Outside, I was greeted with a familiar cold breeze that brushed flakes of snow against my robe.
Taking Amber's words into consideration, I began to move East through the small village.
It was still dark out.
The vernacular cottage roofs were covered in piles of snow that seemed to fall endlessly in this region. Once I neared the village square, the few lamps posted around the area illuminated the space in front of me, where I saw five suspicious-looking men discussing something from a distance.
Remembering what Amber said about potential dangers in this world, I instinctively hid behind one of the houses, using the shadows to obscure my presence.
"Damn, this place is way too cold." A freakishly tall one spoke while shivering. "Where'd you say they saw him again?" He asked the man at the front, who appeared to be their leader.
"Somewhere near that old hag's inn," he replied. "Apparently, one of the villagers spotted the bastard and ran away thinking he was a dungeon beast. Lucky for us, no one else believed that dumbass."
Are they talking about the man I saw earlier? As I wondered this, I remained quiet and still, managing to capture the voices that drifted past me.
"I'm telling you guys, this isn't a good idea," another one, who appeared quite anxious, began. "This is the Gouldsworth we're talking about–there's no way we'll be able to steal that card from someone like him."
"Don't worry, the rumors said that he was badly wounded from his last battle, and that he was looking for somewhere to rest since then, which means–"
"He must be tired and weak, making him a much easier target for us," a man with reptilian skin added.
Their devious chuckling began to fade as their distance grew beyond my auditory perception.
It seemed like they were en route to the inn that I had just left.
I could tell that something about those guys was dangerous, and I felt somewhat concerned for Amber, so I decided to follow them, hiding among the shadows to conceal my presence.
As they approached the inn, the man that seemed to bear the most concern spoke up.
"What if he's not even in there? Haven't you guys heard the stories about him? He's always lurking in the shadows waiting to strike, and whenever you feel like the predator, he'll turn you into his prey in just a matter of seconds," he said while searching around nervously.
The leader put his hand on the man's shoulder.
"Look, Dan, if you're having second thoughts about this, you can just leave. No one's forcing you to be here."
"Really? Well, in that case, I'll have to take you up on that. I'm afraid I'm not ready to die just yet… sorry, Vince."
"Well, Dan… that's too bad." The leader removed his hand from his shoulder and watched as the man began to leave.
I kept a safe distance from the group, peeking around the edge of an alley, however, the man was getting dangerously close to me.
Following a moment of hesitation, I nervously attempted to back away deeper into the alley, but I tripped over my own feet.
Fortunately enough, the piles of snow broke my fall, but when I raised my head, the man known as 'Dan' was staring in my direction, his eyes wide and filled with shock.
I then watched as that expression of his suddenly contorted as a long silver needle pierced through his chest.
Then a soft thud followed as he collapsed on the snow, which began to soak up his blood at a rapid rate.
I could hear my heart pounding like someone had ripped it out of my chest and held it against my ear.
Is it my turn? I thought, as I eyed the corpse that gazed back at me with a look of emptiness.
I could again hear the voices of the men talking near the inn. I peeked my head around to see what was going on.
"Fuck! His birth card didn't appear in my CCU!" the leader said, while checking a small cuboid-shaped device that was attached to his waist. In fact, they all seemed to possess such a device.
"Tch, guess I'll have to wait another ten minutes to use the Hyper Needle."
"Vince, why the hell did you waste your birth card on him?" The one who asked this was a hooded Lizardman, whose skin was dark and scaly.
"Yeah, Boss, you used your third rank birth card on a weakling like Dan? Seriously?" said the large one, who carried an enormous double bladed battle-axe on his back.
"Don't you think I know that!?" the leader yelled out in frustration. "Dan, that fucking coward… I've been wanting to get rid of him for a while now. This just seemed like a good excuse."
They all stayed silent as if wary of Vince's short temper.
"What the hell are you guys still standing around for!? Get your asses inside!"
The rest of his crew made their way toward the entrance of the inn, crunching the snow underneath their boots.
But suddenly, Vince turned toward my direction.
I quickly shrunk my head back in response, hoping that I wasn't spotted.
"Snapper, hold on," I heard him say. "Keep watch out here while the rest of us head inside… I think we're being followed."
Did he notice the other guy staring at me before he died? With my back against the wall, I listened carefully for the moment when the sound of their footsteps finally ceased.
I slowly peeked around the corner just to make sure the rest had gone, however, the one that was supposed to keep watch appeared to be absent.
Taking advantage of this, I crept out and began to follow the snow-covered path toward the inn.
That was until I heard a loud shriek coming from behind me.
"Found you!"
As I turned my head, I watched as a ton of steel bolts flew toward me at a dangerous speed. Instinctively, I dodged the attack by rolling into the ground, but before I had time to process anything, the same type of attack immediately followed.
This time, however, the bolts were larger but a little slower, giving me time to unsheathe my dagger and parry a few of them. Some managed to cut through my cloak and graze my skin, but other than that, I was practically unharmed.
I began to pant heavily, experiencing a strange rush that I had never felt before.
"Interesting…" The attacker began. "You've got some crazy reflexes… I'm impressed."
I watched a card orbiting around the person in front of me: the fifth man named Snapper, who donned a mask and was much shorter than the other men.
He also spoke with much less intensity than the others.
"Since you were following us, I guess that means you're after Gouldsworth too, right?" As he began to interrogate me, he slowly approached, his hand tightly gripping the handle of a serpent dagger while another card began to float around him.
I tightly grasped the handle of my own weapon, preparing myself for his next attack.
"You're a quiet one, huh? I guess you'll just have to answer me with that blade of yours."
He suddenly broke into a rapid sprint: such speed would normally be very difficult to track, but I still managed somehow.
His first attack came as a surprise–he changed the position of his dagger, pointing it toward me with a forward thrust that targeted my abdomen.
I barely managed to avoid it, but he appeared to anticipate this as his next attack followed just as quickly.
"Gah!" With a swift swing of his blade, he sliced my jaw.
I backed away and gently pressed my fingers against the fresh wound, which wasn't very deep at all.
I got lucky.
"Seems you're quite good on your feet, but aren't you gonna fight back? With all that dancing around, I'm sure you'll get tired eventually."
Unfortunately, he was right. It would be difficult for me to continue fighting like this.
I have to try something else. As I thought this, the rush I felt inside began to build itself up as though something trapped within me was trying to burst out of its cage.
For a moment it felt as though my body were encased in a jelly-like substance that was now extending toward my surroundings.
"W-what the–!" Snapper backed away and took a defensive stance, as though anticipating an attack from me.
At that moment, I summoned the card that was gifted to me: the only ability in my possession.
"Wait a sec, is that–!?"
"AHHHHHH!!!"
Snapper's words were cut short as an abrupt scream tore through the air.
"Amber!"
Realizing she could be in trouble, I quickly turned away from my opponent and dashed towards the inn.
"Hey, hold on! You can't just leave in the middle of a fight... Dammit!" I heard Snapper yelling from far behind, but he didn't seem to be following me for some reason so I ignored him.
Once I burst through the entrance of the inn, I was welcomed by the malicious glares of the three men in front of me.
What's going on here? I thought, as I goggled at the girl, who I originally thought was helpless and in danger.
Amber, who stood behind the bar, pointed three fingers, which were covered in flames.
For a moment, I thought she was burning, but she didn't seem to be in any pain.
I could also see a few cards orbiting around each of the men apart from Vince, who stood with his arms folded, seemingly relaxed.
'Who the hell are you?' is what his eyes seemed to ask me.
His stare felt like cold needles piercing through my eyeballs and into my skull.
But his attention then shifted.
"A-A-A-AMBER!" Marn stammered in shock. "Y-YOU'RE JUST LIKE THEM!"
"Damn, this old hag can scream," said Vince, digging a finger inside his ear.
It was then that I realized her scream was the one I heard earlier.
"Yes, Marn, I'm a card holder," Amber, who also had a card floating beside her, casually replied. "I'm sorry you had to find out like this."
Amber continued to focus her attention on the three men, pointing her inflamed fingers at each one of them.
Marn's legs had given out from shock, but she seemed to recover the moment she noticed me.
"I-It's him! That's the one you want!" she pointed.
Her words caused everyone in the room to turn their attention to me.
"You again!? I told you to get out of here, didn't I!?" Amber seemed shocked and frustrated by my presence.
"Wait, isn't Gouldsworth supposed to be taller?" the large man said.
"It's not him, you idiot! Gouldsworth's an old man–this one's just a kid. The stupid old hag's lost her mind," the Lizardman hissed while carefully examining me.
"Wait a sec…" His eyes then widened as if he noticed something unusual. "Boss, is it possible to generate a Vision Field without a CCU?" he asked the leader.
"I've heard about people that can do crazy stuff like that, but it's an extremely rare gift, right? Like, only one in a hundred million are able to do that sort of thing."
"Th-this kid… He just summoned his card naturally, but he doesn't have a CCU!"
"WHAT!?" The giant responded as he also turned to take a look.
"Look, can't you see it! It's right there!"
"I-It can't be… Boss!?"
After revealing my card to everyone, I watched them all gaze at it in terror–all but Vince, who started laughing at me callously.
"So, Gouldsworth chose the easy way out, huh? That makes things a whole lot easier for me." He bent down towards me, his grin twisting into a terrifying smirk. "Why don't you just hand it over, eh?"
Before I could make a reply to his request, small fires started to spread around each of the men's clothes.
"What!?" Vince exclaimed.
"What the hell's happening?!"
"Get it off, get it off!"
The giant patted the fire repeatedly until it went out. Meanwhile, the Lizard took off his robe, and Vince tore off his burning clothes to reveal his chiseled physique.
They all turned to Amber, who remained behind the bar counter, smirking proudly.
"Tch, this bitch…" Vince glared at Amber with eyes full of hostility.
The flames on three of her fingers were gone, and she began to point more inflamed finger at each of them.
"Make one more move and I'll burn you alive... all three of you!"