[NR] Chapter 387 - Maybe Let Him Answer (Patreon)

Next morning bright and early, Jason goes out to find a decent hot meal. He isn’t the worst cook, but the fact he hasn’t gotten a skill for it says something. Of course, life isn’t easy and so during his search something else comes to his attention. Mainly that a few of the people who were in the shop when he sold the axolotl skin now seemed interested in what he was doing.

Not that Jason let this development stop him from enjoying his breakfast. It might not have been “fine cuisine”, but he never really paid attention to that puffery, anyway. A good filling meal that warmed you with the flavor alone was worth more than the fanciest feast if done right. Plus, you can’t really go wrong with fried chicken. Sure, the chickens had more reptilian features than most would be comfortable with, but Jason didn’t mind that.

After all, if he was one to care about such leeches he wouldn’t have brought out the hide in the store proper. Sure, it was worth a good bit, but the level was low. While it might, and apparently did, attract flies. They would be just that, annoying flies that would buzz around without being a true threat. So with breakfast finished and an extra tip to the waitress for trying to discreetly warn him about the three spooks, he didn’t need the warning, but such bravery should be rewarded, Jason set off.

Well, he tried. For “some” reason, the gate guard stopped him for a few minutes. That definitely didn’t have anything to do with his strangely heavy coin purse or anything. A sad state of affairs, but it also meant his enemies were likely locals and not players like he had suspected. While bribing a guard as a player isn’t impossible, the locals have an easier time because of things like family ties.

As Jason finally got going down the road, he couldn’t help but sigh and shake his head. The only good that will come of this is that he isn’t staying in the area. Sure, the three were probably part-time bandits and causing problems in the area. On the other hand, they are likely related to a third of the town behind him.

The town should already know what is up, but aren’t doing anything because of personal relations. Jason knows if he catches them and turns them in it will just cause the town to hate him and the fools would be out and about in no time. If he kills them? Well, the saying “only a face a mother could love” came about for a reason. No matter what they did, their families still cared for them and how dare he kill them?

Jason is so distracted by these thoughts he almost misses when they ambush him. Sure, they threateningly stepped out of some bushes that should have been trimmed back long ago, but the trio really had a low presence. Loud enough, though, their shouts to keep his hands where they can see them more than enough to get his attention.

Boy, could they talk. Jason just stood there as they berated him with questions and demands. Give over the money, where did he find a lone axolotl, did anyone else know, and so on and so forth. It didn’t take long for Jason to realize they had jumped to conclusions on what happened.

The town already knew the big lake had the axolotls in it. No one had been able to actually hunt them though as they only went around in large groups. Jason sweated a little bit when they revealed the lake actually had tens of the monsters in it and he had only faced a small hunting group.

Anyway, the trio thought he had found somewhere that the axolotls were hanging out alone instead of in a group. As they put it, “No way a second break nobody managed to kill one of those terrors if it wasn’t alone.”

That confused Jason a little as he didn’t think people could identify stuff like your level. So shocked was he that he actually managed to get a word in edgewise and ask them. Though the answer was simple enough, the three weren’t sure but he felt like one.

That, however, was something for Jason to think about later. The three bandits realized that Jason hadn’t answered any of their questions. Not that they gave him any chance to do so, just like they tried to not give him a chance to respond as they attacked.

Tried being the keyword there. The three of them were definitely fast enough, especially the guys on the sides who raced ahead to flank him. Of course, they throw in a couple cheeky attacks with their daggers as they go past.

In theory, these attacks should have been hard to dodge. Jason couldn’t fully follow what was happening. A shame for the bandits that he didn’t have to because they fell to the same enemy all half-baked speedsters do and why some people claim to be able to dodge bullets. You don’t have to dodge the bullet, you only have to dodge their aim.

With knives, this shouldn’t be a problem. After all, unlike a bullet, you can still move the knife as you attack. Except, of course, if you are moving faster than you could keep up with. Without the System, this will likely only happen when a person breakthroughs and suddenly has a bunch of extra speed to deal with. The System dumps that on its head as people can just throw all their stat points into Agility.

There are two main solutions for this. The way Jason would do it, slowly get used to the new level of ability. That isn’t how most people handle it, though. Instead, they depend on a static routine, something the System didn’t help with as the skills reinforce this.

Against most people around their level, this would be fine. Against Jason? It was like they were yelling out their moves ahead of time. So while the bandits tried to slash him to ribbons, he walked through their attacks like they weren’t even there, soft tings ring out as occasional strikes are deflected by Jason’s new arm guards. As he approached the guy who seemed in charge of this nonsense.