Chapter 7: The Gnome Run.

Entering, Lin Ke and Shi Feng walked down the stairs slowly, a strange seaweed scent filling their noses. They found themselves in a corridor with two doorways, one leading to what was called the Battle Arena, while the other was the Challenger Race.

Shi Feng and Lin Ke entered through the Challenger Race doorway and looked about.

Lin Ke was impressed by how big the space was. It was a long and giant room, spanning up to that of a football field. To each side of the field, Gnomes carrying muskets shot, white smoke filling the air as lead bullets whizzed throughout, attempting to hit a currently running target.

Quirking his eyebrow, Lin Ke stared at the muskets in hand for a second. They appeared to be automatic, like those of machine guns…. If he were to steal one, wouldn't that be quite the reward? But what if they were for Rangers only…? No, as he looked at the Gnomes, they seemed to vary in classes.

The field was covered in dark grass, with various totem markings at different points. Above on a small podium, a well-dressed Gnome stood, greed evident in his eyes as he watched his brethren shoot away at the Assasin.

Shi Feng strode forth confidently as the darting Assassin on the field was shot down by a barrage of bullets, unable to make it to the end. Lin Ke walked to the side, waiting. He was going to go grinding with Shi Feng for a little bit, so all he could do was wait.

Lin Ke lurked around, before sitting down near a musket-bearing Gnome. The humanoid seemed to take no mind, only letting out a periodic groan that showed that it was extremely tired. To the side, Shi Feng spoke with a few other players, who seemed very reluctant. He was probably extorting them out of money or something….. What a horrible thing to do!

Lin Ke toyed around with a rock in his hands that he had picked up a while ago. Narrowing his eyes, he stared at the musket with disguised greed, wondering how he should go about things. Maybe he could go for a quick [Swithceroo]? No. It was too dangerous.

He'd just [No-Clip] later and "borrow" some stuff later. The novel hadn't really mentioned firearms that often, so he wanted to try them out and see if they were handy or not.

Shi Feng stood at the starting line, his figure tense and at the ready. Jet-black hair drooping down the sides of his face, the future Sword God's eyes were narrow and serious. It seems that this time, they would see the true extent of his reflexes and such. Lin Ke sat back down next to the nearby Gnome, sighing.

3.....

2....

1....

Start….!

As soon as the airhorn blew loudly overhead, Shi Feng bolted from his spot, a blur of black and brown. His feet barely made any noise as he sprinted across the grass, dust rising about as he went.

*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

As soon as he took off, the huddled short gnomes immediately began cocking their rifles. One by one, they fired away, smoke and gunpowder blasting out as small projectiles shot toward Shi Feng.

*Pwoo! Pwiuh! Prm!*

Flipping through the air, he dodged them with subtle movements, making his way past the 10-yard mark. Seeing this, the Gnomes began to glare and turn bright red as they unloaded even more firepower at Shi Feng.

Sidestepping and twirling about like some ballroom dancer, the countless bullets rained down upon him, yet all of them skidded near him to a stop. In his flurry of acrobatics, Lin Ke could roughly see a small smirk on his friend's face. It was obvious that he was very experienced….

Advancing down the field, the "Sword God" finally passed the fifteen-yard mark. This would be where the real challenge began…

As soon as the gnomes saw him pass, they began reaching into their pockets and attaching large copper drum magazines to the sides of their muskets. How that all worked, Lin Ke didn't really know. But it was cool though, for sure. Then, the Gnomes started shooting….

*Ratatatatatata!!!!!!*

Each Gnome shot with a ferocity unlike any other, as smoke and gunpowder cloaked the field, their guns shooting out bullets at the rate of a machine gun. At this point, everyone was completely sure that Shi Feng had lost. There was truly no way that one man coil dodge so many bullets, right?

But then again, Lin Ke knew better. There was no way a plot-armor stuffed cliche reincarnator wouldn't have any tricks up his sleeve. As the trajectory of the bullets went wild and uncontrollable, sending sparks flying everywhere, Shi Feng smiled once more.

Feet blazing against the ground, the black-haired man reached out, the rusting Novice Sword appearing in hand.

*Peng! Peng! Peng!*

His sword twirling like a lightsaber, all of the onlookers watched in shock as Shi Feng's blade flashed with white light, deflecting most of the bullets aside. Despite this, as they still had much feed left, the Gnomes continued to fire, violent bullets flying toward the swordsman, with no end in sight.

Zig-zagging about, Shi Feng blocked the bullets with his sword, sprinting faster and faster as he went. It seemed as time passed, the man was becoming even more fluid…. Lin Ke sighed. Prodigies….

Twenty Yards….

Twenty-Two Yards….

Twenty-Four Yards…..

Twenty-Five Yards…..

Running through the finish line, Shi Feng rolled to the ground gracefully, his back covered in dirt. Looking into the sky, or rather the ceiling, the man sighed in relief.

Lin Ke strolled over casually, clapping his friend on the back. Despite having some pretty nifty abilities of his own, the whole deflection and acrobatics show was truly a good one to watch. He'd really have to check out the Gnome inventory later on.

[Total Run Time: 14 Seconds]

[Estimated Record: 18 Seconds]

[Congratulations On Gaining The Prize!]

Wiping some sweat off his neck, Shi Feng stared at the panel contently.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! A round of applause! This fine swordsman has passed the challenge!" The Gnome administrator, a heavy-set figure with a three-pronged beard and a pair of glasses yelled grudgingly.

Shi Feng stared up at the panel, eyes widening in shock. Of course, Lin Ke faintly remembered that his friend had received some rare sword skill. It seems not much had changed…. For now. Casually observing the area, he found the Gnomes groaning in frustration as they walked away, into a small doorway to the side.

A mischevious glint flickered in Lin Ke's eyes. After all of the gnomes had gone to sleep, he would hop into their armory or wherever they kept all the goodies, and just "borrow" all of them. Of course, he would replace the stuff with counterfeits, for good measure.

They wouldn't be able to tell the difference, even when they looked at the stats. The only way one would be able to tell apart a counterfeit created by his skill was through actually consuming or using it.

Shi Feng and Lin Ke walked slowly back upstairs, chatting casually.

"Didn't know that stick-like body of yours has the ability to do that. Strange….."

"En. It's nothing, just some trivial moves."

"Your so-called 'humbleness' makes me want to stuff your head into a well."

They teased around, before arriving back in the busy shopping market. It was still as busy as before, with the Sun still shining overhead. Due to the time difference, the day's around here took longer, which was pretty ideal.

As they browsed the nearby stalls, Lin Ke asked Shi Feng curiously:

"Are you gonna go level up after this? From your expression, it seems you got a pretty good skill….."

"Indeed." Shi Feng smirked knowingly as he thought of all the future knowledge he possessed. Things would be different this time… "Now, do you have anything to do? Care to join me later? I still haven't shown you yet." The reincarnator stared at his blue-eyed friend.

While they had already agreed upon something before, he knew how chaotic and unpredictable his friend was. The man at one moment could be fighting alongside you against the final boss, and ditch halfway through out of boredom.

"Sure. I'll go after I sorted out a few small tasks. Found something interesting to do. There are many places around town, after all..." Cackling, Lin Ke turned back to the Gnome Black Market, an evil grin on his face. It was time to show God's Doman, true thievery….

The "Sword God" stared at his troll of a friend, gulping a little. Despite having countless years of experience, and knowing the true difficulty of this game, he knew Lin Ke's true capabilities. The troll had a penchant for pulling off unreasonable and practically impossible stunts.

All while getting away with them. Despite this world's insurmountable peaks, a small part of Shi Feng felt like his friend would truly pull off something insane. Only time would tell...

"If you say so. Please don't land yourself in jail." Parting his jet-black hair, Shi Feng waved over his shoulder, disappearing into the medieval crowd.

As soon as his friend was out of sight, Lin Ke shrugged. Even if he were sent to jail, getting out was a complete breeze. Though, it would be best not to, as things could get annoying if he did, later on.

Retracing their steps, Lin Ke sat down at an oaken bench, feeling the hardwood against his back. He honestly didn't have much of a solid plan, but that wasn't really what he was going for. As long as he could get in and out of the place undetected, everything would be fine.

After all of this was over, he'd go and get a free carry from Shi Feng. Handy having a friend who's completely eidetic.

Looking up into the sky, Lin Ke smiled as he slowly sunk into the ground, silence, and serenity taking over.

[No-Clip]