Chapter 64- Ambush.
Surtr remained silent for a while.
Leo pushed again. "Is there really no way?"
"Calm down," Surtr said. "I told you—if he fails to break through..... And if he does break through, there won’t be much of a problem for now. You’ll have time to find a solution."
Leo nodded. A fragile hope rekindled in his chest. He quickly wiped the tears away before Hugh turned back.
Hugh was still sorting through the stack of ores. A moment later he came up with a second bar—crimson this time, glinting like a wound that had never quite closed.
"Found it." He held it out. "Berserker’s Bloodsteel. The mad ones use it. The ones who fight until they can’t stand. Blood attribute, boy. Killing attribute. Whatever you want to call it."
Leo nodded and took both the Umbra steel and the Bloodsteel from him. He took enough to forge nearly two full sets; Hugh had them lying around in large quantity.
"Take it. At cost. Consider it a welcome-back gift for the brat who finally came home... and don’t leave another letter." Hugh snorted.
"Old man..." Leo was already emotional. When Hugh showed even that much care, he nearly broke down again.
"Tch. Don’t get soft on me." Hugh waved him off. "But be careful with these metals. The dark one has a hunger. The blood metal carries a strong killing intent that can influence you if your will isn’t firm enough. I don’t want to hear that you accidentally forged something that tried to eat the neighbors—or that you lost your mind and went on a killing rampage."
Leo nodded slowly, a light smile touching his lips. "I’ll try to keep the cannibalism to a minimum. Haha."
Hugh nodded and turned toward the forge hearth. "One more thing."
He turned back, voice casual. "Strangers in town. It’s been a few days now. There are people asking around about a young blacksmith."
He paused, letting Leo absorb it.
"And they’re paying anyone who can answer or point them in the right direction. Fancy lot."
Leo’s eyes narrowed. His mind went cold.
"Strangers, you say? Was it a group or some organization?"
Hugh frowned, clearly searching his memory. He stared into the middle distance for a long moment, wrestling with it.
"They say they belong to some organization... or guild. Something called the... ah, damn it, what was it?" He snapped his fingers a few times. "A. Ascen... Ascen-what... Ascen-doodle... no." He scowled, then suddenly straightened as if struck by brilliance.
He looked proud for a second. Then the confidence cracked.
"The Awkward Ants."
He nodded firmly, as if the matter were settled.
A beat of silence followed.
....
"...Wait. No. Accidents. The Accidents," Hugh corrected quickly, looking vaguely offended at his own brain. "I meant the Accidents. Obviously. Why would anyone call themselves the Awkward Ants?"
He nodded with complete confidence.
"Yes. The Accidents. From what I hear they’re a dangerous lot—always vanishing, always causing trouble, always leaving messes behind. Name fits perfectly if you ask me."
Leo’s expression went through several stages in the span of a few seconds.
First came blank confusion. Doodle?
Then a slow, incredulous blinks...
Finally his mouth and brow began twitching. And when Hugh delivered the name with such absolute certainty, a vein actually bulged on Leo’s forehead, twitching in perfect rhythm with the rest of his face.
Seeing the look, Hugh quickly went to the rack, ransacked the scrolls, pulled out a rolled sheet, and tossed it to Leo. "Take a look at this."
Leo unrolled it.
Inside was his own face—a printed likeness, young, broad-shouldered, close enough. Under it, block letters:
**WANTED.**
**LEO STONE.**
Reward for information.
Alive preferred.
Contact Ascendant Holdings.
Leo’s blood ran cold.
"What the fuck...?"
His voice came out low and dangerous.
"What does this mean, ’wanted’? Am I a criminal now?"
Anger surged through him, sharp and sudden.
Those damn investors. So this was how they wanted to play.
A cold smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Fine.
I am a blacksmith. And if I use every loophole the system has given me, I can probably earn more than them, crush more than them, and bury them under their own games.
Hell, I could put a bounty on every single one of their names if I wanted.
Just wait, you bastards.
Leo was already imagining the revenge plan with a smile, momentarily forgetting that he had only just gotten rid of his debt and was nowhere near that rich yet.
He finally cooled down and let out a breath.
Paul... the investors...
They know I’m alive.
"Are you in some kind of trouble, kid? Want me to make a few calls? I have pretty good relations with the guard captains." Hugh offered.
Leo shook his head. "No need to worry."
He steered the conversation back. "So you’re really just going to give me these metals?"
Hugh looked at him. "Yes. Take them before I change my mind."
Leo looked at the two stacks of metal, then back at Hugh.
A slow, crooked smile spread across his face.
"Old man," he said, "come back with me."
Hugh blinked. "Come back where?"
"My smithy." Leo’s smile widened. "It’s just around the corner, outside of town. In the woods."
Hugh stared at him. His face slowly contorted.
"You brat," he said. "You opened a smithy in the middle of the jungle? You’re already working with souls and weapons... what next? Are you selling gear to the dead as well? Or is there a wild boar out there wearing full armor and swinging a sword?"
Hugh looked ready to blow a fuse.
But Leo stayed calm. He didn’t waver.
"Don’t you want to know what I’ve been doing?" he said. "And it’s right next to Ironhaven. No matter where I am, I’ll always come back to my forge."
He let that settle, then added, almost casually, "Plus, I’ve got some books and scrolls from Asgard. Knowledge that’s not available here. Who knows—you might just get a breakthrough."
Hugh’s ears practically perked up at that.
"Where did you say it was?" he asked, already straightening. "Come on, let’s go. What are you standing around for?"
"Haha, let’s go." Leo was a bit dumbfounded by Hugh’s sudden change of attitude.
He must have been searching desperately for a way to break through.
He gathered the metal. On his way out he casually asked, "Hugh, mind if I borrow your greatest work?" He didn’t wait for an answer. He simply grabbed the sword and walked away.
Hugh remained standing, not quite knowing what had just happened.
After a moment—
"Brat...!" he roared. "Brat! What are you going to do with that sword? I swear if you so much as put a scratch on it, I’m gonna skin you alive, you hear me?!"
Leo just nodded. "Okay! Okay!!" rubbing his ears with his pinky.
They left the town together.
The road narrowed as the last houses fell behind them, and the trees closed in on either side. The path underfoot grew softer, carpeted with old leaves and damp earth. After a while Hugh broke the silence.
"How far?"
"Just around the corner. We’re almost there."
Hugh shot him a sideways look. "You said that twenty minutes ago."
Leo grinned. "I didn’t know you walked this slow."
Hugh’s eyes narrowed. He said nothing for a stretch, then muttered under his breath,
"Aigoo... my knees are too old for this."
"Come on, we’re almost there."
That did it.
Hugh stopped dead. "Fuck. How long are we from the place? Give me the exact distance."
Leo scratched his cheek. "Hmm. Half a mile, maybe? A short half-mile."
"There is no short half-mile, you idiot. There’s only half a mile."
From inside Leo’s mind, Surtr snickered.
"Then walk faster," Leo said.
"I’m old, not young anymore. You’re killing my knees."
They kept moving. The woods grew quieter the deeper they went. Birds that had been calling earlier had fallen silent. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Suddenly Leo raised a hand. "Stop."
Hugh halted. "What?"
Leo’s eyes swept the trees. "Do you feel like we’re being watched?"
Hugh snorted. "Watched by what? The trees? Let them watch. Keep moving."
Leo felt it —that low, prickling sense that something was off. His passive scan still showed nothing, so he forced himself to keep walking.
A few minutes later the notifications started.
[Ding~]
[Ding~]
[Ding~]
Multiple signatures. Closing in.
By the time the last alert faded, Leo and Hugh were already surrounded.
Ten figures stepped out from the undergrowth and the shadows between the trees, blocking the path ahead and cutting off the way back.
Rough clothes. Drawn weapons. Hard eyes.
Player Bandits.
Levels 15–20. All of them.
They didn’t ask for money. They didn’t demand surrender. They simply attacked, the way men who lived by killing and looting always did.
Leo’s hand was already on the hilt. He drew the sword—the same blade Hugh had once called his greatest work—and the steel rang clear in the sudden quiet of the woods.
Two blades came at him from opposite sides. He stepped between them.
[Tempered Strike]
-120 DMG
-80 DMG
Both men staggered. Leo spun, golden-white flames erupting along the blade, and carved a wide horizontal arc. Four more caught the edge—armor scorched, HP bars dropping hard, but not far enough.
"Hey—careful with that sword!" Hugh barked, even as another bandit lunged at him. Hugh met the charge with a short, ugly cut that sent the man reeling, then planted himself at Leo’s back without another word.
An arrow screamed toward Leo’s chest. He didn’t dodge. The blade flicked up. The arrow split cleanly; the pieces spun past his shoulders.
The archer’s eyes went wide.
"Nope," Leo said. "Try again never."
One of the bandits froze mid-step, staring hard at Leo’s face. He yanked open his interface.
"It’s him!" he shouted. "The bounty! Notify the others—now!"
Leo’s jaw tightened. "Tch."
The message was already gone. More would be coming. He needed to finish this.
[Primordial Trinity – Activated]
All stats +100% for 30 seconds
Mana capacity doubled
[Hyperfocus – Activated]
Perception and comprehension boosted
The world slowed. Every movement around him became sharp, readable, almost polite in how clearly it announced itself.
Leo exhaled once and stepped into the circle.
Flames of gold, green, black, and white coiled around him like living ribbons. The first bandit came in with a heavy overhead chop. Leo saw the entire path of the blade before it began to fall. He sidestepped as if the man were moving through water and drew a single clean line across the exposed neck.
The bandit vanished in a scatter of light.
"One."
Two more charged together.
Leo parried the first; the force of the block sent the man stumbling forward onto his knees. The second swung for Leo’s head. Leo planted one boot on the fallen bandit’s back and vaulted in a high arcing flip. The second blade cut empty air. He landed lightly behind a third who had been looking the wrong way.
Leo tapped the man on the shoulder.
"Hey."
The bandit spun. Leo’s sword was already through his chest.
"Two."
A spiked mace whistled in from the side. Leo dropped low, one hand kissing the ground as the weapon screamed over his head. The mace rose again for a downward smash.
Leo pushed off the earth, body spinning upward in a tight corkscrew. He landed for a single impossible heartbeat on the flat of the raised mace itself, then launched higher. The sword flashed once. The mace-wielder’s head left his shoulders in a clean arc of light.
"Three."
Two more came from opposite sides—one with a spear, one with a short sword.
Leo closed the distance on the spearman in a single burst. The spear point slid past his cheek by a finger’s width. His own blade was already buried in the man’s chest.
As the spearman collapsed, Leo’s boot caught the falling spear mid-air and kicked it backward like a thrown lance. The weapon punched straight through the second bandit’s eye socket.
The body dropped.
"Four... Five."
Leo straightened. The multi-colored flames still curled around him. Five bodies of light had already faded into the forest floor. Five more remained, circling warily now, the easy confidence drained from their faces.
Hugh stood a few paces back, sword raised, watching with a mixture of shock and something that might have been pride. Blood already marked the edge of his blade—two bandits had tried him and regretted it.
Leo rolled his shoulders once.
"Next."
He charged at the archer. She was still fumbling to nock another arrow, hands trembling. The shaft left the string. Leo’s blade flicked once—clean, almost casual—and the arrow split in two. Before either half could hit the ground he was already in front of her.
She tried to step back. Leo seized the bow with his free hand and drove the sword across her throat in the same motion. She clutched at the wound, eyes wide, and collapsed.
Two assassins came at him from opposite flanks—one low for the his legs, the other high for the throat. Leo dropped his weight and tilted his head. The lower blade hissed past his ear. The upper stroke cut only air. Without looking, he reversed his grip and drove the sword backward. It found the high assassin’s heart on the first thrust.
He caught the remaining assassin’s extended arm, yanked the man off-balance, and drove a boot straight into his face. The body hit the ground hard. Leo rose, yanked his sword free, and chased after the second.
A shield-bearer roared and barreled forward, hoping sheer mass would bowl him over. Leo waited until the last possible instant, then stepped aside. As the man thundered past, the sword found the base of his skull finishing the shield bearer.
Leo drew a dagger from his back and threw it in the same motion. The fleeing assassin went down with the blade buried between his shoulder blades.
Only the healer remained—a young woman.
"Can you please let me go?" she asked.
Leo shook his head.
"You’ll just call more. You won’t die. Just respawn. Farewell."
The sword fell. She vanished.
"Ten."
Silence returned to the woods. Only the faint crackle of Leo’s fading flames remained.
Hugh exhaled slowly, sword still half-raised.
"You really don’t do half measures, do you?"
Leo rolled his shoulders again. The last ribbons of primordial fire winked out.
"They started it."
He wiped the blade once against his coat and sheathed it. The path ahead was clear again—no more bodies, no more ambush, just quiet trees and the knowledge that somewhere out there the bounty message was already spreading.
Leo glanced at Hugh. "Come on. Before the next wave decides to show up."
...