Chapter 84- Stalkers in the Penn Avenue.
Hugh was now an Epic Rank Blacksmith.
After reading through every notification, Hugh and Leo looked at each other.
Leo saw that Hugh Looked a little different.
Something had changed....
Wrinkles on his face, saggy eyes, a glow in his skin....
"Can you feel it?" Leo asked.
Hugh nodded. "I feel different. I feel like I can run for miles and not get tired. I can feel the fire differently too."
"Maybe because you look a little younger than before?"
Hugh looked at Leo with strange expression. Thinking Leo was just teasing him, he shrugged it off and carefully watched the sword he had just forged.
Leo noticed Hugh attention was in the sword so, he also walked toward the anvil and picked up the Ashen Blade with curiosity.
This was the first time he had held an Epic Rank sword. He could feel the blade humming with qi. The flow of qi and mana into the weapon was smooth and steady.
Leo checked the attributes again. He had only skimmed through the skills earlier when Hugh shared the full set of notifications with him. So he had not been able to see the attributes till now.
[Ashen Blade (Epic Rank)]
STR +80 / DEX +60 / VIT +30
Qi Pool Capacity: +80
Durability: 150/150
Passives and Actives: .....
"Whoa. The stats are insane. I could probably fight all those Ascendant bastards with ease if I had this," Leo muttered.
Seeing Leo’s astonished expression, Hugh puffed out his chest with a smug smile that clearly said, ’Go ahead, praise me’.
Leo searched for the right words. "This sword is so awesome, Hugh. You forged something like this. You’re a badass blacksmith."
Hugh still looked pleased until Leo spoke again.
"Here, I’m returning your previous masterpiece. I’ll be borrowing the Ashen Blade for a while."
Hugh froze. "Wha... what?"
He wanted to argue, but Leo was already swinging the sword around like it belonged to him. Hugh could only sigh and shake his head....
Leo settled into a basic stance. Feet shoulder-width apart. Weight on the balls of his feet. Right hand on the grip, left hand supporting the pommel. Rook’s lessons had drilled the fundamentals deep enough that his body moved without conscious thought.
He swung.
A simple horizontal cut. Nothing fancy.
The blade parted the air with far less resistance than any weapon he had held before—and Leo had held many as a blacksmith.
There was no singing, no ringing, no dramatic whoosh...
Just a clean, quiet displacement of air, like a whisper.
Then... the hum started.
A stream of qi rose from the sword, passed through the hilt into Leo’s hands, and continued up into his chest.
[Ding~]
[Hidden Passive Discovered]
[Passive: Heart Blood Bond]
Wielder Qi regeneration +15%.
Leo felt it immediately. His qi pool stirred and began to recover faster than usual.
Surtr, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke. "That sword was not made for you. Don’t get too attached to it. But... it shall serve you until you get your own sword back."
Leo asked in surprise, "What do you mean?"
Surtr fell silent again...
No further reply came.
Seeing Leo swinging the sword Master Rook came forward eager for the spar.
Leo sparred with Rook using the new sword.
For a while he could even overpower the old man through pure stats.The Ashen Blade’s raw power let him force Rook onto the back foot. Every clash sent sparks of qi scattering across the stone.
For nearly a full minute Leo felt the intoxicating rush of superiority—until Rook’s eyes sharpened.
The old swordsman’s posture shifted by the smallest degree. Then the gap in skill became a chasm.
Leo could no longer touch even the sleeve of Rook’s robe. Every attack was redirected, every opening closed before it fully formed. When they finally stepped apart, Leo was breathing harder than he wanted to admit.
After a few more exchanges, Leo was dead tired.
Seeing they could no longer continue the spar Hugh approached them. "I should go back. My smithy has been almost closed for nearly a week."
Leo nodded. They really needed to leave. He had been stuck at the same level for too long and needed to start grinding again.
Rook agreed. "Yes, let’s go. I also need to level up and finish this class advancement thing. My disciples are creating some fencing guild and want me to come take a look."
Leo nodded and sheathed the Ashen Blade across his back. The weapon was a little too long for his waist.
He guided both Hugh and Master Rook out of the forge dimension. Together they made their way back to Iron Haven.
Soon they reached Hugh’s smithy. Hugh immediately began rearranging the shop, checking pending work and old orders, going through the lists one by one.
Seeing that Hugh was already busy, Rook and Leo said their goodbyes.
It had been several days since both Master Rook and Leo had logged out.
After reaching the smithy, they promptly logged out. Hugh had given them permission to stay and log out from the smithy.
Before that, Leo had always needed to return to an inn or find an open public area that belonged to no one. He didn’t even know that was possible. He really wanted to complain to Hugh about it, but he just kept his mouth shut.
---
Penn Avenue, midnight.
Stone’s smithy was dark. The living quarters attached to the shop were dark as well. The streets outside were empty—no pedestrians, no traffic. Only the orange glow of the street lamps remained.
Leo had already logged out, but he did not turn on the lights as he had felt some presence outside.
Perhaps it was because he had learned qi sense and qi circulation.
His senses felt sharper than before...
Outside, two vehicles sat on the street.
The first was a black sedan—the same one that had watched him in the past when Paul’s men kept tabs on him. It was parked in the same spot across the street, engine off, windows tinted. Even so, Leo could make out two figures inside.
He had not logged out for days. They might have been sitting there the entire time. They were almost certainly Paul’s people.
Behind the sedan, farther down the block, sat a dark SUV, roughly thirty meters away. Leo could not tell whether it simply happened to be parked there or whether it belonged to the same group. Both cars looked out of place in this neighborhood. The SUV also had tinted windows.
Leo felt people inside the SUV as well, though the distance made it harder to be certain.
He carefully reached for the gun, just in case someone decided to force their way inside. He also picked up a wooden practice sword Master Rook had left for him during a previous visit.
The game’s synchronization with his real body was growing stronger. Leo felt his strength was already approaching the superhuman threshold. Still, he was certain he could not stop a bullet with his body.
He was not sure what to do next....
Should he walk outside and knock on the car window? Or stay inside and do nothing?
Thoughts ran through his mind for a long moment. In the end he decided to wait and see how they reacted when he turned on the light.
Leo switched on the lights. He sat down in a chair, placed the gun on the table, and kept the wooden sword within easy reach.
Then..... he watched the door.
He waited nearly an hour. No one approached.
Eventually he started scrolling through the news.
One notification caught his attention. A player had recorded a gory scene of villages inside Myth Online. Entire villages in the Verdant Valley region appeared to have been massacred.
Leo shook his head. Probably just NPC bandits.
He waited through the rest of the night.
Dawn arrived....
The sun would rise soon.
Leo looked through the window. Both the sedan and the SUV remained exactly where they had been, with no sign of movement.
As Leo opened the curtain a little wider and watched outside, the sedan’s door finally opened.
Leo tensed.
A man stepped out—about six feet tall, wearing a long dark coat. He did not approach the shop. He simply leaned against the hood of the car and lit a cigarette.
As he took a puff, he glanced toward the SUV parked farther down the block. He took another puff and then looked directly at the windows of Leo’s smithy.
Leo was sure the man could not see him clearly through the small gap in the curtain. Yet the man smiled in the direction of the window where Leo stood.
Then the man took out a phone and typed something.
A moment later Leo’s phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number appeared.
No name, nothing else—just the text:
"We’re not here to hurt you, Mr. Stone. We’re here because someone wants to meet you. When you’re ready, please open the door."
Leo read it and looked back at the man. The man was now openly waving in his direction.
Leo thought for a while, then opened his contacts and found Cindy’s number—the girl from the salle, Rook’s granddaughter.
He typed:
"This is Leo. I’m currently being watched by two strange cars. They’ve been waiting outside for a few days, I think. They finally texted me saying they want to talk. I’m going to meet them in thirty minutes. Make sure to tell Master Rook and bring some people just in case."
He sent the message, then decided he would open the door.
He stayed by the window for nearly thirty minutes, watching the street.
Morning had fully arrived.
Shopkeepers were opening their stores. Light traffic began to move. People walked past on the sidewalk.
Finally Leo walked to the door.
His hand rested on the knob. He took a deep breath and turned it.
Clack.
He opened the door and stepped outside, walking toward the sedan.
The man had been reaching for another cigarette. When he saw Leo he stopped searching for the cigarette and smiled.
He extended his hand for a handshake.
Leo simply stared at him without moving.
The man shrugged, pulled a cigarette from the pack, and offered it to Leo.
Leo remained silent, still staring.
...