Chapter 10: Erased consciousness!
Before the bandit boss reached the third stage, his mind got overwhelmed by the limitations brought by Tetsuya's game rune. He was limited to the four spells and one passive which the bandit boss couldn't even understand!
There was an information window from the game rune about the skills and passive, but how could Roman read it while Brolu continued to aim his sword at him?
His most beloved ability was 'Q', the bandit punch! This bandit punch utilized his strengthening rune as the 'core damage', but it could be only used with 'one stance' which was another problem.
Even more, there was something called 'cooldown' that kept limiting him! "ARGHHHH! ARGHHHHHHHHHH!" Roman couldn't punch as much as he wanted! So what if his weapon was his body if he couldn't use it properly? His roars partially passed his irritation, but more than anything, Roman already lost himself within his instincts.
"What did you do? Is it a demon?" Ashley yet again probed, her eyes on Brolu who looked small compared to the awakened Roman. He was doing all fine with his sword until now, but the third stage seemed unstoppable!
His opponent got stronger and bigger as if growing in size! Though it was true that Roman's muscles got inflated, his instincts materialized around his body like an aura. Eyes red, mouth parted, the bandit boss no longer looked like a bandit, but the beast himself!
His shadow passed through Brolu, then his mad weapon began to let out the furious punches that in the MOBA game would be called 'Auto attacks'.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"So strong… What happened? Is this… game rune?" Brolu spoke through his clenched teeth while facing the red eyes. He wanted to read Roman's next moves from these red jewels, but nothing could be seen other than deep killing intent.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As only the abilities could help here, Brolu focused his whole loyalty rune on his grip. His gloves let out more golden light, but the powerful blows descending from the top couldn't be stopped.
More dents began to spread on Brolu's shining armor while his sword failed to do the same. Under such a strong and devastating series of auto attacks, Brolu simply had no way of finding any gap closer.
He was left powerless before those punches that continued to smash his armor.
His friendly-looking face also got punched hard causing his nose to burst with a streak of red liquid. His blood rained all over his face!
In the meantime, Tetsuya's eyes closed as he commented, "In this state, his reasoning is slowly getting erased. All that's left is the man with his instincts to survive. I would call this ultimate skill if it were a MOBA game, but this fool didn't even read the rest of his abilities."
Ashley understood everything now, but there was a slight worry for the young knight. She felt like this knight was not a common noble, but someone with a sad past. There was no way the noble would hide and plan its trial against the bandits for this long.
Even more, the noble would be surrounded by one's people yet Brolu was working all alone.
She felt like he was the weirdo in the royal circle, similarly to her. As a bookworm in the past, Ashley simply belonged to the weirdos' circle that didn't bother with royal matters at all.
Seeing him falling onto his knee, Ashley muttered softly, "Is Brolu going to die?" As most of her questions brought up some development, her ears trembled a little as her partner's lips parted.
Tetsuya thought differently than Ashley, so he simply saw more, "He could escape our minimap. It means his equipment isn't that weak and is probably part of heritage. I bet his sword also has something hidden within." It was fair reasoning, but Ashley felt like it was more of a bet than anything.
"AHHHHH!" Brolu's face then clashed against the world itself! His cries got thoroughly muffled by the betraying world, then Roman's beast claws reached out for his shining armor.
A clear desire to not only tear apart the armor, but also flesh flashed through Roman's eyes. He became so strong that Ashley immediately poked Tetsuya's ego with her words. "And you wanted your bandits to fight with this man in such a state?" Her disappointment was clearer than the neighbor's river. "All of them would die even if they are our players!" She then threw some small wise words at Tetsuya, but he shoved them all into the ground, the source of all his problems.
"Seems like the world not only dares to betray me but its inhabitants. It holds back its inhabitants too much; it even caused some mishap in my calculations." Tetsuya uttered to himself, his words nearly causing Ashley to catch his soul.
This made the blonde woman question herself, "Can I touch his soul? Where is it?" This question was pointed at herself, so it was Ashley's own adventure. She then saw Tetsuya's vision getting closer to Brolu.
Her vision was what Tetsuya saw, so it was surprising, to say the least. Ashley saw Tetsuya rushing at the mad bandit boss. A powerful ego punch was already in motion, its mighty stats knocking off the bandit boss momentarily.
Roman then rolled onto the ground with his eyes closed.
"Mer...chant?" Brolu peeked from below, his whole face covered in dirt and blood mashup. Looking way worse than the bandit boss after the ego punch, Brolu totally disappointed Tetsuya, but his 'setting' was something else!
"Ah, he peeked into his setting… That's mean." Ashley pouted as she was busy with her own thoughts while Tetsuya was checking Brolu's stats. What could be hidden here as it was too unnatural for him to move like that to save a stranger person!
Once close to the young knight, Tetsuya raised his feeble body from the ground, then put him on his legs.
It was hard to keep his straight posture, but Brolu helped himself with his sword, stopping the swaying in the process. He then got poked by something cold which was glass. This glass had a red liquid that was similar to the blood, but Tetsuya leisurely spoke.
"This is a potion to heal your wounds." It was a potion from the villager's blood. "Now that we both have game rune, our goal is to deal with this bandit."
His words felt bizarre as Brolu's runes weren't related to the game rune at all! However, the game rune appeared within his mind before Brolu could voice out his thoughts. This game rune showed off his stats and quest to beat the bandit boss!
It explained his weak spot… and then changed Brolu's skills into four with one passive!
It felt so weird… but Brolu felt the strength surging out from these skills as all of these were tightly related to his own runes! A hot liquid also kept healing his wounds at an astonishing pace!
All of this made the young knight see Tetsuya in a new light! "Thank you." He said. "You also got powerful abilities, so this game rune is not in this man's possession, but in this place! Wouldn't it be great to possess such power and its resources reserved only for us?" Brolu misunderstood, but it was what Tetsuya wanted.
He then secretly passed the quest that stated to beat the bandit boss and seize the other bandit camps in search of the game rune!
"Can I rely on you?" Brolu asked quietly. "I will be at the front as my armor can still manage!" He instantly followed with these words as it would be scary for merchants to fight with such beasts.
However, if Brolu was clear-minded, he would be able to see that Tetsuya was far from worried.
Nonetheless, the game master answered, "My punch costs a lot."
"That's a merchant for you. Haha!" Brolu laughed and promised to pay in the future, then rushed at the bandit boss while believing in the new acquaintance!