Chapter 27: Brinehurst (Dedicated)
Shout out to my four consistent readers 🥰 (yes, I stalk my stats), y’all give me the motivation to move on with my story, this Chapter is dedicated to y’all 😘.
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Making our way past the dense forest, my mind raced as I recalled what Greg told me when he noticed my hesitance.
"The Crimson Blade’s base was in Brinehurst all along and we were captured while we were in pursuit of the associates of the person who nearly killed you. We were imprisoned for some days, but Winston caused an explosion with all of his mana and I managed to escape."
I could see the pent-up frustration and anger that was in his heart, anger that he couldn’t do anything but watch as others sacrificed greatly for his well-being, anger for being too weak, and I could somewhat understand where he came from. But I had a feeling the motivation he gained from that—although similar to mine—differed greatly at the same time.
Knowing him and his character, albeit for a short time, I could tell he was going to train ten times harder, push his body to the limits and all that main character nonsense. Eventually he becomes the strongest in the universe and starts battling the universe or something like that.
But for me?
I’d get strong, no doubt, but in no way would I want to kill myself with pain and blood only to get challenged by stronger opponents each time. I would train to be strong enough to protect the few I care about, but not the strongest in the world—which brings more trouble, if not worse.
After a few minutes of non-stop running, we eventually made it to the gate of the town of Brinehurst.
It looked more like a rather average-sized gate, considering how much larger-than-life stuff I had seen over the past few weeks.
Jumping over the gate, the street was in shambles. It looked like there was a civil war going on as I could see children and people of different species—beast kin, a few elves, and humans amidst a multitude of others.
Taking a deep breath to calm my raging emotions and to activate my skills, I glanced at Greg who was looking at the scene with calm and serene eyes.
"I wonder if I’ll ever be able to look at chaos and misfortune without any change in visage," I envisioned.
"Let’s go, we don’t have much time," Greg asked with a hidden sense of urgency.
"Sure."
Jumping and evading obstacles laden all over the ground, I asked Greg as I followed him, "Why did you ask me to come? I mean, I’m sure there are other people who would happily help you in the hunter’s guild."
A moment of silence ensued as we continued our journey, and he eventually answered, "You’re the only person who I’ve seen that doesn’t care for status and schemes."
"What? Of course I care for status! Did you know how freaked out I was when you said you were a Vandemire?" I retorted vehemently with wide eyes.
Greg chuckled lightly as he stared into the distance, his speed on par with mine as we steadily made our way to his guards’ location.
’Hey, Laura.’ I called out.
’Yeah?’
’I thought I was a good schemer and manipulator though?’
’Pfftt... yeah.’ She answered, trying her hardest to stifle her laughter.
’But what about that incident with Moira and Ava?’ I asked with a wronged expression as I remembered the moments I thought I was like that guy from Bleach.
’Moira already had a bad reputation, so it wasn’t anything new, and Ava was unnaturally weak to compliments. Plus, the system gave you her traits at that time.’
Laura shot me down with her cold hard facts.
’Why didn’t the readers tell me I wasn’t tuff!!’ I screamed inwardly.
"We’re here." Greg jolted me out of my thoughts with a light jab on my shoulder.
Looking around at the bare lands for any signs of life, I asked Greg with a weird gaze, "Where is here?"
"It’s underground," he answered as he stared in a certain direction of the empty lands.
"So are we gonna bust in or..." I asked with a hint of excitement.
"What? No, you are going to stay here and handle any external threats if they arrive and threaten the execution of our plan," Greg answered as he crouched and drew something on the ground.
"So I’m your lookout, huh." I stared at him with a deadpan expression.
"Not necessarily," he responded with his gaze averted.
"Yeah? Then face me like a man and say it!" I retorted.
"I–it’s about to begin." Ignoring my question expertly, he ran towards a thick knob that slowly emerged from the ground and twisted it immediately when it fully surfaced.
A low rumble sounded as the ground seemingly split open to show an extremely magic circle engraved below.
Staring at Greg, I nodded and activated [Lamantar’s Lightning] with a serious expression as I tried circulating and infusing the little I had painstakingly cultivated inside me into my spell to see if it would make any difference.
It made a difference all right.
While muttering the spell, the lightning seemed more flexible and fluid as that blue blob mixed in with it.
’You’re a genius! Mixing a water element with a lightning element is something only A ranks and above can achieve!’ Laura said excitedly as she studied the effect of the lightning.
With a smug smile, I channeled the now easier-to-control lightning to the magic circle—completely overwhelming the circle and disabling the protective feature.
Greg stared at me with a mix of surprise and... pride?
"Although I knew you weren’t normal, your mana control—although poor in the bigger picture—is amazing, considering your rank," he commented with a hidden smile on his face.
Rolling my eyes, I said, "Go save your uncles and stop yapping."
With a nod, Greg jumped into the now abyss-like hole with his sword elongated.
Staring at the hole he jumped into for a while, I turned my back to it and stared at the massive amounts of people running from nobody and the blood from the mad frenzy slowly pooling towards me.
In a bid to take my mind off the blood that was slowly crawling to me steadily, I asked Laura, "Why are these people attacking themselves and running away as if someone was after their necks?"
"Someone who has an immense mastery over [Fear] cast it over this village. It’s most likely those Crimson Freaks," Laura responded as she floated with an annoyed expression.
"[Fear] can be used to this degree? And I’m guessing it’s my [Masseuse] skill that’s keeping me sane?"
"Yeah, actually, this could be a good place to master your skills," Laura enlightened.
"Oh yeah, my skill has the ability to cure fear and other mental shit," I recalled.
"Yes, other mental shit," Laura confirmed while rolling her eyes.
"Hey! I can’t remember everything from the early Chapters, okay?" I retorted.
"I’m sure the readers do," Laura answered with a shrug.
"Hm? Oh yeah, they’re goated." I continued, "But that’s besides the point. How am I gonna apply the abilities? Am I gonna just tap on someone who’s literally out to kill me and it does its magic?"
"Hmm... well, I don’t really know either, but I guess if you massage them for a short while the effects kick in," Laura answered contemplatively.
"Alright, I’ll go massage people who look like they’ve gone overdose on crack," I muttered lowly.
"You go girl!" Laura cheered from her spot, to which I sneered in response.
Activating [Stealth], I walked behind a reddened-eyed elven woman, but before I could take the first step, the universe decided to make its presence felt as a large explosion resounded from right where Greg jumped into.
’This isn’t going to end well.’
’This isn’t going to end well.’
Two people, different places, same fucked-up situation.
After Greg jumped down the hole, he was met with countless red-robed humans, but a distinctive feature of these people was that their eyes were hollow.
Drawing his sword with sharp eyes, he infused his mana into it, which caused it to glow with a golden hue as he stared at the countless puppet-like humans.
"I will kill each and every one of you no matter what." With a firm resolve, he charged into the multitude of warriors.
As if on cue, more than twenty of them rushed towards him with their swords drawn. It looked like a futile attempt from Greg as he fought them—he was being overwhelmed from every angle, and no matter how many times he cut them down, they always regenerated, but their fighting prowess reduced each time.
Fifteen minutes later, the bodies of the puppets were strewn across the floor with parts of their limbs missing and their regeneration abilities, which had lost their efficiency after continuous usage.
"Haaaa... haaa... I’ll have to avoid unnecessary battles from here on out." With heavy pants, Greg walked carefully down the dimly lit underground tunnel that had torches placed on the walls.
After a while of walking, he came out of the tunnel and found himself in a temple-like structure that had a large sculpture of a naked woman that was blindfolded in a kneeling position.
Making his way to the prison where he and his guards were captured, he noticed that the security was eerily lax, and apart from the puppets that he fought when he entered, there was no other person in sight.
"Something doesn’t sit right with me," he mumbled as he crouched behind a large bell placed in front of a dead body.
Studying the serene environment once more, he carried the dead body and placed it on what looked like a podium with channels engraved on it.
Almost immediately, part of the ground opened up and rows and rows of cells came into view.
Greg jumped in with an unreadable expression and walked straight to a cell where two badly beaten old men lay with neutral expressions on their faces.
"Winston, Salem, I have come to get you out of here." Gritting his teeth in anger at the sorry conditions of two of the closest people to him, he tore open the bars with his bare hands and held the semi-conscious men in his arms.
"Young... master." With a hoarse voice, Winston spoke.
"You... shouldn’t have come... back." He continued.
"I’d rather die than betray those who are willing to sacrifice themselves for my well-being." He answered with a serious voice as he placed the two of them on his shoulders and jumped out of the hole with ease.
"This...!!"
Greg’s face turned grim as he was faced with seven human people, clothed as before, but their eyes weren’t hollow as the last set he had fought with.
These were the real deal.
He had walked into a trap... a trap he had no choice but to walk into if he wanted to save the people he cared about.
"Greg Vandemire."
What looked to be the leader of the group stepped forward with a mocking glint in his eyes as he clasped his hands behind his back.
"You should have escaped when you had the chance, but now your foolish actions will cause you to die," he continued.
Carefully placing the now unconscious men on the ground far away from his location with a flick of his wrist, he stared at the leader who—although his face was covered with a mask—had a smile on his face.
"What do you want?" Greg started.
With a dramatic sigh, the leader responded, "We don’t want anything from you. You took our close friend from us, and we are only here to repay the favour."
"That is rubbish. I know they have no emotions whatsoever, they’re basically puppets for your sick organization to use," Greg retorted.
The leader’s eyes turned cold immediately as he brought out a crooked staff and pointed it at Greg. "Alright, you already know too much, it’s only natural you die."
Two of the warriors stepped forward after the leader spoke and charged at Greg without hesitation.
Strong! Greg’s instinct warned him to get out of there as he clashed swords with the two of the warriors who aimed every strike at his vital organs.
This is nothing compared to the puppets I fought earlier. I’ll have to pull out my trump card if I want to have a chance of survival.
With a sharp expression, the surrounding mana reacted extremely violently. If Clark was here, he would notice that it was the same mana augmentation technique he used during their duel, but on a much larger scale.
"Mana augmentation of this scale at C rank! As expected from the heir of the Vandemires!" the leader screamed excitedly as he watched the surrounding buildings crumble, causing dust and debris to rise.
Greg swung his sword—which now had an intense golden hue with noticeable traces of red inside it.
Boom Boom
A loud explosion ensued as he swung his sword. The two warriors that he entangled with now had grim expressions on their eerily neutral faces, as they evaded the shockwave with difficulty.
"Bwahahahahahahaha, it’s been a while since a C rank has made me so excited!" The leader laughed maniacally as the brunt of the attack swept through him.
Greg’s expression turned grim when he noticed his attack only caused minor injuries on the body of the subordinates, and the leader—who took the full brunt of the attack—was unscathed apart from a few burn marks on his surprisingly durable clothes.
Will I be able to survive? A dangerous thought crossed his mind as he analyzed his predicament.
The image of a dark-haired man with a bloodied face came to mind as his thought process progressed.
Clenching his teeth, he charged towards the leader, whose grotesque-looking smile came into view through the burnt mask.
"A brave one, aren’t you?" The leader commented as he evaded the attack with ease and directed a punch at his stomach.
Khwaaakk
Coughing a mouthful of blood, Greg fell to the feet of the leader whilst gasping for breath.
"Is that all you’ve got?" the leader asked disappointedly.
Standing up wobbly, Greg received a large blow to his side, which caused him to slam his back on a wall.
I have to survive, for my family. Steeling his resolve, Greg infused all the mana he had into his body and his sword and was reverted to his peak form once more.
"Oooohh, it seems you truly plan to die here today. Using all your mana is no different from a death sentence, you know," the leader commented as he walked slowly to Greg.
Drawing his sword once more, a red hue surrounded not only his body, but his sword as well. His face visibly paled as he executed this move, but his eyes shone with determination.
With a loud cry, Greg clenched his bloodied teeth and dashed towards the leader.
Surprise flashed through the face of the leader as he belatedly dodged the extremely rapid attacks that were aimed at him.
"You’ve gotten faster, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re going to die today!!" he shouted with a frustrated expression as a number of attacks connected to his body.
I’m almost at my limit. Continually attacking the leader without giving him a moment of rest, Greg could tell he wouldn’t win if this fight was extended.
Increasing the speed of his attacks tenfold, he could feel his bones cracking due to the sheer force he used to punch the leader squarely on his face.
The leader flew backwards with a blood trail spilling out of his nose as he skid on the ground with his back. "You bastard!!"
Anger was now visible on his face, clearly not expecting a C rank to be able to touch him, who was A rank.
Tanking a kick to his temple with a maniacal expression, he grabbed Greg’s leg and slammed him into the ground with a large amount of force.
"Argh!!" Greg groaned in pain as the boost started to wear off, coupled with the pain that coursed through his body from being smashed in the ground.
Lifting him once more and slamming him into the ground, the leader spoke, "Although it would cause a bit of trouble if you died here today, I’m sure it’s nothing our head can’t handle."
Being slammed into the ground a number of times, Greg was on the verge of losing consciousness. Although his body was unnaturally sturdy for a C rank, the gap between an A rank and C rank was, at the end of the day, insurmountable.
Just as the leader was about to deliver the finishing blow with a large-scale fire spell aimed directly at him—that would undoubtedly cause both himself and Greg considerable damage—a voice that caused one to frown in confusion and the other to sigh in both relief and worry was heard.
"Jeez, although I’m the main character, I’m not strong enough to aura farm at this level yet."