him down from above, but Zane parried the sword with ease. He smiled as he looked at the face of the man. Shivers ran down the spine of the man as he looked into Zane's eyes.
Zane stepped in and slashed the shoulder of the man. He pulled back and followed with another slash, faster than before. He was like a flowing stream, moving so fluidly that none of them could catch him.
After the second person collapsed to the ground, the realization that they had messed with the wrong person hit them, and fear immediately gripped their hearts.