Max followed Asiva and her pursuers at his full speed, however, it became abundantly clear to him within the first 30 seconds itself that he was too slow compared to the pace of the others.
Although Max was saving his unassigned stat points to be distributed at a better time, under duress he was forced to assign them all to agility to boost his speed.
The increase in speed was significant and with the boosted speed Max was able to barely track the group in the alleys, as with the absence of proper lighting, he needed to strain his eyes to the limit just to see figures moving in the dark.
Max's stamina depleted fast, maintaining a full sprint for extended periods of time was taxing his body heavily as he was drenched in sweat from head to toe.
Max saw sparks created in the dark alley, followed by the sound of metal clanging just a split second later as it seemed like the attackers had finally caught onto Asiva and were now embroiled in a fight.
Max was tired, but he grit his teeth and pushed his body to run as fast as possible, tackling an unaware assailant from his back tumbling towards the ground with a tumultuous momentum.
CRASH!
The assailant was caught completely off-guard and Max took full advantage of his shock as he stabbed the opponent multiple times in the chest with his newly bought dagger, panting heavily in the process.
STAB! STAB! STAB!
-45
-45
-90 CRITICAL HIT!
[ System Notification ] - You have killed a tier 1 player by the name of ' Farooq ' , since the opponent is from dark faction and you are currently in a light faction territory, no infamy is gained.
Since you are from the light faction you gain no EXP for killing the player inside a safezone.
[ System Remark ] - A second tier 1 kill at tier 0, you have incredible luck!
Max stood up after it was confirmed that his opponent was dead as he panted non-stop while loosely pointing his dagger towards the remaining two assailants.
Max said " *huff* *huff* L-listen , *huffff* , the wo-woman is under my protection, *huff* , so kindly fu** off …. Please ".
Max took a look at the assailants for the first time now and although they were clad from head to toe in dark black clothing, he could make-out the pointy ears on their head, which going by the dark brown color of their skin suggested that they were Dark Elves.
The two assailants and a wounded Asiva all looked at Max as if he were a clown, as running a single inspection spell on Max they were all able to discern that he was just a level 3 , tier 0 weakling.
" Kill him " said a gruff voice of one of the two living assailants as the other member charged towards Max with his short sword in hand.
" Fireball! ". Max said as he extended his right arm and instantly a fireball blasted the incoming assailant, knocking him back onto his back as Max began casting a barrage of fireballs.
-15
" Fireball "
-15
"Fireball"
-15
"Fireball"
-15
"Fireball"
-15
[ System Notification ] - You have caused ' Burn ' damage to the opponent, -2 HP loss per second for next 20 seconds.
The assailant panicked, it had never thought that the puny tier 0 human would be such a formidable mage. It was almost inconceivable.
Max, who felt the thrill of the hunt, kept the pressure up, as he kept spamming fireballs at his opponent who struggled to dodge them.
It took Max a good two minutes and about 85 shots in total before he connected 10 shots and finished his opponent off.
" BOOYAH! ".
Max cheered his kill, however, he had become so engrossed in fighting his opponent that he was unaware of the danger looming behind him.
Asiva, who had been severely injured was on the brink of death and before finishing her off, the assailant who saw Max's exposed back thought that it would be better to finish him off first before confirming the kill.
He was closing in silently on Max and was ready to pounce from the back, aiming straight for Max's heart from his back.
' Fire wall, behind your back NOW! '. Grandpa Drax shouted and Max complied instantly, casting a firewall behind his back at the last possible second to thwart the advance of the attacker.
Max turned, startled as he heard the screams of the assailant who had been burnt by the firewall, goosebumps rising on Max's skin as he realised how close he was to dying.
pMax took no chances and began unleashing a flurry of fireballs towards his enemy, only stopping when he was reduced to ashes.
Even for a tier 1 player casting 100 fireballs in such a quick succession was impossible, their mana would have ran out by the 30th spell mark, Max was blessed to have a divine weapon in his arsenal to have performed such a feat in a fight.
[ System Notification ] : You have killed a tier 1 player by the name of ' Maduzi ' , since the opponent is from dark faction and you are currently in a light faction territory, no infamy is gained.
Since you are from the light faction you gain no EXP for killing the player inside a safezone.
[ System Remark ] - Using your cheat to subdue stronger enemies, you big bully!
Max stroked his nose in pride over his work, as he logged over to Asiva to check on her condition and play hero. However, it was only when he reached her that Max noticed that she was foaming from the mouth and seemed to have a burning fever.
Max cast an inspection spell over Asiva
—--------
[ Asiva Paratus Nightblade ] ( Tier 1 ) ( Level 31 )
Alignment - Chaotic Good
Status - Poisoned
HP - 14/250 ( depleting fast )
—--------
' Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! ' Max cursed, he had no potions on him, he was on his way to the shop before being interrupted by Asiva. Currently he had nothing at hand.
" I guess, I'll just let her die then, it's not like it will be a permanent death considering she is inside a safezone " Max murmured absentmindedly
" She has been poisoned with memory erasing poison, significant parts of her memory will be lost if she dies ". A male voice replied in the alley.
Max instantly became alert, casting a fireball in his hand to illuminate the dark alley, only to find a sweeper casually sweeping the alley floor.
The sweeper had pale white skin and blood red eyes that were many shades deeper than Asiva's beautiful crimson.
The eyes itself made the sweeper look more like a vampire lord warrior than an innocent worker as Max felt the calmness and chill of a killer when he stared in those eyes and not that of a worker.
The worker seemed to be albino, because his eyebrows and hair were also a colourless white, making his red eyes the only colourful feature on his body.
It was hard to determine the age of the sweeper because of his unusual facial features, but Drax's estimate was that he was in his early -mid thirties, very much at the prime of his life.
Despite his albinism, he looked like a prime male specimen, extremely handsome and eye-catching as his chiselled jaw and toned muscles complimented his smooth flawless skin perfectly.
If it were not for the bland navy blue overalls and the wooden broom in his hands, Max would definitely have mistaken him for a high noble.
Max studied the casual expression on the man's face as he sweeped the floor and tried to run inspection spells over him.
However, to his surprise no matter how many times he tried to inspect the sweeper, he could not pry into his identity.
Although Max felt that the man meant no harm, he was still uneasy around his presence.
" If you want to save her, you have about 30 seconds, if I were you I'd act fast" the sweeper said, jolting Max out of his stupor.
/// A/N - This chapter has been sponsored by Cervantez91 through patreon ///