'I just realized—after leveling up, my magic points are fully restored. My health points might be the same too.' Leonard thought.
Leonard and Zeus continued their hunt, moving a few kilometers away from the entrance. The concern about being too far didn't bother Leonard, as he noticed that Zeus was becoming more controlled with his powers. Although walking alone without protection could be risky, Leonard figured that Zeus could still give him a ride since he had more magic points.
The entire forest seemed to be filled only with chanaks—or at least that's all Leonard encountered, as there didn't appear to be any other creatures. As they ventured deeper, Zeus spotted a small clearing ahead and immediately notified Leonard.
Pointing in a direction, Zeus said, "There, I can see a clearing. We might find some humans as well."
Nodding, Leonard narrowed his eyes and looked ahead before replying, "I still haven't asked Yulaf about this. Since each floor contains a different environment or world, could it be that there are civilizations here too? Considering normal humans can enter the first three floors, it's possible they've established a society here."
"More like a society for those who enter here. What do you call them?" Zeus asked curiously.
Leonard continued walking, keeping his pace steady with Zeus. "Hunters." They finally reached the clearing.
Just as they had hoped, the clearing was larger than they initially thought. It was wide, extending several kilometers in width and length. There were a few makeshift houses, some sturdier than others. At the center was a well, and a few unpolished paved roads connected the houses.
Both of them were intrigued as they entered what seemed to be a civilization, though there wasn't much activity around—they couldn't find any humans.
"I'll inspect," Zeus suggested and didn't wait for Leonard's approval before entering.
Leonard could only watch as Zeus checked each house one by one. Some establishments didn't even have interiors resembling homes. After searching all around, Zeus returned to Leonard's spot, only to find him missing.
"Where…" Zeus muttered, feeling a creeping sense of danger. He immediately closed his eyes, trying to sense any sign of life around, but couldn't detect anything within the small radius.
Worry slowly built up as Zeus searched for Leonard. The possibility of a kidnapping wasn't far-fetched; they hadn't found anyone here, so someone might have noticed their approach and prepared to ambush them. Despite his growing concern, Zeus grew increasingly impatient with each failed attempt to locate Leonard. Just as he was about to unleash a massive amount of power, he finally sensed a faint sign of life a few kilometers away from the makeshift village.
Zeus leaped high, using his flight to reach the destination in an instant. From a distance, he spotted Leonard, which eased his worry, but noticed a few humans surrounding him. He wasn't sure what had happened—Leonard seemed unharmed. If Leonard had run to this place and was being chased, why hadn't he called for Zeus?
Leonard, meanwhile, was calculating. The men surrounding him looked like bandits, eight in total. He hadn't called for help, deciding instead to figure out what kind of civilization had been built in the middle of nowhere. Despite their stern and ugly appearances, they could just be Hunters. However, he didn't want to jump to conclusions, as he sensed ill intent from them.
'Zeus should have found me by now,' Leonard thought, running through different scenarios of what could happen from the risk he had taken.
Since these people approached him without making their presence known, Leonard speculated they had bad intentions. This led him to avoid alarming them and instead draw them away from Zeus to buy more time.
"Are you the one who's been stealing our earnings?" asked the smallest of the group, who wore tattered leather armor.
Leonard put on a clueless expression, genuinely unaware of what they were accusing him of.
"I just arrived here. So, I didn't steal anything from you," Leonard replied, keeping his tone steady. He couldn't understand why they had sneaked up on him with such accusations.
The smallest man stepped closer, his tone cold. "I'm a Player, but that doesn't mean I won't hurt you. I promise, if you don't tell us the truth, I'll kill you slowly until you beg for death."
Leonard sensed the attempt to intimidate him, but the words didn't chill him at all. Confidence backed him up, erasing any fear of dying at their hands.
"Can you at least be clear? What earnings? I'm telling the truth—I just got here," Leonard persisted, still unsure of what they wanted.
The rest of the men laughed briefly, their laughter dripping with sarcasm. Leonard realized they were fixated on their belief.
"I really don't know what you're talking about. In reality, I just wanted to know why you sneaked up on me. So if we're done here, can you leave me alone? I still want to explore the first floor," Leonard snapped, his tone tinged with irritation.
"That's impossible. We already know you're the one who killed all the chanaks around here, since you're the only one around. You stole our earnings!"
Hearing that, Leonard finally understood what they meant by their "earnings." It seemed they had built a makeshift village to stay in and hunt longer, but he still couldn't grasp why they were so worked up about it.
"This tower is yours? And what does it matter if I hunted all the chanaks around? You can just take their carcasses and sell them or do whatever you want with them," Leonard retorted.
The smallest man tilted his head, cracking his neck before gesturing for his men to close in on Leonard, tightening the circle around him. Just as they closed in, nearly squeezing Leonard, a bolt of lightning struck.
As electrical energy zapped one of them, their vigilance heightened, and they immediately drew their weapons. They looked around, splitting their attention between Leonard and their surroundings.
"You have a companion!" the smallest man shouted, concern creeping into his voice.
'His companion could be a mage,' he thought, glancing at his fallen comrade, visibly struck by lightning.
"This is an unwanted conflict," Leonard mumbled, sending chills down the spines of the remaining seven men as they began to realize his true intent.
Though initially in disbelief, the smallest man—their leader—felt a surge of fear. His eyes widened as, one by one, his men fell to the unseen companion's attacks.
"You... you're from the White League! You found us?!"
Leonard, noticing their growing panic, was momentarily confused. 'White League?'
PassingNote: Let's have a trade.
For every 50 power stones, I will provide a bonus chapter. After chapter 15, the novel will be updated twice a day.