The group of level 5 warriors stiffened as they realized Alex had teleported out of their encirclent. 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 et 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 an I've been invited for saving his son life and safely escorting him back?"
The old man shook his head. "No, I ant what I said. Besides, rescuing and escorting a mber 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 rembered who this youngest son of Earl Drickon was—the sa 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 threatening the brat, but accusing 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 re 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 rember 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 extre penalties were usually avoided.
However, even if Alex had rembered 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 ss around.
[Enhancent 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 trendous leap forward. His muscles felt denser, his movents sharper, and he sensed an increased vitality pulsing through his veins.
For the first ti, Alex actually felt the impact of his defense stat increasing. Normally, the only indication of his defense improving ca from the system interface, but now it was different—he could feel it. His skin, organs, and even his bones had beco noticeably tougher, more resistant. His very hair seed more durable.
His skin, in particular, felt as hard as stone, solid and unyielding. If soone tried to cut him, it would be like striking a boulder with a dull blade. His entire body had beco 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 co 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 et 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 co willingly or resist, you will et 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 co from, Alex spotted one of the two n 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 ford in its place.
In the blink of an eye, that sa arrow reappeared re 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 ti, 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 t 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 astonishnt as he used the montum 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 co to a stop though, three arrows appeared before him. One was targeting his head, a second his heart, and the third his abdon. The arrows followed a sequence—one was slightly ahead of the other, with the one aid at his head first, the one at his heart second, and the one at his abdon last.
'Shit!'
Brandishing his scythe, Alex parried the one targeting his head then ducked to avoid the one aid at his heart. However, due to this move, he didn't have ti to dodge the third arrow that was now heading straight for his head.
But right at that mont, a burst of smoke appeared around Alex and caught the third arrow—or at least attempted to, as the arrow imdiately tore through the smoke, though it lost so of its montum.
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 ti, alongside the man with the rapier, the one resembling a bodybuilder with his huge hamr was also running toward him.
For soone 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 hamr suddenly accelerated. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Alex, his giant hamr swinging horizontally toward him!
'An ability,' Alex realized as the hamr ca for him, 'that explains how he caught up with so quickly.'
Despite the fast-approaching hamr, 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 mont, a splitting headache hit him, causing him to falter for just a second.
Taking advantage of that second of inattention, the man with the hamr sneered wickedly, and the speed of his hamr doubled, appearing before Alex in a split second.
'Wha-'
Bang!
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