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Forgotten Lands - Chapter 7 (Book 1)
🕑 Added 2024-02-13 13:53:21 +0000 UTC“It should be somewhere around here,” Zayn mumbled, his hands – dirty and covered in cuts – moving through the thorny bushes.
Zayn was currently near the border between the Arylin Forest and the Emberforge Mountains, where he was moving around thick, thorny bushes searching for something.
The Arylin Forest surrounded Emberfall, merely leaving the west open for the blacksmith apprentices and miners to reach the mines of the Emberforge Mountains. But it wasn’t always like this. The Arylin Forest was not even close to Emberfall until ten years ago. Something in the forest had changed, causing flora and fauna to mature faster. Arylin Forest expanded rapidly, overwhelming the villagers of Emberfall.
Due to the rapidly increasing population within the Arylin Forest, Emberfall faced a crisis that cost the lives of most villages. The village had to be recollected with proper defensive measurements and support from Mercenaries and Adventurers who were hired to clear the ever-expanding population of monsters within Arylin Forest.
Zayn was not particularly interested in Emberfall’s history, or the overpopulation of monsters. Important was only that he was currently in the center of Emberfall – where it had been before they relocated.
Not even the remnants of buildings were left behind at this point. Everything had been devoured by the Arylin Forest. It was eerie to imagine that a forest could devour entire settlements just like that. But, once again, Zayn was not interested in that phenomenon. He was focused on the ground around him to search for hints of someone having been here fairly recently.
Zayn was 100% certain that he was at the correct location. He knew that Scarface Peter constructed a fairly comfortable hideout in the woods – underground to be precise. Recalling quite some pieces of information about the incident with Scarface, Zayn remembered that he’d been using the network of cellars underneath the former village head’s house as his hideout to ‘play’ with his victims until they would bleed to death or die from shock.
That was how Zayn was trying to find Scarface and take him by surprise. After all, Scarface wouldn’t expect him to barge into his perfectly well-hidden hideout!
‘Found it!’ He nearly exclaimed, removing a stash of leaves, broken branches, and some dirt from the wooden trapdoor that unveiled itself in front of Zayn.
Zayn didn’t hesitate to open the trapdoor and glance inside. He was surprised at how smoothly the wooden trapdoor operated, but that played in his favor. He readied his heart and mind, grasped his stone dagger tightly, and entered the underground cellar. A small stone staircase led downstairs to the basement where Zayn was greeted with a dimly glowing lantern. The lantern was operated with an Illumina crystal – a fairly common crystal capable of storing mystical energy to light up the surroundings.
The first room in the basement looked rather simple. It looked like a small warehouse where barrels of wine occupied the shelves to his left and right. An arched gateway appeared in front of him. The gateway didn’t have a gate to open and close. It was merely decoration. Zayn licked his lips, his hair stood up to its end, and his eyes moved left and right, hoping to find Scarface Peter sooner rather than later. The veins on his hand grasping the stone dagger tightly popped out, and his wildly beating heart muffled the sounds that reached his ears.
If his Heart Deck had already been manifested, or he possessed some better equipment, including some decent Cards to use, Zayn wouldn’t feel like this. However, he didn’t own anything special. He had no Heart Deck, let alone Cards to use. He only had a weak body and a stone dagger – which was quite given that it was only a stone weapon. But that should be enough. It had to be. There was no time to waste. He had too many things to accomplish.
Defeating Scarface would give him the head start he needed to deal with all of his problems. Only for that, he was not allowed to make a single mistake.
He clenched his fists and started to focus again. The cellar network in the former Emberfall village had been rather complex. All structures in the center were connected due to the high demand for weapons. All smithies within Emberfall had been in the center, therefore making it easier to create a large warehouse and other structures connecting the smithies underground. The village was one big community. They worked together, not against each other.
Zayn moved past a few rooms that reminded him of a warehouse, a kitchen, a bunch of toilets even. Despite that, there was no sign of Scarface.
‘Is he not here?’
It was only after half an hour of searching that Zayn found something, or rather someone. In the corner of a small, seemingly abandoned room, a blood-smudged, and disgustingly dirty couch was located, and a middle-aged man with a half-burned face sleeping on it.
That was Scarface Peter!
Zayn’s heart palpated and it took him a few seconds to calm his nerves. It had been a long time since his last assassination. Fortunately, he was getting hang of his emotions and body quickly. Zayn strode silently across the room without making any excessive sounds. He didn’t have a Silencer, or Stealth Card, but he was doing a great job to reach the sleeping psychopath without making any loud noises.
The stone dagger swirled in Zayn’s hand when he reached Scarface and he pierced down without any hesitation. There was no need to show mercy. The stone dagger glimmered in the dim light of the Illumina lanterns that filled the room as Zayn pushed it down.
All of a sudden, the man woke up. His eyes shot wide open seeing the stone blade getting closer to him. Peter twisted his upper body and head with pure instinct, evading sustaining any major injuries. Fortunately enough, Zayn reacted in time. Zayn predicted that Peter would wake up the moment he sensed his killing intent. It was something war veterans and criminals had alike. Zayn was not unlike them. Therefore, he figured that Peter would wake up the moment the stone blade inched closer to Peter’s neck.
Zayn’s attack diverted. He changed the trajectory of the blade and drilled the stone dagger into Peter’s side, drawing blood.
‘So tough!’ He cursed, upon sensing that Peter’s skin and flesh were much sturdier than he expected. Or was it simply because Zayn’s Foundation was too low? It was probably a mixture of both.
Despite the toughness of Peter’s skin, Zayn managed to pierce the skin and cut into his flesh. The wound was not deep, but Zayn’s attack was not done either way. He pushed the stone dagger further down, cutting through Peter’s belt. The leather belt, alongside the sheathed daggers attached to it, slumped to the ground. In the meantime, Peter jumped up, the cogs in his mind ratting.
He groaned in pain but quickly noticed that the wound in his sides was not severe. The assassin’s strength was negligible, just like the quality of his weapon. Peter noticed within seconds that the perpetrator was merely a kid. However, that didn’t change anything. He wouldn’t allow anyone to injure him and escape unscathed.
He jumped from the couch, raised his hand, and punched out with nothing but brute force. A white sheen shrouded his fist suddenly, and the pressure in the room increased. Zayn’s eyes narrowed and he quickly realized that he couldn’t evade the attack. All he could do was twist his body, and allow the punch to burst his cheek, while his stone dagger pierced through Peter’s unprotected wrist.
Zayn used Peter’s momentum against him, resulting in a deep gnash spreading from his wrist up to his elbow. Unfortunately, Zayn sustained more damage. His cheek burst open and he was flung through the air. Only his high reflexes and the movements integrated into his memories allowed him to roll over the ground and jump up in an instant.
He looked down on his body to look at his dagger and nodded. The stone dagger was a little damaged, but it would take two or three more hits before the blade would break. That was enough to deal with Scarface.
“Who the hell are you, and what do you want from me?” Scarface Peter asked trying to sound confident and unconcerned. However, his severely bleeding arm and the fact that someone was capable enough of finding the cellar and attacking him in his sleep were worrisome.
The kid didn’t seem like much, but his combat instincts and movements were overwhelmingly high. If Zayn had a steel dagger, he would have crippled Scarface with the first two attacks. His sides would be cut open and his right arm would be useless. He would probably be dead by now.
The tiredness in Peter’s eyes was wiped away and his focus heightened. His eyes studied the young man. They locked onto the ice-cold eyes of the little kid, causing a shudder to run down his spine.
Was he afraid…of a kid?
Zayn didn’t answer Peter’s question. Instead, he charged ahead, ignoring the pain in his face. His right hand holding the dagger moved to the side, attracting Peter’s attention. Zayn created the opportunity to retrieve the two fragile glass vials from his leather pouch. The fragile glass vials had been filled to the brim with dried soil, just enough to stir some trouble for a cheap price.
The stone dagger in Zayn’s hand twitched, attracting Peter’s full attention right before the glass vials entered his sight. What was wrong with these vials? There didn’t seem to be any liquid inside. It couldn’t be poison.
He was confused, but not enough to notice that Zayn’s dagger cut across his arm. The damage Zayn inflicted with his meager strength and the stone dagger was negligible, but the psychological aspect and the damage he’d caused before were deeply imprinted in Peter’s mind.
Peter focused momentarily on the stone dagger, evading the blade by a hair’s breadth. What happened next took Peter by surprise. Zayn threw the glass vial at Peter from a close distance. The two fragile glass vials smashed into his face and shattered into hundreds of shards. The shards were flung in all directions, some piercing his eyes whereas the dried soil inside them escaped in all directions. Bits of soil dirtied his eyes, whereas small parts entered his nose and mouth.
The dirt that entered Peter’s eyes and the shards that pierced through his skin and eyeballs were not only painful but they forced the middle-aged man to close his eyes instinctively. It was only for a quarter of a second before Peter forced his eyes to shoot open again.
But, by then, the stone dagger was flying through the air. The dagger tip reached Peter’s eyes as realization struck him. In the next moment, he screamed out at the top of his lungs. A splurge sound rang through the vicinity, and blood splattered onto the ground.
The stone dagger stuck in Peter’s eye. It had been pierced through and through.
Zayn didn’t remain idle. He pounced at Peter, who fell backward on the ground, taken by surprise about the sudden weight pulling him down, only to sense that something was wrong.
Zayn’s muscles bulged as he pushed the stone dagger deeper into Peter’s eye.
The middle-aged man flinched and writhed in pain, but Zayn’s eyes were ice cold. He twisted the dagger in Peter’s eyes and watched patiently as the life in Scarface’s eyes dimmed.
His remaining eye dimmed and the resistance of his body decreased until he stopped moving altogether.
[Elite Mob has been slain less than 60 minutes after Forgotten Lands’ launch. Increased drop-rate for first blood.]
[Scarface, Peter, has been slain. +6 Soul Essence +1 Uncommon Card]
