Chapter 9 : Danger
Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
Angele walked towards the deep forest while holding his bow. He was already quite familiar with the area after hunting for half a month. He once met a white-scaled boar in the deeper area, but he dealt with it easily, so he wasn’t too worried about going deeper.
‘Strange target detected. Proceed with caution.’ Blue-colored information appeared in front of Angele’s eyes.
‘Something new appeared?’ Angele was excited, and he grabbed a white-feathered arrow. He nocked the arrow on his bow, and aimed it slowly towards the blue point marked by Zero.
He firmly applied force by pulling the bowstring along with the arrow backwards, with the black arrowhead reflecting the sunlight. Angele completely drew the bow and released the bowstring.
BAM!
The arrow flew into the air like a white flash.
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DANG!
Angele suddenly had an extremely bizarre feeling in his mind. He sensed danger creeping up on him, and he felt fear. He felt as if the arrow was going to fly back and strike him right in the face.
Suddenly, some data was sent to his brain by Zero, but he had no time to check. Angele rolled towards the left side with his full strength, and he hid behind a tree.
BOOM!
It sounded like something exploded inside the woods. The tree was still shaking after the collision, and Angele could see tree leaves falling down like it was raining.
“What?” A deep voice came from the other side, and it sounded like the man was surprised that Angele didn’t get struck.
Angele was still in shock, and his face turned pale. He was still behind the tree, and he was breathing heavily. His forehead was soaked in cold sweat.
If he didn’t roll towards the back of the tree, his head would’ve probably been smashed right now if he was even just one second late. The chip saved his life at this instance where Angele was so close to death.
‘Shit, what should I do?’ Angele could not think of anything.
‘I don’t want to die again… I can’t just die again like this!’ Angele thought.
Angele was still panicking, and his face turned paler.
Angele was just a normal young man before reincarnating into this world, and he was living in a peaceful place on Earth. He would even consider hunting as a dangerous activity back then, and now he was in a much worse situation.
‘Run! Yea! Run back! I will be safe after reaching the castle!’ Angele suddenly realized the situation. He did not hear any noise after the explosion, and he felt a bit worried.
The desire to return back to the castle pushed him to start moving again. He lowered his body and slowly moved towards the direction he came from. Suddenly, the chip alerted him again.
‘Right side! Leg!’ Angele knew where the attack would be coming from, and he rolled towards the front quickly. His head hit something on the ground during the process, but there was no time for him to think. He stood up and swiftly ran towards the route he came from.
BANG!
Angele heard the sound of something hitting the ground he was at.
“Damn!” The man was cursing at the other side. “Second fucking time!”
Angele ran like crazy, and the trees on both sides seemed like were flying. He knew the place pretty well through all the hunting he had done. Even though the forest’s route was pretty complex, Angele was not slowing down at all.
However, he had this chilly feeling from his behind. He quickly rolled towards the front again, and he could still feel the chill from his back. Angele decided to hide behind a tree again but the chill just would not go away.
He was getting panicked again. He bit his teeth hard, and he kept rolling around. Angele’s body was getting hurt by the rocks and branches on the ground, but he did not care. He just could not escape the chilly feeling on his back.
‘Turn back and block.’ Zero reported.
However, Angele was too scared to turn back. He ran around like crazy. He was still about 100 meters away from the cavalry’s training grounds because he had gone too deep into the forest. The 100-meter distance felt like a thousand to him.
‘Turn back and block.’ Zero kept reporting.
HUE!
Angele rolled again.
He could hear the sounds of a metal chain from behind. The chain had the thickness of a human arm. It went around the tree in front of Angele and wrapped around it. The chain blocked Angele’s escape route.
“Keep running, you little rat!” The man’s voice came from back. “Fuck, what is going on today?!” He seemed enraged.
Angele wanted to start running again, but he decided to roll towards the right. The chain flew right beside him again, and was pinned on the tree in the front.
‘I… I can’t run anymore…’ Angele felt hopeless. He was unable move due to the chill that kept him from thinking clearly.
‘I am going to die again?’ He slowly stood up and turned around.
A man in the black showed up from the bushes. The middle-aged man was covered in black, and he wore a black mask. His eyebrows were blonde, and he was holding the two chains in his hands.
“Your end is coming.” The man released one of his chains, and a black flash flew out of his hand. Its speed was way faster than the previous attacks. Angele could hear the sound it made.
Angele stood at his current position, and he could imagine how painful it was going to be.
“I don’t want to die…” He was talking to himself.
Angele kept repeating those words, and the voice of his own self echoed continuously within his mind. The chain was getting closer and closer. It became a black point from Angele’s view.
‘Lower your body and draw your sword, block it beside your head.’ Zero reported again.
Angele’s desire to stay alive made him act. He drew the sword quickly, and he tried to block the oncoming chain.
DANG!
The force of the chain was way too strong, and Angele could feel it from his sword. His face turned red, and he spat some blood out of his mouth.
The shock from the hit woke him up. If he had no way to run anymore, he would have to fight to survive! Angele focused on the enemy, and his heart kept on beating rapidly.
“You are lucky, young man!” The man in black said, and he waved his hand. Two chains were somehow released from the tree, and it started to return to his hands.
The man stared at Angele for a second, and he disappeared in the bush. Angele did not move until he could not see the man anymore. He knew that if the man did not leave, he would’ve been a corpse by now. Even with the help of the chip, he could not keep up with the chain’s speed. Angele had never fought a true battle before, and his current opponent seemed to be a veteran fighter. If he did not follow the chip’s report, he would’ve already died even before the chase began.
After resting for a while, he found a black card on the ground and picked it up. The card had a black background color and a bloody red spider symbol in the middle; it was kind of shiny.
******************
Dice’s arm was hurt before the fight ensued.
He was trying to get the young man; unfortunately, he was injured by the arrow. He did not expect an arrow to be coming. Though he blocked it in time, but his right arm still got affected. For some reason, he was losing strength, and he felt awful after being struck.
“Damn!” Dice touched his forehead and noticed that he had a fever. “The arrow actually had poison on it! That little fucking bitch! He dipped the arrow with venom! How sinister he is!” He kept cursing, and then he took out a yellow tiny paper bag. He opened it and ate the white powder inside it.
“Almost lost my life here… Thank god, it was just the venom of a red single-eyed snake, and I prepared for it.” Dice said, but he still felt sick. The arduous actions he did after being struck made the venom travel faster through his body. It might take hours for the medicine to work.
“Next time I will get you first!” Dice yelled. “A black card is not enough, you almost made my mission fail!”
He stepped on a branch, and he fell to the ground. A sharp stone injured his head, and he started to bleed.
“What the…!” Dice was so mad. “Fucking piece of shit!”
He was completely enraged.
*******************
In the washroom.
Angele closed the door and sank himself into the bathtub. The warm water surrounded him, and he felt rested. He did not realize how dangerous this world was until today.
He had basic sword skills and the assistance of the chip. He even increased his stamina, and he had believed he was very close to a post-knight. However, having the skills was very different from knowing how to fight against them.
He poured water over his face, and he thought of the black card the man left.
“The card means he will come back for me?” He talked to himself; he knew something similar from Earth. He became nervous from just thinking about it. The unknown had always brought fear and mystery. He wanted to know what the card actually meant.
He got out of the bathtub and used a towel to wipe himself dry. He changed his clothes right after.
“Young Master, do you still need hot water?” Maggie’s voice came from outside the door.
“I am fine.” Angele wiped his hair, and he opened the door.
He went out of the living quarters right after finishing the shower.
It was night.
There were still children on the training grounds practicing. The wind blew across Angele’s body, and he felt very comfortable. He went across the training grounds and then to the main building. The baron’s book collection was there inside a special library.
Besides the baron, Audis, and Wade, only Angele had the key to the special library, therefore showing how important he was. In this world, books represented knowledge, and books were objects of extravagance and wealth. Only nobles were allowed to read books. A single book costs about forty gold coins. Though people were willing to buy books, people rarely sell them.
There were two guards guarding the main building. They saluted to Angele after seeing him coming.
“Young Master Angele.” They greeted.
“Is father here?” Angele nodded, and he asked.
“The baron is not back yet, but Knight Audis just left with Kerry.” They answered. Kerry was the son of Knight Audis. There was also an arena in the main building, and the two trained in the arena regularly.
“Alright.” Angele walked into the main hall.
Besides the elders, there were only two types of people in the castle: those who wanted something from Angele and those who did not. Kerry was the second type. He had the talent of a knight, and he was just acting respectful to Angele. Kerry was actually looking down on him, and he kind of represented the opinion of other post-knights in the castle.