Was that magic as well?

But before I could try and think any deeper, somebody else slammed against the ground, sending a shockwave through the air.

“ARGHHHHH!”

The roar of pain shook the trees and blew the grass below us.

As we glanced up, we saw the mountain-like man from before, holding both of his eyes as they bled uncontrollably.

Ah… It worked.

“What? Did shards of glass get in his eye? No, that’s not possible. His defense is so high that mere glass wouldn’t be able to pierce it,” Leo says as he sets me to the side and slowly stands up.

VWOOM

Leo swung his sword upwards, sending a red blade flying towards the man.

Though he managed to block it somehow, Leo’s random swing was used to just close the distance between them.

“HAHAHAHA! IT’S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I’VE BEEN THIS INJURED!” The man laughs to himself despite his pitiful state.

His right leg was hanging on by a thread, both of his eyes had been cut open by my makeshift caltrops, and it seemed like he broke both of his feet after slamming through each floor of the stone and quartz tower.

Tup Tup Tup

Leo had fully closed the gap now and took a lower stance with his sword at his side.

It was a stance I’d never seen before, but it still strangely worked as all the power was transferred from his legs to his arms and then to his sword.

SHING

You could hear the sword ripping through the air due to how powerful it was… but it was still deflected.

The man with his greatsword deflected it with the hilt, breaking it, but pushing the approaching blade away from a life-threatening injury.

“ARGHHHHHH!” The man shouted as his bloodlust exploded from his body.

I swore I could see a skull behind him.

The man’s left arm had been completely cut off, staining the lush grass with seemingly endless amounts of blood.

“Oomph,”

Leo had retreated back next to me, but he coughed up a large mouthful of blood that forced him to take a knee.

There was a slight gloss over his eyes as he glanced at me.

“Hehe, I got this,” He says, using his sword to help him stand.

It seems he took the full brunt of the bloodlust explosion, most likely injuring his internal organs as he coughed up a lot of blood.

I still didn’t know much of this world, so I tried to absorb as much information from this fight as possible.

“HAHAHAHA! LET’S DO THIS, LIEUTENANT!” The man shouts, a crater appearing beneath his feet before he dashed towards Leo, who could barely react to his swing.

It tore through the air with a loud,

BOOM

This one was much more impressive compared to Leo’s clean and accurate swing as the cut shook the air.

I was blown back several feet, and as I had a negative defense, I managed to sprain my wrist after trying to stop myself with my hand.

Leo glanced at me once again, worried about me, so the man took this chance to kick him right in the ribs, sending him flying into a tree.

His eyes rolled back into his head, but the man wasn’t done as he cocked his greatsword over his head and dashed right at Leo.

Come on… Wake up…

But Leo didn’t wake up.

The man quickly approached him at a speed I didn’t know was humanly possible… until he completely stopped, the tip of his sword just about to reach Leo’s head.

Huh? What happened?

I got up while holding my sprained wrist and slowly circled around until I got a full front view of the mountain-like man.

“He’s dead?” I muttered to myself.

His face was completely pale and shriveled up.

But despite his weak appearance, his stance held firm, his eyes even refusing to close as the eyeballs dried up.

“Hehehehe… HAHAHAHAHA! Finally! I’m free! I’M FREE!”

My eyes were invigorated with just the tiniest bit of life.

“Boy…”

I hear somebody call out.

My body froze in place, and my head turned towards the voice.

“Are you safe? I can’t see or hear you… Hand me the potion from inside my pocket. Don’t worry. It’s not destroyed. The design was made by your mother so of course, it wouldn’t break,”

Slowly, I walked over to Leo, who I presumed to be dead.

Subconsciously, my eyes grew colder with each passing second.

“You have taught me so many things about this world….” I mutter as I reach towards Leo’s pocket underneath his suit of armor.

“Ah, I can finally hear you. I’m so glad you’re alive… I’m sure I haven’t repaid you yet, so I will serve under you for the rest of my life… I swear on my knight’s honor,” Leo says with a gleeful smile as I pull out a small vile filled with red liquid.

“And… there is one thing I like about you,” I mutter as I reach for the broken sword beside Leo’s limp body.

“Ah, I’m glad… I’m glad you can still like something about me despite me putting you and your mother through such torturous conditions,”

Leo smiles before the sound of a liquid being chugged echoes through the air.

It was strange.

Such a soft sound echoed louder than the howling wind.

“Huh? Boy, what are you doing?”

“No, I loved something about you,”

“Boy?! BOY!? What are you doing?!”

“I loved how great of a pawn you were,” I muttered, my eyes colder than death.

SHING

My pitiful strength was nowhere near enough to cut his head off, but I did manage to cut his windtube…

Leo gasped for air as I dropped the sword to the ground.

Killing him seemed like a waste at first, but there were things I planned on doing that he would never agree with.

And it’s quite funny how I learned all these things from him.

He taught me about this new world and life… yet I still killed him.

Having him serve under me wasn’t a bad idea, but I knew how he was.

He thought of me as his little brother rather than somebody he could fully serve… especially with the events that happened with his captain… I doubt the loyalty would last long.

I massaged my freshly healed wrist before looking up at the panels before me.

[1 XP]

.

[You have completed the Quest: Escape the Magic Tower]

[Time remaining: 136 Hours]

[Reward has been granted]

.

Suddenly, a book appeared in my hand.

The leather feeling was nostalgic as I rubbed it in between my fingers.

The flimsy and coarse, tan paper felt nice as I flipped through each page.

It was in a language I could understand, but the calligraphy was messy.

It was like the author tried to make it as fancy as possible but utterly failed in the end.

On each page that I read, I felt myself becoming more and more absorbed into the book as if it was pulling me in, holding me hostage until I finished it.

I began to read each page faster and faster, the dark bags under my eyes slowly fading away.

My eyes became reinvigorated with life.

And then…

Creek… Creek… Creek…

The chirping of crickets woke me up from my trance-like state.

I snapped my head up, noticing the sun had fallen and the moon had risen in its place.

I snapped my head up even farther to the point I felt my neck strain as I stared up into the sky.

The moon is right there… so… It’s a bit past midnight.

Suddenly, I heard a loud,

DING

I glanced downwards while uncraning my neck before gazing at the panels in front of me.

[Your cruelness has impressed a few gods]

[Your heartlessness makes a few of the gods yearn to support you]

.

[You have completed the Side Quest: Kill a Gaurd]

[Reward has been granted]

[The next Side Quest will be revealed once ready]

.

A small key appeared in my hand.

It was golden, as if it was the key to a royal treasury.

But, the panels didn’t end there.

[You have successfully learned: Tangible Bloodlust]

[Would you like a tutorial?]

…

(Unknown POV)

“ARES!” A loud voice booms throughout the metal castle.

“What do you want?” A man sitting on a grand throne made from thousands of weapons responds.

“DON’T FUCK WITH ME! HOW DARE YOU TAKE MY SOURCE! I’LL KILL YOU!” The voice of a woman continues to boom through the castle.

The assistants beside the man sitting on the throne shook in fear as a woman twice the size of them stormed forward, bloodlust so thick it began to break time and space.

“Oh?! ATHENA!? YOU WANT TO GO! THEN LET’S SETTLE THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL!”

The man stood up from his throne, and a heavy stench of blood moved with him as he lifted up his hand.

The woman flinched at the slight movement and decided to retreat, storming off in anger.

“Now… He might’ve been weaker than I thought… But there is still unseen potential,” The man mutters, sitting back in his throne.