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Forgotten Lands - Chapter 8 (Book 2)
🕑 Added 2024-03-21 11:00:04 +0000 UTCZayn didn’t recognize them at first because he could have never fathomed encountering them in the Magma Prairie or Forgotten Lands, but his attention landed on a few familiar Players. They were powerhouses of the past and renowned figures with significant influence all over the globe.
Those renowned figures were on the run, trying to escape the bounty hunters’ grasp.
‘Pathetic.’ Zayn nearly blurted aloud. His eyes narrowed to a slit after he pinpointed the fifth future powerhouse.
A heavy sigh escaped his lips. He couldn’t believe that the future powerhouses of mankind were those pathetic Players. They were the complete opposite of what Zayn remembered.
‘Just like Melanie.’
The cogs in his brain churned. They turned swiftly, forcing Zayn to come up with a decision.
The corners of his lips curled upward. Maybe he could transform their misery into an opportunity.
Percy and Nicolas grinned cheekily and looked at each other for a moment.
“I already started recording.”
“Good. Me too.”
The brothers laughed menacingly, deepening Zayn’s frown.
“Less talking, more walking.”
Zayn broke into a full sprint after his words reached the brothers. Percy and Nicolas continued laughing menacingly momentarily before kicking the ground hard. They clutched their weapons tightly and prepared for an all-out battle with the bounty hunters.
There was no need for unnecessary communication between the brothers. Zayn, Percy, and Nicolas knew each other well enough to understand what would happen.
**
Tom and the others struggled to keep running. They’d been running from the bounty hunters for an eternity, yet their pursuers didn’t even break into a sweat. Their Stamina seemed endless, and it grew increasingly apparent that the bounty hunters weren’t going all out. They played with their targets and only killed whenever one of them grew bored of their designated target.
‘Why does that happen to us? We didn’t do anything wrong?!?’ Tom screamed in his mind. He grit his teeth and pushed ahead, dragging his tired legs to move forward.
A few days ago, their small guild found a great place to grind valuable Uncommon Cards and many Soul Essences. Even the Common Cards combined from the Card Shards harvested in the little area were better than the norm.
They were happy and killed the monsters in the area whenever they found some. Their wealth increased rapidly, and it was only a matter of time before they upgraded their equipment.
Most of them joined Forgotten Lands not too long ago. Their Foundation was still low, and they had yet to acquire a powerful Class Path. However, they were satisfied with their gains. They procured powerful Uncommon Cards to link to their Heart Deck and useful Ranked Armaments by trading some of the Uncommon Cards they’d procured.
Everyone was certain that their time to shine had come. To their misery, one of the traders reported the small guild's trades and additional research material to the higher-up of an upcoming workshop. One of the guild members was bribed with a fortune and invited to become a professional Player in their workshop. He accepted and revealed everything about the small guild’s grinding spot.
The workshop claimed the grinding spot, but the small guild didn’t want to leave without a fight. They performed well and managed to kill many professional Players in the process. That was when the problems began. Two workshop players, the captains of their respective teams, died and lost the majority of their Ranked Armaments. However, the worst was that their Heart Deck dropped two Rare Cards when they died at the hands of the Classless Players.
The workshop leader ordered the small guild to return the Ranked Armaments and the Cards his subordinates dropped, but the small guild denied the order. They responded that they won fair and square and that their leader should come and fight them for the equipment and Cards if he wanted them back.
Unfortunately, that was precisely what happened. The workshop leader appeared and squashed the small guild, killing them several times. After that, the workshop leader created a bounty for the heads of the Players, resulting in the current situation.
‘If we hadn’t been this greedy, none of that would have happened.’ Tom contemplated for a moment, only to throw this thought straight into the garbage bin.
‘No. If we had been stronger, we would have been able to defeat that bastard and those fucking bounty hunters!’
“You’re thinking too much,” a voice said next to him. “It’s boring to hunt someone who doesn’t even scream for help.”
A bounty hunter with a disgusting grin stared at Tom. His dagger thrust forth with shocking velocity and threatened to pierce deep into Tom’s neck. Tom cursed inwardly and twisted his upper body to evade the attack. He lost balance and crashed to the ground but avoided the biggest threat. The bounty hunter’s dagger cut his neck, but the wound was not deep enough to threaten his life.
Tom rolled over the ground and tried to back away, but the bounty hunter was already on his trail.
“That is much better, boy!” He roared.
He charged forward, ready to toy with Tom, only to feel some resistance around his legs.
The tall grasses coiled around his legs, slowing him down. The grasses threatened to tear apart as the bounty hunter used some force to regain freedom, but more grasses sprouted from the ground. They grew at a shocking pace, intertwined with the other grasses, and restrained the bounty hunter firmly.
“What the…” He cursed, glancing down for a quarter of a second. His hair suddenly stood up to its end and his head flicked back to look in Zayn’s ice-cold eyes.
“Who–?!” The bounty hunter asked while slashing at Zayn, who disappeared from the spot. The grasses continued growing, forcing the bounty hunter into a complete halt while Zayn appeared before Tom.
The Verdant Saber glowed dangerously as Double Impact, Draining Touch, and Poison Augment had been utilized. It sliced through the air, cutting the bounty hunter near the neck. The bounty hunter’s reflexes were great, just like his perception. He was a Tier-1 Player with a Class. Zayn expected no less.
It was just a little bit unfortunate that the bounty hunter didn’t pose a threat to him. The fight was bound to end in the next few seconds, given that the Verdant Saber alongside Poison Augment was a deadly combi—quite literally.
The bounty hunter roared. His muscles bulged, and some Cards were in use, granting the Players more strength. His enhanced strength was barely enough to tear apart the highly resilient prairie grasses and regain freedom. He stumbled forward, steadied his feet, and was just about to charge at the unknown Player when he noticed Tom staring at him in shock.
Zayn was nowhere to be seen, but the bounty hunter sensed something was wrong. He touched his throat and felt a sudden sting. His eyes landed on his bloody palm. However, the blood was not red. It was black.
“If you know that Tier-1 Players are on the hunt, you better stay out of their way, prepare to face them with petty tricks, or overwhelm them with pure skill,” Zayn said lightly, then shrugged. “Of course, there are many other options, but I never liked avoiding people. It’s always better if people avoid you instead.”
Tom glanced at Zayn, who’d reappeared next to him. His eyes were filled with shock and confusion.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Oh, me? I’m Zayn,” Zayn introduced lightly, “I’m a weird guy who likes using poison, plants, and high-leveled Card Sets to overpower Tier-1 Players.”
Tom forced to smile, but Zayn didn’t pay anymore attention to him. He blinked out of existence and appeared next to the dying Player. He slashed his throat a second time.
“Always make sure you get the kill notification, otherwise, you never know if they’re truly dead!” Zayn lectured, his eyes landing on the notification that popped up.
Player Bloody Pascal (Tier-1 Blood Assassin) has been slain.
+6 Soul Essences.
‘Nice gains.’
Zayn merely glanced at the notification, but it was enough to attract his interest. Six Soul Essences was much more than he’d expected for such a simple task.
The bounty hunters might have a higher Foundation and more Card Slots than Zayn, but he also had the Nature Card Set and a bunch of high-level Cards to use. It was also quite advantageous that the prairie’s grasses were highly resilient to tears—more resilient than the grasses in the Arylin Forest—which was necessary to survive in the Magma Prairie.
Zayn tilted his head and observed the scenery. Percy engaged in a fierce battle with a Berserker, who had attacked a frightened woman. On the other hand, Nicolas stayed back and released a barrage of arrows. The first arrow pierced through the eye of an ignorant Player. He was not yet dead, but it didn’t take much to take him out.
Zayn used the opportunity to teleport behind the weeping Player. The Verdant Saber split into a pair of daggers and slit across the Player’s neck in a smooth motion.
A notification popped up, but Zayn didn’t look at it this time. His attention lingered on the Berserker and the other bounty hunters who circled Percy. Percy used three Cards that resembled Aegis Natura, just that they were part of a Set of 3 Cards and Uncommon Cards, respectively. He managed to block most attacks, but Zayn had to jump into action to aid his brother. He used Aegis Natura several times to block attacks focused on Percy’s dead angle.
Zayn continued using Root Strike and Florakinesis to control and grow the surrounding prairie grasses. The bounty hunters slowed down, becoming perfect targets for Nicolas, who focused on their weak spots. He didn’t kill them right away. Instead, Nicolas gave his young brother enough chances to kill the bounty hunters and earn some more Soul Essences.
Only a few minutes passed since they discovered the bounty hunters, but the tables have turned.
Their corpses littered the ground, leaving behind a bunch of Ranked Armaments and Cards.
Zayn, however, was more focused on the remaining half-naked survivors, who ought to become powerhouses in the future, and the Soul Essences he’d gained.
‘That was definitely worth it!’
