An Otherworldly Scholar - 274

Red mana particles formed a bright halo around my head, and the crowd stepped away, freeing up a circle around me. [Foresight] told me it was a mere marking spell, so I ignored it for the time being and focused on the prompt that floated between Holst and me.

System Quest - Kill Lord Robert Clarke, Thane of Farcrest.

Rewards - 1 Rank S skill, 3 Rank A skills, 5 Rank B skills, 10 Strength Points, 10 Dexterity Points, 10 Endurance Points, 50 levels.

Notice - The rewards will be assigned depending on the individual contribution towards the goal. No time limit.

I signaled Holst to stay put.

My mind raced. Was the Quest subroutine compromised, or was it a mere trick?

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a brick hurtling toward me. I raised my mana barrier, and the brick burst into thousands of tiny pieces. [Foresight] told me it had been aimed directly at my head.

The crowd stood still.

Holst’s prompts were updated.

Special rewards will be awarded for exceptional performance.

Achievement completed: First Strike.

Special reward granted: [True Shot].

A woman perched on top of a pile of boxes howled. Heads turned as she plucked another brick from the wall. The brick shone bright white and drew an unnatural curve to hit the barrier before my face. I recognized the skill that allowed projectiles to track their target. [True Shot]. 

In an instant, the idea settled in the minds of the attendees. The rewards were real, and there were more than two hundred people inside the warehouse. Before I could even blink, a man wielding a dagger jumped on me. A skull mask covered his face. 

My body moved on its own. I drew my sword and parried the blow. Without a delay, I cast [Stun Gaze], but the skill bounced against the red aura surrounding the man’s body. A sharp pain pierced my eye due to the skill’s rebound, just like that time I tried to use it on a Wendigo eight times my level. I recoiled, giving the man just enough time to throw a kick against my head.

I raised my hand and blocked just as a woman and an unmasked young man in a feathered cloak lunged at me from both sides. Behind them, half of the crowd followed with daggers, sickles, and butcher knives in their hands.

[Foresight] pinged my brain, showing me the trajectory of the attacks a second ahead in time. Mana surged through my body. I cast [Intimidate], hoping to slow down the onslaught. The skill had worked against mid-level guards at Farcrest, but to my surprise, the crowd showed no signs of fear.

I parried the young man’s sword, dodged the woman’s blade, and kicked her legs, making her crumble to the ground. Her sword rolled from her hand and got lost among the crowd. Her attack had been clumsy, but it felt like I had kicked Risha’s shins. 

I identified her. She definitely wasn’t a two-meter-tall, Lv.40 Defender, orc.

Name: Eida, Human. 

Class: Soldier Lv.17

Passive: Arming Sword Proficiency Lv.1, Shield Proficiency Lv.1, Spear Proficiency Lv.1

Skills: Shield Bash, Reinforcement, Grit, Spear Throw.

Status: Red Surge.

A red mana shield materialized around her arm, and the next moment, she was charging at me. [Shield Bash]. Her shield clashed against my barrier without breaking it, but it pushed me back. I crashed into the crowd, making a dozen attendees drop like bowling pins. 

Dozens of hands hold onto my body, preventing me from standing up.

I shouted, pleading with them to let me go, telling them that he didn't want to fight, and even threatening them with violence, but nothing stopped them.

[Foresight] slowed down time. Prompts created by [Identify] floated on top of people’s heads. I saw low-level Farmers, Shepherds, Fishermen, Carpenters, Butchers, Blacksmiths, Miners, Lumberjacks, Hunters, Archers, and Soldiers. Their levels were around the high tens and low twenties. None should be a real threat to me, yet I couldn’t get free from their grip. Not without harming them.

[Foresight] screamed danger into my brain.

A glowing red dagger came down. I couldn’t raise my arms. My barrier shattered, but it managed to divert the blade just enough to miss the center of my chest. I felt a sting on my collarbone. It took me a second to process the pain. The blade had somehow gone through my reinforced jacket. 

Ebrosian Rob to take control. 

Flames surrounded me, and the hands that had been holding me down snapped back.

Achievement completed: First Blood.

Special reward granted: 1 Strength Point, 1 Dexterity Point, 1 Endurance Point.

Through the flames, I saw dozens of pairs of eyes looking at me with hunger. I didn’t need [Foresight] pulling from the hair of my nape to sense their killing intent. I looked around. A hundred bodies stood between me and the exit. Dozens more closed around me.

Ebrosian Rob told me to burn them down, but I stopped him, repeating my old mantra. 

Every problem has a solution.

With an ascending hand movement, I stone wall rose from the ground and pushed it against the crowd while a wave of flames zoned out the attackers in the opposite direction. I had to prevent getting swarmed. Not even the best swordman in the world could fight against a sufficiently numerous opponent. I needed space.

The stone wall was shattered by a Lv.32 Brawler with his body covered in the same red aura. He charged through the debris, aiming at me. My sword bounced against his forearm, and he tried to grab me. I jumped high, away from him, and formed a stone pillar on my landing spot. The brick-throwing woman, a low-level Hunter according to [Identify], continued throwing homing bricks powered by [True Shot]. Despite her level, each blow chunked my mana pool. As soon as I touched the pillar, it was destroyed by those near the base.

The pillar crumbled under my feet, and I dropped to the ground. Hands shot to my body. I channeled my [Pyrokinesis] and a swirl of flames surrounded me. Screams of pain reached my ears, but they didn’t let me go. My cloak was pulled from my shoulders as butcher knives and swords tried to skewer me. My mana barrier shattered and regenerated as the piercing attacks landed on my enchanted jacket.

I needed to avoid a bloodbath.

I needed to get out.

Using [Minor Geokinesis], I grabbed a chunk of the destroyed pillar and threw it against the wooden ceiling, hoping to bore a hole big enough for me to pass through. However, an instant before the impact, a tightly woven barrier covered the wooden beams. The stone shattered. I recognized a five-layer Fortifier’s barrier, just like the one covering Prince Adrien’s chambers. Even with a piercing skill, I wasn’t penetrating that any time soon.

I looked across the room. Some attendees rushed to the main exit, but the barrier blocked their escape. I didn’t have anywhere to go either. Across the room, Crow Head seemed to be entertained by the scene.

I used [Identify], but I couldn’t read Crow Head’s complete character sheet. I could see his Class and Level, though. Lv.41 Zealot. I looked at his assistants scattered across the room. All of them were high-level Zealots. None of them joined the brawl.

The Lv.32 Brawler plowed through the crowd, trampling anyone in his path, and slammed into my back. [Foresight] didn’t see him coming. I hit the ground, drops of blood coming out from my mouth and nose. I blinked, trying to focus my sight. [Foresight] wasn’t meant to read a hundred attacks each second.

Achievement completed: He can be felled, he can be beaten.

Special reward granted: [Supersonic Charge].

Holst’s prompt floated above his head as he stopped Talindra from coming forward.

The Brawler howled with excitement as the skill was inscribed in his mind. 

[Foresight] shouted into my ear.

Ebrosian Rob wasn’t going to stay still to figure out how much force a burly man going at supersonic speeds could generate. The crowd opened as the Lv.32 Brawler turned around to face me. Red mana surged through his body as he charged the skill. I pushed mana into my sword, making the blade shine with a bright bluish gleam. [Aerokinesis] shot me forward, and before he could finish casting, my sword cut from his shoulder to his solar plexus. 

The man’s eyes opened wide before he fell to the floor, dead.

[Foresight] noted that he was as sturdy as a Chrysalimorph. I shoved that thought aside as a Lv.28 Soldier, a Lv.19 Blacksmith, and a Lv.21 Stonemason jumped on me at the same time. 

I hoped the Brawler would’ve served as a warning for the rest, but I was wrong. The assault continued, even more frenzied than before. I was pushed, hit, and kicked around like a rag doll by low and mid-level combatants and artisans. A voice in my head attempted to reason with me. It said they were being controlled, but I knew that wasn’t the case. A handful of the terrified fell back to the edges of the warehouse, but they were the minority. More than a hundred people were waiting to gang up on me.

They wanted new skills and powers more than they valued my life.

Ebrosian Rob was getting angrier.

I summoned a dozen mana blades.

A Blacksmith with a mana hammer the size of a doghouse jumped on me, but I severed his arm before he could land a blow. A Tanner punched my sword without getting his hand split in half, and a Weaver crossed through my firewall without his skin getting burned. [Foresight] told me something was wrong. Across the room, people clumped together around the potion crates, drinking two or three in a single swing.

Their mana pools overflowed, surging with more power than they could contain. 

A red aura engulfed their bodies.

Achievement completed: Bleeding for the cause.

Special reward granted: Instant healing.

The Blacksmith screamed, and a glowing red arm grew from his stump shoulder. His skin was pure Red Corruption. For a moment, the whole warehouse fell silent. The man tried to reach me. One of my mana blades shot forward, but he stopped it with his new arm. My blue mana was crushed into dust. The gesture riled up the crowd, stripping away any trace of self-preservation as they hurled themselves at me.

Holst gave me an attentive look, but I signaled him to stay away in case he was also flagged as an enemy of the System if he helped me.

Ebrosian Rob was in full control. There were no more victims of the circumstances, only those who wanted to harm me and those who didn’t. I chopped the Blacksmith’s neck and parried the long knife of a Hunter. I stood my ground. Everyone who passed by my flying mana blades became a target. 

The environment became damp with red mana.

The realization settled as my body fought on its own. The quest to kill me wasn’t a scam. All those who received a reward got an automatic improvement in their fighting capabilities, whether it was with ‘points’ or a new skill. 

Was Crow Head telling the truth about his new System?

Out of nowhere, two Couriers slipped through my flying mana blades, their feet surrounded in red swirls. One was Lv.29 and the other Lv.22. Even with [Foresight], [Swordsmanship], and [Light-Footed] assisting my movement and my predictive powers, the men moved faster than I could follow. 

A thunder crackled inside the warehouse, and a cloaked figure appeared between me and the Couriers. A hockey mask covered his face, and he wielded an arming sword in his left hand and a rapier in his right hand. A wind gust blew from the Sound Bandit’s. His sword shot like a bullet into the Lv.22 Courier’s chest. With the rapier he had in his offhand, he stabbed the other Courier in the shoulder and unleashed a wind blow from the tip of the hand, boring a hole in his body.

I wasn’t going to nitpick my allies.

“Can you do your dizzying thing without hitting me?!” I shouted over the roaring of the crowd.

The Sound Bandit shook his head as the arming sword returned to his hand.

“Careful with those, they are high-level Zealots!” I shouted, pointing at Crow Head and his aides.

As a sole response, the Sound Bandit parried a blade and unleashed a wind wall to block a flying dagger aimed at his neck.

System Quest Updated - Kill Firana Clarke, the collaborator of Lord Robert Clarke, Thane of Farcrest.

Rewards - 1 Rank S skill, 5 levels.

Notice - The rewards will be assigned depending on the individual contribution towards the goal. No time limit.

That couldn’t be. Even Holst and Talindra seemed taken aback by the update.

I used [Identify] on the Sound Bandit, but the skill bounced just like it had before.

“You have to be kidding me!” I shouted as I stabbed a Lumberjack that was trying to decapitate me with a giant ice axe.

The Sound Bandit—Firana?—turned away to avoid my eyes.

I knew that gesture like the palm of my hand.

I had enchanted the sword in her hand; it was her graduation gift, although the engraving with her name had disappeared.

We had no time to question why she was there—the assault kept coming. My mana blades couldn’t keep the crowd at bay. No matter how much mana I pushed into them, the red mana fortified their bodies, turning deadly blows into mere wounds. Any semblance of order or strategy was gone. At any time, four, six, or even ten pairs of hands tried to pin me down while makeshift weapons, swords, and daggers tried to bypass my barrier. For each one I killed, two more appeared.

Firana wasn’t faring much better without a defensive skill like my barrier.

Without the cloak, she had lost that masculine outline, and her chestnut hair poured over her shoulders.

A lumberjack grazed Firana’s mask. We were getting overwhelmed. I grabbed her by the waist and used [Minor Aerokinesis] to jump away as the crowd closed around us. While we were airborne, a barrage of projectiles hit my barrier. We landed on the corner of the warehouse, forcing those who weren’t into the fight to flee before the tide dragged them.

Blood dripped through the crack in the hockey mask. Firana shed her mask, revealing her face. It was really her. A deep cut ran across the bridge of her nose. Before I could hand her one of Vedras' potions, a green aura surrounded us.

I examined my statuses to find [Greater Regeneration].

The bleeding from my nose finally stopped, and I could breathe normally again.

System Quest Updated - Kill Wolf Clarke, the collaborator of Lord Robert Clarke, Thane of Farcrest.

Rewards - 1 Rank A skill, 3 levels.

Notice - The rewards will be assigned depending on the individual contribution towards the goal. No time limit.

A golden bubble surrounded us. It was similar to the ones separating dueling areas at the Egg. The crowd hit the bubble, sending ripples through its surface. They charged and stabbed it, but the bubble didn’t pop. 

There was a group of people who could cross the barrier, though.

Wolf, Aardvark, and two other members of the Wolfpack pulled their cloaks back.

“What in the everloving System are you doing, Wolf? Do you want us to get tagged?” Aardvark shouted.

“Shut up, Aardvark,” Wolf replied, his face covered in sweat due to the effort to maintain [Greater Regeneration] and the protective skill I assumed was [Fortress] active.

“Yeah, shut the fuck up, Aardvark. We have a situation here,” Firana grunted as the wound on her nose slowly closed.

Aardvark stiffened like someone had slapped him across the face.

I was about to say something, but a sudden dizziness got hold of me. I blinked, but the sensation didn’t go away. My Character Sheet didn’t show signs of me being poisoned or severely wounded, and I hadn’t lost enough blood to feel lightheaded. Time seemed to slow down. Suddenly, I saw double. Overlapping the physical bodies, I saw the mana channels on people’s bodies with a strange clarity. I wasn’t even forcing my mana sense.

“No, you shut up, Firana,” Aardvark passed by Wolf’s side and faced the girl. He buried a finger on her chest and pushed her back. “We are the Wolfpack. We are supposed to be different. We are supposed to be against the injustices caused by nobles. We are not the bodyguards of the Prince’s right hand!”

Firana smacked his hand away.

“Well, bad luck, because he’s my father, and I will always be by his side. So, pull your head out of your asshole and grab a weapon, because we are not getting out of here until we end this fight.”

Aardvark clenched his teeth.

The crowd battered the barrier.

I couldn’t move. If I did, I felt I was going to drop to my knees. The stench of the red mana assaulted my nostrils, and my vision became even blurrier. I wondered how everyone else remained unaffected.

Across the warehouse, I felt an eerie presence growing. I blinked. My vision must have deceived me. Behind Crow Head, floating above the Red Crystal, I saw the boundaries of a giant figure with a strange mana signature. My stomach churned, and I had to look away.

It felt like the Fountain and distant creatures in the magical plane.

The Lich’s words echoed in my mind.

There are bigger and meaner things out there in the Deep Farlands, Wizard.

The Lions, Tigers, and Bears.

“You heard Firana! Wolfpack, draw your weapons! We are fighting the fake System!” Wolf shouted. 

Aardvark drew his dagger. 

“As you wish, Captain,” he said as he drove the blade into Wolf’s back.

The bubble shattered.