Chương 202: Rest in Peace

"Oho! Who do we have here?" A gravelly voice sounded from my left.

"I think it's lost, Dan, maybe we should help him." said another one, nasally, with a strange accent I couldn't recognize.

"I think you're right, mate, we should totally help him." the first man responded. Even in my muddled state I could tell the tone they used implied something very different than mere help.

"Are you from the town? Where's your party?" asked a third voice, more calm, and cold.

"Not another step." I said, my voice felt tired even to my ears. They actually stopped a few yards away.

"Ohh! It talks! Hey man, you wouldn't really want to spit in the face of our benevolence, right? We are here because we were worried for you!" Yeah, worried that somebody else would get me before you could manage it yourself. I was already tired of their little theater.

"What are you even? Bandits? With all the monsters and the shop it's not that hard to get some decent equipment." I said after turning my head to look at them. From my sprawled position I could see that they were dirty and poorly equipped, the leader had a kind of serrated saber fashioned from the claw of some monster.

"Bandits? Us? Noo, we were just travelling for a long time, that's all, we are simply weary travellers, like yourself. Alas, you seem to have bitten off more than you could chew. Right boys?"

"It looks like that, unfortunately…" said the short guy with a nasally voice, his medium-length hair was oily and plastered by sweat to his face. The one who asked where my party was whispered to their leader.

"I don't like this, Dan, there's something wron-" The big man silenced the tall lanky one with a glare, then returned towards me with a smile.

"Well, as I said we are here for helping you, we can escort you back to town, maybe you can introduce us too, we only ask a little fee in exchange, not a bad deal, huh? It's only fair."

"Fuck off, Dan, and let me rest in peace, you don't want to see what happens if you take that step." His smile transformed into a scowl.

"Dan, I have a very bad feeling about this." said the tall guy in a low voice. Even now his voice, same as his eyes, was cold and calculating.

"Shush, scaredy-cat, always danger this, danger that, can't you see that he can't even move? But I bet those clothes alone are enchanted, they would be worth a pretty penny, how about that? Last offer, your equipment for a safe passage to town, and we can still be friends…" My hazy mind was getting clearer, do these bunch of fucking losers think they have any chance? Think that they can really mess with me?

"Or alternatively, we can just let you rest in peace, permanently, eh?" said the nasally guy. My aura churned and boiled with rage, I didn't even bother to suppress it, it flowed out, embracing me in its currents. Dark energies I had absorbed from the monsters escaped me while part got devoured by my aura. I lifted from the ground, levitating in a standing position, then turned slowly towards the trio, who stood still, their expressions were tense now.

"No funny business, boy! You wo-" I looked the big man, Dan, directly in the eyes. I activated Piercing Eyes and Reinforced Infusion as I crammed every ounce of aura I could into them. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The man froze, his face froze too in a rictus of fear.

Even in my monochromatic vision his face rapidly lost colour as we locked eyes, then suddenly the man fell on his knees clutching at his chest, all the while he never looked away from my eyes, until he fell down. Ding! I had no time for this now. I turned to the others.

"Fuck… fuck! He killed Dan! Fucking monster!" The ugly short guy turned around and fled, a chain of manifested aura wrapped around him, the bladed links grew into his flesh. My chains felt a kind of resistance as his body grew stronger, his muscles swelled, as he pushed back his constraints slightly. As the man screamed in defiance I tightened my fist, and the chains tightened in response, severing the bastard into pieces. That's what you get for wanting to let me rest in peace permanently. Ding! Fuck off, not now.

I turned towards the last one. The man's eyes were wide in terror, but he looked down, taking a knee.

"Please spare me!" he shouted.

"Please… I-I was travelling with them only because there was nobody else… I never agreed with their methods, I'm not a bandit, but I couldn't leave or they would have killed me too! Please… I don't want to die…"

"Your class and level." I said.

"W-what?" he stammered.

"What is your class and level, and don't lie, I would know." My voice sounded eerie as the cold rage and aura distorted it somehow.

"I-I'm a Fence, level 25." A Fence? So he knows about items, he could be useful in appraising goods, or people, or monsters…

"What is your highest-levelled skill?" Maybe there was a possibility here…

"Appraise, level 36." I felt the faintest ripple in his aura, something that didn't happen before but I was wary of after Miflin's lesson, little shit… The chain that cut his pal into chunks slithered around him, like a snake poised to strike.

"I said not to lie." His eyes widened in fear as he looked back up at me for a second, then he turned his head down, covering his expression from view again.

"It's… it's called Backstab, but it's not wha-" His words faded into a wet choke as blood poured freely from his mouth after the chain pierced his chest. Ding! I retracted my aura and lowered back onto the ground. Haa… Why? I opened my notifications, more out of habit than any conscious effort.

──────────── You have killed a Bandit Brute Lv 34 Aural Manifestation Lv29 – Level Up → Lv30 Tutorial points earned: 4195 [Achievement Earned: Eyes of Ruin] Requirement: Kill a target of equal or higher level through eye contact alone. Description: Your gaze has crossed beyond intimidation and into lethality. What once inspired fear now carries enough pressure, intent, and power to extinguish life itself. To meet your eyes is no longer merely unsettling, it is mortally dangerous.

Rewards: • +20% potency to eye-related abilities and traits • Eyes-based effects are significantly easier to resist • +25% higher chance to terrify a being by looking at them in the eyes • +10% higher chance to kill a being by looking at them in the eyes [Achievement Earned: Fatal Dread] Requirement: Cause the death of a target of equal or higher level through fear alone. Description: Fear is meant to warn, to deter, to preserve life through caution and retreat. Yours has surpassed that purpose entirely.

The terror you invoke no longer merely weakens the mind, it drives the body itself toward eternal rest. Rewards: • +25% potency to fear-based effects • +20% resistance penetration against mental defenses while inducing fear • Targets affected by fear you cause have a +20% chance of dying [Achievement Earned: Kinslayer] Requirement: Kill a member of your own species. Description: The first boundary of blood has been crossed.

Whether by necessity, ambition, or circumstance, you have turned lethal intent upon your own kind and carried it through to completion. Reward: • Hostility, fear, and murderous intent directed at you from members of your own species become easier to detect. You have killed a Swashbuckler Lv 28 Tutorial points earned: 2874 You have killed a Fence Lv 25 Tutorial points earned: 1079 ──────────── There was a lot to unpack here, nothing that I really wanted to do right now though.

I slowly started to walk back to town, the sky was getting dark and my mind was too drained, I needed to sleep, everything else could wait. Yes, I just needed some sleep…