Chapter 12 – Strength: Error
Lucien saw many bandits. They were surrounding the house.
He stepped forward to fight.
Lucien was able to defeat them. The bandits' movements were slow, and their swings were too wide. Even if they were not that strong, the real problem was their numbers—and the strong Aura pressure he was sensing.
Lucien defeated the bandits one by one. Then one of them threw a sword at Lucien. The sword passed by the left side of his head.
" ? "
Lucien looked in the direction the sword had come from.
He saw a house window and sensed a strong pressure from inside.
"The leader of this area was inside that house," Lucien thought inwardly.
He looked back. Seris had not yet come outside. To escape this place, he had to defeat this leader.
Lucien stepped forward while defeating the remaining bandits and reached the house. He cut the door open with his sword.
Inside, he saw a middle-aged man with black hair and a narrow scar crossing his face, giving him a sharp, dangerous look.
Lucien was shocked when he saw the man's face.
This person was Eldric Ravenshade.
The former captain of the Solaris Holy Empire.
And in the main story, he was a B-rank criminal.
Lucien had no idea he would meet him this early. What was he doing here?
"He wasn't supposed to be here. He was in the Kingdom of—wait… no. This is before the main story. Then Eldric Ravenshade was, at first, the leader of this place," Lucien thought inwardly.
Lucien had no idea, because the novel never mentioned who the leader of this place was.
Things had become much more difficult. If Lucien had known this, he would have taken Seris and escaped immediately.
But now, it was nearly impossible to escape because Eldric Ravenshade was the former captain of the Solaris Holy Empire.
"You empire dogs never get tired of investigating my territory, do you?" said Eldric Ravenshade.
"Empire dogs?" Lucien thought inwardly.
"That's really a shame. They sent a kid this time," Eldric said while releasing his Aura and killing intent.
Lucien could now feel that Eldric's Aura had increased.
"So, he was hiding his Aura," Lucien thought inwardly while smiling.
Seeing Lucien smile, Eldric said, "You are really a brave one, but you have to die here."
Eldric picked up his sword. As Lucien blinked, Eldric disappeared and reappeared in front of him.
Eldric swung his sword with strong pressure, without using Aura.
Lucien blocked it with his sword, but his hands started trembling.
"So, you blocked it. Then—" Eldric said with a smile as he kicked Lucien in the stomach.
Lucien flew out of the house and hit the ground hard. Dust rose into the air. His body felt heavy, like something was pressing him down.
Eldric walked outside slowly.
"This dog hasn't died yet," Eldric said and started laughing.
Lucien took a long breath and stepped forward again.
Lucien swung his sword, but Eldric didn't take it seriously.
Eldric raised his sword to block Lucien's attack. But just as Lucien's sword was about to touch Eldric's blade, Lucien rotated his sword downward toward Eldric's stomach.
Cut.
Lucien quickly created distance between them.
"Sh*t. Not a deep cut," Lucien thought inwardly.
"Oh?"
Eldric looked down at his stomach. Blood slowly flowed out, but the wound was shallow.
He laughed quietly.
"So you can touch me after all," said Eldric.
Eldric released his Aura—dark yellow in color.
"Die."
Eldric stepped forward and swung his sword.
His movement was so fast that Lucien had no time to dodge or block.
"If this hits me, I'm going to die," Lucien thought inwardly.
Without thinking too much, Lucien made a desperate move.
"Wind Cutter," said Lucien.
The magic spell struck Eldric's stomach—exactly where Lucien had cut him before.
"What? A magic user?" Eldric thought inwardly.
The spell deepened the previous wound.
Blood started flowing from Eldric's mouth. His movements and sword swings became slower.
Lucien deflected Eldric's attack and stepped back to create distance.
"So from the start, you were a magic user, not an Aura user," Eldric said while bleeding.
Lucien said nothing. He had not used his Aura yet because he was saving it as a final card if he started losing.
"Lose?" Lucien thought inwardly.
"Am I going to lose?"
Lucien's eyes turned cold and lifeless.
He took a long breath and slap his face with both hands.
"No. The fight isn't over yet," Lucien said.
Eldric stepped forward again while bleeding, but his movements were slower.
"That cut must be really deep," Lucien thought.
Lucien blocked another attack and used fire magic.
"Fireball."
A direct hit.
Eldric was half-burned but still standing.
"DON'T TAKE ME LIGHTLY!" Eldric shouted. "You damn kid!"
Eldric released all of his remaining Aura, but the deep cut on his stomach opened wider.
He stepped forward again. This time his Aura, speed, and power were ten times stronger than before.
Eldric swung his sword from above.
Lucien tried to block it, but his sword broke.
Eldric's sword left a cut across Lucien's chest. The cut wasn't too deep, but Lucien lost a lot of blood.
Eldric punched Lucien in the stomach.
Lucien flew backward and fell at a distance.
Blood flowed from Lucien's mouth. He had little energy left.
Eldric stepped toward Lucien.
Lucien had no sword. The sword Eldric had thrown earlier was too far away.
"Now, just die," said Eldric.
As Eldric was about to swing his sword, he heard:
"Fireball!"
Eldric looked to his left.
A fire spell flew toward him.
"Huh?"
Eldric saw a girl.
It was Seris.
She was afraid, but even in that state, she attacked.
Eldric hadn't noticed her because all his focus was on Lucien.
Direct hit.
Eldric let out a sharp scream of pain and grabbed his wounded stomach.
"One after another… YOU DAMN KIDS!" Eldric shouted in angry.
He stepped toward Seris.
Seris fell to the ground while trying to run.
Eldric swung his sword at her. This time, there was no Aura in the attack—he had already reached his physical limit.
Just as Eldric's sword was about to reach her, Lucien threw the sword he had seen earlier.
The blade cut through Eldric's right wrist.
Eldric's right hand fell to the ground, still holding the sword.
Pain overwhelmed him. Combined with his previous injuries, his body finally gave out.
Eldric collapsed.
The fight was over.
Lucien had barely won.
He had lost a lot of blood, and Seris ran toward him.
Then Lucien saw a status window.
- Status Window -
• Under pressure condition met
• Update loading
"What… was that?" Lucien could barely see.
He didn't know what was happening.
- Status Window -
Name – Lucien
Age – 8 years old
Gender – Male
Strength – Error
? ? ? ? ?
? ? ? ? ?
Loading 21 / 100
"…21…"
After seeing this, Lucien was about to collapse.
Seris ran toward him.
"Hey, are you okay?" Seris asked.
After hearing her voice—
"Use healing magic on me," Lucien said weakly.
"Huh?"
Seris replied, "I've never used it on a human and—"
"Hey, he—" Seris said.
But Lucien couldn't hear anything anymore.
He collapsed.
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End of Chapter 12
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