16 Journey

Chapter 16 - Journey

After leaving the crowd speechless, Elizabeth displayed her skills by closing the wounds of Knight Angelo. In a matter of seconds, his wounds no longer bled, and his face no longer seemed as pale as a ghost.

Still, Arthur was a bit worried.

[Name – Angelo Riot

Class – Level 7 [Beginner Rank] Knight

HP – 8 / 40

→ Experience Stored: 895

Attributes:

Strength – 6 (7) | Agility – 2 | Vitality – 4

Status - Heavily injured (Physical Attributes decreased by 80% for a short period of time, strength permanently decreased by 1)

Skills - War Hammer Mastery (28), ...]

If not for Elizabeth, Angelo would have died, which would have turned into a corpse by now.

'I highly underestimated the potency of the bleeding rune...', Arthur thought with some apprehension

Arthur strikes had been partly blocked by Angelo's armour, which was a fine dwarven set of heavy armour. Still, Angelo lost too much blood, and might even lose one point of strength permanently. Thankfully, nobody seemed aware of it thanks to Elizabeth's quick reaction. Otherwise, Dorian would have been furious as he had been opposed to the idea of a duel since the very beginning.

This 'mistake', however, brought additional benefits.

[You have completed the mission 'Duel with Knight angelo']

[You have received 80 EXP]

[Your proficiency in the following skill [Basic Swordsmanship] has increased by 5 points]

[You have completed the optional task in the common mission 'Duel with Knight Angelo']

[You have received 200 EXP]

[Skill [Cruelty] has been created]

[Cruelty: Being cruel gives you a set amount of experience based on the intensity of the cruelty suffered by the people. The higher the hatred, the more experience you gain]

This was a wonderful skill, but Arthur felt a bit skeptical.

'Killing, cruelty...Everything that brings me experience seems to be related to evil...'

Arthur did not plan on becoming an evil man. He had been raised in a common family on Earth, and the memories he had inherited from the previous owner of this body depicted noble values. If anything, he wanted to abide by his own principles. The magical ring was an incredible godsend gift. However, he would rather not use it if it turned him in a monster.

His goal was to become strong, so that he would become free to make his own choices, to make his own rules. Being a slave to his desire did not entice him one bit. Still, there were plenty of ways to use the cruelty skill without turning into an evil person while still reaping many benefits. One such way was to make harsh decisions as a lord. The people would hate him, but the harsh decisions would have a positive impact on his territory and his subjects.

Of course, to do that, he would have to return to his territory and inherit the position of Lord, which he was unlikely to get easily since he was the third Heir of the Landragon Family, with both of his older brothers attending the knight academy. Even if he became a strong knight, the law of the Dalian Kingdom was absolute.

'Should I kill them when I return?', Arthur thought with a smile. That would make things easier.

Only then did he realize that he had thought of killing his own blood for the sake of benefits. Arthur's hand shook.

Thankfully, a gentle touch broke him free from his negative train of thought. Elizabeth hugged him, whispering 'my champion' in his ear.

Arthur grunted and cleaned the blood that tainted his sword.

'Status', he muttered

[Name – Arthur Landragon

Class – Level 5 [Beginner Rank] Acolyte (0 / 1 200 EXP)

HP – 48 / 50 | Mana: 50 / 50

→ Experience Stored: 1105

Attributes:

Strength – 7 | Agility – 3 | Vitality – 5 | Magic Power – 5

Skills: Basic Swordsmanship (49), Magical Knowledge (30), Ice Magical Knowledge (25), Spell Reading (18), Scroll Copying (15), Cartography (16), Archery (16), Eloquence (12), Deceiving (10), Trading (8), Acting (6), Information gathering (6)

Knight Technique: Heavy Vertical Strike (18), Killing Intent (4)

Spell: Freezing Touch [Low Grade – Rank 0] (16)]

Arthur started to better understand how missions worked. In order to create them, he had to think of something inherently evil from a moral point of view. Assassination and the killing of a fellow human being seemed the most rewarding. However, crippling seemed quite rewarding as well.

'Only a hundred points of experience, and I will level up again...Since we are going to attack an orc settlement, it will be quite useful. My swordsmanship also improved considerably'

The sword in his hand felt more natural, lighter and stronger. With the mission reward, he earned 5 points of proficiency. It was the same as if he had trained for months, perfecting his moves in life and deaths situations. However, doing so was never instateneous. That's why it was so addictive, so rewarding to complete missions.

After bidding farewell to Dorian and the other acolytes from the Law Enforcement Faction, Arthur and his party departed. The journey was expected to be long: 3 days of travel on horseback, perhaps even more depending on the unlucky encounters on the way.

Patrols around the Ivory Tower were already very dangerous. You could encounter a myriad demonic beasts. Travelling on Narth Island was just as dangerous. Though magical beasts were quite scarce, they still lurked in the shadows. The real danger, however, were packs of dire wolves.

For some reason, there were hundreds of dire wolf pack in the Island, and sometimes, the pack would possess more than two hundred wolves. During harsh winters, there were records of villages of Natives being wiped out.

'No wonder the investigative acolyte barely escaped with his life. I must not expect to fight orcs in our best condition. Even if I know the roads pretty well, it will not be easy. However, it just happens to be the kind of mission I need'

Arthur did not focus on earning EXP. After all, skills mattered just as much.