After Schnee headed to battle, Hunter summoned something to track the Mage who used the 'Displacement' spell. It was a risky spell to teleport enemies right in front of the caster.
The Mage was either strong or a fool. As it was really dangerous to teleport a Vanguard, close-damage dealer, right in front of a Mage, ranged-damage dealer.
"Wolfie, follow the scent."
He summoned a white wolf, and it sniffed the ground before dashing into the forest. He grinned, and followed the wolf.
It wasn't a pet summon like Phoenix. It was an autonomous summon. A Level 30 summon, the Wolfie could attack and do damage, but it was weaker than Phoenix, the Level 80 summon. However, its specialty lay in tracking, and it could sniff out any scent and follow a trail.
He rushed through the forest, and Wolfie barked, urging him to follow it. They arrived at a small clearing, and he saw two Warriors lying on the ground.
From the HP bars floating in front of them, Hunter knew the Warriors were just knocked out. It was obviously not easy to kill them that fast, even for a Mage.
He looked around and saw a Mage. Her hood was now down, revealing her fiery black hair. She had a cute face, but her eyes were cold.
Wolfie howled as if found the track before it disappeared. The Mage girl turned to him and smiled.
"A variable." She said, her tone neutral.
"A variable?"
Hunter repeated, nodding his head.
"I guess you can call me that." He said, "Now, if you are so kind, can you tell me why you helped the killer to escape, Miss... Scarlet?"
He inspected her information and saw her name was indeed Scarlet.
The girl looked pretty calm despite his accusation. She didn't look nervous or guilty, which was surprising.
"It's just a business."
"Business?"
"Yeah. I didn't really care about that killer, and I was just helping him for the money. That's all."
She shrugged, and her tone was casual.
"I'm sorry, but that's not very convincing."
Hunter's face was expressionless, and he gripped his staff tightly.
"What? You can't believe me?" Scarlet smiled. "Well, I'm telling the truth. I'm not the kind of person who would get involved in a personal grudge or anything. I'm just doing this for the money."
Always doubt what other people say. That was how Hunter lived this far. He only trusted a few individuals, including Schnee. Although that girl wasn't right in the head, she was always honest with him, which he personally liked.
And this girl named Scarlet... Her face was the face of a liar. She was indeed helping the killer for money, but there was something more than that, which he couldn't figure out.
"I understand. Then, will you surrender? Your business has been thwarted and I doubt the killer is still breathing now. If you surrender and tell me the whole story, I can let you go. Just for once."
"How kind of you."
Scarlet giggled, her smile wide.
"But I can't accept that. I don't need your mercy, and I have no intention of talking to you. You're not even in a Guild." She continued.
"And I am not a fool who let a person who knew my business and my face live. Sorry, but you must die. If you want to blame someone, then blame this world which has no rules."
She waved her staff, and a ball of fire appeared. Hunter immediately dodged, rolling away from the explosion.
He stood up and swung his staff, summoning his Golem. The ground moved and a massive stone figure formed, its face a blank.
"Boulder Slam!"
The Golem stomped the ground, creating a shockwave that could sent everyone flying. But the Mage didn't seem fazed by it. She just raised her staff and aimed at the Golem.
"Earth Bind!"
Her staff glowed, and the ground started to tremble. Suddenly, roots shot out of the ground and wrapped around the Golem, stopping its movement.
"Golem, destroy the root!"
The Golem roared, and its fist slammed against the ground. It managed to break free and stomped the ground, breaking the roots.
"Phoenix!"
Hunter raised his staff, and a bird appeared from the tip. Two summons at once. He was going all out.
He had a high MP, and he could maintain a few low-level summons for a while. That was why he was a solo player. He had a lot of options in his arsenal.
Scarlet looked pretty surprised.
"Now that's bad news. I didn't expect you to be able to summon 2 summons at once."
She was frowning, her lips pursed. She raised her staff and aimed at the bird.
"Flame Rain!"
A ball of fire came out of it, and it exploded into a shower of flame. The scattered flames morphed into arrows and rained down, scorching the earth.
"Cover me!"
The Phoenix screeched and flew up, its wings flapping hard. It covered Hunter and the Golem with its body, preventing them from getting hit by the fire.
Scarlet didn't waste any time. She prepared the next spell and cast it, sending a lightning bolt toward Hunter.
This time, Phoenix moved to block the thunder with its wings. It was a powerful attack, but it could survive the blow.
"Good, good. You're strong. But that won't be enough."
Scarlet smirked, her staff glowing. She was about to cast the third spell when a sound came from the distance.
Swoosh!
Something was flying toward them, and it hit the Mage in the back. She was knocked down, her HP dropping to a quarter.
"Damn it."
She cursed and turned to see the attacker. A black wolf was standing there, its fur wet and its fangs dripping with saliva.
It was a level 65 monster called the Bloody Wolf, and its name wasn't there for no reason. This was Hunter's third summon, which he called when he was behind Golem.
Golem raised its body and Hunter could be seen smiling.
"Phoenix ray."
He cast another spell, and Phoenix breathed out a stream of fire, aiming at the Mage.
"Magic Shield!" The Mage blocked it with a magic shield, but she couldn't do anything to the Bloody Wolf who was closing in on her. The shield only blocked a magic attack.
She raised her staff and pointed at the beast, intending to cast another spell, but it was too fast. It lunged at her, its claws sinking into her flesh.
"AHHHHHH!"
She screamed in pain and fell to the ground, her HP dropping even more. She was in a critical state, and one more hit could send her to death.
The battle was over. Frontier Online's battle was always fast. Even a low-level spell could hurt a lot of it directly hit the opponent.
Hunter walked toward the Mage, his staff gripped tightly.
"So, you were trying to kill me. And I thought we could have a chat and come to an understanding." He shook his head, his eyes cold. "Sorry, but my friend will scold me if I don't do anything."
He swung his staff and the butt of it slammed against the Mage's face, knocking her unconscious. One of the features in Frontier Online that got carried over, an Unconscious State. She would stay like this for at least 3 hours, if it was still similar to the game.
"It's over."
Hunter sighed, looking at the Mage's unconscious form. He unsummoned all his summons.
"In the end, I just knocked her unconscious because I needed her information."
Turning around, Hunter stretched his body. He unexpectedly felt a bit tired after earlier.
"Phew, that was the first time I felt nervous when fighting other players. Maybe I should spar with Schnee to get used to it." He muttered and nodded to himself. "Yeah, that's a great idea. But we probably need to deal with them and the big guilds first. How troublesome."