Strongest NPC

Blake went out of the inn to let Linthia rest some more.

It's in the code of the assassins, none of them will commence an attack when the sun is up.

Due to that, it's okay to let Linthia alone in the inn as she was the one that told Blake that. Furthermore, he also already told Linthia what happened last night after she passes out and was abducted by the assassins.

Of course, Blake couldn't tell Linthia where Tara is right now, so he decided to lie.

Although it doesn't feel good to lie to Linthia considering that there's a bond of trust between them, he couldn't simply say that he's turning Tara into a Spectral Vampire, that would be emotionless and irrational.

Instead, he told Linthia that Tara is pursuing an assassin that managed to escape.

Since Tara knew more about assassins in general as she's also one, it's logical that she was the one to pursue the assassin instead of Blake. Thankfully, Linthia bought that and didn't ask further questions.

Linthia was poisoned last night, so she needs more rest after eating.

Upon leaving the inn, Blake walks along the street and joined the crowd of regular citizens, heading in a particular direction with steady steps. "Salana, since you are now in rank 2, can you log out and check on Maura? You can touch inanimate objects better now, right? Go see if she needs anything"

"Eh...? I don't want to. She tried to kill you, so shouldn't we let her suffer?" Salana rebutted.

But this makes Blake shakes his head as Salana is stubborn at times.

"What if she needs to pee?"

"Let her pee on the bed, it's better to make her uncomfortable"

"Who's going to clean that up?

"Of course it's you, I'm not from this world, so I don't know how to clean and make the bed"

Just listening to her alone makes Blake feels pissed, he wanted to smack her but refrains from doing so. 'Calm down, I'm a civilized man. Yeah... I don't hit woman' Blake thought, trying to calm himself down.

It was then he remembered the incident with Maura and quickly corrected himself.

'I mean, I don't hit women that didn't try to kill me. Yes... I'm still a good and civilized man!'

"Can you please check on Maura? If not then I'll check her myself and I don't know, maybe I'll get too swayed by her and end up doing you know what" Blake said teasingly, raising his eyebrows up and down.

Upon hearing this, Salana was put in a state of disbelief, "Fine! I'll check on her, you pervert!"

Blake laughed as Salana disappeared from beside him.

Despite not knowing why, she always fall for that trick whenever he used it.

A moment later, Blake reaches a secluded area with not many people around except for beggars and such. It was the pub that BlueBlade and his accomplice used last night, the Olde Tuba Pub.

Striding inside the pub, his eyes met with the old man behind the wooden counter.

"Hello again" Blake greeted with a smile.

Noticing the familiar face, the old man also returned the smile, "Welcome young man"

Last night when he checked on Linthia, he met with the old man and helped him with the bruises he suffered from the assassins a bit. Since Linthia needs to be taken away, the two didn't converse that long but enough for Blake to ask him for a favor last night.

"Can you give me a drink? Anything is fine" Blake said and sat down.

Despite what happened last night and even the fact that the area around his chest and stomach was bruised severely, the old man still has a lofty and kind air around him, "Of course, I'll bring them right to you"

It takes only a moment before the old man brought back a big tankard of beer.

"Here, enjoy your beer..." the old man said.

Blake smiled lightly and takes a sip of the beer, it doesn't taste as bad as he thought it would be, the taste is a little bit sweet and fruity, quite refreshing for the scorching day. "How are the corpses? Did you manage to get rid of it?"

"Yes, my father is a gravedigger. So I know to deal with them" the old man replied.

Although he seems to be fine, the last words that came out of BlueBlade's mouth worry him. It seems he got involved in something major, and he wanted to make sure that the one that sent these assassins doesn't know him.

However, even with the corpses gone, he still feels uneasy and exposed.

Sighing to himself, he takes five gold coins from his inventory and gave them to the old man.

"Thank you for your help, I appreciate it very much. Those are the payment for the corpses and also the beer" Blake said with a light nod, he was not going to be petty to an old man that has gone through much.

Upon seeing the shimmering gold coins, the old man wanted to refuse but Blake insisted.

Even though the old man doesn't expect to be paid as if it weren't for Blake, he might be dead already by those assassins, this is way more than he expected. Because of that, the old man insisted that he would make Blake some food which he accepted gladly.

It was about fifteen minutes later that Blake taps his stomach in satisfaction.

"Phew! How can the food in this world be so good?" Blake muttered with a bright smile on his face, his eyes then darted to the greasy plate that was once filled with meat and finds it slightly shimmering. "Must be some exotic magical animal or something..."

Just as he finished eating, the door to the pub was suddenly opened gently.

Blake heard the ringing sound of the bell when the door was opened, he then glanced over his shoulders nonchalantly, not expecting anything. But then, he finds a male figure standing quite tall with a lean muscular frame right by the door.

Anybody that saw this person could immediately tell that he was strong.

Intrigued by the man, Blake looks at his information menu and finds that his name is only question marks. Additionally, Blake's eyes widened when he finds that the man is level 171 which is the highest he has ever seen.

Even the old blacksmith is around level 86 and he could crush Blake with his aura alone.

Since the old man was at the back, he was all alone here with this monster of a man who is clad in high-level equipment from head to toe. Pale golden and dark green armor covers his entire body, his eyes are very sharp, wears a dark green armor mask, and a dark green hood.

On the back of the man is what seems to be an armored quiver.

But instead of arrows inside of the quiver, it's more of different sizes of daggers from small to long dagger that is easy to distinguish through the size of the handles. In a closer look, Blake also finds the gear that the man wears is emitting a light orange hue.

It's clear that his equipment is also upgraded to a terrifying degree.

Gulping harshly, Blake averted his gaze away in reflex.

'Why is he looking at me? Oh, it's probably because there's only me sitting here, right?'

'But then again, why the fuck a person like him come to a run-down pub like this?'

Numerous questions appeared inside Blake's mind as he met such a person in this kind of place, a level 171 person is definitely not a normal person, he must train and fight like crazy to reach that kind of level.

On top of that, the man doesn't even look that old, probably in his early thirties.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Upon hearing the clanking thud that the man's light armored boots made as he strode inside the pub, Blake's heart started to thump faster, he still feel uncertain of this situation, 'Act cool, act cool, act cool, he's definitely not here for me'

Just as he thought of that, the man suddenly sat right in front of him.

Clank!

'What the fuck?! He's sitting right in front of me!' Blake exclaimed inside his head.

Glancing over to the other empty seats, he could only curse inside his head, 'The pub is damn empty, there are so many empty seats here yet he chooses to sit in front of me! Why?!' Blake thought in panic, he could feel his back start to sweat.

Blake could feel his heart drop to his stomach when the man sat right in front of him.

Even his hands are sweaty because of this.

Putting his heavy arms on the table, the man gazes at Blake sharply without saying a word.

It was a choking silence that makes it hard for Blake to even move a muscle, he doesn't even know where to look under the man's intense gaze. However, he forced himself to raise his gaze to look at the man and smiled, "I- I'll move to another seat if you want to sit here..."

Not wanting any problem with the man, he decided to move to another table.

"Did you kill the assassins...?" the man suddenly asked.

Upon hearing this, Blake felt his entire body freeze in place as the man's cold voice was not friendly at the very least. Moreover, the man spoke the demanding question as if he already knows the answer and wanted to know what Blake had to say.

In this situation, Blake couldn't simply walk away, the man wouldn't let him.

Smiling wryly at the situation he was in, Blake could only sit back down and faces the man again, "Will it be okay if I lie and say that I didn't?" he asked. But seeing the man didn't budge, he then added, "My answer depends on who you are"

"What if I say that I'm here to kill Linthia?" the man asked while squinting his eyes.

Even his entire demeanor changed and the power within his body started to leak out, and the man even slightly leaned forward in an aggressive posture. Blake could tell that he was also a Shadow User and a very strong one at that too judging from his high level.

Pausing for a second, Blake articulates an answer in his brain carefully.

Deciding on his answer, he also then puts on a brave front as he didn't care if he dies here, "If that's the case, then my answer is yes, I killed those assassins. And no matter what you want from me, you'll have to get it through my dead body"

As he said that, the tension started climbing to the peak, and Blake started sweating.

Inspecting Blake's expression for a solid few seconds and finding that he was quite serious about what he said, the man looks down at the table before eventually, his hand suddenly move quicker than Blake's eyes could follow.

Brak!