Chapter 23: Chased


    Adam wasn''t a noob though, he didn''t have time to unsheathe his sword and judging from the aura the one attacking him released, it was stronger than the Elite boss.


    Adam blocked the strike with his arm guard while using the newly acquired [Parry], the collision between the sword and the metal gauntlet created sparks. Adam didn''t move a centimeter though, and the collision didn''t even immobilize him, so he had barely blocked the strike when he used [Charge] at his attacker, stunning them.


    As he took his sword out, he was finally able to open his eyes, and saw his attacker. She was a beautiful looking girl dressed in green clothes. She was a Dark Elf, and looked quite good despite her broken nose from his [Charge].


    However, when Adam checked her status he decided to end her as soon as possible.


    [ckheart Assassin] (Level 15, Iron)


    HP: 933/1000


    Although Adam didn''t have his 10% bonus from his title since she was an NPC and not a monster, his stats were still overwhelming.


    However, as he activated Mighty Strike and was about to hit the girl, she left her stunned state and barely dodged the attack.


    In Epoch, monsters were troublesome because their HP and MP had bonuses. NPCs weren''t weaker though, because their stats tended to be stronger, and most importantly their martial skills were much better, such as how this girl was capable of dodging an attack not even a Chieftain had dodged.


    Of course that depended on which NPC it was. This woman was especially skilled, but most NPC weren''t that skilled. For example a bandit would have never dodged that.


    Adam wasn''t just a normal person though. Although he missed his first strike, he used the momentum from his sword to give himself speed and charge at the woman. She seemed shocked because in a normal human''s eyes, what he did looked like he defied physics, even using the momentum of his sword shouldn''t boost his speed so much.


    But that was 50 years of training with the sword for you. Old Adam had learned for his entire life how to mix martial arts and swordsmanship into a new style, which Adam was now using.


    Thanks to the boost in speed, Adam reached the woman and this time, he hit her with his sword.


    -777 HP! Cripple! Heavy Bleeding!


    Adam''s sword hit the woman''s legs, and her flimsy build didn''t help her. His sword cleaved both legs, cutting them off. She fell to the ground, crying in agony as blood rapidly flowed out of her body.


    Adam saw her remaining HP dwindle down quickly so he put he stomped his foot on her chest, hard enough to hurt her but not enough to kill her, and asked "Why did you attack me?"


    Although she was only an NPC, in this game NPC''s behavior was as real as any human, so she wouldn''t have targeted him out of nowhere. And he didn''t believe she was a mere bandit, she was too skilled for that.


    However, in response all she did was look at him with cold eyes. Seeing her HP nearing 0, he sneered and attacked one more time, this time decapitating her.


    [You have defeated ''ckheart Assassin''!] (AN: There won''t be the amount of XP anymore.)


    [You are now Level 11! AP +5!]


    Adam had killed an NPC for the first time, and although the feeling was simr to killing a true human, Adam had already killed, or rather old Adam had.


    After all, living a life of martial arts, the best way to learn was by fighting, not practicing in a dojo all day. And some of the time, fights would go off hand and there would be deaths. Or it could simply be a grudge between two individuals or two dojos.


    Her loot was different from monsters, there were no materials that dropped. Actually, only two things dropped. The first thing was an Umon hood for Assassins, and the second was a piece of paper. Adam looted the two, and saw that he could activate the letter.


    [Ding! New Quest detected, ''Chased''!]


    Quest Detail: You have already offended two powerful cults of Great Devils, they have thus put a price on your head! Everytime you level up, an assassin will be sent on your tracks!


    Quest Level: 20


    Quest Difficulty: SS


    Objective: Don''t get killed until your promotion to Bronze Rank.


    Reward: +5 Levels, +200 World Fame, +800 Fame with all forces enemies with ckheart Alliance, ??


    Failure penalty: -4 Levels, -200 World Fame.


    Oh sh*t.


    Adam paled when he saw the level of the quest, a level 5 S Rank quest made him fight a Level 5 Chieftain, so a Level 20 one would already be nearing the limit. But what he got wasn''t an S Quest, but the more difficult SS one.


    However, although this was a Level 20 Quest, Adam realized this was probably a quest that would get more difficult as he levels up, as he only got a Level 15 Assassin. Then, if he had just leveled up, did this mean another Assassin wasing his way?


    Having a price on his head was never a good thing, because if NPCs were a problem, then yers could potentially be worse were they to hear of his bounty and were able to poach it if they killed him.


    However, if he was capable of surviving until he gets promoted to the next Rank, then he would be rewarded. The +5 Levels reward wasn''t that good for someone under level 10, but then the higher leveled someone was, the better the reward was.


    After all, the amount of XP needed to go from level 5 to 10 wasn''t the same as going from 20 to 25. One would take hours, while the other would take days.


    The World Fame was good too, if he was capable of getting enough of it then he would be considered a World Noble, meaning whatever kingdom he goes in, except if it is an enemy kingdom, a specialnd or simply one where he has a bad reputation, then he would be considered a noble.


    As for the fame with the forces hostile to ckheart Alliance, he didn''t even know what the Alliance was. Still, it didn''t mean it was worthless. And finally, there were even other rewards, but he couldn''t see them so they would probably depend on his performance.


    Adam was about to go when he saw something strange. The head of the female assassin, which he had just beheaded, was glowing. He hadn''t paid attention to it before because it had rolled away, but now that he turned to walk away, he saw the familiar glow from pickable items.


    He took it curiously and indeed it was an item.


    [Assassin''s Head: Hand over to authorities for the bounty.]


    Well, what an irony. It was bad news though, since he could take his assassins head for their bounty, then the yers would probably attack him to take his head.


    Adam shook his head and stored the head away and finally set off. Soon, Adam left the region of Geppo Pass, and entered within Ember City area.


    Next to him was a small camp with a few soldiers blocking the road. A merchant had his carriage stopped and currently had his papers checked.


    Behind him and the guards, Adam could see a massive city in the distance. It was bigger than anything he had ever seen. On Earth, cities weren''t the same as in old times, they weren''t as awe inspiring.


    Ember City was surrounded by walls, and in the middle of it stood a big castle which towered over the whole city.


    As Adam looked at the city in the distance one of the guards approached Adam. He looked at his status, curious to see how strong the guards of the city were, but he was shocked by what he saw.


    [Ember City Border Guard] (Level 70, Silver)


    HP: ?/?


    This was by far the most powerful being Adam had ever met. He had no doubt that if the guard wanted to kill him, he wouldn''t even be able to react.


    Thankfully, this was a guard who was only here to make sure no monster approached the city. He came up to Adam with a smile and asked "Are you heading to the city?"


    Adam nodded and replied "I am an adventurer." The guard, who was rather old, said "You are the first Blessed adventurer we came across, you didn''t take long to reach us. Where do youe from?"


    Adam replied "Rosewatch, sir." The old guard raised an eyebrow and said "The vige across Geppo Mountain? Must have been dangerous to cross the pass."


    Adam shrugged and said "Not so much, the monsters weren''t much of a problem. I was attacked by an assassin though, and I heard I could get a bounty for her head. Who should I give it to?"


    The old guard seemed surprised at the mansion of the assassin and said "Depends. Do you know where the Assassin came from? And what level was she?"


    Adam replied "She was level 15, and she had a letter with her, shees from ckheart Alliance."


    The moment Adam pronounced the name ''ckheart Alliance'', he saw all the guards turn their heads to look at him, with pressuring gazes.