Of the ten who came out of the forest, four of them got caught by the Red Lightning, while three more were stunned by the residual current that hit them through the ground.
Seeing this situation, Aster no longer held back.
"...!"
He sprung up, dashing toward the stunned gunner, and waved his sword. In one swing, a neck was severed, and a life was gone.
"T-This brat...!"
Of course, the others saw this and reacted. They surrounded Aster, weapons at the ready. They were so focused on him that they missed the MVP of the battle.
*CRACKLE!* *BOOM!*
A lightning bolt fell, killing one of the four in a blink. The rest turned to their fallen comrade reflexively, wondering how Aster attacked even without showing signs of casting a spell.
Primal fear gripped their hearts—the fear of death.
*SLASH!*
Aster didn't dare wait for them to regain focus and instead attacked the one on the opposite corner of the one who fell. His dash was fast, enough that he surprised the man, but he still managed to react, blocking the sword with his spear.
*SHING!*
But Aster, as if predicting this, didn't lock weapons with him. Instead, he let his sword slip to the side as he spun, before waving it once more, slashing the back of the man's neck. He was so fast that the opponent could only catch his shadow!
"T-Tirr?! Damn it...!"
"Fuck! I didn't sign up for this...!"
Seeing the death of another, one of the two remaining quickly turned tail and ran. The other, wielding a pistol, aimed right at Aster and pulled the trigger.
*BANG!*
Of course, Aster wasn't dumb. He was already moving before the muzzle even pointed at him, rushing closer to the gunner with complex movements. It was something he only heard of in self-defense videos against an opponent with a gun, but he didn't think it would work so well.
In three steps, he reached the gunner just as the second shot was fired, and missed. Aster's sword swung up, and along with it, a wrist holding the gun spun in the air and landed splat on the ground.
Blood sprayed from the cut wrist, but before the man could scream in pain, the sword swung back down, cutting the man vertically.
"Phew..."
Aster let out the breath he had been holding unconsciously and stood up straight. He then turned to the last two, who got their legs cut off, and walked closer to them.
"N-No...! Demon! Don't come near me!!!"
]
[
Strength: 7 (+3.5)
Dexterity: 21 +(10.5)
Constitution: 22 (+11)
Intelligence: 15 (+7.5)
Wisdom: 47 (+23.5)
Charisma: 12 (+6)
Luck: 0
]
From looking at his stats, one couldn't even tell what he was aiming for. It was so all over the place, it was hard to look at! Still, he couldn't just ignore his WIS, so he had to increase it either way. Soon, he would need to face the twin spirits of the Frostfire Legacy once more.
"But before that, I should return first." He sighed before standing up.
As he stood up, Aster didn't forget to collect the heads of everyone from the kidnappers' group. They could have bounties on their heads, after all.
Although their base should still be somewhere on the 30th floor, he couldn't search for it, given his lack of resources and time. Furthermore, he lacks "firepower" to fight them head-on.
After collecting their heads, weapons, and cards, Aster and Argus continued on their way, heading straight to the north.
Along the way, Aster encountered a few more monsters, but with his level increasing by a leap, the fights that were troublesome and almost equal before were now a breeze.
"I guess I could even solo the field boss right now, with just my sword!" He declared, full of confidence.
With increased strength, the pace of their travel also increased. As such, before the sun went down, they reached their target location.
"It's here! The entrance!"
Finally, it was time to return!
Just as he was about to approach, the portal suddenly shone, and eight figures appeared—a full party. Aster stepped aside, giving the newly arrived figures space to move forward, but then, one of them suddenly stared at him and raised a brow.
"You... You're Aster Mistral, right?!"
"... Huh?"