Footsteps approached from the edge of the hollow.
Victor turned as two figures emerged from the trees. One with silver hair tied in a topknot. The other was bald with crimson eyes.
They wore the robes of Inner Court disciples.
The silver-haired one smirked. "A bit slow, aren't you?"
The bald one cracked his knuckles. "Good thing we arrived when we did. That beast would've eaten you alive."
Victor narrowed his eyes; 'So this was planned...'
He figured he didn't notice because he was deeply engrossed in his battle against the rogue leeches.
"Tsk," the silver-haired one clicked his tongue. "You looked like you had it under control... but you know how these things go. Can't leave a mission unfulfilled."
Victor didn't answer. He quietly sheathed his sword.
They forced a mission failure.
And they did it with a smile.
But it was alright because he could just take on another mission. The aim was to use his bloodline more in combat and he did, so he wasn't completely dissatisfied.
"Excuse me," Victor voiced with a calm tone before turning away to walk off.
The rogue spirit leech mission had been snatched right from under him and although he wanted to walk away without confrontation, the two inner court disciples who had interfered weren't done with him.
The silver-haired disciple stepped into his path as his lips curled into a mockery of a smile.
"Leaving already? Didn't even say thank you."
Victor remained silent and sidestepped, only for the silver-haired man to block him again, arms folded as though bored.
Behind him, the bald disciple cracked his knuckles with a gaze of unspoken threat.
"Normally," the silver-haired one said smoothly, "fighting between disciples without a formal challenge is forbidden."
The bald one snorted. "But you're not a real disciple, are you? You're a nobody, granted a token. That rule doesn't protect people like you."
Before Fang Chen could reply, a notification appeared in his line of sight.
[Alert: Bloodlust Detected – Enemy Intention Confirmed]
'So they were planning to fight from the start.'
The moment stretched taut.
Then all of a sudden, they moved...
Their figures charged toward him with malicious intent from both sides.
Victor braced himself to dodge—
The silver-haired disciple's strike was intercepted by a newcomer with a blade gleaming with petals of light.
Victor jumped back as a grinning figure landed between him and the two attackers.
A name tag hovered clearly above his head:
[ KingCamper – Realm: Nascent Soul ]
He was tall with bloodred tousled hair, relaxed shoulders, and robes marked with vibrant greens and golds. Swirls of glowing pink petals floated about him, trailing behind like echoes.
"Yo!" he said brightly. "Hope I'm not crashing anything important. Just saw some noble inner court folks ganging up on someone a level lower and couldn't resist joining."
Victor blinked. "You're a player?"
KingCamper gave him a theatrical wink. "Guilty. I was camping near the elevated grove for a mission. Heard a ruckus—thought it might be a beast rampage, but turns out it was just egos flaring."
"And hey," he added with a grin, "us players gotta stick together when the NPCs get uppity."
The bald disciple growled. "NPC? You dare—"
The silver-haired one spat. "You'll regret butting in."
The bald one rushed KingCamper as his fists blazed with red qi.
[Technique Activated: Flaming Devourer Punch]
But KingCamper had already moved.
[Technique Activated: Thousand Petal Barrage – Tier III]
He spun his sword once, and dozens of razor-sharp spiritual petals burst from his blade, forming a swirling curtain. The bald man's punch smashed into the petals, but they cut deep into his arms, disrupting the momentum and forcing him back.
"That's one," KingCamper chuckled. "You've got about nine more mistakes in you."
The bald disciple bellowed and charged again. This time with wider swings as flames coated both arms.
[Technique Activated: Lotus Shield Guard]
KingCamper brought his sword down in a sweeping arc, and a lotus-shaped shield bloomed in front of him. The punch crashed into the shield and shattered it, but the force was absorbed, allowing KingCamper to evade the follow-up and slash the man's side.
[Technique Activated: Lotus Fang Riposte – Tier II]
Petals erupted from the wound, forcing the bald disciple to stumble back while clutching his ribs.
"Oof," KingCamper said cheerfully. "That looked like it hurt."
Meanwhile, Victor faced the silver-haired disciple.
The disciple sneered and raised his right hand with lightning dancing around his fingertips.
[Technique Activated: Tempest Fang ]
A surge of condensed lightning formed into twin fangs over his fists. With a thunderous roar, he dashed forward with lightning trailing in his wake.
Victor reacted instantly and made hands signs while pointing towards the left.
[ Bloodline Technique Activated: Shadow Blink ]
He vanished from the spot in a shimmer of distorted space, reappearing to the side just as the silver-haired disciple slammed a bolt-laced punch where his head had been.
The earth cracked and smoked under the impact.
The disciple turned with impressive speed.
[Technique Activated: Thunder Latch Chain]
Snaking bolts of lightning extended from his palm, locking toward Fang Chen with homing force.
Victor spun to avoid the first two, but the third bolt nearly grazed his arm. He ducked and rolled, then countered.
[Technique Activated: Crescent Shadow Strike! ]
He launched a crescent-shaped arc of dark energy forcing the disciple to block with a small wall of lightning.
Sparks flew as part of the attack sliced through but the disciple managed to evade just in time.
The disciple dashed forward again, and they met at the center.
Steel clashed against crackling qi.
Victor and the disciple exchanged a flurry of blows—one sword slash, one electrified fist. Another strike, then a block. Another flash, then a dodge.
[Bloodline Technique Activated: Spatial Lock ]
Victor warped the space around the disciple's legs briefly, causing his next step to falter.
[ Technique Activated: Phantom Moon Slash ]
His blade split into multiple afterimages, descending with layered might. The disciple roared and retaliated.
[ Technique Activated: Storm Breaker Palm ]
A massive palm-shaped construct of blue lightning collided with the slashes.
The forest ground shook as trees in the surroundings trembled. The collision of power formed a vortex of raw energy that forced both fighters backward.
Victor slid back a dozen feet while the disciple flew back even farther, crashed through a twisted root and landed with a gasp.
He tried to stand but was too slow.
Victor figure blurred as he activated Wind Dash.
A clean horizontal strike came crashing down at the disciple.
Blood arced through the air as Victor severed one of the disciple's arm and then spun around to kick him in the face.
The disciple got sent flying with blood shooting out of his nostrils and mouth.
"Huh always wanted to bully someone with that move since that time..." Victor let a feeling of satisfaction envelope him as the disciple's figure crashed into a nearby tree.