Chapter 18: Voice
Faced with this difficult decision, Ligi decided to go with his gut. He saved Bang first. This decision only happened milliseconds after Ligi assessed the situation. He didn't know what will be the result of his decision. Will it be the right choice or the wrong choice that will haunt them in the coming days?
Ligi sprinted back in Bang's side and protected him from the blade of the man in the darkness. Ligi couldn't hear the sound of flesh and blood being spilled but he felt it from Tab's side.
After the unsuccessful assassination of Bang, the shadow man fell into the darkness once again. On Bang's face was a look of confusion and anger.
'Side quest failed! Deducting 20 wisdom points.'
'FXXX WHAT?!?!'
Bang could see blood spilled all over Tab's clothes. The fat man fell head first into his desk and stayed there lifelessly. The farmers were not quick to react and only just got there when the shadow man retreated.
Bang slowly walked over to Tab's lifeless body. He got a tingle in his spine. He had never seen a dead body up close and personal before. He felt his mouth get watery and something came from his stomach. He almost threw up but swallowed it back down before it could get out. The vomit left a bad taste in his mouth. This whole situation left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Why didn't you protect him?!?!"
Bang turned around and shouted at Ligi. Bang's brows were furrowed and he looked pale at sight. He looked cold but was sweating in his face.
Not expecting the shout, Ligi tensed up. He couldn't look at Bang directly in the eye. He did right, he thought. He just saved him. He did right. He didn't make a mistake. He just prioritized his savior, that's all. That guy was just a merchant, he doesn't mean anything to me.
After his decision, there was a slight crack in his foundation that decides his actions and his emotions. Ligi did not notice this.
Then suddenly, Ligi felt a headache. He could only feel nothingness. He was floating in space and traveling everywhere at the same time. He couldn't even feel his heartbeat. He looked at his hands but there were none. He looked at his feet and he couldn't see it.
'What happened?! Where am I?'
'ha...ha....ha......'
A low growl that laughed suddenly entered Ligi's ear even though he had no ears.
'Wha....what happened???? Who are you?'
'Ha...ha.....ha....ha'
The mysterious voice only laughed. Ligi could not understand what happened to him. He was just back in Tab's tent and he just saved Bang and now suddenly he was here in this place.
'You know....who I am.....'
The mysterious voice replied. This remark confused Ligi even more. He knew him? Who even was he? He didn't remember meeting someone with this distinct low voice that sounded like a growl.
Ligi looked around his surroundings to see where the voice came from. But the voice was everywhere and reached his ears instantly.
'Who are you?!? Where are you?!?!'
Ligi only repeated his questions as the answer he got only sprung up even more questions.
'That..... doesn't matter....'
The unknown voice only gave very vague answers that left Ligi even more confused. Ligi decided change the question hoping that he gets a different answer.
'Why am I here?'
'Ha.....ha.....ha.....ha..... Finally, you asked.....the right questions.'
The voice laughed and gave it's intention to answer the question. After a few seconds, the voice gave it's answer.
'Let...me....in.'
'What???Let you in? Where?'
'Don't you want.....power?? Don't you want.....to expand your power...... to protect everyone???Don't you want....... to protect yourself without .....hiding in your shield???? Accept...me.....'
The unknown voice didn't answer him and only gave him reasons to accept him. Why should he do that? He doesn't even know what will happen to him if he accepts that. This sounds like a risky deal and he wasn't taking it. At least he needs to know more information about it.
'What will happen to me if I accept?'
'Ha....ha...ha....Something you.... can only...dream of. Rich...Fame.....Power.....and everything.... you want.'
'What do you want? What do I have to lose?'
Ligi didn't believe the unknown voice even for a second. This must have been some kind of trap.
'Just.....accept......me'
The voice didn't answer him directly. Then as a moment of weakness, Ligi let it slip in with a crack. All these emotions filled him. All these thoughts that he didn't want to believe is true. All these thoughts he didn't want to think. It all flooded inside him that he almost lost control of himself.
'No...No!......get out of my head.....NO!!!!'
Ligi screamed as he closed his eyes. He didn't want those emotions. He opened his eyes and everything went back to normal. He was now back at the camp facing Bang who was very angry at him. It felt like time hadn't passed when he went into that strange dark place.
Unknown to Ligi, there was a black vein stemming from his chest and spreading through to his skin. It seemed to pulse and grow with every second.
'Congratulations! Crew power up unlocked!'
'First crew power up. Rewarding 100 wp.'
+++++++++++++++
QUEST
-Main Quest
•Self defense
*Travel to the Suno town and talk to the blacksmith.
•Fighter crew member
*Listen to gossip in the Suno town.
-Crew
•Help Ligi conquer his demon
-Side Quest
+++++++++++++++
'Wh—-what's this?!'
Bang was still angry at Ligi. He was gonna explode in anger when suddenly this notification popped up. What happened? Why did he suddenly unlock a power up?
His face full of anger slowly turned into confusion. This quest didn't give any instructions to him. Did the system being silent mean that it isn't time to act yet?
Then suddenly, Bang could hear the clashing of swords out of the tent. He immediately left the vicinity of the dead body to examine the outside. He could now hear chaos that is produced by people killing each other.
Bang didn't get near the fight, but stayed away in fear of being dragged into it. He didn't have anything to protect him except Ligi. It looked like the farmers and the sword guards were winning. The bandits were trying to retreat but they were surrounded on both sides.
The farmers and the sword guards didn't come out of this unscathed. There were significantly less people than before and the remaining ones were beaten, cut up, and exhausted.
'Tab is dead!! They killed him!!'
From his side, he saw the farmer that was on Tab's side that protected him. Well, supposed to anyway.
The farmers who heard this news were enraged. They wanted to cut up every bit of the bandits and never let them go. The sword guards were indifferent and if you look a little bit closely, there was a slight relief in their eyes.
One of the farmers in the battle field suddenly shouted and ran haphazardly into the bandits. All of the farmers soon followed the war cry. The bandits didn't expect this and they retreated even further to the side of the sword guards which meant that they feared the farmers more than the sword guards.
The sword guards saw that the bandits were coming their way and they only went into a defensive stance. They didn't move and let them escape, much to the dismay of the farmers.
The bandits dragged themselves out into the darkness where they disappeared. The night went silent again, but not because of magic, but because of the end of the fight.
The farmers and the sword guards plopped down into the ground, exhausted beyond possible. They just laid there in the blood and sweat produced in the battle.
Then a farmer, the one who led the charge, suddenly stood up and faced the sword group. There was a clear anger on his face and he also looked exhausted but he couldn't stop himself from questioning the sword group.
"Why did you guys let them get away?!?!?!"
The sword guards only looked at the farmer and not bothered to answer him because they were all exhausted. They preferred to just stay there quietly and recover.
This made the farmer even more angry as he positioned his rake in a fighting stance. When Lobo saw the aggression, he was finally forced to speak up.
"If we had stopped them, we would have lost more men."
Lobo's eyes were clear and his logic was concise. It was reasonable for them to do it. The farmer was still angry at them and just stared down every single one of them. Maybe he was truly angry or maybe he just wants to vent, no one knows.
The farmer then turned to the farmer who guarded Tab and limped towards him. After they were face to face, they whispered words to each other that no one can hear.
"How could you let him die!!!"
This wasn't directed at the farmer guard, but at Bang and Ligi. Bang was surprised at this and he became angry one again.
"What?!?! It was your guys' fault! You should have protected him!"
Strangely, the farmer stopped after hearing the rebuttal of Bang. It looked like he just wanted to say those words to vent or something else entirely.
"Whatever, let's just sleep this off and we'll talk later."
The farmer said that as he went back into his camp slowly as his comrades followed him. It was the same for the sword guards who immediately went back in their tents.
Bang used another dead man's tent since his was destroyed in the ambush. In the tents, the groups talked with each other about their plans going forward.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone