nico, struggling to survive rose back to his feet with what little strength he had left and turned to the gardener god who was intending to finish him off. for some reason, the being stopped for a split second, giving nico enough time to activate his technique
with the skill giving her enough boost he needs, he shifts out of the way evading the strike. almost immediately,the gardener recovers, and turns to deliver a second. pushing himself to his limit, and as if by a miracle, nico successfully awaken a new skill;gearshift and added it to his arsenal
reward: gearshift lv1[unlocked]
insight:lv2>
reward:stealth[evolved to one with the wind]lv2 obtained
reward:skill points[locked]- obtained>
by combining all three skills simultaneously, nico lunged towards the gardener god and swung his blade with everything he had in him. he could feel pains in his bones just from swinging the broadsword with one hand.
"oh..."
the gardener god reacts just in time and launches an attack of his own to finish the job. nico HP was now depleting faster since he has been actively using to skill[power from the brink] to enhance his strength.
just as their attack was about to connect,wind flew by and nico vanished with it. the gardener realized what had happened and sat on the ground to relax for a while.when he caught his breath,a woman walked towards him wearing a flare gown and a crown on her head. she wore a concerned look on her face when she saw him sitting on the ground.
"oh hey there milady..."
"why are you here?"
"nothing much, just trivial stuff"
"did those adventurers come here again?"
"no...not them"
i wish it were them...i can't tell her nicodemus found out this place
"take care...I'm going to the garden"
"i'll catch up with you"
after he made sure she was out of sight, he rested his head again and clicked his tongue
"tch... and he even had a bounty on his head"
***
some minutes before nico disappeared,davi and the onyx black haired boy named Rudy were now surrounded by assassins who were out to kill. with the injury on davi's hand it was impossible to defend himself and the boy but sought a way to end it quickly but something about their leader felt off
"hey you..."
davi pointed to the one that attacked him
"who are you?"
"do you really need to know?... well i don't think so"
the assassin takes a step back a another one dropped lily's unconscious body on the ground.
"is this yours?... she looked like you,so i brought her along with me"
davi's face became expressionless as he stared at lily lying on the ground. from the looks of the injuries on her face, she was beaten before brought here
"ah..."
davi raises his head to the sky and sighs
"who did this..."
"it was me--"
before anyone could realize,davi was in front of the assassin,holding his head that he had planted into the ground.without wasting a second, he turned and kicked a blade thrown at him and it goes through an assassin's head, killing him.
another assassin sat down on a tall pile of boxes watching the fight unfold. from her looks, she was stronger than the one's that davi attacked.
"i told him...don't touch the kid"
she glanced at Rudy who was hiding in a corner and smiled before jumping down
"well it doesn't matter, we still got what we were sent to do... well at least one of them"
Rudy tried to escape while davi was distracting the assassins but the woman intercepted him easily and cornered his path
"so you're the Rudy..."
"let me go..."
"sorry kid...i have been paid so i have to do my job... I'll be taking you slowly--"
it's starting again...they only look for me because of my abilities
"no... I'll fight"
davi turned to see Rudy's condition and saw him backed against a wall with an assassin obstructing his path
damn it...
"kiddo...FIGHT!"
davi's words lit his spirit but the girl wasn't giving him anytime to react. Rudy tried to focus on his power up while she closed in in hopes that he would transform before her.
"too bad... i wont let you transform--"
while she spoke, as if nico fell from the sky, he crashed into her with his blade that tore through her defenses as if it were nothing. since his skills were still active upon impact, she suffered several broken bones as she laid unconscious on the floor
without cushioning his fall,nico landed roughly on the floor and suffered his own share of injuries apart from the one he got while struggling to avoid bumping into rudy. the force with which he landed,which was enough to break a bone knocked him unconscious right after impact.
when davi realized, nico was bleeding from the head while lying on the ground. when the assassins realized that he was distracted, they turned and fled leaving the woman that tried to attack rudy behind. davi walked up to the woman while rudy carried nico on his back to the nearest hospital
"who sent you..."
the woman smiles and bites her tongue,ending herself. davi searches her belongings and observed a familiar emblem.
"indigo huh..."
davi carries lily on his back and runs to catch up with rudy