"You're not my husband"
She tasted blood in her mouth but she ignored it and turned her head to look around, searching for Arthur and she didn't have to look for long, she found his form slumped halfway through a wall and he seemed to be getting up.
"Ar–"
The name never left her mouth, as she felt something wrap itself around her arms taking her attention away from Arthur.
She only managed to get a glimpse of the brown rope that tied her arms before she felt herself being dragged on the dirt ground by something she couldn't see.
In an instant she was no longer on the ground, she felt wind brushing against her face and her eyes saw the rooftops of various buildings.
She made attempts to reorient herself to understand what was going on, something hard like bone, was poking her stomach.
It didn't take long for her to realize she was on the shoulder of someone , however, for some reason she couldn't see their body.
"What's happening?! Who are you!!?"
Unfortunately, she would get no answers from her assailant. With her arms bound by rope and her legs held arms that felt like a vice she could only wiggle herself in an attempt to free herself.
Meanwhile, Arthur was removing himself from the wall he had been thrown into by the initial attack.
The Explorer groaned in discomfort and pain, the attack had struck him in the chest with enough power to crack open the ribcage of any normal person.
The pain wasn't intense however he hadn't expected the attack, or rather what he expected was something akin to a punch or an attack using a weapon, he didn't expect a headbutt straight to the chest. That was crazy.
"Fucking Hell"
Finally standing on his two feet, he exclaimed while dusting himself off, and spat out some dust and dirt that got in his mouth.
"I guess I shouldn't expect an Explorer to go down that easily"
Zaion shrugged his shoulders, he had hoped that the ambush would deliver a ton of damage, enough to give him an advantage.
"No, you shouldn't. You should also not attack an Explorer in general but I guess having brain cells isn't your strong suit."
Arthur stretched his neck and rolled his shoulders. Honestly, he would be lying if this wasn't something he was waiting for, it was starting to get boring.
"I've got enough brain cells to ambush you, haven't I?"
The Mercenary kept his eyes on the Explorer, while also keeping in mind his own items. Regardless of how many items he had, he had to use them carefully and strategically.
He couldn't help but feel tension in his stomach, his opponent was an Explorer, regardless of whether the man was out of practice or not, he was still a more than formidable opponent.
"Fair enough, I guess but…"
Arthur never finished that sentence as in an instant a blurred projectile was launched at Zaion at such speeds that by the time the awareness ring activated allowing him to see what was thrown at him, the thing was an inch away from his face.
"Shit?!"
Reacting quickly and jumped back and immediately turned his head dodging the attack by letting the projectile fly past him, barely grazing his cheek as it flew by and crashed onto the house behind him.
His feet slid on the ground, kicking up dirt as they did so. He could tell that if that piece of wood had hit, it would've done serious damage.
He turned his head back to look at his opponent, having realised the folly of looking away from his foe. Unfortunately, Arthur was already gone.
"Damn!"
The Explorer, having figured the ploy of his foes, quickly distracted his opponent and in that moment of distraction he leapt onto the roof of the building behind him and gave chase to rescue his wife.
Arthur leapt from building to building, his eyes scanning every corner and alley he could see, searching for his wife.
The first thing that came to his mind was to focus and sense her mana; however, that thought left his head as soon as it came to him. Esme had no mana for him to detect, she wasn't a monster nor was she an Explorer.
He could make attempts at detecting the mana in her items but he doubted he could pull that off, Mana in items is usually faint, it's not completely undetectable however it was difficult to detect when far away, plus that was something he's never done, he's never had to sense the mana in items before.
He also couldn't be sure how many people in the area had items, as magic items don't typically have a unique mana signature.
"Fuck this noise!"
Frustration poured out of his mouth as he came to a sudden stop, landing on the roof of some random house in the slums. This all would have been a lot more exciting if he didn't have to worry about Esme, no it would have been fun if he didn't make a rookie mistake and get caught in an ambush.
"Fuck!"
He stomped on the roof, letting his anger flow through and crack the roof he stood on.
While in his feelings he felt something landing right behind him with a heavy thump, forcing him to turn his head and look at his opponent, his eyes staring at him like daggers.
"Henry, is one of the stealthiest Mercenaries out there, you'll never find him."
"Maybe but you know where they are, don't you?"
"Maybe"
His voice carried a playful tone as he responded to Arthur, however, that was all the Explorer needed to hear.
"Say less"
Arthur's body blurred as he moved, however this time, Zaion was ready, his awareness ring activated and he readily blocked a hooked punch that aimed at his jaw.
The punch had collided with his forearm, however, the force of the attack had forced him to slide to the side. Arthur followed up the punch with a kick that targeted the ribs however once again the attack failed to hit its mark with Zaion avoiding the attack altogether.
The Mercenary landed on the other side of the roof at its edge. His face was focused and stoic as he felt his forearm, noting that there was no damage taken but felt a small tingling.
'Good, his physical power isn't above what the items can offer, I can do this'
Arthur jumped back, dropping from the roof and disappearing from his sight, this sudden act from the Explorer forced Zaion to quickly chase after. He leapt off the roof as well going for the ground.
However, just as he was about to touch down, a leg came from behind and with the force that no human could be capable of, it struck him on the side.
For a moment he didn't feel pain, only the force; however, his item that would protect him against such an attack had a ten-second cool-down. Its five-second effect window was over, meaning he could take damage.
The pain registered on his ribs and traveled through his side. It was like a sharp stabbing mixed with the pain of bone clashing against solid rock. His eyes became bloodshot and bulged open as he was launched to the side, like a fired cannonball.
His body bounced off the floor twice before it lost enough momentum and rolled several meters and came to a complete stop.
Unfortunately, the ten-second cool-down was not over, and Arthur planned to get as many hits in as he possibly could.
Zaion groaned in pain and made attempts to get up however he could tell, his ribs had taken serious damage and the pain was throbbing.
Unfortunately, he had no time to think, his items activated and he immediately saw the oncoming attack, allowing him to roll to the side dodging that stomp that would have no doubt crushed his shoulder.
Having dodged, he hurriedly scurried on the floor, like a rodent, and dived into a nearby alley, hiding from Arthur but also giving himself time to recuperate.
The houses in the slums were not as orderly as the ones in the capital as such there were a lot of tight turns and sharp corners, the perfect place to run and hide as well as the perfect place for sneak attacks.
Panting heavily Zaion retreated to the back alleys of the slums, his arm clutching his ribs, as the other rummaged through his holding sack for a healing potion.
He could feel that his ribs were cracked and the very act of breathing sent sharp needles of pain that made it difficult to stand but unfortunately, he could not stop to take a break.
He fished out a bright green potion and gulped it on one go before tossing the vial to the side, letting it shatter against the many walls that surrounded his every twist and turn.
Five seconds later, his ribs were healed and he regained his strength. He smiled as he realized these back alleys would work well with the negative status items he had on hand.
He halted his steps and waited for Arthur to come to him and just as he expected his foe did in fact come to him. Arthur dropped straight down barely a meter away and nearly startled him.
The was a brief silence that barely lasted a second before hands started moving, Arthur threw a right hook, going for the jaw once more however Zaion pulled his head back evading before launching his own attack as a counter.
He knuckled his hand and aimed to strike Arthur's throat, utilizing the strength ring he had on for maximum damage. However Arthur used his palm to parry the attack and then used the same palm to strike Zaion's chest with enough power to push him back, unfortunately no damage was taken.
The cool-down of his damage reduction item was over.
Seeing the man stagger back, Arthur readily stepped forward, refusing to let him rest, he balled his palm into a fist and struck out once more, going for the nose.
Zaion remained unworried and prepared to counter once again, the item's five-second effect window was still active as such Arthur's attack wouldn't do any damage.
Zaion let the attack land, the fist struck his nose and he prepared to swing his own however a sudden sharp pain in his nose disrupted his thoughts forcing a groan out of his mouth.
'What the?!!'
Before he could gather himself, another to the jaw launched him to the side, his body colliding with a wall and bouncing off it.
He tasted blood in his mouth and his jaw ached. Seeing another oncoming attack, Zaoin twisted his body and rolled out of the way and let the fist punch through the wall, and he immediately leapt back several meters.
As he looked at Arthur in a surprised stupor, a realisation dawned on him. Something that as a Mercenary he shouldn't have forgotten