"Alright, time to take you home. It's getting dark," Rivor said, glancing at the nearly set sun.
"Sure thing," Zilon replied, a small smile playing on his lips.
They turned north and began walking calmly, heading in the direction of where Zilon presumably stayed.
---
Meanwhile, back at the restaurant, the hooded man they had noticed earlier stepped outside. His face was concealed beneath a hood, revealing only his black eyes. In this world, it wasn't unusual for people to wear masks or hoods, so no one paid him much attention.
The man glanced left and right, then closed his eyes for a split second. When he opened them again, they glowed a faint brown. He turned his gaze north and began walking, following the trail of Rivor and Zilon.
---
"Why do I feel like you're a little lost?" Rivor asked, scratching his head.
"Screw this. I'm not really lost, okay?" Zilon said with a soft sigh.
"Well, if you say so, lead the way," Rivor chuckled.
*I wasn't expecting this city to be so big. I went to a lot of places earlier, so I must've mixed up the route a little. In the end, I'm only human,* Zilon thought, sighing inwardly.
They passed two alleyways and approached a third, nestled between two buildings.
"This alleyway has all the space we need to take down those guys," Rivor said in a hushed tone.
"Well then, do you think you can handle them? There's more than one, right?" Zilon asked, glancing at Rivor with a calm expression.
"Not to brag, but it shouldn't be a problem for me," Rivor replied, casually cleaning his nose with his finger.
"Oh, really?" Zilon said, his voice tinged with intrigue.
"Yeah. The only one who might give me some trouble is…" Rivor trailed off, his eyes narrowing as he glared at a dark corner.
*I see. I also thought that guy in particular was strong. But anyway, I'm curious to see how strong a town commander really is,* Zilon thought.
Suddenly, a blue panel appeared in front of Rivor.
"They're here. We can proceed," Rivor said, his eyes fixed on the panel.
"Wait, you have that too?" Zilon asked, staring at the panel with surprise.
"Oh, so you can see it? Well, yes. Everyone who can use their abilities has a status panel," Rivor explained.
Zilon's shoulders slumped, and he fell to the ground with a defeated expression.
*And here I thought I was the chosen one. Damn, life sucks,* he thought, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Rivor asked, bending down to help Zilon up.
Zilon accepted his hand and sighed, standing up with a weary smile. "Oh, don't worry. It's nothing."
"Hmm?" Rivor stared at Zilon, his gaze piercing.
"What is it?" Zilon asked, slightly unnerved.
"Oh, it's nothing," Rivor said, then started walking toward the alley.
"Okay then," Zilon muttered, scratching his head as he followed.
In reality, Rivor had noticed two things that left him puzzled.
*First, Zilon told me earlier that he had memory loss and couldn't remember much about his life. That's why I decided to give him some basic info about currencies and this world. But I didn't expect him to see my status panel. Everyone's panel is unique to them, and while there are skills that allow you to read others' info, he did it without any detectable shift in mana. It's as if he could see it naturally,* Rivor thought, his brow furrowing.
As they walked, Rivor kept his senses sharp, aware of the presence trailing them.
[You are being targeted.
Defeat the enemies: 0/6]
*So there are six of them,* Rivor noted, continuing his train of thought.
*The second thing I noticed is his regenerative speed. The bruise from Victor's punch has already faded, and he seems to have forgotten the pain entirely. Interesting…*
Rivor's thoughts were interrupted as they turned another corner.
"Now I remember. We're close," Zilon suddenly exclaimed.
"Good. That means we can deal with these goons now," Rivor said, turning to face Zilon.
"Yeah, let's beat their asses," Zilon said, jumping like Super Mario with his hands above his head.
Rivor smiled, but his eyes lingered on Zilon's cheek, where Victor's punch had landed.
*I'm curious about you, Zilon,* Rivor thought.
Suddenly, Rivor stopped and turned around.
"You can show yourself now. For someone as strong as you, you're not even trying to hide," Rivor called out.
The air was still, and nothing happened.
*What? But I don't…* Zilon thought, looking behind him but seeing nothing.
"I said… SHOW YOURSELF!" Rivor yelled, a yellow shockwave rippling through the air.
Zilon covered his ears, the shout nearly rupturing his eardrums.
Suddenly, the air seemed to bubble, and a small cloud of smoke cleared, revealing a man in a black hood, his eyes menacing.
*Wait, so there really was someone behind us,* Zilon thought, his heart skipping a beat.
"I believe that's not all of you," Rivor said, glaring at the man.
The hooded figure remained silent, but behind him, five more individuals materialized.
Rivor stepped in front of Zilon, drawing his sword.
"Six against one, huh? That doesn't seem quite fair, does it?" Rivor said with a smirk, taking his stance.
"Zilon, stay back. This isn't going to be easy, and you might get hurt if you're too close," Rivor warned, his eyes never leaving the enemy.
"Oh, okay then," Zilon said, running back about ten meters.
"If he's a mage, you might want to get further back," Rivor added.
"Oh, right," Zilon said, adding another ten meters.
"Here's good," he waved, and Rivor nodded.
The leader raised his hands to the sky slowly.
The remaining five behind him seem to get on ready position as they buckled there knees slightly.
Rivor noting this down also got into position.
The next second the man dropped his hand pointing at Rivor.
Immediately doing so the men vanished from there positions leaving, cracks on the ground from where they stood earlier the leader standing.
Rivor also almost instantly vanished from his position leaving a crack where he stood earlier.
---
From Zilon's position, the fight was mess of blurs and cracks here and there.
*So this is the power of a town commander,* Zilon thought, observing the battle in awe.
The speed of their movements was too much for his eyes to follow. Rivor appeared and disappeared, striking the hooded thugs before vanishing again.
*Man… I promise I'll come back stronger than any of them,* Zilon thought, feeling a surge of motivation.
Zilon kept on observing as he realized something.
' hmm I think I can see there fights alittle '
---
Above them, on a nearby building, a shadowy figure watched the scene unfold. The fading light of the day made it impossible to make out their features completely, but their presence was unmistakable.
The only thing one can note down was the hair which was long and black which hints to be woman.
---
Rivor wasn't having an easy time.
*I've taken down three of the five, but their goal isn't to fight me—it's to drain my stamina,* Rivor thought, reappearing and slashing at another enemy.
The man blocked the attack but was sent back hitting a building nearby causing the blocks to break.
A black figure appeared behind Rivor and he did not even look back.
Taking the opportunity he performed a roundhouse slash with green energy on his sword.
The man was caught of guard and his head was slashed from his body,blood splattering around and his body slumped to the ground.
Looking back to were the leader was standing at the corner of his eyes,he realized that leader was no longer in his original position.
At some point he had activated his skill and left his position but he was not heading for him.
*Oh no,* Rivor thought, his eyes darting to Zilon.
The leader was already in front of Zilon, dagger drawn and his body bent slightly as he gathered the energy to perform the slash.
"ZILON, GET DOWN!" Rivor yelled, He was about to rush but the remaining thug blocked his path.
---
Zilon was observing there battle noticing that to a considerably % he could see there battles.
He was so caught up in it that he did not notice the man slowly walking up towards.
"ZILON GET DOWN"
"Huh?...."
But by the time he realized it it was to late.
Zilon's eyes widened as the hooded man appeared in front of him, dagger in hand ready to draw and slice his throat .
*Oh no, this is bad,* Zilon thought, panic setting in.
The man's blade moved toward Zilon's neck, slow in his perception but too fast for his body to react.
*So this is how I die? On my first day in another world? Damn those two who gave me this money,* Zilon gritted his teeth.
Zilon could see the blade moving slowly but his body has frozen in place he couldn't move.
Just when he closed his eyes, preparing for another round of pain he felt his chest burn with anger as thoughts that were not his started to flood his mind.
*No. I refuse to die like this. Not by someone like you,* Zilon thought, finally closing his eyes and dropping to his knees.
Unbeknownst to him, before he closed his eyes, his eyes glowed with a faint red hue as his skill activated, energy spread from his body sending a red ring around them and slowing the man's attack just enough for Zilon to dodge.
The blade grazed Zilon's neck, drawing blood, but the fatal strike missed.
Zilon having a shocked expression opened his eyes and touched his neck slowly, when he looked at it he saw blood and that was when his expression sank.
He remembered something similar happening to him in is past life,but...
The man recovered quickly, readying another attack, but Rivor was already there, delivering a powerful kick that sent the leader flying.
"Are you alright?" Rivor asked, his voice filled with concern.
"Yeah... I'm fine," Zilon said slowly, standing up and stepping back with shaking steps.
He had gone to a considerab distance and noticed that he was were Rivor and the 5 men fought earlier.
He looked at the fallen thugs, some missing limbs, one without a head.
*Is this the cruel reality of this world?* Zilon thought, his body trembling but his mind clear.
---
Rivor and the leader faced each other, their eyes locked. In the next second, they vanished, the sound of clashing metal echoing through the alley.