Chapter 323: Miserable Mercenaries
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Being qualified to participate in the "seven days of hell", there was no doubt that Barrow had extraordinary strength.
Barrow himself believed so too.
His whole life changed a year ago. He had spent the whole night in the casino, lost all his belongings and missed the assembly time of mercenary groups. And when he desperately looked for the group leader, the leader spat on him and kicked him out
His big sword, his armor... ... everything, was used to mortgage his heavy gambling debts, but it was still not enough. He lost all his friends and his wife even ran off during the night with their child. When he heard that the debt collectors from the casino were coming to collect his debts, he knocked on his neighbor’s door to borrow a rope to hang himself.
"You want to die? I’ll let you experience the taste of death." But at the last time, the people from the casino had managed to grab him.
It was in this way that Barrow began his journey as an underground fighter.
In the following year, he had fought a total of six matches. In other words, he had survived six battles to the death. In three of those times, he teetered on the edge of life and death. He really was almost on the brink of death.
But even after going through all this, he still could not pay off his gambling debts.
Barrow regretted it so much. He did not even know how he came to owe such a huge debt; when he lost control while gambling, no on in the casino tried to stop him.
However, there was no point in regretting, he could only continue to fight, win and repeat... the people from the casino were paying close attention to him. Once he had recovered, he would immediately be set for another fight and get seriously injured again – there was no escape.
A week ago, the people from the casino told him about the "seven days of hell". He was afraid of death, but the five thousand gold coins prize would allow him to finally see the light of freedom. Didn’t he already risk his life to fight in the underground battle? They told him that if he participated in the "seven days hell" and got the reward, he would be able to pay off his gambling debts.
This would change his life.
Barrow could not resist such temptation, and ultimately, decided to sign up.
However, he did not think that the purpose of the so-called "seven days of hell" was to fulfill the hunting desires of these psychopathic wealthy men. Since so many people surrounded them, and there were even mages involved, the participants did not have the strength required to fight back. Therefore, they could only obediently enter the forest and act as prey.
Derek said that they only need to spend seven days here and the money was theirs. But would they really be able to stay alive?
At the beginning, even if they couldn’t use their hands, they could still escape into the woods. But after that? They did not have food and their hands were broken, all they can do was chew on tree barks. Could they actually stay alive while being hunted by these rich people?
Although Barrow knew that he would eventually die, he still ran. No matter how dire the situation, he still hoped for a miracle.
Every life and death situation that he went through made him feel deeply about how wonderful it was to be alive.
He did not think that before he could even begin to escape, he would suddenly be stopped by a young man.
A strong wind had thrown him to the ground and he was suddenly frozen in place. He was aware that the only one who can do this was a mage; since he did not have weapons or even a functioning pair of hands, how could he fight against a mage?
He was like an animal waiting for slaughter as he desperately raised his head.
However, what he saw was not a "hunter", but a "prey" just like him.
Barrow was dumbfounded.
This guy... was a mage?
He was in the same carriage as this man. In the beginning, he doubted how he even got qualified to participate in this event, it was like a suicide mission. He did not expect to have a mage in the group.
As the thoughts raced through his head, the man spoke.
"Let me ask you, do you want to pick up your sword again and cut the bastards outside into the pieces?"
The moonlight coated the man in a white light. If not for of his vulgar words, Barrow might think that there was a holy spirit attached to this person.
But... he still could not believe it.
"Are you God who has come to save us?"
Barrow wanted to slap himself for saying that. But at that point, he was too confused. So confused in fact, that his huge body began to tremble.
"God does not care about this dark corner of the world." Benjamin said, "The only one who can save us, is ourselves."
At that moment, Barrow finally woke up, he was aware that all of this was not just a fantasy; it was a miracle that was really happening.
A mage who was mixed among the "prey" had come to him and threw him a lifeline.
Did he have any other choice?
"Let’s... let’s kill em!" he shouted nervously, his voice so loud that he frightened himself, "I want to kill all those bastards! I... ...I want to live!"
He was scared that what he said impulsively might offend Benjamin. Fortunately, Benjamin seemed to agree and nodded at him.
"I can heal your hands and give you your weapon, but you will need to pay the price." Benjamin continued, "I will put a curse on your body. From now on, you must obey my commands. Even my slightest thought will make you to suffer so bad that you would rather die. Do you understand?"
What he said made Barrow a little distraught.
He did not understand what the curse was, but he knew that the freedom the he had just gotten was lost once again.
"You do not have to worry about it too much, I will not enslave you or force you to kill yourself. As long as you are loyal to me, I will not hurt you in any way." Because Benjamin saw how hesitant he was, he decided to add.
Hearing this, Barrow eventually nodded his head.
So, Benjamin waved his hands with a satisfied expression.
The ice that was freezing Barrow disappeared and countless healing water balls appeared. The water balls surrounded him, and gradually, the pain in his arms disappeared. He was pleasantly surprised to find that he could even clench his fist again!
Then, a sword made entirely of ice appeared in front of him.
"You can use this. In the meantime, wrap your hands with a cloth before holding the sword to prevent yourself from getting hurt. Soon, I will get you a real sword."
Barrow stood up and looked at the figure floating in the sky, then looked at the ice sword in front of him, he did not know why but his eyes were watering.
It seemed that... no one had spoken to him with such respect for a long time
It was as though he was back in the days when he was in a mercenary group, before he destroyed his life by gambling. He had been given another chance to start his miserable life all over again.
"I..."
"What are you waiting for?" Benjamin urged, "Hurry up, we have more than twenty people to save!"
Barrow pulled himself together and nodded his head excitedly.
He tore off a piece of his clothes, wrapped it around his hand and picked up the ice sword off the ground.
"I...I am ready." He was as nervous as his first time doing a mercenary quest.
His body language and tone were obvious, Benjamin could easily sense his tension. Barrow did not expect Benjamin to turn around and smile at him kindly instead of shouting at him.
"Oh yeah, by the way, you can call me Benjamin."