Riven locked gazes with Crooked Teeth. He had seen him somewhere; he knew it. It lingered at the back of his mind, but he couldn't recall. Then, after a few seconds, it hit him—the man that stood beside him in the guild.
'What is he doing here? Does he have a quest? He just finished one, so why would he immediately do another?' Riven wondered.
His gaze didn't shift from the men. His suspicion was high. He knew better than to let his guard down here, until he was certain that these men weren't here for any shady reason.
"Riven Von Grave, the fourth son of the Baron, it's a pleasant surprise to see you here," Crooked Teeth said.
'He knows my name? Was he eavesdropping on my conversation in the guild?'
"Now, I'm not one to waste time, kid, so I'll get straight to the point. We are here for you, so be a good boy and come with us, and you won't get hurt," Crooked Teeth said, his palm caressing the base of his sword.
'They want to kidnap me? Makes sense, they could get rich from the ransom. But I can't let that happen. My father will definitely lose all faith in me if this turns into an issue. I can't allow myself to get caught here, I have to find a way out of this.'
"What are you waiting for, kid? Get over here," Crooked Teeth snapped, his face turning violent.
Riven slowly got up to his feet, leaving his sword on the ground. Crooked Teeth smiled when he saw this. Riven was making this easy for them.
But in the next moment, that changed. Riven used Flame Blast without hesitation. The blast of fire shot toward Crooked Teeth.
Crooked Teeth and the man behind him jumped out of the way, but the man behind was not as lucky, as the flame hit his arm, and the explosion followed. Crooked Teeth and the man were blasted into the air.
Both of them fell to the ground, their bodies rolling for a bit before coming to a stop.
Riven picked up his sword and retreated back several steps to allow him a better advantage over the situation.
Crooked Teeth got up to his feet. He stared at his friend on the ground. His friend was heavily injured, his arm blasted open with a massive wound on him, but the armor had saved his life.
'You fucking brat!' Crooked Teeth roared. He pulled his sword and charged at Riven. He didn't care about kidnapping Riven again, he wanted to cut his head off.
Riven quickly used Flame Blast again and fired another attack at Crooked Teeth, but Crooked Teeth had speed and agility. He dodged the flames while still running forward like a wild animal.
The Flame Blast hit a tree behind and exploded on impact. Riven saw that his attack missed, so he tried again, but a wave of fatigue hit him when he tried to cast the spell again.
He was low on mana from repeated use of the spell. Seeing that he couldn't use the spell, Riven knew he was in a dire position. He gripped his sword and readied to block Crooked Teeth.
"You bastard, I'll make sure I cut you into bits!" Crooked Teeth yelled as he slashed. His sword whistled through the air. Riven moved as fast as he could and blocked the attack, but immediately, the gap in strength showed.
He was pushed back by the force of the attack. His hands felt numb immediately. He tried to grip the sword again, but his hands were trembling, making his grip loose.
"I'm going to make sure that I make you suffer, kid. You'll beg for death," Crooked Teeth said and lifted his blade, about to slash again.
Riven forcefully moved his arms. His blade clashed with the blade of Crooked Teeth and managed to stop the attack from getting to him. But again, he was pushed back. He lost his grip on his sword and it fell to the ground.
Crooked Teeth broke out a very dark smile. His eyes shined with an evil light. He took slow and steady steps toward Riven, believing that he had won this.
"You shouldn't have left your fancy home, kid. Now you'll die here, and you'll be forgotten," he said and lifted his blade.
But suddenly, Riven moved. His palm faced Crooked Teeth. He used blood manipulation as best he could, squirting blood onto his face and eyes.
"Arghhhhh!" Crooked Teeth cried out in pain, taking a few steps back. He clutched his face, trying to push through the stinging pain in his eyes.
Riven used that moment to grab his sword and charge forward without a single moment of hesitation. He slashed, his sword cutting through the leather armor without any resistance and met with the skin of Crooked Teeth, cutting into his abdomen, a deadly blow.
But he didn't stop there. He pulled the sword back and cut again. He continued in a frenzy until he had cut Crooked Teeth to death.
Finally, he stopped, his face and arms completely stained with blood. He stared at the mutilated body on the ground, his eyes shaking, his body trembling at the sight of what he had done.
A huge wave of nausea and dizziness hit him the more he stared at the body. This was the first time he had ever killed. He had done it to survive, but now that he looked at what he had done, he could barely stomach it.
He fell to his knees, with both hands placed down, and vomited. He poured out the entire contents of his stomach before finally stopping.
His chest heaved up and down heavily. His eyes slowly started to regain clarity.
And in that moment, after passing through all that, the system sent a notification.
[Congratulations, you have leveled up.]