Starting from Zero

Chapter 27

Book 4, Chapter 27

The Ace (Part 2)

            "AH!!"

            I was taken by surprise. Thepalm pushed me into the sky with a strange but deadly force.

            I crashedon the ground, coughing some blood. My whole body is filled with pain. Imanaged to stand up with some hard effort, but just as I balanced myself, somethingexploded on my back with a POOM, tearing up a big wound while causing my bloodto flush out.
  
      "*Cough*Ahh!..."

            More blood came out of my mouth. I stumbled forward and droppedto the ground, supporting myself with my hands.

            "You...?"
           

           Smokin" lost balance and knelt down as well.

            "Heh ha ha--a-ark!"

            Hetried to laugh but that wound on his stomach grew bigger.

            "What a powerfullance."
  
      "Likewise.Your kung-fu is good!" I forced a smile. "Pity, you still lost."
  
      "Wedon"t know that yet." He seems pretty confident. "You took my [MountainBreaker], so you won"t be moving for a while. Just surrender."
  
      "Ohreally?"

            I raised my right hand. A bolt stuck into his arm causing him toscream.

            "I can kill you like this, slowly."
  
      "My skill can do more than that." He gave me a wicked grin.
  
      Poom!My arm exploded too. The bolt I was preparing was shot towards the sky instead.

            d.a.m.n it another one? His skill isn"t over?
  
      "Goodjob, I"ll give you that." I still kept calm. "But you think I"ll letyou win? No! I will not lose! Never!"
  
      Smokinsmiled bigger, probably because he thinks I"m getting desperate. But my nextmove removed that smile.

            I stood up while shaking.

            Pong! My left arm exploded. I"mknocked to the right but I kept standing.

            Pam! That"s my left leg. Bloodcovered the ground yet I didn"t lose my smile.

            "So how many times can youdo this? Five? Six? Or--"

            Bom! My right leg was torn up. I staggered, almostfalling down again.
  
      Theaudiences are silent. No one is applauding anymore. Everyone is trying toconfirm if I"m a monster.
  
      Poof!Boom! Pah! The ruptures are becoming faster. I feel like being pushed around bya lot of people. My HP has dropped to the bottom, but the Collar of Protectionwill still keep me alive, by pouring the life force of my companions into mybody.
  
      Howeverthe skill stopped before I need to rely on the collar. Looks likethe skill only tries to empty the target"s own HP bar.
  
      I"mnow covered in red but still standing. I gave my neck bone a crack and spoke:

            "Not bad. Pretty scary skill. Almost killed me. " I raised twofingers and smiled again. "Pity, just a teeeeny tiny bit left. Shame."
  
      Then I regained my posture. "NightShade!"

            Night Shade is already recovered. Thanks to Phiona"s buff bonus, everyoneheals faster than average.

            I aimed my left hand at the knight lance dropped bySmokin. The lance flew towards me. I grasped the weapon and gave it a wave-around.

           "You"re the best opponent yet, for getting me into this shape. I"m give you anhonorable death!"

            I ordered Night Shade to Charge.

           "[Pole Pick], aerialexecution!"

            I pierced his body and leveraged Night Shade"s speed to hurlthe lance away.
  
      Thelance carried the helpless Smokin all the way onto the reviewing stand on theaudience area. It stuck into the platform and quivered for a while due to themomentum, but Smoking is no longer moving.

            Even the best technique in the worldwon"t win against absolute power. A good martial artist may defeat someone muchstronger than himself, but he"s never going to beat a war tank just using hisskills or reflexes.
  
      Still,my victory was not guaranteed. If I don"t have this collar, if I don"t have mylance, or if he used his best attack at the start of the battle...I"m not sureI would have won. Time to learn some tricks I guess. I may have a lot ofsuperior weapons and companions but I"ll need more than these to beat someonelike Smokin.
  
      Smokinhas already turned into a white flash and gone reviving. I remote-retracted mydragon lance and put it behind my back.

           But I forgot players get revived where theydie in the arena. Smokin appeared again in front of me. Hm. This place is suresuitable for sparring with other people.
  
      Helooked at me with a scary expression.

           "What? I won. You will leave mealone now."
  
      Hedidn"t say anything. He stared at me for several more seconds before hesuddenly jumped over and clamped onto my waist!

           "Hero! I mean, missheroine! Take me with you!! I"m following you from now on!"
  
      Itried to run away but was dragged onto the ground instead.

           "Help!" Icrawled towards the exit. He won"t let go of my legs. "Halp!! Get away youfreaking gay!  d.a.m.n it why isn"t any beautiful girls doing this to me??"
  
      "Oww!"He was poked by the spike on my leg guard and released his grip. I immediatelystood up and kept distance with him.

            He tried to get close again. I summoned mywasps and asked them to form a barricade between us.
  
      "Getthe h.e.l.l out of my face or I"ll make it violent!"   
    

            "Ladymaster!! Take me!"
  
      "Areyou a stray dog or something? You have guild and lot of followers, why me?You"re famous here! And don"t call me lady I"m a man HOW MANY TIME DO I HAVE TOTELL YOU!"
  
      "Uh,alright! So you"re male, bring me along!"   
     

           "Urgh!"This is getting too complicated. "Here, how about we call each otherbrothers from now on?"
  
      "Well,"He paused. "Okay! Let"s do this."
  
      Idismissed my wasps, he ran to me again.

            "Stop!! No closer! I don"t feelgood with dudes near my face!"
  
      "Alrightthen! Giveme a call if you ever need help and I"ll always be there first!"

           ...I think Ican believe that.
  
      "Igot it. Farewell!"

            I dashed outside the arena as fast as I can, leaving asmoke trail behind me. I almost b.u.mped into Merciless, who"s waiting at thegate.

            "Why are you...?"
  
      "Oh,well, don"t blame me for not watching your fight. Those fans are crazy. Itried to cheer for you and they tosses me over the wall!"
  
      "I...see.I can totally understand that." I wiped a drop of sweat on my forehead."Let"s get out of here. I"ve had enough. And I need to find a cute girl toheal up my heart!"
  
      Westopped to take a break when we"re far enough from the arena. Then someone almostknocked me over again.

            "What kind of b.a.s.t.a.r.d--" I"m full of anger now.Can I even walk peacefully for once??
  
      "Oof...So...Sorry...ugh!....I...I didn"t...mean that..."

            The man is swaying left and right. I"msurprised he"s not falling down yet. He got really thick tongued and a red face.He"s drunk, for sure.
  
      There"sno point in arguing with someone like this so I dragged Merciless to leave. Butthe man somehow shifted in front of us.

            "Oh h.e.l.lo beautiful sisters. Why...whyare you...all look the same? Tri-triplet?"
  
      "Triple?"

            I looked around. Nope, it"s late and no one else is walking in these parts. Ohcome on. He drunk too much and he"s seeing double images.

            "Hey friend. Canyou stop being all wobbly? You"re making me dizzy."
  
      Histongue is still not straight. "How...how did you know-know my name?"
  
      "Yourname? I don"t know your name."
  
      "Butyou just called me."   
    

            "DidI? What"s your name?"
  
      "I...I"m[Wobby]!"   
    

           "That"s, well, a proper name for you." Merciless commented. "We"d better notdisturb this brewmaster. Let"s go."
  
      Iturned away. "So, enjoy your drink! We"ll go now."

            Man we"d betterhurry. That alcohol smell is making it hard to breathe.
  
      Hefollowed us with that unstable step. And he actually followed us for somedistance before we can lose him! We"re already outside the city gate. The nighthas arrived but the visual is still good thanks the the moon. This isspecifically configured for those night shifters. Some people prefer to play atlate night.
  
      Mercilesspulled on my arm again. "Can you tell me how to hatch eggs?"   
   

            "Ohshoot. Another one!"
  
      "...Whatdo you mean?"
  
      "So many people are totally clueless about how to use companion eggs.And you"re yet another one."
  
      "Huh.Is that a surprise? I don"t see many people with companions around, I guess it"sjust normal. The slots are mostly useless, cause people can"t catch anymonsters at all. It doesn"t matter if you have one or two or five companionquota."
  
      "Isee... I can understand that. You got an egg from the quest reward right? I cantell you now. Let"s see it."
  
      "Sure!"  
     

            Hefollowed my instructions and hatched the egg. An adorable black kitten jumpedout of it.

           "...What"s this? The quest is freaking impossible andthey only give you a pet kitten?"

            I can only admit that the look of thislittle creature can probably seize the heart of most human being. But...
  
      "Seriously! A cat??" Merciless is getting depressed. We were both expectingsomething way better out of the difficult quest.
  
      "Well,easy for now. Check the status. Maybe it got some surprises." The catdoesn"t look any special but who knows. "Companions all look small whenthey"re hatched. Maybe it"ll turn bigger."
  
      As he read through the texts I see his expression getting brighter.He jumped in place in the end.

            "It"s not cat! It"s called [Winged Leopard (Alpha)]. Ha! A leopard. And a pack leader!"
  
      Helooks like a kid who just found his new toy. Well, I can share that excitementsomehow.   
     

           "Alrightalright, stop it. Find somewhere private and dance however you like, don"t doit in front of the city gate. You"ll get a bad name."
  
      Helooked at all the people staring at him and went silent.

            "Oops, sorry. Iwas...overjoyed."
  
      "Behappy then. I"ll log for now. I got schedule to level up with my friendtomorrow morning. I don"t want to sleep in."   
     

            "Levelup?" He gave me some uncertain glances.
  
      "Tell me if you want something. There"s no sissy here."   
     

            "CanI join you?"   
     

            "Anyparticular reason?"   
     

            "I kinda earned myself some enemies around here so someone"s always trying tokill me. And that"s why I went on the quest alone. I don"t have to worry aboutthat if I can find a group to grind together."
  
      "Come then."

            I told him the time and exited the game.
  

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