The group of level 5 warriors stiffened as they realized Alex had teleported out of their encirclement. Cold sweat ran down their backs as they grasped the reality that not only had Alex broken free from their illusion, but he had also vanished right before their eyes, despite their full attention and heightened senses being focused on him.
However, while the four high-level 4 were visibly shaken, the old man remained calm, glancing at Alex without a hint of surprise. It was as though Alex's disappearance hadn't fazed him at all.
Resting his stick on the ground to support himself, the old man nodded in Alex's direction and said, "Fair enough. You have been summoned by the Earl of House Drickon for threatening to murder his youngest son and coercing him into signing a soul contract that would end his life if he failed to meet the terms you arbitrarily imposed."
As the old man's words sank in, a vein throbbed on Alex's forehead, and he let out a dark chuckle. "You mean I've been invited for saving his son life and safely escorting him back?"
The old man shook his head. "No, I meant what I said. Besides, rescuing and escorting a member of an Earl's family shouldn't be rewarded—it's the duty of common citizens to do so."
Another vein pulsed on Alex's forehead at the old man's response. He finally remembered who this youngest son of Earl Drickon was—the same young man who had tried to order him around. Clearly, this youth arrogance was inherited.
'And what are these absurd accusations?' Alex thought indignantly. 'I can understand them being upset about me threatening the brat, but accusing me of coercion because I made him sign a contract that would kill him if he didn't uphold his end of the deal?!'
He hadn't forced Charles or any of the nobles to sign the contract. They could have refused and tried to survive on their own. Though the fact that they were attacked mere hours after he agreed to escort them showed they probably wouldn't have made it to Drisidd in the first place. If anything, he should be rewarded with more money than he could count.
What Alex didn't know, or bother to remember was that it was highly frowned upon for a commoner to make nobles sign a contract with death penalties if they failed to uphold their part. Even among nobles, such extreme penalties were usually avoided.
However, even if Alex had remembered this, it was unlikely he would have chosen a different penalty. The death clause was simply his way of ensuring that those signing the contract knew he wasn't here to mess around.
[Enhancement process finished]
Once the system pronounced those words, Alex felt his body becoming lighter, as if gravity had loosened its grip on him. An overwhelming surge of power coursed through his entire being, and even without testing it, Alex knew that his strength had made a tremendous leap forward. His muscles felt denser, his movements sharper, and he sensed an increased vitality pulsing through his veins.
For the first time, Alex actually felt the impact of his defense stat increasing. Normally, the only indication of his defense improving came from the system interface, but now it was different—he could feel it. His skin, organs, and even his bones had become noticeably tougher, more resistant. His very hair seemed more durable.
His skin, in particular, felt as hard as stone, solid and unyielding. If someone tried to cut him, it would be like striking a boulder with a dull blade. His entire body had become as durable as stone, as if he were a walking fortress in human form.
Right now, he was confident he could withstand many of the devastating blows from the lizardman dungeon boss that had once left him feeling helpless. While he couldn't claim that he would come out completely unscathed even now, he knew that if he kept raising his defense stat, it wouldn't be long before he could face such a foe without fear of taking significant damage.
Feeling empowered by his newfound stats, Alex shifted his focus back to the old man and boldly asked, "What if I don't want to meet this Earl Drickon?"
The old man's eyes narrowed, his voice turning icy. "Perhaps I wasn't clear enough," he said, his tone carrying a sharp edge. "You don't have a choice in the matter. Whether you come willingly or resist, you will meet him today."
"Then make m—"
Before Alex could finish his sentence, a radiant arrow of light materialized in front of his forehead.
Instinctively, Alex summoned all his agility and reflexively sidestepped the arrow, narrowly avoiding its deadly intent.
Turning his head in the direction the arrow had come from, Alex spotted one of the two men who were previously behind him drawing back his bowstring.
Despite the lack of a physical arrow, the instant the bowstring was pulled taut, a brilliant shaft of pure light formed in its place.
In the blink of an eye, that same arrow reappeared mere inches from Alex's forehead, as though it had teleported directly from the bow to him, bypassing any visible distance.
Letting out a silent curse, Alex ducked just in time, evading the arrow by a hair's breadth.
'Good thing I increased my speed,' he thought, realizing that without his enhanced reflexes, dodging that attack would have been impossible. Yet before he could fully recover, his senses flared in warning.
Straightening up, expecting another arrow, Alex was instead met with the sharp gleam of a rapier, its tip hurtling straight toward his throat.
When he had broken out of the illusion, the man wielding the rapier, at the opposite of his comrades, was the only one that distanced himself from Alex, thus, right now, the closest to him, and using the arrow his comrades had fired at Alex as distraction, he swiftly shortened the distance between the two of them and pierced at him, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
His rapier didn't land on Alex's throat, though. Right before collision, a double-headed scythe appeared in the latter's hand, and he blocked the rapier with it.
CLANG!
The sound of steel clashing filled the air as Alex was propelled through the air.
'Heavy,' Alex thought in astonishment as he used the momentum to try and create distance between him and his opponents.
'His weapon might be small, but his attacks are heavy,' Alex analyzed as he slid along the ground.
Before he could even come to a stop though, three arrows appeared before him. One was targeting his head, a second his heart, and the third his abdomen. The arrows followed a sequence—one was slightly ahead of the other, with the one aimed at his head first, the one at his heart second, and the one at his abdomen last.
'Shit!'
Brandishing his scythe, Alex parried the one targeting his head then ducked to avoid the one aimed at his heart. However, due to this move, he didn't have time to dodge the third arrow that was now heading straight for his head.
But right at that moment, a burst of smoke appeared around Alex and caught the third arrow—or at least attempted to, as the arrow immediately tore through the smoke, though it lost some of its momentum.
Taking advantage of that slight window, Alex sidestepped to evade the arrow.
Just like before, though, as soon as he managed to avoid the bowman's attack, the man with the rapier was charging straight at him again. But this time, alongside the man with the rapier, the one resembling a bodybuilder with his huge hammer was also running toward him.
For someone with such a heavy build, the man was surprisingly nimble and fast, even managing to get a little ahead of the one with the rapier despite originally being behind him.
As he wondered how to proceed, Alex's eyes narrowed when the man with the hammer suddenly accelerated. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Alex, his giant hammer swinging horizontally toward him!
'An ability,' Alex realized as the hammer came for him, 'that explains how he caught up with me so quickly.'
Despite the fast-approaching hammer, Alex forced himself to stay calm.
Tightening his grasp on the handle of the two-headed scythe, he raised it to block the oncoming attack, but right at that moment, a splitting headache hit him, causing him to falter for just a second.
Taking advantage of that second of inattention, the man with the hammer sneered wickedly, and the speed of his hammer doubled, appearing before Alex in a split second.
'Wha-'
Bang!
****
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