Reborned Top Gamer: Spell-Swordman Rule the World

21 Light And Plunder

Heading south was a pleasant change of pace, especially for Jenny and Walt. The south was warm and cool, the weather was pleasant and there were enough NPC hotels and villages along the way that they did not have to camp outside. The farther they got from Echo Corridor, the less snow there was.

There were now six people in their little party and they were officially a team, Walt was the leader without question and it seemed to Ailsa that Michael had become his unofficial second-in-command. Since they left Echo Corridor, Walt and Michael spent a lot of time together devising plans and ways to climb to the top of the team ladder in the game. It made her a little jealous.

“That’s a lame joke, you’re so lame Hogan,” Miranda said to Hogan who was talking to Jenny.

“Shut up! i***t!” Hogan spat back with anger but Miranda only giggled. He tried to attack her but got held back by Jenny which made Miranda laugh even harder. She enjoyed teasing Hogan and it was so easy for her because he was such a hot head.

“Pipe down you guys,” Walt suddenly said, holding his hand out as he stopped “I can hear something,” the others stopped moving as well and kept shut as they tried to hear what Walt heard. Then, rustling came from the bushes around them.

“Well well, seems like we’re outnumbered,” a deep, husky voice said from their back. They gasped and turned around to see four menacing looking players standing behind them. The person who spoke was in front of the other three and had a small smile on his face. Walt knew who it was.

“Still a lap-dog for Minan uh?” it was Miranda who spoke. She folded her arms, frowning at the strangers.

“What...? Wow, Miranda, I almost didn’t recognize you. What an unexpected surprise,” he said and laughed, pushing back the long purple locks that hung down his face.

“Who are these clowns?” Ailsa said, standing next to Walt in a battle pose.

“That is Barnett. He and his team work for Minan,” Walt replied. He was loud enough that Barnett glanced over, curious to find out who knew his name. They made eye contact and Barnett pushed his hair back. Walt realized that Barnett could not recognize him because of his new disguise.

“Are you sure you want a quitter on your team?” he said and smiled cruelly at Walt “she was one of best players at Minan, or should I say one of the best ex­-players at Minan but she’s still a quitter.”

“We don’t want any trouble, just leave us alone,” Walt said and clenched his fists.

“Oh, you don’t?” Barnett said and placed a hand on his chin like he was thinking “well, here’s the thing…I don’t care. You see, we are the Plunder team and as you can probably deduct from our name, we plunder.” Walt gritted his teeth in annoyance and looked behind his opponent, at the other members. There, he saw Scott, another familiar face that was actually one of his friends back when he worked for Minan.

“My favorite thing about plundering, is the blood,” Barnett continued and gave another cruel smile “and I see you have a sweet little elf with you, maybe I’ll have her blood first,”

Miranda got very angry suddenly. Their last mission had upgraded their skill and weapon level and she had been able to get yellow epic throwing stars. In one swift movement, she grabbed her throwing stars and swung them in Barnett’s direction. Barnett tried to lean back and watched with wide eyes as the throwing stars sliced off the hair that hung down his face. Miranda caught the stars in her hand as they came back around and glared at him.

“Next time, it’s your throat I’ll aim for,” she said in a dangerously quiet voice.

“You b***h!” Barnett yelled. His face contorted into the form of an air wolf. He growled and wanted to move to attack her but Walt stepped forward, brandishing his sword which gleamed in the light of the sun.

“I don’t think so. Leave or die,” Walt said. Barnett growled again, baring his fangs at them. Slowly, his face returned to normal and he laughed again, then pushed back his now shortened hair.

“Very impressive weapons you have there,” he said and smiled that cynical smile again “fine, I’ll leave. But I’ll be back and next time, I’ll aim for your throat,” he looked at Miranda when he said that but she did not flinch. Barnett turned and walked away, waving his team mates to follow him but Scott lingered a little and looked back at Walt.

“It’s nice to see you, Walt,” he said and walked away without waiting for a reply. Walt frowned as he watched them leave, he was surprised that Scott had recognized him. Barnett was an air wolf which was a type of demon and he had one of the most dangerous air wolf skill which was blood sucking. Blood sucking allowed him to absorb the power of his victim temporarily and become stronger as a result. Even when Walt worked for Minan, he never liked Barnett because of the way he liked killing and torturing in games. Scott on the other hand, he was also an air wolf but his skill was summoning which was a great and useful skill. Scott had no malicious nature and Walt knew that he was only working with Barnett because he was instructed to do so by Minan.

“It’s getting late, looks like we’ll have to camp out tonight,” Michael said when they finally started to move again.

“What if those creeps show up again?” Hogan asked.

“We’ll cut them down,” replied Walt.

Moral decisions have always been a problem for Scott. He believed he was a good guy, deep down, yet, he always seemed to get into bad situations. Choices were often made for him and he hardly fought back. He started working for Minan because of his financial situation and had been unhappy a lot about the tasks handed to him but had no choice. Working for Barnett had been the worst task of all. He hated the insatiable urge for killing that the guy had, he hated the way he sucked blood and most of all, he hated working with him.

Seeing Walt again surreal. Back in the real world, he and Walt had always gotten along well. Walt had even put him through a couple of times when he had problems with the game and they hung out socially occasionally. When he heard that Walt quit working for Minan in a big way, his admiration and respect for him increased.

“I don’t know who that smug bastard thinks he is but I’m going to get him,” Barnett growled as they all huddled near the fire they made when they set up camp. Barry and Saxon, his other team mates who basically idolized Barnett muttered their agreements.

“You’re the greatest air wolf and team captain there is, Barnett. That fool will realize that soon,” Barry said.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Barnett replied and smirked, then he wanted to push his hair back out of habit then growled when he remembered that it had been cut short “when I get my hands on that b***h, I’ll skin her alive.”

“Did you see how scared he was?” Miranda laughed heartily as she tore off a bite of the roasted rabbit they were having. Jenny rolled her eyes and Ailsa laughed.

“i***t, if Walt hadn’t jumped in, you’d be air wolf food right now,” Hogan said and Miranda stuck her tongue out at him in response. Michael smiled. He turned to look at Walt who sat a few feet away from the rest of them and seemed detached from the conversations they were having.

“Is everything alright?” Michael asked as he walked up to their team leader.

“I’m not sure…I’m keeping a look out in case that guy tries anything funny,”

“Well,” Michael said and sat next to him “I’ll look with you.” Walt smiled at him and they fell into silence, both of them alert of their surroundings. A few minutes passed and Walt wanted to ask Michael to get some rest, when rustling came from a shrub opposite them. It was like a case of de ja vu and they were both on their feet immediately.

“Who goes there?” Walt demanded and grabbed the hilt of his sword, ready to attack. Michael grabbed his scepter also. The rest of them saw and quickly stood up, prepared to face whatever came. The rusting got louder and closer “show yourself,” Walt demanded again.

“Please, I mean no harm,” the intruder said but was yet to show his face. Walt squinted and could see the faint silhouette of someone in the darkness of the night.

“Then step out and show yourself,” Michael spoke this time and pointed his scepter in the direction pf the intruder. Walt watched the figure raise its hands and walk slowly towards them. When he saw who it was, he frowned and unsheathed his sword, pointing it in the trespasser’s direction.