Alex sighed at the turn of events. He took out his katana and said to the man.
"I don't care about the arrangement you have going on here. I have no plans of interfering with that. I only want you to return the girl. I'll even give you the missing money. Why won't you accept?"
The scar-faced man laughed loudly before responding. "You don't get it, do you? We'll kill you, take all your belongings, and then still collect our tribute from the village. Your proposition has no value to us. Kill him!"
"I don't want to kill you," said Alex as he prepared for their attack.
The scar-faced man laughed loudly once more. "You're only a first-stage Qi Gathering level cultivator, and you probably don't even have much fighting experience. You have no choice but to die!"
Hearing the scar-faced man's words, Alex's face darkened. "Damn it, I would have to really kill them."
[You don't have a choice, host; you either kill and survive or you die, and you don't want to die at the hands of these trash do you?.] The system spoke to Alex in a serious manner.
He knew there would be a time when he had no choice but to kill, but he never suspected it would be this soon.
Just as Alex was thinking about this, one of the men charged straight toward him. Alex snapped out of his thoughts and watched the man approach.
"That's it? A head-on attack? There's no technique involved; he's just using brute force." With Alex's experience in sword training, he could easily tell that the man was just slashing out with brute force, relying on his power and cultivation to suppress Alex.
"He must really think I'm an easy target."
Alex scoffed as the man approached. Alex had sparred extensively with swords since he was a child. Before he could even start cultivating, Alex was considered an expert when it came to combat. Not only that, but his recent journey in the forest greatly expanded his combat experience and power. The man's attack was almost an insult to Alex.
The five other men were smiling sinisterly as they watched their partner attack Alex.
"This should be over quickly. You want to make a bet on how long the boy lasts?" asked one of the men.
"Sure, I'll give him five moves," responded another.
"Five? You think too highly of him, I say he won't last more than three moves," stated the first man.
Swish!
They were about to continue their betting discussions when they suddenly stopped. A headless corpse suddenly collapsed to the ground in front of Alex.
"What? What just happened?" shouted one of the men.
The scar-faced man squinted his eyes as he watched Alex kill one of his men.
"Looks like I was mistaken. You're a lot more skilled than I gave you credit for," said the scar-faced man. "All of you surround him and attack together. Don't think he's just some naive child anymore. He's quite strong."
The four men snapped out of their shock and hastily surrounded Alex.
While being surrounded, Alex looked at the blade of his katana. Blood trickled down the blade's edge, a sign of what he had just done. He stared blankly at it for a moment.
"That was my first kill. My first human kill Why don't I feel... fear? I should feel scared, shocked, or disgusted. But I feel nothing... in fact, I hate to admit it, but I feel quite excited... what is wrong with me?"
Alex had expected his first human kill to make him feel some negative emotions, but the only thing he felt was indifference. In fact, a few seconds after he was done with his kill, a lingering sense of excitement started to build up inside of him.
Just as he was thinking about his emotions, Alex looked up to see all four men rapidly approaching him. Realizing that he was surrounded,
"Since you want to fight don't blame me, system allocate all the points I gathered and upgrade 'Force Dodge'".
[Okay]
◇◇◇◇◇
[Name: Alex Dracon]
[Essence Level: Qi Gathering Stage 1]
[Body Level: Qi Gathering Stage 1]
[Stage 2: 200/1000]
[Element: Destruction]
[Bloodline: ???]
[Soul: Non-Dimensional]
[Points:60]
[Physique: temporarily sealed]
[Techniques]
<Tier 1: Sword Slash (L) (1+), Ending Fist (L) (1+), | Force Dodge (L) (1+).
<Non-Dimensional Rank: Non-Dimensional Refining God Technique (???) (1+)>
◇◇◇◇◇
"Ding"
[Force Dodge has been upgraded to level 2]
[Force Dodge has been upgraded to level 3]
.....
[Force Dodge has been upgraded to level 10]
[Force Dodge has reached the peak of a low-tier technique]
[Force Dodge has been promoted to Mid-Tier 1].
[Force Dodge has been renamed Void Dash.]
Alex didn't have time to hear the system notifications the moment Force Dodge was upgraded to a Mid-Tier 1 technique before new information started to appear inside Alex's head.
He felt that he had practiced the technique for a decade as if it was a part of his body, now that the technique was a Mid-technique Alex could use Qi with the technique.
Alex made a quick decision and channeled Qi into his feet, as he learned when upgrading the technique.
Force Dodge used the cultivator's physical body to make a quick dodge, whereas Void Dash was practically different because the moment Alex used Destruction Qi on the technique, he could feel the space around him being affected, which surprised him.
True that Void Dash is not a movement technique, but Void Dash will get the job done with these cultivators that don't have any experience in fighting.
Making Use of the Void Dash Technique
Alex utilized the technique to quickly dash through a hole in the approaching circle of men.
"Wha…"
The man he had just dashed past cried out in shock before his cry was silenced. His lifeless head fell to the ground.
"Be careful, he knows a profound movement technique!" shouted the scar-faced man. He had thought the circle of four men would be enough to kill Alex. He was not expecting Alex to know such a profound movement technique. Even he himself didn't have a movement technique, let alone any of his men.
The three other men were seasoned veterans. Despite their comrade dying right in front of them, they quickly changed directions and dashed toward Alex.
Peng!
Alex quickly raised his sword with one hand and blocked the attack of the man who had first reached him. His free hand quickly punched out, connecting with the man's ribs.
"Gah!"
The man was sent flying backward, several of his ribs had shattered from the force of Alex's punch. A fractured rib punctured his heart, causing him to die several seconds later.
Alex quickly used Void Dash again, dashing forward quickly. A sword passed by moments later where he had just been.
Alex dashed directly toward the man farthest from him. The man was rapidly approaching Alex's previous position and was unable to change his direction in time. He quickly raised his sword to block Alex's incoming attack.
Bang!
A loud bang sounded out as swords collided. The man was sent flying backward for dozens of yards, violently tumbling over and over. Alex quickly followed up his successful attack by dashing forward to the tumbling man. Before the man could right himself, he felt cold steel enter his body. His eyes turned lifeless.
Alex turned around and looked at the last remaining man. The man's eyes opened in shock before he quickly turned to flee.
Che!
A sword light cleaved the man in half. His lifeless body collapsed to the ground.
Alex squinted his eyes.
"Why did you kill your own man?" asked Alex.
"He was useless. He couldn't even handle a child and even turned to flee. What use would I have for such a subordinate?" replied the scar-faced man.
Alex stared at the man but said nothing.
The man was silent for some time before speaking out.
"Based on your movement technique, I guess you really are from the Dracon Clan. Only someone from a clan such as that would have access to such a profound movement technique. I am curious, however, why are you traveling alone when you could be protected by powerful guards. Aren't you afraid of dying?"
Alex realized that the man was trying to get information from him. If Alex confirmed he was from the Dracon Clan, the man wouldn't hesitate to slaughter the entire town to cover up the fact that he killed Alex. The scar-faced man realized that even if Alex was from the Dracon Clan, it was too late to apologize. Either he killed Alex and the entire town, or his life would be over regardless.
Alex stared at the man but didn't respond. He wasn't about to play along with the man's game.
"It doesn't matter. Once I'm done killing you, I'll handle the rest of them anyway." The scar-faced man dashed quickly towards Alex, his sword glowing slightly as he slashed down.
To Be Continued...