Chapter Three: Carter Town

Chapter Three: Carter Town

“…Damn, this little girl’s got a sharp tongue—she actually asked if our boss wanted to die once! Boss, don’t get mad. I’ll go catch her right now.” At that moment, a burly, dark-faced man beside Cassius was the second to recover, flattering as he drew his enormous sword and strode toward Shuster.

“Tch… Pathetic.” Shuster drew her Blood-Dance Crescent Blade with a sneer, spinning it in her hand. The sound of the blade slicing through the air finally jolted the Spark Mercenary Group back to their senses.

“Girl, you’d better apologize to our captain and come quietly with us. Who knows, maybe you’ll get to be our boss’s camp wife. You think those skinny arms and that little paring knife can do anything to us? Ha!” The dark-faced man didn’t spare Shuster a second glance as he slung his sword over his shoulder.

“Miss Shuster, thank you for your good intentions, but this is between the Spark Mercenary Group and the Black Wind Mercenaries. Please, leave this place—we’ll cover your escape, just…” Catherine, having gathered her wits, hurriedly spoke, but her words caught in her throat halfway.

Let’s rewind. Their utter lack of defense irked Shuster, and the price of annoying her was to never have the chance to annoy her again. She reversed her grip on the blade, held it horizontally before her, and in a heartbeat, she stood behind the dark-faced man. Only then did everyone react, turning to look at him. He was drenched in cold sweat, his eyes wide with shock. While they were still bewildered, Shuster, without even glancing back, gave him a shove. He crumpled to the ground.

A brief, chilling silence followed, then shouts erupted from the Black Wind Mercenaries. “Second Boss! What’s wrong, Second Boss?”

“Anyone else?” Shuster’s crisp, icy voice silenced the group. She took a step forward, and as she did, the Black Wind Mercenaries all stepped back. In that moment, Shuster alone overpowered the entire field.

“What are you all panicking for? Surround her! I don’t believe we can’t handle one person!” Cassius shouted, trying to sound composed, though the sweat on his brow betrayed him.

In truth, Cassius was in dire straits. Perhaps others hadn’t seen clearly, but as a rank-five beginner, he had caught a glimpse of Shuster’s movement—a flash of white slicing across the dark-faced man’s neck. Though the man had no visible defenses, his battle aura had fortified his vital points, especially his neck and heart. Yet the ornate, almost decorative blade had cut through them as if they were paper. There’s a saying on the Divine Descent Continent: “Those who can ignore another’s aura defense are either three ranks higher, or wield a weapon three ranks superior.” This meant that Shuster, who had effortlessly dispatched the rank-three man, wielded at least a rank-six weapon. But since even Cassius couldn’t track her movements, she herself must be at least rank six.

So Cassius panicked, realizing that if things went badly, he’d fall here today. He planned to use the crowd as cover to escape.

As the mercenaries closed in, Shuster glanced at Cassius, who was inching backward, then at the Black Wind members encircling her. Faint arcs of electricity began to crawl from her feet, up her slender legs, to her left hand, and finally onto her blade.

The arcs intensified, and a subtle but oppressive aura radiated from Shuster’s petite frame.

At last, someone broke under the pressure—a wiry, rank-three beginner lunged at Shuster, prompting eight others to attack as well.

“Tch… Thunderflash Slash.” With the effortless grace of a ballroom dancer, Shuster broke through their formation, landing lightly and flinging the blade’s thunderous energy into the crowd.

Screams echoed—then, in the next instant, a massive boom silenced them, leaving behind only a crater five meters wide and half a meter deep as proof that a battle had taken place.

“Miss Shuster, don’t let Cassius get away! He’s the younger brother of a division captain from the Skyhawk Mercenary Group, ranked ninth among the ten great bands!” Catherine shouted urgently.

“Tch, I detest trouble, but that doesn’t mean I fear it. Still, if I can resolve it quickly, so much the better.” Shuster watched Cassius, now a hundred meters away, and spoke coolly.

“Thunder God’s Execution!” She raised the Heaven’s Spark, arcs of lightning crackling around it, and pulled the trigger at Cassius.

Cassius had never regretted provoking someone so much in his life. That angelic-looking woman was definitely a demon—does demon-blood even count as human? She didn’t look a day over twenty—finally, someone guessed right: our protagonist is eternally seventeen—yet she possessed power above rank six. How could mere low-level mercenaries compete? Glancing back, he saw her wipe out the rest of his men with a single move, leaving a smoking crater in the ground. Remembering her monstrous speed, Cassius nearly wept; for the first time, he regretted learning earth-element battle aura. Years of bloodshed had honed his instincts, and he sensed peril closing in, but against overwhelming strength, experience meant nothing.

“Ding! Target eliminated. Gained: 2000 Soul Crystals.”

Watching Cassius’s body torn apart by the lightning, Shuster spun her firearm and holstered it on her right thigh, turning to face Catherine and the others.

“Thank you, Miss Shuster. On behalf of the Spark Mercenary Group, I sincerely invite you to our headquarters as our guest.” Catherine stepped forward and spoke respectfully.

“Well, I just happened to get lost in here and helped you out because I was passing by. I’ll accept your invitation—thanks for your kindness. Shuster Redona, pleased to meet you. Oh, and by the way, I forgot to mention—I’m a man.” Shuster tucked a stray lock of snowy-white hair behind his ear and smiled at them. For a moment, that faint smile seemed to outshine the world itself—an illusion, perhaps.

“…Ah, my apologies, Shuster. I’m the leader of this mercenary group, Catherine, a rank-four peak warrior. This is my sister, Somia, a rank-three peak water mage.” Only upon hearing this did the others realize that the one they’d mistaken for a girl was actually a young man, and everyone felt awkward. Catherine quickly recovered and reintroduced herself and her sister, pulling the blushing Somia forward.

“So, Shuster, how old are you? I’m sixteen.” Somia hopped up to Shuster, her big blue eyes wide with curiosity as she circled him, then asked mischievously.

“Heh, I’m seventeen—a year older. So from now on, you have to call me brother.” Shuster looked down at the smaller girl and ruffled her blue hair with a laugh.

“Tch, so what if you’re a year older. Brother it is, then,” Somia pouted, looking like a defeated little hen.

“Hello! I’m Copperhammer, a rank-four advanced dwarf warrior—pleased to meet you!” Copperhammer stroked his newly grown beard as he introduced himself to Shuster.

“Pleased to meet you,” Shuster replied.

“Karven, rank-four advanced rogue,” Karven said, extending his hand.

“Pleased to meet you.” Shuster shook his hand in return. No one noticed the barely perceptible tremor that ran through Karven’s body at that moment.

“Aimeeru, rank-four advanced elven archer.” Aimeeru greeted Shuster with an ancient elven salute.

“Pleased to meet you.” After the introductions, Catherine turned to Shuster. “Well then, Shuster, please come with us. Our headquarters is in Carter Town.”

Half a day later, a medium-sized town appeared before them.

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PS: There’s another chapter tonight; this one seems to have been posted a bit early, heh!