Silence immediately took over the entire place. It became so quiet that the sound of someone's breathing could be heard throughout the entire place. Everyone immediately looked at the person who said those words.
Arthur's eyes moved to the side too when he heard that sentence. That was when he realized what kind of person he was standing next to. The player was clad in a completely red veil that covered all their body. It was baggy enough not to show whether they were a male or a female.
On their head, they wore an ominous red mask that had no eyes and no facial expression. But, by far, their most interesting detail was their aura. While the others didn't notice it, Arthur did notice it.
'They're strong.' His eyes grew colder. 'They're probably very high up the ranks.'
While his assumption might've been really shocking, his guts told him that he was indeed facing a very special player. If their request wasn't proof of that, in the first place.
"E-Excuse me, the entire stock?" The clerk was naturally as shocked as everyone else.
"Yes." The masked person replied. Their voice was deep and distorted, perhaps a function of the mask.
"S-Sir, we have 150 potions left in the stock." He replied.
"Give them all to me."
"Hold on a goddamn second." Arthur finally spoke when he heard that back and forth. He was still stunned by the request as 150 potions sounded completely ridiculous. "I need those potions. You can then buy the rest."
If the person next to him bought the entire stock then Arthur won't be able to get any potions. Those were quite crucial when it came to hunting and fighting enemies. So far, Arthur hasn't died once, and he wasn't intending to try it any time soon if he can.
The masked player turned to look at him. Arthur couldn't see their eyes, but he was certain it wasn't a friendly look.
"I need all of them." They replied. "Find potions elsewhere."
'What the hell?' Arthur felt like he was about to snap but he decided to take a deep breath and looked at the Clerk. "Ignore them, can I please take my order and leave? I don't have time."
"I'm taking all the stock."
"I don't care. You don't own this place and you certainly don't decide what you can take. There are other customers apart from you." Arthur retorted.
"It's their fault that they didn't come earlier. Is there a rule that stops me from buying their entire stock?" The masked player asked Arthur with a cold tone.
"I don't care about rules. I stood here before you so I'm going to get my potions."
As the two went back and forth, the tension inside the shop grew rapidly. The other players started feeling something slightly heavy falling on their shoulders. The temperature inside was also going down slightly.
'Is there a fight about to break out?' They all thought as they gulped down a mouthful of saliva. For some reason, these two players sent shivers down their spines and they didn't know why.
"... Give it to me." He said.
Arthur then pulled out his pouch and gave the clerk the money for his entire order which was almost 60 silvers.
Then, he stored those potions and left the shop. 'What the hell was that person's problem? Who the hell buys 150 health potions? Do they think that will make a huge difference? If you're a dumbass, you will die even if you have ten billion potions in your inventory.' Arthur muttered to himself. 'It's also way too goddamn expensive.
A very bad idea through and through.'
Looking over his shoulder, he noticed that the masked player hadn't come out yet. He didn't know if he had to wait for him to deal with this matter or if he should simply go about his business.
'If he's going to keep chasing me, that will be really annoying.' Arthur thought to himself. 'I'm too bothered to deal with an idiot. Even if he's strong.'
Rubbing the back of his head, Arthur continued walking through the village till he reached the exit. This entire time, he kept looking behind him, expecting the masked player to follow him. But, he saw nothing of that sort. At that point, he decided that it was pointless to wait for this player.
"I don't have the entire day to waste on him. If he wants to mess around, he can just find me." He muttered lowly as he exited the village, heading deeper into the forest.
A few minutes passed peacefully as Arthur cut his way through the thick trees. His destination was the deeper parts of the forest that he hadn't reached yet. Since his map only showed the areas he reached, he had a lot to explore more.
'Should I continue on the same path or should I try and expand the map in all directions?' He asked himself as he stopped for a second to look at his map. Both options were viable since Arthur knew that the forest had way more secrets in its depths.
"Hmm, going deeper might bring me unwanted enemies. I'm not strong enough to face stronger monsters yet. Maybe expanding the map would be more useful." He spoke to himself as he zoomed in on his position.
As he was focused on it, Arthur's senses suddenly went off as he felt a sense of overwhelming danger fill his body. His eyes widened and his breath stopped before he immediately sprung into action.
*Swish*
Like a flash, he jumped to the side at the same time as an arrow cut through the air and hit a tree not that far away from him.
A split second later, Arthur felt the same danger as a silhouette rushed toward him. 'Behind me? Was that a decoy?'
Arthur quickly unsheathed his sword as he summoned two arrows. The two projectiles flew instantly toward the target, making them jump to the side and stop rushing toward Arthur.
*Cling* *Cling*
At the same time, Arthur deflected a sword attack from the enemy before he slashed with his sword. However, the enemy was able to dodge and jump back. The boy looked at the attacker as he grinned.
"Very cool of you to ambush someone like this. Are you too scared to face me head-to-head?" Arthur asked as he rested his sword on his shoulder. "Should I call you 'Masked Coward'?"
A//N: Give me all your Golden Tickets!