"How much?" Zaefal asked as he took the artifacts out of his pouch.
"All of it," Fathir answered with a warm smile.
"A-all of it?! What THE FUCK SHORT MAN?!" Rasie shouted from a distance. She walked over to them with Illya, scratching her head.
"Watch your mouth BITCH!." The smile on Fathir’s face vanished. He tapped his index finger against his own temple. "Can you people use your fucking brains?..
I saved you from death, I found your horse-drawn carriage." He paused for a moment, then shook his head. "If I hadn’t come, you’d all be death. off course I ask for a reward dumbass!!."
Fathir then gave a cynical smile, his voice sounding deeper.
"Or I could just kill you all and take it. That would be easier is it?... is it?."
Hearing that, Zaefal’s eyes widened in panic.
"Y-you..." Rasie stammered, not knowing what to say as she instinctively pushed Illya behind her. On the other side, Fyar was already preparing to draw his pistol.
Seeing their reactions, Fathir burst out laughing, breaking the tension. "Just kidding man, just kidding."
Phew.
Fyar, Zaefal, and Illya let out a collective sigh of relief.
"So?" Fathir asked again, his posture relaxing once more.
Zaefal looked at his companions. Fyar, Illya, and Rasie all gave a firm nod. Zaefal looked back at Fathir. "Alright."
After that, Zaefal gave all the artifacts from the dungeon to Fathir.
Fathir gathered the artifacts into a single pile on the ground, then drew a glowing magic circle around it.
Click!
When he snapped his fingers, all the artifacts vanished without a trace.
This man can actually do anything.. Fyar thought to himself.
"Alright, I’m heading out. That guardian is probably fighting the real body of that loser," Fathir said as he began to walk away.
"Who are you, really?" Zaefal asked.
"Fathir," he replied, waving his hand without looking back.
"See you later dumbass! Oh yeah, don’t touch the guards’ corpses out front! You all just go straight home okay!"
"Fathir?! That short guy... he’s Fathir?!" Rasie said in shock, her heart beating faster.
"Fathir..." Zaefal muttered. "No wonder he’s so strong."
"Wait... the guards’ corpses?!" Rasie turned to Illya.
Zaefal raised his eyebrows and looked at Fyar. "Corpses? The dungeon guards have been killed?!"
After that, Fyar briefly explained to them what happened outside the dungeon.
In the Pink Mushroom Plains
Fathir walked leisurely through a surreal valley. The ground and grass around him were pink, as was the thin mist that hovered in the air. Giant mushrooms with pink caps towered high like trees.
He stretched his arms. "Fuahh. Twenty thousand gold coins for a job like this. I’ll spoil beloved wife after this" Fathir looked up at the pink sky. "Those weird jellyfish aren’t visible anymore." He then clapped his hands once. Instantly, hundreds of shadows rose from the ground, their white eyes glowing in unison. "Find his location," he commanded.
The hundreds of shadows then vanished into the mist.
at some place
a middle-aged man with white hair and a black eyepatch was moving nimbly amidst a siege of hundreds of shadow soldiers. His red cape billowed every time he spun and slashed with his slender sword. Each of his slashes released an arc of lightning that struck and destroyed several shadows at once, making them vanish into black smoke.
However, their numbers were too much. For every shadow he destroyed, another immediately moved to fill its place. The man began to be pushed back. His breathing grew heavy, and several cuts now adorned his blue uniform.
That strange man suddenly fled. What happened? the middle-aged man thought. He leaped high into the air. "HAAH!" He aimed his sword downward. Instantly, a massive bolt of lightning shot from his blade, incinerating dozens of shadows below him in a blinding explosion.
He landed on one knee, panting. A cut on his cheek was bleeding freely. He’s likely not from the human kingdom... who is he, really? I also received information that the association sent adventurers here. Don’t tell me... they also killed?
"Oh, so he ran away."
A casual voice was heard from the top of a nearby mushroom hill. The middle-aged man lifted his head and saw a purple-haired man sitting there, observing the fight. The man was Fathir.
"Fathir?!" The middle-aged man was shocked.
"Move aside," Fathir said in a relaxed tone.
The middle-aged man, without hesitation, immediately leaped backward, distancing himself from the crowd of shadow soldiers.
Fathir then raised his hand to the sky. He closed his eyes.
BOOM!
A wild bolt of lightning from the sky struck Fathir’s hand. He absorbed the energy without being affected in the slightest. When he opened his eyes, he was already holding a pitch-black sword with intricate gold carvings.
Ssst!
In an instant, Fathir teleported into the middle of the hundreds of shadows. Before they could react, he slashed his sword in a single spinning motion. A wave of black and gold energy spread out from his slash, moving in all directions. The hundreds of shadow soldiers were simultaneously cut in half, and their bodies vanished into black particles before they could even hit the ground. In a single second, the valley was silent once more.