Chapter 26 - Power

The smile in the face of Rohan faded away like snow in the sun, and his head tilted to the side as he tried to gauge this group of morons. He wondered how these people dare to say shut up to him. Could they not understand how ridiculous he felt each time he must greet someone like that? Could they not understand how these past three weeks were like hell to him? He was still the son of a count, and even though he was not the kind of noble that sees the others like insects, how could he bear the non-respect of these idiots?

As Rohan was trying to not let his anger explode, the four men were standing in front of him. Leather armor, sword inside their scabbard, malicious smile, and hostile eyes, how could Rohan not understand they were here for trouble?

"Do you need something with Master Horim ?" He squinted his eyes as he was ready to prepare to fight at any second. For him, there were two possibilities. The first one was that they have a business to settle with Him. But he was only a blacksmith who never left his basement, and if it was about his past, then these guys should know how truly powerful he was. That was why he dismissed this idea, these guys didn't seem at all to be powerful enough to take on a paladin like his master. The second possible reason was that they were gangsters in the same organization as the bandits who attacked Delia, back in the middle of the forest. After all, some of them escaped, and they did see his face so it wouldn't be that difficult to find him in this city.

To answer his question, one of the men, the one who had entered the first, drew his sword from his hip and pointed the tip toward Rohan.

"Don't move boy, we'll just take you away from here, just, you know, to ask you some questions. Nothing more." He approached slowly while the other three deployed themselves on the side to surround the supposed rank 2 Beginner Warrior before them. "So don't be foolish and just come with us."

Rohan frowned as he saw the four armed men trying to surround him. Asking some questions? What kind of question necessitated cutting him into pieces ?! Now, he regretted throwing away his weapon thinking it would be a lack of respect toward a customer. These bandits would not be foolish enough to let him go near a rack or a wall. So, he didn't have a choice.

"Okay, okay! Look, I have no weapon, so just take me away, alright?" He raised his arm to show them that he didn't have anything, and was slowly approaching the one who seemed to be their leader. He could use Charge to back up to retrieve a weapon, but against four potential warriors, he preferred to play it more safely. Or, maybe more foolishly. He was now reaching the leader. "There's no need to be angry, right? 'Cause you know, me too, I have some questions."

On these words, with a speed much more spectacular than what a rank 2 Beginner Warrior should be able to show, Rohan used Charge. But he didn't use it normally as he didn't stomp his foot on the ground to propel himself, no, he used it to throw an unavoidable kick toward the nether part of the bandit before him.

The attack was way too fast for any of the warriors to respond correctly. A loud crack reverberated in the whole shop, sending chills to the spine of every man watching the scene, and the man hit crashed on the ground, unconscious.

He was himself a rank 2 Beginner Warrior, and his mission was only to capture another one with the help of three rank 1 Beginner Warriors. That was why he had thought it would be an easy mission, the target was only as powerful as him, without a weapon, and surrounded by other warriors. How could it go wrong? But he hadn't expected to fight against a freak, who was not only a rank 3 Beginner Warrior but also a more powerful one. He didn't even understand what was happening as a terrible and loud shock made his whole body tremble. Excruciating pain was crushing his whole being, and unable to emit even the slightest sound, only a dark, and eerie world welcomed him as he passed out.

An imposing silence reigned in the shop as Rohan picked up the sword now on the floor. He didn't even look back at the three other warriors as he advanced toward the only entrance of this building, before suddenly turning around.

With the slight smile of a demon on his face, his back facing the door of freedom, a sword in his hand, and looking straight at his three other preys, he was now blocking the only exit.

"Don't move boys, I'll just keep you here, just, you know, to ask you some questions. Nothing more." The three warriors, hearing this, couldn't help but shudder at this slap. But they were still warriors, and even with an ashen face, they put themselves in a battle stance, ready to fight for their lives.

Rohan was now much more serene than before. He didn't know before if these guys were more powerful than him or not, but with the kick he had sent and their lack of responses, he knew each one of them was far weaker than him. Of course, they were still probably warriors, so he will pay attention to any use of mana.

The gangsters looked at each other before looking back at Rohan, they didn't have the choice, as the more time they spent here, the more dangerous it would be. So they rushed together toward their enemy.

Rohan speeded toward his right to meet an attack head-on, he parried it with his weapon before giving a shoulder kick into the chest of the warrior. The pure strength of the blow sent him flying a few meters away as a pained grunt escaped his mouth. A difference between two ranks was truly impassable. Rohan was even starting to understand why Makin was that playful when they were dueling together.

After sending away this bandit, Rohan turned away to dodge a blow from his left. The sound of the blade hitting nothing but the air hissed near him. He answered by a thrust with his sword, the tip in the direction of the attacker.

Dodging, attacking, chopping, thrusting, crashing on the ground, flying away from the sheer force, groaning of pain, bleeding from injuries, the three warriors couldn't do anything. Their opponent was way too strong, so they knew the only way to win was to use Strengthened Blow at the best opportunity. That was their only hope of victory.

But what they didn't know was that Rohan was only playing with them from the start. He could have long ago cut off their arms and put a term on this battle if he wanted to. But he didn't want to do that. Firstly, his goal after that was to interrogate them, and he had long read enough stories to know that it was better to exhaust them out to make them more cooperative. Secondly, it wasn't every day that he could perfect his movements and get used to his new strength of a rank 3 Beginner Warrior with living targets.

After more than a few minutes in which the trio accumulated numerous wounds, the only noises that could be heard were the gasps of three men, tired out to death, bleeding from everywhere with pieces of armor falling around them. Rohan was standing in front of them, a deep breath exited his nose, and he put his sword on his shoulder. No injuries and a joyful expression could be seen on his face. He felt that he was going to love beating up people from now on.

"So, should we stop a bit so I can ask you some questions, or do you want to continue to play with me?"

*clang**clang**clang*

Before he could even finish his words, three swords were thrown away and dropped on the floor with strident noises. The bandits couldn't do anything more, this young man was a true demon, and even when they had all used their skills at the same time to attack in three directions, he easily avoided them with a single Charge, before going back to hit them again and again. They dropped to the ground following their swords as they couldn't even stand anymore. That was truly the worst mission they never had taken.

Rohan approached them and pointed his sword to one of them.

"You tell me, what did you want from me ?"

"I… I don't know at all. We were just asked…"

Before he could even finish his sentences, the tip of the sword moved at a terrifying speed before cutting through the left ear of the man. A scream left his mouth as one of his ears fell on the ground with a plop sound. Blood spread from the open wound and painted his face with a disgusting red.

Following this, and while the cries were still echoing from the side, Rohan moved to the next target and pointed his sword toward his throat.

"You tell me. You should answer me honestly." His voice was icy, and the threat was real. He didn't like to torture to ask questions like that, but he wanted answers. He was still angry about the attack. While he was listening to the answer the fearful bandit was giving him, he was wondering if what he was doing was a good thing. He knew that he was becoming more and more ruthless, but, maybe it was what it meant to grow in this world. After all, the more powerful he would be, the more freedom he would have, and the more right he would be. For example, who will say that The Old Monster was wrong to kill thousands of soldiers? No one, of course, and that was because of a single word.

Power.