Book 1 Chapter 23 The Ambush and the Cowardly Retreat
…
He turned and bolted toward the thickest part of the western woods. He heard the shouts of three men peel away from the main fight, their heavy boots thudding behind him.
"Stop, you weak-looking coward in the cheap robe!"
"Get the runner! NO one leaves! No witnesses or the master will get our heads."
Rowan ran harder. His mind was a cold calculation of energy expenditure and distance covered. A three-to-one chase. "I have a mortal's body, but the Leather Cap and Mysterious Vest grant me an edge in defense if they catch me. But running is the optimal strategy."
He saw a blur of two figures—one of the town guards and a merchant—fleeing in another direction, quickly cut down by three other pursuing bandits. The leader's command was being strictly enforced.
As the three pursuers gained on him, Rowan skidded to a stop behind a massive, ancient willow tree, its branches weeping over him like a cloak.
"Well, I guess this is a good place to die…" Rowan muttered.
[System Message: Hostile Entities Detected. Engaging Automatic Battle System.]
"Finally," Rowan thought, a deep, satisfied breath escaping him, tinged with a cold dread. "Now we can be efficient."
He spun around, planting his feet. The three bandits burst from the treeline, their momentum carrying them forward. Two were clearly standard-issue, hardened thugs. But the third…
[Hostile Entities Detected. Engaging Automatic Battle System.]
-Han Rowan (Level 2). HP: 3/3/3/3/3/3. Qi: 5. Status: Normal. (Total Passive Def: +7)
-Opponent 1 (Bandit): Mortal Trained Fighter. HP 1/2/2/2/2/2. Status: Normal.
-Opponent 2 (Bandit): Mortal Trained Fighter. HP 1/2/1/1/2/2. Status: Normal.
-Opponent 3 (Bandit): Martial Body Level 3 Cultivator. HP 3/3/4/4/4/4. Status: Normal. (Subtle Qi Aura Detected.)
Rowan's phlegmatic facade nearly cracked. A Martial Body Level 3 Cultivator? That was entirely too much power for an ordinary bandit ambush. They had been sent by someone who knew what they were doing, someone with access to actual power.
The Cultivator, a wiry man with a cruel, thin mouth, was clearly very strong. He stopped, holding up a hand to restrain his two mortal companions, his eyes narrowed as he examined Rowan's completely non-existent aura.
"You are Rowan? The new owner of the shop that sells those high-quality herbs?" the Cultivator sneered. "I thought you were a healer, but it seems that the mayor had sent you to your death. I can sense something in you… You reek of dirt and fear. You are useful for our plan, but alas, the boss said kill all. But your clothes... You carry something interesting, yes? I will give you a chance."
"A chance?" Rowan frowned upon hearing the words of the cultivator.
"Yes, a chance to live. I will let these two test your mettle first. Don't worry, little rat, I won't let them kill you yet. However, I enjoy the agonizing screams of people before killing them. I hope that you can squeal your hearts out."
The Cultivator was using the two mortals to assess him! Rowan felt a surge of indignation. I am not a rat! I am an analyst with premium invisible headwear!
"Oh, really? I should warn you, sirs… That I am a blackbelt. My body is a weapon that can kill you with just a wave of my powerful fingers." Rowan said as he began posing in stances like a martial arts fanatic, copying a martial arts move from the movies.
The two mortal bandits sneered at the naive young man and charged with a professional, two-pronged attack. The battle began.
…
The system, however, was not interested in theatricality, only in execution.
[Automatic Battle System: Initiating Attack Sequence.]
[Weapon 1: Stone knife (2-4 Dmg, 2.1s CD). Target: Opponent 1 (Body).]
[Weapon 2: Wooden sword (1-3 Dmg, 1.8s CD). Target: Opponent 2 (Head).]
The stone knife, a spectral, crudely sharpened flint, materialized directly in front of Rowan's chest, whirled in a silent, high-velocity arc, and vanished. Simultaneously, a spectral wooden sword appeared, arced in a wider sweep, and winked out of existence.
The effect on the bandits was immediate, confusing, and devastating.
The first bandit—Opponent 1—let out a choked gasp as an invisible force sliced through his leather armor and deep into his side. He staggered, his charge faltering before falling to the ground… dead.
-Opponent 1 (Bandit): Mortal Trained Fighter. HP 1/0/2/2/2/2. Status: Dead.
The second bandit—Opponent 2—was struck in the temple by the spectral Wooden sword. Though its damage was lower, the target was critical.
-Opponent 2 (Bandit): Mortal Trained Fighter. HP 0/2/1/1/2/2. Status: Death.[Wooden sword (1 Dmg) - (Passive Def 0) = 1 Damage. Head HP reduced to 0.]
The second bandit collapsed mid-stride, hitting the forest floor with a dull thud, his eyes wide and unseeing. The whole exchange took less than half a second.
The Cultivator—Opponent 3—froze, his cruel smile dissolving into a mask of shock. Invisible weapons! And powerful! What kind of demonic technique is this?
Rowan, meanwhile, was trying not to panic at the sheer violence of his own system. A headshot, really? It targeted the head? That's cold, system. Stone knife on Opponent 1's body, leaving him dead. Why not kill them both the same way? Rowan truly could not understand what this system was thinking!
Everything was over in just a few seconds, which made it hard for the cultivator to analyze the battle or learn from it. However, as a cultivator, he is aware that they all have unique abilities that are weird and unexplainable by mere mortal standards.
The Martial Body Level 3 Cultivator, regaining his composure, shouted, "So you are also a cultivator! Are you a demonic cultivator! You're using some kind of spirit blade!" He then swiftly kicked Opponent 1 directly into Rowan. He wanted to use the corpse to distract Rowan and make his move afterward.
"Serve your master one last time, dog!"
The corpse flew like a rag doll along with the weapon of bandit. For some unknown reason, the weapon also flew like an arrow towards Rowan.
Rowan stood still, hands clasped behind his back, looking incredibly helpless—which he essentially was, waiting for the system. Plus, he wanted to see what the +7 defense could do. He is not worried about what the cultivator would do, as that would be taken care of by the strange bag.
As the corpse hit his body, Rowan saw a light glow around him. That glow acts like an invisible force field that shields his body from any harm. "So, this is what +7 defense is like…" he muttered as he observed the corpse bounce back away from his unmoving body.
Rowan hadn't moved a muscle, which only deepened the Cultivator's suspicion.
"A passive defense that bounces off anything that touches it!" the Cultivator hissed, drawing a long, clean saber. His Qi was minimal but definitely present, giving his stance a faint, dangerous shimmer. "You hide your aura well, little rat. But let's see if your little tricks can handle a Martial Body Level 3!"
The Cultivator lunged, aiming for Rowan's head, a brutal, straightforward strike that relied on raw physical power enhanced by Qi.
Rowan felt the terror of facing true power, but his brain had already shifted into Battle Analysis Mode.
"Opponent 3 is fast. His HP in the arms is 4, higher than a mortal's. Let's see what you can do with my strong defense." Rowan thought as he locked his eyes on the enemy.
[Opponent 3 (Saber Attack) attacks Han Rowan (Head). Damage: 5.]
[Han Rowan Defends: Mysterious Vest (+2 Def) + Leather Cap (+5 Def) = +7 Def.]
The saber struck the invisible Leather Cap. Rowan felt the jarring impact travel down his spine—a heavy thwack that would have shattered a normal human skull—, but the invisible cap absorbed the majority of the force.
[Damage calculation: 5 Damage - 7 Defense = 0 Damage. Defense success.]
The Cultivator's eyes widened. He had just struck a helpless man with a Qi-enhanced blow, and the target had shrugged it off.
"What in the hells—" he started to shout.
[Automatic Battle System: Initiating Attack Sequence.]
[Weapon 2: Wooden sword (1-3 Dmg, 1.8s CD). Target: Opponent 3 (Right Arm).]
Before the Cultivator could complete his question, the spectral Wooden sword flashed, a faint wisp of wood hitting the Cultivator's sword arm.
[Wooden sword (2 Dmg) - (Passive Def 1) = 1 Damage.]
-Opponent 3 (Bandit): Martial Body Level 3 Cultivator. HP 3/3/4/3/4/4. Status: Normal.
The Cultivator grunted in surprise, feeling a sharp sting. It wasn't crippling, but the damage was real, and it came from nowhere. The blow barely affected his arm, protected by the density of his Martial Body cultivation, but the sheer shock of the invisible attack was an effective psychological hit.
"You're a demon!" he screamed, his calm shattered. He began to cycle his saber in a rapid, complex pattern, clearly an attempt to generate an aura or a more potent strike.
Stone knife ready. Wooden sword ready in 1.62 seconds. The Cultivator is panicking, overcommitting to a defensive flurry. I must use the chance.
[Weapon 1: Stone knife (2-4 Dmg, 2.1s CD). Target: Opponent 3 (Head).]
The Cultivator, focused on his rapidly spinning saber, never saw the Stone knife. It appeared instantly and struck the side of his head with the speed of a bullet.
[Stone knife (3 Dmg) - (Passive Def 0) = 3 Damage. Head HP reduced to 0.]
-Opponent 3 (Bandit): Martial Body Level 3 Cultivator. HP 0/3/4/3/4/4. Status: Barely alive.
The Level 3 Cultivator dropped his saber, his eyes rolling up into his head. He crumpled to the ground, dead, his Martial Body strength useless against the System's precision targeting of the one-hit-kill head criterion.
Silence descended, broken only by the Cultivator's heavy body falling to the ground. Rowan stood perfectly still for three agonizing seconds, waiting for the system's final verdict.
[System Message: Battle Concluded. All Hostile Entities Defeated.]
[Experience Gained: 10 EXP.]
[Coin Gained: 5 coins.]
[Total EXP: 116/200]
[Total Coins: 7]
Rowan took a huge, shuddering breath. He had just killed three people, one of whom was a genuine Martial Body Level 3 Cultivator, without moving his own hands, without even needing to activate his Springwater, and thanks to his invisible hat, without taking a single point of damage.
He walked over to the Cultivator. Rowan frowned when he noticed that the guy was still alive. It seems that even though his HP is already 0 without severing the head or destroying the brain, they can still have a sliver of chance to survive. He could only lament that cultivators are truly terrifying existences.
Rowan, with the pragmatic coldness of a gamer looting an epic drop, nudged the fallen man's saber with his foot.
"You thought my weapons were cultivator weapons?" Rowan muttered, shaking his head. "They're just floating, disposable trash items that hit harder than your entire cultivation path."
He looked back toward the sounds of fighting in the main clearing, which were now growing fainter. Captain Gong and the others were likely either dead or captured. Rowan was now alone, with two dead bandits and one almost dead cultivator. He briefly considered bringing the barely alive Cultivator to Captain Gong, but quickly dismissed the idea.
"No. He is Martial Body Level 3. If he recovers, I have no reliable way to subdue him again without a cooldown-fueled murder spree. Best to leave the scene clean."
He reaches his hand and picks up the Stone knife. Since the system is not showing any battle, it did not show any cooldowns. However, there is a chance for him to use the stone knife outside the system as a weapon for a couple of seconds.
Like the rock from before, Rowan decided to throw the stone knife towards the cultivator, targeting his head.
However, before he could do anything, the system suddenly activated.
[System Message: Hostile Entities Detected. Engaging Automatic Battle System.]
The Wooden Sword suddenly disappeared and flew out of the bag.
[Han Rowan (Level 2). HP: 3/3/3/3/3/3. Qi: 5. Status: Normal.]
[Opponent 3 (Bandit): Martial Body Level 3 Cultivator. HP 1/3/4/3/4/4. Status: Barely alive.]
[Weapon: Wooden sword (1-3 Dmg, 1.8s CD). Target: Opponent 3 (Head).]
The speed of the Wooden Sword was too fast as it severed the head of the enemy.
Rowan expected to have another reward, but nothing happened.
[System Message: Battle Concluded. All Hostile Entities Defeated.]
"This thing did not want to be cheated," is what Rowan could only say.
He checked his stats one last time.
He turned his back on the slain bandits, disappearing deeper into the forest. He needed to be as far as possible from the massacre before the main group of bandits swept the area. His survival was absolute, and his progress, though accidental, was steady. He was now 116 EXP toward Level 3. He wondered what horrifying new abilities Level 3 would unlock, and how much longer he could keep pretending to be a mere mortal with an exceptionally high tolerance for being nearly murdered.
He was a world-class student, a potential pharmacist, and now, a spectral weapons specialist in an invisible leather cap. The comedy was beginning to feel very, very dark.