The golden glow formed the shape of a ring and the golden light dissipated, scattering through the entire forest. Then, it fell on the palm of the player.
A silver ring with a blue gemstone that radiates mana.
[ You have obtained the "Ring of Parry"! ]
"What?!"
[ Detail: A ring that allows the player to parry a single physical or magical attack.
If used short-ranged physical attack, it will bounce off the barrier that the ring produces when the ring is activated.
If it's a long-range magical attack, it will absorb the magical attack and send it back to a certain direction where the player wants to send it back. However, the ring will only store it for 5 seconds.
Cooldown for every parry: 3 minutes. ]
Cliff sighed…disappointingly.
Why? Because this isn't the item he was hoping to get.
It…is good… but this isn't for his class at all. If he was a [ Mage ] then this would be useful since the ring can be amplified by mana. But for an archer with a curse that halves his mana pool???
This is the least S-Grade item he could get out of the golden ticket. It was a one-time opportunity and his luck didn't come through.
"Tsk… Can't be helped… Better than nothing…"
[ Equip "Ring of Parry" ]
The ring magically wrapped around his ring finger on his left hand. It glowed blue, revealing its magical prowess. However, Cliff looked unsatisfied. He sighed, before climbing back to the ground where the tents are located.
"Before my exhaustion meter gets me killed, I should sleep now… Huaahh!"
He yawned and stretched his body into an arc like a cat before going inside his tent and turning off the small magical lamp that kept his tent lit. Then, he slept.
<•••••••••••••••••••••••••>
Back on the road once more, they are on the darker part of the forest where flora has overtaken most of the area. Covering the sky with towering trees that produce large leaves to block out the rays of the sun, leaving no light to enter inside.
"It sure is windy out here," Cliff mentioned, his hair being blown back by the cold wind of the forest.
"Ain'tcha supposed to be used to this type of environment?" At the front of the carriage is Enrid, leading the horse to the official path.
"Well, I am– But y'know– It's still cold." Cliff shrugged, still commenting on the fact that it was somewhat cold.
"Cause there's no sunlight, idiots! Shouldn't we be happy that nobody dared to defile this forest by cutting it all down?" Esther used her logic to shut down the conversation, what a killjoy.
At least she came up with a brand new topic though.
"Now that you said it, it is indeed surprising. Maybe something lives here? a town?" Cliff assumed, looking at the trees as they continued the conversation.
"Hm…Unlikely. It's probably dangerous, it is home to many animals and magical beasts. The people probably thought that it wasn't worth the effort because of the wrath of these animals." The female said with conviction and certainty. She'd be a scholar or a nerd if she wasn't a mage.
However, he does not say these thoughts out loud unless he wants to be castrated again.
SCHINK! THUNK! THUNK!
In the distance, a commotion is happening. Clashes of metal and steel, create sparks due to the amount of force being put through on every strike.
The three adventurers heard the sound. Their guard immediately raised as they looked at each other and nonverbally spoke to each other.
There's trouble.
"Huah! Go!"
Enrid lifted the reins and slammed them, making the horse run faster toward the direction where the clashes of metal could be heard. With a large carriage, creating noise is inevitable. However, if it can stop the fighting, then it is worth it.
A few seconds later, they found themselves unable to continue due to the tracks being uneven and too dangerous for the carriage to handle.
So, each of them got out of the carriage and prepared themselves by wielding their respective weapons with such proficiency.
Enrid is at the front, Esther is at the middle, and Cliff is at the back. The current battle formation of the trio makes perfect sense due to their classes.
The clashes of blades continued. But this time, they can hear voices.
"...Diers! Defend the esc…"
The trio followed the sound of battle, each battle cry desperate. Then, they found a small open field where two fully armored soldiers could be seen protecting a female while being surrounded by a bunch of red-cloaked figures, each holding short weapons of some sort.
They're outnumbered. However, if they're fully armored, then that means that they are knights. Powerful ones at that, why are they having a hard time?
"...Nine cloaked bastards, four of them are wielding dual daggers with a strange curve on their blades…" The warrior observed the battlefield with caution.
"...Then there are three wielding short swords. They aren't the standard short sword, that's for sure…" The mage carefully watched from behind the warrior, holding her wooden staff as she started muttering after making a careful observation.
"The remaining two figures are hiding their weapons inside of their cloaks. Direct combat isn't suitable for this, a quick ambush with no mistakes is needed." Cliff stated, his fingers moving strangely. As if he is pressing something multiple times. A button?
After taking everyone's information based on the observations made by the three of them, he formulated a plan immediately.
[ New Mission: Defeat the Cloaked individuals and reveal their Identities.
Rewards: 50 Gold Coins ]
A mission? I see… this is part of something, an important encounter?
[ ...... ]
Circling, the fully armored knights with blue cloth patterns over their waists can be seen defending a scared female crouching in the grass with their hands covering their heads with a brown cloak.
"...Who are you?! How dare you attack us?!" A deep, yet feminine voice can be heard coming out of one of the knights holding a pristine longsword.
"Enough, Arnheid! These assassins aren't here to chat! Prepare for combat!" A raspy, masculine voice can be heard from the other knight. He holds a giant shield and a hammer, however his right hand which wields the hammer is currently bleeding.
With the two knights protecting the girl, they formed a circle formation.
Within a single second, the three figures who held short swords came running towards the female knight while the four who wielded daggers came at the one with a giant shield.
All of them took a step forward to achieve their goal. The female knight clashed swords with the swordsmen's figures, dodging their slashes while trying to slash all of them. However, they kept evading thanks to the three of them pulling each other whenever they were within the line of being slashed precisely in half.
Each three swordsmen is relentless, not leaving any room for error in their evasions while they try to break her armor by repeatedly slashing at the same spot.
"Igh…!" The female knight retreated, running back to the center as she pants from being exhausted due to prolonged combat.
"𝗛𝗲𝗮𝘃𝘆 𝗦𝗹𝗮𝗺!!" His hammer glowed as he lifted it upwards and brought it down to the ground.
With a single slam of his hammer, the ground quaked. Disturbing the natural ecosystem of the forest to force the agile cloaked-dagger men to back off.
The daggermen's balance got thrown off and it was the perfect opportunity for the male knight to attack. He prepared for a shield rush and bash, running towards the multiple daggermen. Each step moved the earth around them like a raging bull rushing toward many people.
However, just like a raging bull, he got stopped by a spiked rock that rises from the ground. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to stop his body and the spike rock penetrated through his armor, creating a gaping hole in his stomach.
"BLRUGH…!" A burst of blood came out of his helmet, internal organs were damaged and it made him vomit out blood.
She turned her head around, only to see her only ally heavily wounded "REINAR!"
Their eyes gleamed, and the swordsmen that were after found an opportunity to end her, they ran towards her while she was
distracted by her friend being stabbed.
They lifted their swords upwards, intending to slash her down to pieces.
Out of nowhere, an explosion from above occurred. Temporarily covering the area with… snow mist…?
"Wha-?!"
Every single one of them halted. They were confused, the 7 cloaked melee wielders looked at the two cloaked figures that were far away from them. Yet those two were also confused.
Then everything became hard to see thanks to the snow mist. However, they were already close to killing the female knight, might as well use this chance–
𝗦𝗪𝗜𝗦𝗛–! 𝗦𝗪𝗜𝗦𝗛–! 𝗦𝗪𝗜𝗦𝗛–!
Before they could even get the chance, an arrow pierced through each of the feet of the swordsmen who were after the female knight.
"An ambush–?!"
The agile dagger-wielders noticed their allies being injured, but they noticed too late.
𝗦𝗪𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗦𝗛—! 𝗦𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗚!
With a single slash, all four of the dagger wielders were bisected in half horizontally by a person, a warrior holding a giant axe. Their top and lower half disconnected from each other, and they fell to the ground.
Their blood painted the grass red.
The Knights were baffled. Questions formed around their minds, but a lone woman with a huge hat covering her face wielding a wooden staff walked on the misty snow and confronted the three.
"Hey there, need some help?"
She lifted her hat, revealing not only her glowing blue pupils but also her glowing magical circuits.