The explosion shook the ground, shattering the ears of those around it, and hurled the bodies of the bandits sky-high up the ground, and that was from one shot alone. With her mouth still open, Ilya then shouted.
"Alina, they aren't dead yet! I sense another ambush coming," Ilya shouted, firing her rifle at the treeline on her left with a stream of red beams, cutting the treeline into two with its sheer power.
Her sense immediately shifted into focus. Alina didn't feel any fear, she had encountered a wolf with a laser eye, what could a mere bandit do to her?
Alina rushed toward the bandit, using her blitz to make her go quicker by teleporting from one spot to another. Right before the bandits even stood up, Alina had slashed her saber against their heads, killing them instantly.
[BP +2,000]
Except, for those two special threats.
The ranger, feeling the danger coming from the white-haired woman, immediately flinched backward before standing up quickly to react to Alina's danger. He quickly grabbed the crossbow on his back and fired it at Alina.
Already experienced from dodging the wolf automata's attack, Alina immediately blitzed closer toward the ranger. The giant stake missed Alina completely. The ranger could only act surprised once Alina teleported right in front of him. With a single Bloody Slash, Alina then cut the body of the ranger in two.
Blood splashed over her body as his guts spilled over her clothing, Alina felt a rush of adrenaline and ecstasy over her as the blood spilled over her. The ranger's shocked upper body fell to the ground, still not realizing that it missed half of his own body. He hadn't died out of blood loss yet, but he certainly would be.
Alina grinned in satisfaction as more blood got absorbed into her body.
[BP +500]
From the tree line, she then sensed something aiming at her. She immediately blitzed away, and truly enough, a glowing blue arrow flew toward her former position. The arrow stroked against the ground, exploding into tiny pieces of ice shards. She could only wonder how many bandits were hiding among the treelines.
After that, a large explosion immediately appeared on the treeline where the arrow was coming from. Ilya's method of engagement was probably making everything in that general direction disappear, but seriously, how much mana did the elf have? Of course, in the general area, there was only one person left standing, the mage berserker.
The mage barely got the hang of the situation. The burly man used heavier leather armor than its counterparts, but Alina doubted it would protect him from her sword, or Alina's beam. The burly man coated his sword in a faint blue glow and charged in Alina's direction.
The bandit then slashed her sword, and a blue arc immediately flew in her direction. Alina recognized the attack as the same as her own, she blitzed out of harm's way and teleported right at the mage's back.
Without remorse, at point-blank range, she then used a Bloody Swing vertically on the bandit. The thick leather armor didn't offer any protection as the arc of blood cut the bandit in two, also killing it instantly. Alina barely broke a sweat in comparison to fighting the wolf automata.
[BP +500]
As blood stopped dripping from her saber, Alina returned to her regular sense again. The treelines around her were destroyed, with some splattered guts and dead bodies all over the place. A lot of trees fell to the ground, thanks to Ilya's explosive attack.
Alina stood in silence, feeling the rush of adrenaline slowly settle down. Ilya then walked toward her. Needless to say, Ilya was kinda impressed, judging the continuous smiling and nodding that the elf gave to her.
"Blood magic, this is the first time I've seen it. Tell me something, is this the first time you handle a saber?" Ilya suddenly asked. "I mean, it's an impressive show, but the lack of technique does show."
Alina just nodded, she had the feeling that lying to Ilya was impossible in that regard.
"Very well, still, that was a good show. The loot is all yours. Maybe you'll find a Lea or two," Ilya added.
"Lea? Flea, you meant?" Alina asked.
"No, I mean, you might find some money in those bandits. However, I doubt people use physical money anymore," Ilya added.
"Only one way to find out," Alina then rummaged through the bandits.
Alina looted what she could loot, money, small trinkets, and small weapons. She found some money, totaling around 40 Leas, two broken phones, and five working phones. She doubted she could sell the loot easily.
Ilya forbade her from looting anything but money from the goblins, saying that someone might miss it, or it would give her trouble later down the road if someone somehow managed to track her down. Ilya also advised her to do a factory reset on the phone and take off its SIM card. She knew a way to sell them, legally.
"These motherfuckers kill people for peanuts," Ilya commented.
"What do you mean?" Alina asked.
"A group only carrying 40 Leas? Their weapons might cost more than the amount you just looted for them," Ilya added.
"Ok?"
"Point is, I think they haven't sold their loots yet, crazy bastards," Ilya added.
She didn't understand how much one Lea was, it might be equivalent to one Dollar, or even less. Still, at the very least, she had money to buy stuff with now, and that village might be the first place she could go to. Though truth be told, she preferred a small town. Well, anything would do at this point.
The two then left the bodies to their demise, blood coloring both the road and the treelines, from what appeared to be a large battle. However, in truth, Ilya was responsible for 80% of the destruction, so much so that Alina was confident that the only reason she found the elf crying was because her rifle had broken.
After walking for around thirty minutes, they finally got out of the forest. The landscape turned from that of a forest to that of a grassland with one or two trees surrounding it. She then noticed several blobs of greens jumping around, slimes, Alina thought. The full moon above gave a beautiful shine to the grassland, reflecting the green scenery.
"Wish I brought my car," Ilya muttered.
"You have a car?" Alina asked.
"Yeah, a 208 Toyota Hilux," Ilya answered.
So... Toyota existed in this world? And 208? What year is that? Don't tell me that there was some change in dating in this world. Seriously, was this the past? The present? The future? Or was this place a different place from Earth entirely?
"I see," Alina nodded, maybe one day she could buy a car in this world. Her beat-up 2008 Camry that she bought had seen its days, probably, a new one in this world wouldn't hurt at all.
After another thirty minutes of walking, Ilea spotted the village. The village was a small Europe-style village surrounded by a small river. The village glimmered in the middle of the darkness as a sign of the nearest civilization in the area. The river flowed from the forest down to that village.
On arriving at the village, she noticed the village was bustling with activity as if this was the middle of the day. People were walking left and right, traveling from one building to another, stores were open, and many children were walking. The population was also quite varied, from goblins to humans.
"Alina, welcome to Rivercircle," Ilya smiled, introducing the village.
"You lived here?" Alina asked, mildly surprised by the revelation.
"Nope, but I do park my car here," Ilya replied.
She also saw several guards walking. Indeed, as she expected, not all of them were using rifles like Alina, but that didn't stop the weird combination. For example, a patrol of two goblin guards walked by, the two of them carried a rapier on their hips, but there was also a pistol attached to it as well.
Another example, a large armored giant ogre was walking by her as they walked together toward the center of the town. The ogre carried a large giant warhammer, and yet, he was also talking to his colleagues using a radio attached to his leather armor.
Shrek with a radio? Never seen that before.
"Never been to Rivercircle before?" Ilya asked, she wondered why Alina seemed like a caveman when walking through the street. Like, she was even shocked when she saw a goblin driving a regular Camry.
"No, that's not it. I'm just... surprised," Alina tried to reason, but she did not expect the culture shock. She expected the fantasy template: goblins being evil, ogre being the stupid funny guy, and everyone used medieval-age tech, not... this; a combination of fantasy-style but with sci-fi technology.
Heck, a goblin child just walked in front of her using what she identified as miniaturized VR goggles, not too dissimilar to the newly released Vision Pro, like, what the hell? She was simply overwhelmed.
Ilya then chuckled, "How ancient are you? Dear vampire."
"I don't know."
Ilya smiled, "Well, let me get you to my hotel room, and give me those phones, I'll transfer the money later to you."
"Sure," Alina then pulled the phones out of her Blood Inventory then gave those phones to Ilya.
Walking for a little bit more around the center of the village, they then encountered a vending machine. Well, not a vending machine, but the shape of it was similar to a vending machine. It was called an Automatic Comissary Terminal (ACT) whose main purpose was to serve adventurers like Alina or Ilya. The size was big, too, as big as a photo booth.
Ilya threw out those phones into the bin of the machine, she then put her phone and scanned a QR code right on its screen. The machine activated and the bin retrieved the phones. The sum of all of the phones, broken and working, was at around 400 Leas. Ilya pressed accept and the process was done.
"And... my money?" Alina asked.
Ilya pulled out her wallet out of her tactical webbing, she then gave Alina 400 Leas. "You better install some electronic wallet. Not many people use physical notes nowadays, besides, the central bank encourages its usage."
"I'll think about that."
With the exchange completed, Alina pocketed the 400 Leas, her mind abuzz with thoughts about this new, bewildering world that meshed elements of technology and fantasy in ways she'd never imagined.
Ilya, sensing Alina's overwhelming curiosity and slight confusion, suggested they head to her hotel. "Let's get moving. You'll need a proper place to rest, and I can explain more about this place on the way. At least, I can conclude you're ancient, but how ancient you are, I'm not too sure."
The village, alive and vibrant even under the moon's gaze, was a hive of activity. Market stalls displayed goods that ranged from enchanted jewelry that glimmered with a soft light to electronic gadgets that seemed straight out of a high-tech showroom.
"The ACT you saw back there is just one of many conveniences designed for people like us. Everything you need, from gear to potions, can be found here."
Reaching the hotel, a quaint building that somehow blended medieval architecture with modern amenities, Ilya led Alina inside. The lobby was a mix of rustic and digital screens, displaying information about the village and upcoming events. Taking the stairs to the second floor, they entered the room.