Chapter 8: The Village part 3

Moments after the girl's response, Solo smiled and, at the same time, turned around. As he turned around, he took a deep breath, slightly shook his head, and then proceeded to stroll.

"I need a plan... Seeing how it was a larger group of men who attacked... And they had some kind of lord... It is safe to assume that they were not simple bandits... It is very likely that I am on the lands of some sort of kingdom, and now I am just about have a clash with some sort of royal army... I was way too quick... Since it is no longer game, I most likely can die, and as I don't know the forces of this land yet, I should be more cautious..."

"It would be pathetic if I were to die in a week because there were other people who were at least level 155... But if they sent people whose strongest member was level 8 to kill Ruion, who is level 23, then the average level should be particularly low..." Pondered Solo as he was slowly strolling.

With hands in his pockets, Solo was aimlessly venturing into the forest. Thanks to his high-level stealth, he was incredibly quiet, but since he was lost in thoughts, he reached almost the rim of the forest. At that moment, he suddenly froze in motion for a few minutes. He was not really paying attention to his surroundings and was thinking.

"That is him!" Screamed a terrified voice.

Despite the scream, Solo just stared blankly at a tree motionlessly, as he was still lost in thoughts.

"Anti-Magic Area!" Shouted another voice.

At that moment, Solo finally came back to reality, and as he looked to his right, he could see two men, Lornin Ciorn and Polyn Tusard, standing and a dozen more running away, who were the ones whom he had previously met back in the village. The mage suddenly clapped, and a blue burst of energy erupted from his hands, which started expanding. The blue energy soon formed a large barrier in a sizable area.

"Young man, you managed to break my spell, so it must mean that you have some magical knowledge, but since you have crossed us, you will perish today!" Stated Polyn and crossed his eyebrows.

"Perish? What a bold declaration! And how will you achieve such a feat?" Questioned Solo as he glared at the mage.

"Boy, you are in my domain! Here you are unable to cast any sort of spells! My Anti-Magic Area disturbs the magical particles in the air, preventing you from using them!" Shouted the mage

"Anti-Magic Area... Hm... It seems the magic here is quite different from Gates of Ardion. While their spells drained our mana, here, it seems, the caster is using the mana in the air... Fascinating!" Analysed Solo.

Meanwhile, Lornin drew his sword and, along with the mage, the duo started walking towards Solo, who started smiling.

"I believe an introduction would be propriety, don't you think? After all, we are no barbarians; we are civilised men." Stated Solo with a nervous grin.

"Fine, have it your way, peasant. I will give you the honour of knowing my name, as it seems you are not from these lands. I am Lord Lornin Ciorn!" Stated the baron.

"Polyn Tusard!" Muttered the mage with a touch of anger and noticeable annoyance, and at the same time, stopped walking.

Solo was about to speak up, but suddenly, the baron dashed at him, and with a powerful swing, he slashed Solo's neck. The moment it touched Solo's neck, he grabbed the blade and pulled it away. Although he suffered no damage from the previous cut, he glared at the baron. Lornin tried to pull his weapon back, but Solo's grip was so strong that it even slightly bent the blade. Suddenly, at an incredible speed, Solo brought his free hand to the man's chest and flicked his finger, blasting the man back straight into a tree, which instantly collapsed.

The mage hurriedly looked back down at his comrade, who coughed blood but was able to push himself slowly up. Then the mage quickly glared back at Solo, who was grinning. With a quick movement, Solo spun the sword in his hand, grabbing its handle and then pointing the blade at the mage, but then raised up, pointing the tip of the blade at the top of the barrier.

"Let me test this barrier of yours... Firebolt!" Stated Solo calmly.

The very tip of Solo's blade started glowing with a red colour, and soon a tiny ball condensed with red energy started hovering on top of it; the ball started spinning at an ever-increasing speed, and then it erupted. The eruption was so powerful that the trees in the area all bent away from Solo, and even the mage and the baron were pushed back. Other than the burst of wind, a devastating burst of energy was fired upwards. The moment the energy came in contact with the barrier, the barrier shattered, and the energy travelled forward towards the sky.

"Oh... I think I overestimated this barrier... Maybe... Firebolt, a third-tier spell, was overkill... But since it came to this..." He contemplated Solo while he was staring at the sky.

As Solo was not paying attention to what was going on around him, the baron used all his might to dash at him; with a well-aimed punch, he aimed to hit Solo's chest; however, he was too slow. Solo, without even looking down, lowered his blade and, with a thrust, pushed it through the baron's head, who would have instantly collapsed, but the blade which impaled him was keeping him from falling.

"FUCK! This is impossible! This is a monster... He used a third-tier spell without using a magical circle?! HOW? That is impossible." Thought the mage and kicked the ground in his fury.

"Arise!" Stated Solo coldly.

"It doesn't matter, I can not defeat this monster, but I will not go down without a fight." Mumbled Polyn, and he quickly extended both of his hands.

A magical blue circle appeared before his hands. Solo slowly looked down at him with a cold glare while still not letting the baron's corpse fall.

"Better Cold Pulse!" Screamed the mage.

The magic circle started suddenly emitted a blinding blue light, and then a burst of energy erupted from the circle. Although it was not as prominent as Solo's, it was still quite powerful. The spell caused the man to step back with shaking hands; however, at that very moment, a sword penetrated his shoulders, and as he was about to scream in pain, he was kicked in the head. He instantly fell and rolled back. All he could see was a glowing purple pair of eyes before he was kicked.

As soon as the mage managed to stop, he jumped up but instantly fell to his knees, as what he saw not only terrified him but also caused him to be in such a shock which prevented him from moving. A sword was being pointed at his throat, and it was not Solo who held that sword; it was Lornin; however, he was not the same as he was before. The baron who stood before him was drastically altered; despite having a hole in his head, he seemed not only perfectly healed but was even revitalised and seemed even younger than before. His long, slightly messy lush hair reached his shoulders, and he was glaring at the mage with immense killing intent.

And as the mage looked into the man's eyes, he came to the realisation that the one who pierced his shoulder was not Solo but was his formal companion, Lornin, whose most significant change was his glowing purple eyes; those eyes caused Polyn to be shocked the most.

"It seems I was at the wrong place in the wrong moment... and I wanted to avoid any sort of unnecessary confrontation... But since you attacked me..." Stated Solo, who stepped beside Lornin.

As soon as Solo was finished, the baron slashed the mage's neck without a hint of hesitation, without even blinking.

"Arise!" Stated Solo, and then turned around.

Suddenly, the corps started shaking slightly, and then, in a blink of an eye, all his injuries were healed and then sat up, and while sitting up, its eyes turned purple.

"Fascinating... I had never used this skill before, as I was focused more on either melee combat and rarely on magical confrontation... This skill is a combination of my race's unique ability, which allows me to have a higher aptitude towards soul-craft. And the other skill is my necromancy skills. Normally necromancy only allows corpses to be reanimated..."

"However, as it seems, Arise, an eight-tier skill, works almost as if I were to completely revive the target but also dominate their souls... They are the same person they were; however, they are unable to disobey my orders... At least, this is what I managed to deduct... And, furthermore, it seems that the skill also raised their levels slightly..."

"The lord or whatever his name is... He was previously level 32, but now he is level 33; as for the mage, he was level 33, and now he is also level 34... Fascinating; I will need to do more research on this and on the magic that man displayed..." Brooded Solo

Meanwhile, Poly slowly stood up; his hair started slowly growing, and his body started to get younger physically. Solo suddenly took a deep breath and then looked back at the baron and the mange over his shoulders. At that moment, the two of them instantly kneeled down. At first, Solo was glaring at them, but then out of the blue, his eyes widened, and he crossed his eyebrows.

"This... What is this feeling?! It feels as if... Lulu!" Thought Solo with anger in his eyes.