Abandoned Village

After Nox leaves Rodena Town, the silver-haired beauty walks out of her house. With a steady pace, she reaches the crater, where Nox won over Roi. The infirmary is on the other side, resting over a full blossomed man-made hole.

Mirena knocks twice and enters without waiting for a response. There's supposed to be one occupied bed, but it appears to be empty. The girl runs to the desk where a young girl sits behind a desk. "Excuse me! Where's the injured man who was resting over there?"

After pointing to the empty bed, the girl behind the desk shakes her head. "He discharged himself a couple of hours ago!"

Mirena looks in the direction Nox left and after a sigh of anxiety, she puts her hands on her chest, close to her heart. "I hope he's ok!"

Meanwhile, in the middle of a dirty road, Nox sighs and jumps on Umbra. He turns to Roi. "I got that much last night. If there's nothing else…"

Roi jumps in front of the Mana Hound with his hands extended. "Wait!"

Umbra growls and shows his teeth, making Roi to gulp a mouthful of saliva.

Nox pats the beast. "Easy buddy!"

He looks over at Roi with dead eyes. "Don't eat him yet!"

Umbra arfs and wags his tail in anticipation.

Roi lets out a dry laugh and takes a step back. 'Just in case!'

After having their discussion, Nox departs riding Umbra. The scenery around them changes just as fast. It's blurry and indistinguishable, but the cool breeze calms Nox. Umbra enjoys his run with the young man! "This is certainly a faster way of traveling!"

A few days later, Nox arrives at the entrance of a familiar run-down village. He finds a porch he likes and lies down and away from the blistering sun. Umbra follows by picking up his place on the grassy street. "This is our place buddy!"

The beast howls and wags his tail.

He opens his | Inventory | and taps a Title Deed. The one for the Abandoned Village. "Let's see!"

[/Side Quest\]

Sign Title Deeds?

Yes | No

[/Side Quest\]

He tabs the Yes option and the translucent screen gets replaced by a green one.

[/Abandoned Village Title Deeds\]

Title Deeds Signed | Owner: Nox

Attack: +5

Resistance: +2

[/Abandoned Village Title Deeds\]

{Loading…}

[Congratulations! You are now the owner of Abandoned Village!]

{Loading…}

[Hidden Bonus! +25% Additional Exp]

"That's nice!"

His excitement for the new acquisition makes him smile, which transfers to Umbra, who's watching him, but that doesn't last for long. The beast's sensitive nose picks up an unfamiliar smell, which makes his hair stand up. The constant growling frightens even Nox.

The young man stands up. "Umbra! What's wrong?"

Umbra shows his sharp teeth and growls.

Nox carefully approaches him and pats his pitch black fur, trying to calm him down. He turns his gaze towards the location that seems to have the beast's attention. "Let's check it out!"

With one foot in front of the other, Nox goes through the village. The smells of rotten wood and mold dominate the surrounding air. Umbra tags along, growling in the back with his hair still standing.

As the walk, a red blinking word pops in front of him. [Intruders!]

Nox stops. 'That's new!'

{Loading…}

['You are the owner of the Abandoned Village! Anyone who walks in, is an intruder!']

Surprised by the sudden voice in his head, he utters. "Grimmy?!"

He immediately closes his mouth and seals it with his hands. His purple eyes run from one corner to the other. He wipes off his sweat and takes a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

After checking his surroundings, he moves forward. With the broken houses left and right, with obscured visibility, he has his guard up and his steps are cautious. As he gets closer to the village's broken wooden fence and entrance, he can hear people chattering.

He pats the growling beast and together they hide behind a house. Nox peeks from the side of the wall and sees a group of people carrying all swords of weapons. Some wear armors, whilst others long grey cloaks.

He knows he can use his shadow spell and go inside the house, but he doesn't want to leave Umbra behind. Other than Mirena, the Mana Hound is a friend Nox treasures in this world of dangerous encounters.

He leans against the creaking wooden wall, thinking. 'Even with my added stats, they are still too many for me to handle on my own. Umbra can be of great help, but how many can we defeat?'

The young man ponders how to go about confronting these people, but everything he thinks of is of no use. Their numbers are more than he feels comfortable dealing with.

Several scenarios cross his mind until he finally decides. 'Maybe catching them off guard is the best way to deal with them!'

With cautious steps and one foot in front of the other, Nox and Umbra silently move away. They try to stay out of sight, and move from one house to the next. They almost reach the centre of the Abandoned Village when an arrow whooshes in front of Nox.

Nox confirms his resolution. His fast beating heart echoes to his ears as his focus creates a serene silence. His breathing becomes calmer and his nerves aren't as tense. After feeling more relaxed and breathing in the surrounding oxygen, he moves out of his hiding place.

He instructs Umbra to stay out of sight before stepping out. He changes the direction he walks to and approaches the group of people who seem to have noticed him and he does his best as he tries not to exude any threatening auras. Upon taking notice of the unknown young man getting closer to them, the chatter ends and they fix their eyes at Nox.

They don't say or do anything but stare at him. Their gaze causes the young man to gulp in nervousness. His feet are heavy, but he tries not to drag them, or show weakness to the strangers.

While walking towards them, his motions seem natural, but his muscles are stiff and his knees weak. Breathing becomes an errant since his body sometimes forgets to use his lungs. When he runs out of oxygen, like a shock to his consciousness, his organs get back to work.

Since coming to confront this kind of situation, he tries to figure out his next move. Making use of Umbra's speed and special ability to deprive them of mana or take them by surprise and attack them first is one such thought.

His nervousness reaches its peak "P-Passing through!"

The uncomfortable gazes on him make him come to a full stop. His body refuses to move another inch and his head follows gravity's law.

As he looks down, steady footsteps become louder to his ears as the owner of the feet approaches him. He can feel the daggers shooting at him from their gazes. He would flinch every once in a while when he realizes that there's nothing he can do. Such realizations surge like waves to his mind.

While staring at the ground, he finally notices two armored feet halting in front of him. The metallic clanking they produce stops as soon as they appear. This whole situation makes him feel like he did something wrong, even though it's their sheer number that got into his head.

A sudden voice breaks the cycle of doom he got himself in. "Where did you come from?"

Nox looks up and sees a muscular man resting his hand on the hilt of the sword he has strapped to his waist. While he speaks, the others are silent. "I arrived today from Rodena Town!"

The muscular man readjust his sword. "And… Where are you going?"

The young man's voice is clear, without trembling. "I was thinking of taking a night to rest and continue towards the mountains in the morning!"

He takes out his sword and plunges it into the ground. "We are coming from the mountains and let me tell you! There's nothing there!"

Nox didn't falter and kept his cool head. "Thank you for your consideration, but I'd like to go there myself!"

After finishing his sentence, Nox could feel the surrounding air changing. The burly man standing in front of him rested both hands on his massive sword, whereas the others flinched. The young man then understood that this guy in front of him threatened him and Nox, instead of heeding his words, talked back to him.

A man running and jumping from one roof to the other approaches them. "Sir!"

The man runs in a frantic state. His face is that of a horrified person who's seen death. "Sir!"

The panic gets to his team as they unconsciously draw their swords and get into a circular formation, covering themselves from all sides.

They see him jump off the roof in Nox's direction. Before he even got to the ground, a blurry black figure with red eyes jumped and grabbed him mid-air, only to disappear just as fast, making them all gasp.

'Nice timing, Umbra!'