Kaiden Sellsword

Xia Tong rode Torrent, strolling north of Lake Agheel.

Torrent's gray-black hooves stepped across the grass, occasionally kicking up bits of torn blades.

The air was sweet as well, carrying the Lands Between's distinctive scent of earth.

Xia Tong was feeling extremely at ease.

After dealing with the Godrick Knights, stripping all their equipment, and obtaining the Lordsworn's Greatsword and Whetstone Knife, he had made a killing.

He had found the Whetstone Knife in an underground chamber beneath the camp. Later, he could use it to grant weapons whatever Ash of War he wanted. It was downright perfect.

And he was already level 18.

[Character Data]

Level: 18

Runes Held: 73

Vigor: 16

Mind: 23

Endurance: 10

Strength: 17

Dexterity: 11

Intelligence: 18

Faith: 2

Arcane: 10

This time, Xia Tong had put the points gained from leveling into Mind.

"Swinging swords and blades at people feels great, but it's still too dangerous. And summoning Spirit Ashes consumes a lot of mental energy too."

Xia Tong could clearly feel that his Focus had improved. After trying to summon them several times, he found it much easier than before.

After walking for a while longer, he arrived before a vast lake.

"I can sense some powerful presence within that shallow lake."

Melina's figure appeared beside the horse.

She looked toward the southeast, her brows slightly furrowed with caution.

"This lake is called Lake Agheel. A powerful flying dragon named Agheel lives within it. The lake was named after it."

"I didn't expect you to know this place so well."

Melina looked somewhat surprised.

Xia Tong carefully recalled everything he knew about Agheel.

Although Agheel was only a flying dragon rather than an Ancient Dragon, it had still inherited the latter's formidable combat strength.

As he was now, he was no match for it.

As they continued onward, a figure appeared ahead.

The man rode a tall black horse and carried a curved greatblade over his shoulder. He was exceptionally tall and muscular.

Besides the heavy scale armor covering his entire body, fluffy animal pelts draped over his shoulders and back, making him look utterly wild.

"Kaiden Greatsword? That's a Kaiden warrior from the north."

"There should be a camp nearby. Their tribe rarely moves alone."

Xia Tong remembered clearly that there was indeed a Kaiden Sellsword camp nearby.

Seeing the sturdy black horse beneath the man's legs, a bold idea suddenly came to Xia Tong.

He roughly knew how to get past the heavily guarded Stormgate and reach the Shack on Stormhill.

There, he could meet Roderika.

With that, he dismounted Torrent, entered stealth mode, and began searching for the Kaiden Sellsword camp.

To avoid being discovered by the patrolling Kaiden cavalry, Xia Tong spent a full hour figuring out the target's location.

The camp was not large and was surrounded by mountains on three sides.

Only its western side was loosely enclosed by a ring of sharpened wooden stakes.

With the Tarnished's unparalleled eyesight, Xia Tong could see clearly.

There were around six or seven Kaiden Sellswords in the camp. Including those patrolling outside, there could not have been more than ten in total.

"Are you going to deal with those Kaiden Sellswords?" Melina asked.

"Of course!"

Xia Tong turned to look at Melina, then immediately added:

"Not!"

What a joke.

In terms of how troublesome they were, Kaiden Sellswords were even more difficult than Godrick Knights.

In terms of agility, Kaiden Sellswords far surpassed Godrick Knights.

Furthermore, the Kaiden Sellswords' skill—War Cry—could unleash combos and greatly boost their attack power.

If he had to compare them:

Godrick Knights were the steady type, with low attack and high defense.

Kaiden Sellswords, meanwhile, were the berserker type, with high attack and low defense.

But what sensible person fought head-on?

Within the bushes.

Xia Tong picked up a stone beside him and hurled it viciously toward a lone Kaiden Sellsword in the distance.

Clack!

The Kaiden Sellsword sat atop his tall horse. Hearing the sound, he abruptly turned his head in this direction.

However, the bushes were thick with vegetation, and he could not see a thing.

Clip-clop, clip-clop.

The hoofbeats drew closer.

Xia Tong looked at the two Fanged Imps beside him and conveyed an order through their mental link, telling them to hold their breath and make no sound at all.

Fifty meters.

Thirty meters.

Twenty meters!

Good, now!

Xia Tong suddenly made a hand signal.

The two Fanged Imps, one after the other, each produced a Magic Pot.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Magic Pots traced graceful arcs through the air and crashed heavily beneath the Kaiden Sellsword's horse's hooves.

Boom!

Magic exploded. Horse and rider were thrown down as grass clippings flew everywhere.

Xia Tong burst into a sprint!

With the Tarnished's powerful physique, he crossed the less than twenty-meter distance in only two seconds.

Before the Kaiden Sellsword could shake off the dizziness from being thrown off his horse, a black shadow appeared before him.

A foot stomped down, and a body dipped low.

A flash of sword light!

The Kaiden Sellsword felt as though he had been rammed head-on by a wild boar.

Then the sky grew closer and closer, while the earth drifted farther and farther away.

The violent tearing sensation nearly cleaved him in half at the waist!

Skill—Upward Cut!

When the Kaiden Sellsword crashed back to the ground, Xia Tong did not hesitate for an instant and drove his sword down viciously!

Squelch!

As the Lordsworn's Greatsword pierced the man's body, Xia Tong could already sense that he had little health left.

By then, the imps had arrived as well.

Two Forked Hatchets stabbed fiercely into his chest, one after the other.

Hah! Hah! Hah!

With silent struggles, the Kaiden Sellsword finally met his end.

Who knew when he would revive next.

Once the Kaiden Sellsword had completely fallen silent, Xia Tong skillfully stripped away all his equipment.

Armor, knee guards, leg guards, weapon—he left nothing behind.

After dealing with all that, Xia Tong glanced at the horse beside him.

The Magic Pot had not been weak. The horse's movement had already been affected, and it limped as it walked.

He first tied the fine horse in a concealed spot, then turned and began hunting the next Kaiden Sellsword.

Two days later.

Looking at the three injured fine horses before him, Xia Tong turned toward Melina.

"I'm counting on you, Melina!"

"Don't worry. I can handle it."

Melina fed Rowa Fruit from her hand to each of the three injured horses.

Then she pressed both palms firmly against the horses, and a faint glow flowed from her palms.

Xia Tong watched with his own eyes as the wounds on the three horses gradually healed.

Within a quarter of an hour, they had completely recovered.

Gatefront.

Xia Tong stored all of Torrent's equipment at the Site of Grace, reducing Torrent's burden as much as possible.

Then he made a startling move.

He hung upside down from the saddle, hiding his entire body beneath the horse's belly while both hands tightly gripped its neck.

Melina sat upright on one of the three horses.

Now, all three horses were under her control.

Night soon fell.

Torches blazed beneath Stormgate's enormous archway.

Xia Tong hung upside down beneath the horse.

His legs clamped tightly around the horse's belly, while his hands held its neck and gripped Torrent's mane.

Under the cover of darkness, almost no one could see that someone was hidden beneath the spectral steed Torrent.

Beside him, the three captured warhorses pawed the ground uneasily.

But at Melina's gesture, the three horses quieted down again.

Xia Tong did not hesitate. He lightly tapped Torrent's flank with his heel.

It was the signal to charge.

Neigh!

The three decoy horses were startled at once and charged out with shrill cries!

Like three black arrows, they rushed madly from different directions toward the Stormgate filled with walking corpses.

"...Hah..."

A patrolling soldier's husk stopped in its tracks.

Its head jerked unnaturally toward the direction from which the horses were charging.

A meaningless scraping sound came from its shriveled throat.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

In a corner, a dozing soldier suddenly struck the ground with the butt of his spear.

There was no War Cry, no panic.

Only a mechanical, bone-chilling procedure activated in an instant.

All the soldiers stiffly turned toward the three horses and raised their weapons.

Boom!!!

A deafening crash shook the earth!

The Giant Troll leaped down from the ruined high wall with a thunderous impact!

Its rotten breath sprayed across the ground. Obeying only the simplest instinct for violence, it roared and viciously raised both legs, stomping toward the most conspicuous targets—the three living horses.

The Troll's attention had been completely drawn away.

The soldiers also instinctively gathered around those intruders.

"Torrent, now!"

Xia Tong murmured inwardly.

Torrent, the ghostly spectral steed, instantly transformed into a cyan afterimage.

It made no hoofbeats at all.

Instead, it hugged the deepest shadows along Stormgate's edge, racing toward the other side like a gliding wisp of mist!

Xia Tong's world spun wildly.

Hanging upside down, he could see only the ground, flying gravel, and the soldiers' rotten boots.

He could even smell the Troll's nauseating stench.

Accompanied by the thunderous noise behind them, Torrent carried Xia Tong charging out through the fence.

The Troll's furious roars and the mechanical sounds of the other soldiers' pursuit were all borne by those three pitiful decoy horses.

Torrent raced up Stormhill's steep path, the wind howling past Xia Tong's ears.

Only after the sounds of the camp had completely faded did Xia Tong make a perilous flip and settle back into the saddle.

Who knew how long they had ridden when more than a dozen pairs of glowing green eyes suddenly appeared ahead.

"Wolves!"