Shadow Seer (Rogue Merchant Book #3): LitRPG Series by Roman Prokofiev (read ebook pdf .TXT) 📕

“He’s under my protection!” Thrainul stepped in. “And a bounty...how many of us have one in the upper worlds? There are no saints here. Ulysses, these guys were trying to start a massacre here!”

“Players, your battles have nothing to do with us. Mass brawls are forbidden here, and so is using combat magic. Only one-on-one duels are permitted.”

“We are Pandorum!” the elf girl, silent until then, hissed. “What are your rules to us? We will kill him as many times as we want!”

“Player, this is not Pandorum territory,” the NPC guard replied, coldly enunciating the words. “This is our settlement and our rules. Those who break them will be killed. Is this clear?”

“A duel? Then a duel it is,” Yota nodded, stopping his companion with a gesture as she opened her mouth. “Nobody’s stopping us from holding a duel at the resp point every time, right?”

Chapter 10

ESCORTED BY THE CROWD, we went outside to the patch of land in front of the tavern. A ring of wannabe spectators circled me and the Pandorum trio.

“Ran Dom, Pinprick, go to resp. Turn the stonejammer around,” Yota quietly said to his team. He was so sure of victory? The bounty hunters’ plan was clear as day: kill me, surround the respawn point, and block me from leaving with a Soul Stone. Lock me there and reskill via duels ad nauseam.

Yota beckoned to me with a half-bent palm, twirling his weird weapon with his other hand. He was definitely confident of his abilities. A master fighter? Pandas didn’t really have any weaklings, and those sent after me must be the best of the best. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to analyze my opponent’s kill rating, as the events around me happened too fast.

“Aren’t you scared at all?” I winked at him. “The Pandas’ latest attempt didn’t end well.”

“I remember. I was on the Leviathan,” Yota replied coldly. “That’s why I volunteered to punish you.”

I didn’t like him; he was too calm, even phlegmatic. There was no spark, no desire to put me down, no insults—only composure and cold in his eyes. I also didn’t like his unconventional weapon—a short hatchet with a beaklike blade. The rest of Yota’s gear was made of cloth, other than the gauntlets with blades on his forearms. My weapon had a better reach; it meant that I could control the range of our battle. I knew that skill-wise, I was a mediocre fighter who could never take on a real pro, but I did have a few nasty surprises up my sleeve. They were the only things I could count on, plus the incredible power of my flaming sword.

Aelmaris flashed like blue lightning as I drew it from the sheath, making the crowd recoil and start whispering. Waiting was pointless, and I decided to test my opponent with an experimental attack.

Yota dodged my wide swings with quick sidesteps, pulled away—and suddenly flicked his strange hatchet. Reflexively, I evaded a possible throw and turned out to be right, as a thin black chain with a spiked tip swooshed just above my left shoulder. It originated in the handle of Yota’s axe, hidden inside a compartment. On its way back, the chain coiled around my neck. With a sharp pull, the Panda warrior drew it tighter in a chokehold, almost knocking me down.

Hyvaa Yota dealt you 170 damage with Stranglehold! Your HP: 630/800.

On top of the damage, I also got the Oxygen Deprivation debuff that decreased my remaining health by 5% every three seconds. Gulping like a fish thrown out of the water, I grabbed at the chain with my left hand, trying to free myself, and slashed it with Aelmaris.

No use. The burning blue blade bounced off the black chain, taut as a string. The Pandas had done their homework, and Yota was wielding a Black Weapon, one of the legendary armaments from the Netherworld, a demonic item without durability. True Fire couldn’t help me—it couldn’t destroy the indestructible.

My enemy ran circles around me, trying to ensnare me even more, and I did the only possible thing in that situation, jumping to him to close the distance and pulling at the chain between us. Unfortunately, my leap didn’t even shake him—I might as well have pulled at a locked door, as my Strength was far too low.

Impossible! Yota could predict my every step, deftly moving around in such a way that Aelmaris missed the target each time. It felt as if he was toying with me, pulling his punches. He had incredible Dexterity and perfect scores in Acrobatics and Evasion. I had seen something like that only once—Illith, the PROJECT HELL assassin, fought in a similar manner. Finally seizing the right moment, Panda mercilessly yanked the chain once again, meeting me with a left punch from his razor-sharp bladed gauntlet—a blow I couldn’t hope to parry in melee.

Hyvaa Yota dealt you 213 damage with Tiger’s Paw! Your HP: 327/800.

Sharp pain burned my shoulder, making my left hand drop listlessly, injured. The triple-blade that had severed my armor and my flesh suddenly started pulsing with fire—Yota activated his weapon’s affix. Dammit! He was going to kill me! Without waiting for the effect to go off, I used my eyes to find the nearest shadow and dove there, looking for salvation.

I had two attempts: Shadow Run from Tormis’ cloak and Shadow Travel from the proxy archetype, granting five minutes and one minute in the Shadow Plane. I activated Shadow Travel—a minute should be enough to sneak up on him.

The grey expanse accepted me as if I were a friend. Instead of the houses around me, I saw twisted ruins, and the silhouettes of players were distorted and blurred as if encased in ash-stricken glass. To them, I had disappeared, falling into nothingness.

Yota swung a wide circle with his chain, hoping to hit his invisible