Amid the chaos of voices in front of the gate, Reigh walked with slow yet calm steps.
In front of the gate, there were several people who wanted to leave the city. "P-PLEASE..." A man cried out in a weak, hoarse voice. "Let us out..."
But all he got was, "Shut up!" A soldier snapped back sharply, "Call the leader of this city!"
One of the soldiers kicked the people in front of him, "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING, TRASH!" He shouted.
Making everyone inside the city of Geaz grow even more terrified.
Some tried to protect their heads while trembling, *Girp. Girp. "Stop..." he said softly.
And there were also those who immediately moved away from the gate, *Tap. Tap. Tap.
In stark contrast to the soldiers, their faces looked satisfied for being able to act superior in front of the humans they considered trash.
"Wahahaha!" They laughed together in satisfaction.
In the midst of that satisfaction, something completely unexpected appeared.
Right behind them, something extremely piercing radiated.
"K-KILLING INTENT... THIS?!..." Instantly, all the soldiers turned around with sweat sticking to their foreheads.
That person walked with a smile stuck on his face, "Yo." An unpleasant greeting came from him, "You're looking for me, right?"
That person was Reigh. As those words were spoken, his killing intent grew thicker, as if it would devour anyone.
"Who is he?!" One of the soldiers shouted.
They tried to suppress the sound coming from their armor-clad bodies that were trembling softly. *Krrrt. Grrrrt.
Reigh quickly realized, "Oh, sorry..." He immediately erased his killing intent.
His face turned friendly with a wide smile clearly displayed, eyes closed, "You guys are losers," His tone sounded friendly, "You don't have any intention to cause trouble, right?" His eyes slowly opened.
He saw the soldiers who had opened the front of their helmets, showing irritated faces.
Someone stepped forward bravely. *Klak. Klak. Klak. With the most luxurious armor, he was the platoon leader.
"Are you the ruler of this city?!" He asked with a snort.
Reigh curled his lips, his head tilted slightly. "If I am, then what?" He replied briefly.
The leader's eyes examined him seriously, from the bottom up to the top of Reigh's body. "A kid like you?" He mocked.
"Hm?" Reigh straightened his head again, "Want me to show you?!" Reigh muttered.
In the middle of the platoon leader's incredulous face, Reigh raised his right hand.
*Srip. He began squinting with his left eye closed. "Piu."
*Swoosh. A gentle vortex of wind shot rapidly toward one of the soldiers before the people in front of Reigh could react.
The shot went straight at the soldier's left leg, wrapped in thick iron armor.
For a split second, the world felt silent…
"Piu." The second shot was fired again at his right leg. *Swooosh.
…Then the pain came all at once.
And it ended with the soldier's scream of agony, "GAAAAAH!" *Bruk. His left leg immediately hit the ground. Followed by the right leg, *Bruk.
The leader immediately turned his head quickly, seeing what had happened.
His eyes widened in disbelief. "This...?"
What he saw was both knees of that man, wrapped in iron armor, cleanly pierced without any scratches at all. Blood flowed slowly as the soldier sat down in pain.
His gaze immediately shifted to Reigh, who blew on the tip of his index finger, *Huuf.
The man immediately shouted angrily, "WHY DID YOU HURT HIM, HUH?!"
"WE DIDN'T COME HERE TO FIGHT!"
Reigh glanced at him, "Not here to fight?" Lowering his hand, "Then why are you oppressing my people?"
"That's different!" The leader shouted back.
He immediately moved his head, ordering all the soldiers to surround him.
*Krak. Krak. The soldiers had completely surrounded Reigh, *Thud. Thud. Pointing their weapons at him.
Reigh looked around, the man in front of him continued speaking. "Did you send that letter?!" The leader asked.
Some soldiers immediately ran to inform the others stationed at the northern gate. *Krak. Krak. Krak.
Reigh shrugged, "That's right." Reigh answered briefly.
The leader raised an eyebrow and walked closer. *Klak. Klak. Klak.
The soldiers immediately opened a path, "What's your goal?!" The leader asked.
Reigh shrugged again, "Why so many questions?!" He felt bored, "When does it start?"
In the distance, precisely on top of a tree branch, there was someone watching Reigh's actions. "Is that the new leader of Geaz?" He thought to himself, his eyes gazing far away.
He began to mutter softly, "Level... 2?!" He felt confused when he saw Reigh's statistics. "Level 2 with an aura like that?!" He tried to guess what was going on.
Reigh glanced toward the man who had been watching all this time, "Level? What does that mean?" Reigh asked in his mind.
He could hear what that man was saying using his wind magic.
Even if detected, it would not be detected at all that Reigh was using wind magic to eavesdrop.
Because basically, wind can blow from any direction, and with just a little magic channeled into it, any sound can be heard without fear of being discovered.
However, what made Reigh curious was 'What is Level?' because in his understanding, the world he lived in did not know what a level was.
"Is it only known by people like them?!" He thought to himself.
Whether it was because he lived on the streets without education, or indeed there was something hidden in this world. What was clear was that he truly did not know.
Even when Guiver first entered his body, he asked Reigh to look at Reigh's level from his statistics.
But it was useless, because even though Reigh repeatedly shouted, "Status Open!" His statistics never appeared at all.
Thus reaching one conclusion, that is, "Levels really do not exist."
"Yeah... I'll ask Cyrn later." Reigh muttered in his mind, stopping his glance toward the man on top of the tree.
"He... noticed my presence?..." He muttered.
Still trying to deny it, "No, No. That's impossible."
Reigh only realized when the man in front of him shouted angrily, "HEY! ARE YOU LISTENING?!"
While he was thinking, the man kept rambling nonstop. "Sorry, what was that?!" Reigh replied.
Picking his ear with his right pinky finger, "You're really noisy..."
"When does it start?" Reigh asked.
*Tsk. The man clicked his tongue, "Take him!" Ordering the soldiers around Reigh to capture him. "The leader ordered us to bring you and execute you there." He immediately turned his body around.
The soldiers immediately rushed to restrain Reigh.
"Why?" Reigh asked from behind the man.
"You picked a fight with the wrong people, Kid. Sending us a threatening letter, did you think that would let you get away?!" The man replied.
Reigh asked again, "And then?"
The man became irritated, "Of course you'll die!" He shouted as he quickly turned to look at Reigh.
But, "A—..." What he saw and heard was only *Bruk. Bruk. Pieces of arms, cleanly severed, slowly falling onto the ground.
"Grin. The soldiers whose arms were cut off could only make faint sounds while enduring the pain. "A... I... T... HURTS..." Gritting their jaws.
Their legs trembled, the iron armor covering their entire bodies shaking even more violently *Krekek. Krekek.
"Sorry..." Reigh tilted his head, "Don't touch anything, Trash." He grinned.
Reigh reversed the words the soldiers had said when they were touched by the citizens of Geaz.
*Tsk. The leader clicked his tongue. "Looks like you chose war, huh..." Drawing his weapon.
"Know your place!" The leader shouted.
"Osdeus Oark!"
When those words were spoken, instantly the soldiers around Reigh became spirited.
Not only did their morale rise, but even their injured bodies were immediately healed.
*Grin. Those who were sitting began to stand, *Raaah! The soldiers shouted loudly.
Seeing that, Reigh's face did not look despairing, instead, "Khi... KHiHahahahahaha! Finally... Finally someone worthy!!!"
The one who had been watching felt satisfied, "This is as far as you go. No matter how fired up you are," Looking again at Reigh's statistics. "You still can't—"
"H-His level... is increasing drastically?!"
"There's no record at all of someone's level increasing like this."
"Buff? Adrenaline?"
Shaking his head, "No, No. I don't feel any buff from his body."
His eyes observed closely, "But what is that?..."
"7..." His eyes began to widen, "11..."
"16..."
The man was still struggling with his own thoughts.
He could not process what he was seeing right now.
Because to him, or what his group had believed all this time, levels could only increase by defeating enemies, and not like what he was seeing now.
Different from Reigh, his face was full of passion when he saw his opponents recover.
He could not hear the man on the tree, because the man was only muttering in his mind.
Ignoring that, "LET'S SEE!" Reigh shouted.
His eyes bulged, his mouth wide open. "WHO'S THE STRONGEST AMONG ALL OF US."
*Wesh. He spun his body, and as he spun, a sound followed, *Sreeet. Slash.
It ended with something falling simultaneously. *Bruk. Brugh.
Reigh stopped, "Hm?..." Looking around.
*Krettt. Krak. Krak. Krak. Krak. Krak.
The forces around him recovered once again as before.
No expressions, no words, their gazes directed toward Reigh.
"What is this?..." Reigh was confused, "Not even flinching?... Are they human?!"
A man on top of the tree smiled faintly, "It's useless. Even though they're the lowest subordinates,"
"all of our forces are not afraid of pain when Osdeus Oark is activated." The man muttered softly.
He continued muttering in his mind, "Even though I don't know how your level is rising," He grinned, "Those low-class subordinates are level 30."
The platoon leader in front of Reigh shouted loudly with his right hand raised, "REGRET YOUR SHORT LIFE!" Lowering his hand, pointing at Reigh. "Kill him!"
*Krek. Krek. Krek. Krek. Krek. Hundreds of soldiers attacked Reigh simultaneously.
Some weapons of soldiers' pierced Reigh's body at the same time. *Tusk. Tusk. Tusk
*Pft. Reigh held back his laughter.
Instead of despair or pain, Reigh's face became even more excited. "Aaaaahhhhh... This sensation..." His eyes were full of passion. "But..."
Suddenly, he shouted. "THIS IS STILL NOT ENOUGH TO KILL ME!!!"
*Grip. Grip. The hands that stabbed into Reigh's body slowly trembled.
They intended to pull out the weapons embedded there, *Kert. Kret. But it was useless.
Their weapons seemed tightly locked into Reigh's body.
The platoon leader's eyes immediately widened when he saw that, "CUT OFF HIS HEAD!!!" He shouted, intending to end it all.
*Slash. A horizontal slash quickly aimed at Reigh's neck.
*Sreeet. Instantly separating that head from the body.
Not enough, *Tusk. One thrust pierced straight through the head that was about to fall.
At the moment the platoon leader and the man on the tree felt it was all over.
"Not enough."
In the middle of the silence, a soft voice appeared, as if rejecting the logic of death.
Instantly, it made the platoon leader and the others feel shocked.
Followed by a final, quiet word.
"Heal."