It's been a week since I ordered gear from that workshop and got my level updated by the NAA. Since all I have is a low-level sword, I've been taking it easy and decided not to clear any dungeons for now. I'll be getting my new weapon and armor over the course of next week and I'm waiting on them before I resume picking jobs up. I'll also have to think about joining a free company, but that can wait.
Right now, however, I'm messing with some weirdos. Yesterday, I noticed some people hiding around the university campus. They were doing a pretty good job, but all that is useless against my magic detection power. So I figured I'd keep an eye on them, see what they were after, and eventually noticed that they were following me. They even scaled the wall of the dormitory building last night to peek through our window. There wasn't anything to see, especially with all our room doors being closed, but I could still sense them just outside.
I wanted to confirm that they really were after me, so I took a long two-hour walk today, and sure enough, I can still feel their presence. Not sure why anyone would be following me like that, aside from my power being weird, me having multiplied my level by 10 over the span of a week, me having brought back a wyvern's body to a workshop... Yeah there's actually a lot of reasons people might want to stalk me, now that I think about it. Not that I plan on just letting them do whatever they want!
I jump up on the roof of one of the nearby buildings and start moving in a random direction as fast as I can. I can tell they're much weaker than me, so as expected, they can't keep up, and I soon find myself standing on top of a skyscraper without detecting any magic sources nearby.
Now, who could these people be? They're obviously adventurers, since their magic level is well above average for humans. I don't think they're trying to ambush me since they had a few opportunities to attack me already. I obviously could have defended myself since I knew they were there, but they didn't know I knew.
They're not people from the NAA, of that I'm certain. They know I can sense the presence of magic power, so they wouldn't send these amateurs who can't properly hide themselves to keep an eye on me. They might be from a free company, one of them might have spotted the sudden appearance of a level 80 adventurer and decided to investigate. In that case, they wouldn't know about my powers at all.
As I'm thinking, I feel a sudden prickling pain on the side of my neck. I bring my hand there and feel a cold metallic object, which I pull on. A syringe. The tip has a strange color, so it's probably some kind of enchanted metal used to craft high-level equipment. It wouldn't have pierced my skin if it was just steel.
The syringe is empty, which means...
As I'm thinking, I feel a numbness take hold of my limbs. I fall on a knee, unable to resist it. Whatever poison was in there must have been seriously potent to be effective on a level 80 adventurer. However, something my attackers didn't take into account is that my magic is extremely versatile. By focusing my energy on the poison, I can fully neutralize it.
The paralysis starts dissipating as I cast the spell on myself. However, since I'm curious to know more about these people, I decide to pretend that the attack worked, and let myself fall on the ground.
A couple minutes later, I hear footsteps land on the roof. I can't sense that person's magic power at all, so they might be trained as an Assassin, or a similar class. Would explain the proficiency with poisons, too.
The person approaches and takes a look at me from a few angles, none of them allowing me to see their face since they remain behind me.
Eventually, I hear a feminine voice:
"Yeah, I caught him. He's fast, but I managed to keep up with him and took the opportunity to paralyze him when he stopped... Yes, I'll wait for the extraction team. Send them with an airborne vehicle. I'll confirm my coordinates."
If she managed to keep up with me while I was running away, she must be pretty high-level herself. She also mentioned a team... Should I wait for them or get back up now? Since I can't sense her power at all, I have no idea how it compares to mine, so she might actually be stronger than me. However, if she's an Assassin, she'd be at a disadvantage against me in direct combat, even if her level is higher.
I suspect the "extraction team" is more of the low-level weirdos who were following me around. I'll wait for them, with a bit of luck it'll allow me to gather more information.
I hear her sit on one of the big machines on the roof while I continue laying down here, as immobile as I can manage. It takes a few minutes, but I eventually hear an helicopter approaching. These guys have a lot of money, but I guess that's the least you would need to be able to capture a high-level adventurer.
The helicopter stops and hovers just above the building, and shady guys in featureless black outfits jump down. No logo, and I can't even see their faces. This must be some kind of clandestine operation. Well, obviously, since kidnapping people isn't legal, even if they're adventurers.
The lady gets up and walks towards them, moving into my field of view. She's wearing black clothes that seem to be reinforced without being cumbersome, with integrated plates on her limbs and torso, as well as flexible padding on her articulations. Her mask only covers her mouth and nose, revealing a pair of purple eyes and long blonde hair tied in a high ponytail. That eye color definitely isn't natural, but I don't know if she's wearing contact lenses or ended up with some kind of permanent alteration for a reason or another.
"Grab him, and let's make this quick. The fewer people see us, the better."
Looks like she's some kind of leader in the group. The others can't hide their presence, so I can tell they're all much weaker than me.
One of them approaches with a bag, while another seems to be holding some cloth to use as a gag as well as some magically-reinforced rope, likely to tie my hands with. Allowing them to bring me somewhere else would be too risky, so I'll just fight them off here and force them to tell me what's going on after.
As the kidnappers are about to put the gag on my mouth and tie my hands up, I quickly get up and punch each of them on the torso. I feel bones crack under my knuckles. I guess I'm not used to gauging how much strength I need against people of different levels yet, I didn't intend on breaking ribs, but at least they're out of the action now.
The leader lady reacts extremely quickly and attempts to stab me with a dagger, but I manage to see it coming and dodge. She jumps back a says:
"I don't know why the poison wasn't effective against you, but surrender now and your life will be spared."
"The poison was effective, I just neutralized it. And you seem awfully confident for someone facing off against a high-level adventurer."
"I'm higher level than you, and I'm wearing my combat gear while you have nothing."
Ah, she's right. Even if she's an Assassin, the fact that she has good armor and excellent weapons while I have nothing could give her the edge she needs to defeat me.
But I don't actually have nothing. There's my sword in my pocket, still contained in that spatial bead. I might be able to surprise her with it.
But first, let's see if I can learn anything just from talking.
"Who are you people? What do you want with me?"
"We are not at liberty of discussing this with you. If you surrender and come with us, your questions will be answered."
No luck there. Guess I have no choice but to fight.
I start running towards the Assassin. Seeing this, she throws a poisoned needle towards me, which I dodge. However, the needle was merely a distraction, and I see her close in on me as I'm dodging.
Fortunately, I saw this coming. Focusing my magic, I create a force that drags me out of her dagger's path, and I use the fact that she's stuck in her own attack's momentum to break my sword out of its bead and launch a strike at her arm. I don't want to chop it off or anything, but damaging her muscles would end this fight.
Unfortunately, she's fast enough to see my attack coming, and moves her arm out of the way. I try to redirect to her torso, but my hesitation gives her just enough time to get her balance back and jump out of my range.
"Where did that sword come from?"
"My pocket."
"You really aren't ordinary. I understand why the boss took a liking to you. However, looks like you have trouble keeping up with my speed."
So there's someone she's working for. I figured as much, but at least now I get confirmation. As for my speed, I can still boost my body further, but focusing entirely on that would likely mean my attacks can't go through her armor anymore. If I need to run away, however...
She suddenly lunges towards me again, her dagger aimed at my torso. I parry with my sword, but a quick movement from her causes the blade to break and fly off. I guess I should have expected that, no way a plain steel blade was going to withstand an attack like that. Oh, and now her dagger is coming at my torso again.
I don't have time to dodge, so I move a hand in the way. The dagger pierces through it, causing blood to start dripping on the floor, but at least the attack is blocked.
Oh. The dagger is poisoned.
She smiles as she unsheathes another dagger and attempts to stab me again. I drop what's left of my sword and prevent her attack from reaching me by grabbing her wrist. She seems surprised by the speed of my movement, but I figured I should start using more magic now that there's a dagger going through my left hand.
I kick her back. The hole in my hand starts bleeding abundantly and I feel the effect of the poison slowly spreading through my body. It seems to be a more potent version of what was in the syringe.
I focus energy on both the poison and my wound, neutralizing the former and causing the latter to close under the astonished gaze of my opponent.
"A Sword Fighter who can use healing magic?"
"What can I say? I'm a man of many talents."
"Ah! People who decide to focus on multiple disciplines simply end up being not quite good at any of them. However, it is impressive that you managed it at such a young age. You definitely have potential. Don't worry, we'll make sure you become as strong as you can possibly be."
With that, she attacks again. Now that my sword is broken, I feel like I'm at a serious disadvantage. While killing all of her soldiers and causing the helicopter to crash would stop them from capturing me, it wouldn't ensure my future safety, and would probably harm some civilians.
There's also the issue of the "boss", who I would really like to know more about. If I had some way to force him to acknowledge my power, I could possibly meet him as something other than a prisoner. Maybe if I had an hostage...
Wait, can I use spatial magic on a person?
