Reborned Top Gamer: Spell-Swordman Rule the World

37 Splitting Up

Michael headed straight for Land of Origin without any detours. He wanted to get there fast enough, so he could take Hogan and help him level up again. Land of Origin was west of Shewhart town, it was not a long journey but he did not want to waste any time, so he transported himself there with his magic.

The village was teeming with newcomers. It seemed the regional team match had motivated even more people to start playing the game. Michael was surprised that the game has not had glitches yet with all the new players. Finding Hogan was not difficult, the mad warrior was a big man that liked to show off. All Michael had to do was find where the largest crowds were gathered. After a few attempts, he found Hogan arm wrestling with another player.

“Let’s go, Hogan,” Michael said out loud after he managed to push through the crowd gathered around them. Hogan looked up and smirked at him.

“You’re here already?” he asked and flexed his muscles harder. His opponent was an air wolf that seemed equally strong but Hogan was determined to win. With one hard look and another muscle flex, he overpowered the air wolf and slammed his hand down on the table. The victory caused a roar from the crowd and the victor raised his arms to show off. Michael groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Are you done yet?” Michael asked in a bored tone.

“Why so glum Michael!” Hogan said and laughed, then he slapped Michael on the back before the two of them left the crowd. Hogan could leave Land of Origin easily, without going through a retraining process because he was part of a team and a team member had come to retrieve him.

“So where are we headed? Where’s the rest of the team?”

“You and I are going to Sardi city. We’ll meet the rest of the team later,” Michael explained to Hogan that it was better if they trained together and increased his XP because the team was on a higher level and it would bring them down if a teammate was not on the same level.

“So, it’ll just be you and me again? Like old times,” Hogan said and laughed. Michael laughed too and the two went off to Sardi city. The area around the Ocean of Sigh was abundant with high and low-level monsters and allowed them to practice enough close combat fighting.

The rest of the Green Light team headed south of Shewhart town towards York city. York city was the trading hub of Fantasy. It was supposed to be one of the most advanced cities in all the land where hundreds of transactions took place every day. Walt figured that if they wanted to get new equipment and magic materials without being affected by the Minan group’s bullying, York city was their best bet.

Shewhart town and York city were close but it still took a full day to travel. They walked the distance but Walt said it would be best for them to stop and rest in an inn till the next day, so they could arrive in York city in daylight and buy what they needed quickly. The sun was just starting to set when they came across one. It was a medium-sized, cottage-style building that had wisps of smoke coming out of the chimney. They quickly ushered themselves in.

“Welcome, how may I help you today?” the lady standing behind the receptionist's desk in the inn said to them as soon as they entered.

“Hello, we would like four rooms please,” it was Walt who spoke. The receptionist who was looking down at her desk turned her head up with a smile. She scanned their faces, then the smile disappeared from her face and she pressed her lips to a thin line.

“I’m sorry, we do not have any rooms left,” she said to him. Walt frowned and looked behind the lady at the multiple keys hanging off the wall, indicating there were a lot of unoccupied rooms.

“There are tons of keys behind you lady, what are you talking about?” Miranda took the words out of Walt’s mouth. The receptionist turned her gaze to Miranda and an icy smile formed on her face “those rooms are booked,” she said and Miranda rolled her eyes.

“Are you kidding? It’s medieval times. How’d they booked it? Messenger bird?”

“I’m going to have to ask you to leave now,”

“Listen here you-”

“Miranda no, stop. Let’s go,” Ailsa stopped Miranda from running her mouth and the five of them left the inn.

“Oh God, oh God,” Scott whined when they got outside. He held his head in his hands, thinking about the new problems they were facing. It was one thing to fight physical attacks from Heather but this was something else. There was no way for them to function properly without help from other players and special access players. Then, there was that call he received the day they won. He could not tell anyone about that.

“I’m not sure I understand why your former boss is doing this. Is this even legal?” Jenny said as they fell back into a stride.

“That is something no one will ever understand,” Miranda replied.

“We just need to camp out today. Hopefully, things will be different in York city,” Walt said and the five of them looked for an optimum location in the forest. Ailsa and Scott used magic to create a clear space where they set up camp. They did not bother with sentinels and made a large campfire, arranging their tents around it.

“What if this problem also reaches York city? What’s our long-term plan?” Ailsa asked. They were seated around the campfire. She sat between Walt’s legs and leaned her head against his chest. She could hear his heartbeat quicken when she asked the question and felt a little guilty for asking. Everyone perked up at the question and stared at Walt expectantly.

“Well, uh…” Walt said. He ran his hand through his hair and swallowed. The same thought had been running through his head but he did not have an answer for it yet and he honestly did not know what to say. Heather’s plan was to drive them out of the game. If the same treatment persisted, in a few weeks, they would have no choice but to stop playing. How was he supposed to stop an attack he could not even see?

“I think that we should, uh, we should-”

“Shh,” Miranda suddenly said, cutting Walt off. She shot up to her feet and sniffed the air. The others looked up at her, silent and wondering.

“What are-”

“Shh!” this time, it was Jenny that she shushed “up in the trees, intruders,” she said and the others got up immediately, drawing their weapons. In that moment, two people lurking in the shadows of the trees jumped down and landed opposite them. They were both male players, one was a demon cat and the other was a knight. They were clearly another one of Minan’s players but they were low-level players. It surprised Walt that Heather even bothered sending players after them since they beat Felix.

“This is a private gathering, we would appreciate it if you leave,” Walt said to them and held up his sword. The knight drew his sword also and the demon cat elongated his claws. They did not bother replying to him and they both charged at them at once.

“This is so irritating,” Miranda said and was about to take off, but Walt charged ahead of all of them and slashed his sword against the knight’s, knocking the low-level player to the ground. The demon cat tried to claw at him but Walt was too fast and side-stepped, then brought his elbow down on the demon cat’s back. The knight got up again and yelled at the top of his lungs before running towards Walt but Ailsa fired an arrow at him. The arrow pierced through the knight’s shoulder and pinned him against a tree. He screamed out him pain.

“Jack!” the demon cat called out and tried to run towards his wounded friend but Walt held him back and punched him in the face, then in the stomach. He keeled over and coughed, then Walt pulled him up and looked him in the eyes.

“Who sent you?” Walt asked him in a dangerously low voice. He looked up through swollen eyes.

“There’s a bounty on your head,” he said and looked over at the rest of the team “on all of your heads. Heather promised a big raise, plus we get all your equipment. More of us are going to come, you’ll see.” Walt grated his teeth, he held his fist up, about to punch him again but Ailsa ran to his side and held his shoulder, then whispered something in his ear that made him lower his hand and throw their attacker back.

“You go and tell that bastard that he can’t win,” Walt said. The demon cat scrambled off the ground, rushed to the knight’s aid and the two of them ran away as fast as they could.

“Wow,” Miranda said then glanced at Walt “You need to come up with a plan fast.”

They had to move their camp. That night, they were attacked two more times by different people who they managed to beat but were sleep-deprived as a result. Walt wondered how they knew where they were headed.