Leon is approached by an orange-haired girl who tugs his shirt, "Come here, brother, or they will beat you like they did to my Sei." She wipes her nose gently, spreading the blood over her cheeks. Leon bends down and wipes her cheek with his sleeve.
Leon then looks up to the child, "What's your name?" The kid only stares for a while, her eyes glistening like pearls, and then she touches Leon's mole like dots and speaks, "What are these?" Leon gets a bit startled as those small hands are surprisingly rough.
'What kind of stuff did these two go through?' Leon turns his head a bit sideways, looking at the small boy with bruises on his back and cheeks. The little boy, Sei, smiles awkwardly at him. A soft smile has almost formed, but he flinches and grabs his arms as if they had been suddenly poked by a needle.
The little girl rushes towards her brother with a worried face, "Sei, A-are you sure you're okay?" She grabs her brother's shoulder, and Sei flinches a bit in pain, "Idiot! Don't press your fingers on my shoulder that hard."
The little girl's face becomes dull. Sei sighs and rubs her head. She then speaks quietly while putting her hands away from Sei's face, "I'm Avangeline Silver, but the nurse and other friends call me Ava for short."
Before Leon could reply, the boy stood up from the ground.
"Leon Doomcraft Kaiser." A soft voice emerges from the boy, Sei.
Leon smiles a bit while his eyebrow frowns slightly, "How do you know my name?"
The boy looks up, revealing a pair of blue eyes with a strange pattern. Leon's leg shudders a bit, 'Has somebody already acquired those eyes? This is so unbalanced.' Sei blinks a couple of times as his eyes glow dimly.
Leon cracks his neck and gets up from his kneeling position.
"How many hours has it been since you two have been here?"
Sei replies while tilting his head, "Hours? It has already been a day."
"What?"
Leon taps his foot on the ground. Sei gets up while huffing a bit. He walks a bit with his sister clinging to his arms. Sei grabs Leon's clothes, and while tugging it he tries to open his mouth.
"Aren't you gonna ask about how I knew your name--"
Leon suddenly spins around as he sees two of the men, without saying a word. Leon stares at the men as they slowly approach.
"C'mon now, kids, enter the cave slowly and we'll go far away!" One of the creepy men speaks. Ava throws a small pebble that lands on his cheek. The man frowns while veins pop out from his forehead.
Ava pulls her eyes with her finger and sticks out her tongue, "Bleh!"
The man lunges forward, "Stupid kids, I will throw you into that cave instead."
Leon watches over the entrance and sighs.
The man tries to grab Ava and Sei, but Leon launches forward and slaps the arm off before he kicks the wet sand at the men, while he grabs Ava and Sei's hands and storms into the cave.
The red cave entrance sat half-hidden behind dry bushes and dark stone. Its shape was uneven, wide enough for a person to walk through without crouching, but something about it felt off—like it hadn't been formed naturally. A dull red light spilled out from inside, not strong, but steady, casting faint shadows across the ground.
Above the entrance, carved roughly into the rock, was the number 3. The edges were sharp, and someone had filled the grooves with a reddish paint or maybe something else—it was hard to tell. The number didn't glow, but it stood out clearly against the pale stone.
The two men rub their eyes vigorously, "fuck!" as the man throws away a rusty knife.
[Kaiser's composer activated.]
Leon rubs his head off the sand and dust. Sei and Ava have already woken up as they fell hard during the entrance. Ava tugs the shirt of Leon, smiling, "Big brother, won't you take us out of this place?" Sei nods while tapping his foot on the ground.
"No, I can't," Leon says in a sarcastic voice.
"W-what?" Avangeline and Sei scream in unison.
"How can you say that when you confidently dragged us in here?" Sei speaks loudly while his arms are wide open, and Ava nods her head several times. Leon laughs for a bit, but Ava storms at him and pinches Leon's cheek.
'So innocent.'
"Mommy said bad people deserve pinches!" Leon laughs for a bit while he slowly takes her hand off her face. He looks at them both and speaks, "Of course I know, you dumb kids. Otherwise, I wouldn't drag us in so quickly."
"Alright. Let's go. In five minutes, this place will be filled with carbon monoxide—we need to move." Leon said, already walking toward the deeper cave as the other two followed close behind. After a few minutes of silence and constant walking, Leon speaks by clearing his throat, "Are you kids hungry?"
"Why are you calling us kids in such a weird old man accent?" Sei pokes Leon with a stick.
"Yeah, you only look a bit older than my brother!" Ava adds.
'Well, would you look at them,' Leon thinks, frowning slightly even as a small smile forms. Then he says, "I asked if you're hungry or not."
Ava hops over a puddle and speaks, "I haven't been hungry." Sei suddenly slaps Leon's back while laughing, "Leon, you yourself, look like you haven't eaten for years." Leon tries to talk back. Leon puts his finger on his mouth, shushing them, and suddenly speaks, "Istria, 4 points to the strength."
[Allocated 4 points to strength.]
SLASH!— Leon slashes his sword upward. Green blood splatters all over them as a hobgoblin falls into two pieces.
A hobgoblin with a lean but muscular build. Its skin is rough and often a dull, earthy tone—grayish or brownish—with patches of scars and hardened calluses. The face is sharp-featured, with a prominent brow ridge, narrow glowing eyes, and a mouth full of jagged teeth. Pointed ears stick out from under a mop of coarse, dark hair. Sei backs out while holding his sister, "More from ahead, big bro." Leon slashes his swords sideways, splattering the blood away to the ground.
He puts his hands on his chest, 'Why do I feel so smooth? I would've been shaking in fear by now, is it that Kaiser composer's skill?' He thinks as he sees the two kids looking over him from the corner. Leon swings his sword swiftly sideways.
"Alright, you ugly fucks. Let's roll."
Leon's heart pounded as he faced a horde of ferocious hobgoblins. The air is suddenly filled with tension and the coppery smell of green blood. Sei and Ava huddled behind him, their eyes wide with fear. Leon's muscles tensed, and yet his mind was as calm as ever.
"If I remember the part, it was
→ ↓ ↑ →
(Side slash → downward chop ↓ upward swing ↑ side feint →)
↑ ← ↓ →
(Overhead slash ↑ sidestep left ← leg sweep ↓ stab right →)
↓ ↓ ↑ →
(Double downward blows ↓↓ rising counter ↑ thrust →)
The first hobgoblin lunged at Leon with a guttural roar, but he sidestepped effortlessly, his movements as smooth as he had been battling for years.
He screamed, 'Bring it on, you ugly bastards!' A swift roundhouse kick sent the hobgoblin sprawling. SLASH! But there was no time for celebration. Two more charged at him, weapons drawn. As Leon parried their blows with expert precision, his mind raced.
A slash from a hobgoblin comes, but Leon manages to catch it mid air, "I know your every move, you dickheads!"
His eyes were fixated on the hobgoblins, calculating their movements. WHOOSH! He could feel the intoxicating power coursing through his veins, his mad stats turning the battlefield into his playground. Ava clung to Sei, her hands trembling. Sei, normally calm and collected, couldn't help but feel the tension in the air.
Leon wipes off the green blood from his face, 'Easier said than done! It tingles my hand in pain when my sword slashes through the bone.'
Leon's fists connected with hobgoblin faces, bones breaking under the force of his blows. The scent of blood almost made him puke, but Leon, SLIT! he slits the throat of the hobgoblin while huffing he falls on his knees on the ground.
Ava's voice pierced through the chaos, "Leon, watch your back!" A hobgoblin launches itself to stab Leon, but Sei swoops from the sideways the hobgoblin, who loses its sword, and Sei grabs a knife and stabs its face multiple times.
Leon grinned, wiping blood from his face.
Sei huffs as he looks over to the ceiling, extremely fatigued. "Piece of cake," he muttered while chuckling, "Fucking hobgoblins never stood a chance against us."
DING* DING* DING*
[You have successfully slain 1 Hobogoblin.]
[You have successfully slain 1 Hobogoblin.]
[You have successfully slain 1 Hobogoblin.]
[You have successfully slain 1 Hobogoblin.]
[You have successfully slain 1 Hobogoblin.]
Leon slaps his head and screams, "SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
[You have gained 120 experience points altogether.]
[Unallocated XP has been contributed.]
[You have gained a level.]
[You have gained 2 points on vitality.]
[Congratulations! You have gained another level.]
[You have gained 2 points on Intelligence.]
Leon throws the sword on the floor, "You fuckers, let me rest. Stop bombarding me with notifications directly to my brain."
As Leon caught his breath, Sei and Ava, wide-eyed, observed the aftermath of the chaotic skirmish. However, their brief respite was shattered as they collectively gasped when a low growl rumbled behind them. Turning around, their gazes locked onto a colossal figure emerging from the shadows – a big centipede, its hulking frame towering over the fallen hobgoblins.
Leon's eyes narrowed, revving up again, "Oh, come on!'
SWOOSH!