Martial Online.

[You killed Vulture!]

[20 XP Earned!]

[XP: 33/150]

"Appreciated." Ambrose lowered both swords and picked up a feather from the vulture. "This might sell well."

He stored the feather in his inventory and then checked his health.

[HP: 24/40]

'I am still losing health because I am bleeding. I wonder if steaming buns can heal my ear.'

He opened his inventory and took out two steaming buns. He ate them and felt the blood dry up. The bleeding ended, but he still didn't have his ear.

"My ear didn't come back?" Ambrose moved his hand to the left side of his face and snapped his fingers. However, he still didn't hear anything.

'Great, don't tell me I am now forever disfigured and half-deaf.' Ambrose pinched his glabella and let out a hollow chuckle. He didn't expect to have something like this happen to him.

"Hah, I guess this is the game telling me to turn around and return." Ambrose sighed and rested both swords against his shoulders. He turned around and began walking back to the forest where he came from.

"This blows. Everyone will look at me strangely, just like in real life." Ambrose clicked his tongue and moved his black hood over his head. It covered the earless side of his face.

The sun's powerful light fell on top of the rocky terrain. The vulture's corpse slowly disintegrated and became a cluster of floating pixels. The place was empty of any intellectual life.

However, the blue blood was still staining the rocks. There were two spots of blue blood, one belonging to a vulture and the other to Ambrose's blood. The blood seeped into the ground bit by bit, slowly dripping.

After the blood seeped through the ground, they suddenly exited through a crevice. The blood, in the end, landed on the black floor.

The blood suddenly transformed into an eight-petaled blue flower. It was glowing beautifully in the dark room. The surroundings were dark, but there was a wooden door and a small room-like space without any walls.

There was a soft-looking sofa, carpet on the floor, and one bookshelf. It was like a small living room.

There was a golden-framed painting on the wall, right next to the wooden door. There was strange text on the painting.

[The Leaderboard of Amaterasu's Study]

[1...]

[2...]

[3...]

The blue-petaled flower glowed alone in the dark room.

...

'I guess I will go sell my items.' Ambrose sighed. 'Then, should I log out to find out how to restore body parts? There ain't no way I will be stuck with one ear.'

He strolled alone in the forest while the sky turned orange. It was a day with low humidity and warm weather. It was ideal weather for strolling. However, his mood wasn't the best.

There wasn't a long way to go until he had left the forest. The distant sound of fighting had also turned clearer and louder, even though he could only hear the sound coming from the right side.

"Haaaa, ambush!" A loud-mouthed player shouted with a large grin as he jumped from the left side bush. He held a wooden sword in his hand and smacked it down at Ambrose's head.

Ambrose's eyes widened in shock as he felt a blunt force on the back of his head, and his body was then suddenly leaning forward towards the ground.

He quickly stabilized himself with his front leg and turned left with a cold expression. He saw a grinning young man with two companions. His companions were unarmed.

'Fuck, I couldn't hear them coming because they happened to come from the left side out of all places!'

Ambrose wobbled backward and steadied his posture.

"See? That guy isn't that tough." The loud-mouthed swordsman shouted with laughter. "He couldn't even dodge my attack. You two were nervous for no reason!"

His friends relaxed and let out a sigh. The person they were attacking didn't look like other newbies, so they weren't as confident. However, after seeing the first attack deal a considerable amount of damage, they were confident.

[You lost 9 HP!]

"Argh..." Ambrose shook his head and looked at the three players with a sharp gaze.

The loud-mouthed player's friends raised their fists. They were Brawlers. Their hands were covered in linen cloth to protect their knuckles and fingers.

The loud-mouthed player shot forward with a wooden sword in hand. He grabbed it with both hands and raised it slightly above his head.

"Basic Slash!"

Ambrose cracked his neck and stepped forward. He pulled out a steel shortsword from his inventory and blocked the wooden sword while only holding his sword with one hand. It looked effortless!

"Uh..." The loud-mouthed player saw the steel shortsword and gulped. "Oh man..."

His friends paled and looked at their leader with hopeful gazes. However, then they saw his frightened face.

Ambrose pushed the wooden sword away and then used his second hand to pull out another steel shortsword. He crossed the swords, making an X-sign, before lunging forward and attacking the closest person.

The loud-mouthed player gritted his teeth and tried blocking the first steel shortsword. He managed to stop the attack for a second before the second sword appeared from his side.

The steel shortsword sliced through his face.

Ambrose kicked off the ground and rushed straight to the brawlers.

"Basic Punch!" The short-sleeved young man stepped forward and delivered a quick, straight punch.

Ambrose swung his left-handed sword and sliced through the young man's arm. The arm, which he used to throw a punch, flew across the air.

The young man was stunned and then saw the second sword stabbing through his chest and heart. He coughed up blue blood before turning into a cluster of floating pixels.

The second brawler was a young woman with a slender figure and shoulder-length brown hair. She wore basic newbie clothes, including a short-sleeved shirt, which was unique to Brawler class.

Ambrose swung the swords in front of him and moved both over his shoulders. His forearms looked powerful in this stance, as if he could punch through a tree. His stance also put overbearing pressure on the brawler.

"Ghh... Basic Punch!" The brawler tried her last chance at survival. She bent her knees, twisted her waist, and delivered a strong straight punch.

"Basic Slash!" Ambrose's eyes turned serious, and his veins protruded around his non-muscular arms. He swung both swords down in an attempt to use Basic Slash with both swords. He still wasn't able to reach 100% in Dual Basic Slash.

The two swords landed on the fist of the brawler. The fist managed to stop the swords for a second, but then her knees buckled because of the powerful strike, worsening her posture and causing her fist to lose most of its strength.

Ambrose sidestepped, ran past the fist, and stabbed the sword through her shoulder. She fell to her knees with an ugly expression on her face.

"You gave a better fight than the other two. Not bad!" Ambrose raised his other sword and brought it down. It sliced through the female brawler, ending her life.

She sighed while turning into pixels. "So unlucky, our "leader" is a dumbass..."

After vanishing, she dropped an item.

Ambrose swung both blood-stained swords around, getting rid of the blood, and then tossed them inside his inventory.

[You killed Player!]

[10 XP Earned!]

[You killed Player!]

[10 XP Earned!]

[You killed Player!]

[10 XP Earned!]