Bornandtorn - Chapter 91 Orders have to be followed

The brawny NPC moved towards the frightened crowd. He has his eyes closed but his body forces him to complete the order. Free will was a mere illusion. his master’s order is above all. With heavy steps, he came in front of the crowd, which did not understand the predicament they were in.

He tried to stop his body, but it did not listen. His big hands grabbed the throat of an elderly man and began to squeeze. The elderly man was full of distress and his eyes were asking for a reason to understand this situation, but this question would remain unanswered forever.

The NPCs could only watch in sheer horror,witnessing the murder in front of their eyes. The skin turning purple, the faint sound of gasping for air burned itself in their retina.

This act of violence was born from a simple order. “Kill them for me”, issued so nonchalantly, one might think, it was none of his concern.

Every onlooker was curious at best, most did not even pay attention to the cruel spectacle in front of them. They were still busy thinking about strategies and the rules, that had appeared on their interface. The minority of participants would willingly waste their time, doing something so pointless.

The corpse of the old men fell to the ground after the brawny men finally let go of his neck.Amad cry left his mouth, after killing with his own hands. But the madness had only just begun, it would only stop after the order had been carried out.

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The next target was a petite young girl, that just so happened to stand close to the unfortunate elderly man. She was going to suffer the same fate, no one came to her aid. Everyone was rooted to the ground by sheer fear. How could they survive this ordeal? They were weak, surrounded and outnumbered.

After the young girl’s windpipe had been crushed, it was a young boy that followed. Afterwards, it was a youth whose life came to an end. The distance between these corpses was mere centimetres. Yet, this gap was insurmountable and in the end, they were all alone.

In a minute, 4 lives were extinguished by a single man. Whether they screamed or begged for forgiveness, no one was spared, their sole fate was to turn into a victim. Facing certain death, many different reactions came to light, but those were all ignored.

Yet the youth who had issued the order clicked his teeth in sheer annoyance. He was not satisfied with the performance of his new slave.” I did not have high expectations, to begin with, and I still was disappointed”, he murmured to himself as he watched the NPC trying to accomplish the task given to him.

The instruction was simple and concise and did not impose any restriction on his NPC. So why did it act like this? Did the developers lose their sanity? They are asking for the impossible by forcing those NPCs upon them.

What could be learned by directing this bunch of uncultured savages? This being is nothing more than a relic from the times of old. Its extinction is proof of that. Was he supposed to wait here silently while his slave was continuing to embarrass him?

” What a nuisance, how are we supposed to rely on those brutes? They can’t even solve such a simple task, without taking up so much time. Getting rid of the competition is a good idea, but how long do you want to stand here waiting?” a voice chimed in garnering attention.

” I am not afraid of anyone here, but I do not want to waste my time either.” said another person adding fuel to the fire.

Many people agreed with that opinion, as the result was visible right in front of their eyes. Killing measly 4 people in a minute, was not tolerable. The sooner those NPCs died the better.

While they had no qualms about killing NPCs and subsequentially eliminating the direct competition, they wanted to avoid any potential trouble, that might arise out of those acts. That is why everyone was hesitant to take the first step. But after the first act of murder had been committed with no consequences coming out of it, the wariness started to disappear.

It did not take long before many orders were voiced and the NPCs started to move against their own will.The issue with the quivering crowd had been solved without any hesitation. Not one of them paid any attention to their slaves, this issue had already disappeared out of their mind.

Whether anyone of those NPCs lived was none of their concern. If there was no harm done, by causing their death, then why should anyone of them care?

There has to be an alternative way for others to partake in this event. Otherwise, their deeds would not have gone unpunished. So whether they lived or died truly did not matter in their eyes. For them, it was just a simple way to kill some time and to evaluate the strength of these NPCs.

Though nobody stated their intent outright, doing so would gain them no advantage.Spending any more time than necessary on this was considered an absolute waste.

The pained sound resulting out of massacre did not bother them.They happily ignored the terrifying mass of NPCs, that found itself confronted with an inescapable nightmare. Every one of them would have to die here, no one could escape this fate. The pain and the haunting expression of the freshly deceased were not enough to raise any interest. Enough of those had already been seen.

Many Participants left the scene and did not even take a look back. Their focus was on the strange set of rules and how to proceed not on something as trivial as those NPCs.

Their corpses were just piled up and left there to rot. This mountain of flesh was a testament to how many lives were taken in this place. Yet it was still growing, as more and more corpses found their way into it. Men and women alike were thrown onto it, after losing their lives.

Although a few people cheered upon seeing it, most people could not care any less about it. Such a sight did not stir any emotion in them. Watching the dwindling number of NPCs they were losing the rest of their interest as nothing of importance would come out for them staying here.

Buried deep underneath the flesh mountain was a young boy with his burning hair still sleeping like a log.He showed no signs of waking up any time soon. Unbothered by the turmoil. he had a happy expression on this face, that looked bizarre given the distress surrounding him.

His faint snoring was drowned by the noise so full of pain and misery. Whether he truly would have cared about the ongoing event is beside the question. Though if anyone decided to deal with him he would be in for a rude awakening.

After most of the participants had dispersed only a handful of players were staying behind. They were a small group consisting out of minor figures not known by the general public. Despite their meagre reputation, they should not be underestimated. What they lacked in strength, was more than equalized by their ability in their respective field. This group covered a lot of expertise in many different fields.

” Thanks for the quick cover, boss. I nearly gave myself away.” said the young men who had started the massacre by ordering his NPC. He donned normal clothes, that did not stand out. Though there was a certain symbol etched into his right sleeve.

This symbol was a small yet delicate black rose, its design was fancy and small golden elements were added to it. Not many people had ever seen it, but it invoked a noble feeling just by looking at it.

“What did you discover? Committing mistakes like that is quite untypical of you.”The man who had spoken those words was of average height and did not have any characteristics, that would make him special. Even his bearing did not draw any attention to him.

Yet this man was thoroughly revered by his group. The gazes thrown at him were full of respect.

” After giving the order, I checked the status of those deceased NPCs and I noticed, that they still could be hired. I do not have to tell you the implications that come with that knowledge. Your grin is proof enough of that.”

” Duran, try to hire one.” said their boss without any fluctuations in his voice.

Duran did not hesitate to follow the order from his boss and he chose a random NPC out of the enormous pile. He did not care about whom or what he would hire. Minimizing the loss was none of his concern, as those NPCs did not cost all too much money.

He did not even look at the body that slowly stood up and returned from the dead. A glance at its status was enough to confirm his theory. Those NPCs could return from their grave if a certain price is paid.

” Kneel,”said the leader within his usual emotionless voice.

But the NPC did not show any signs of reacting to that order. The leader did not look all too surprised at the result. But Duran was everything but calm after seeing the behaviour of his slave. His expression was full of anger as he began to scream,

” KNEEL IF HE SAYS TO KNEEL”

After hearing those words the NPC could not help but kneel. The emotional distress visible on his face from the trauma he just had to bear was not a detail anyone paid attention to, their focus lied elsewhere.

Their eyes were glued at the status of the initial slave as they discovered something they had missed entirely. The level of the initial slave had increased after killing his peers. It was not hard to understand that they are not going to be the only one discovering this, but as of now they are the only ones who could profit from it.

Although this realisation only came to Duran and his leader, both of them knew exactly how much of an advantage this knowledge could bring them. They could increase the strength of their troops for a very low cost and they were not even forced to scout the world for the best NPCs.

This methodology did not cost too much of their resources and could be repeated until their funds had been depleted. A grin plastered the face of Duran after thinking more and more about their situation.

Running out of money was something extremely unlikely because the rules did not state that working together was forbidden. It was the exact opposite it was almost necessary to do so. A good tactician has to seek as many advantages as possible.

Those stuck with traditional and old values were doomed to suffer. The ways of old which emphasized honour and nobility had no place in this kind of competition. Success was the only thing of value

That is why Duran was so assured about their future. They were not willing to follow the footsteps of their ancestors, they wanted to treat their path. This competition is the perfect stage to prove their ability once and for all.

Duran spent no time before he resuscitated another set of NPCs. This small group could not enjoy the sunlight for a very long time before another order had been issued sealing their fate. The first revived NPC was tasked with ending their lives. He did not even try to resist the order and his body moved on his own to fulfil his mission.

Visible confusion appeared on their faces, as they could not fathom what was happening to them. Sheer disbelief of being alive again. It had been minutes before they brutally lost their lives and yet the same was going to happen once more.

Their renewed live came to an abrupt end as it was chocked out of them. Despite their prior experiences, the pain was not diminished. It rather intensified knowing what was about to come. Even as they tried to run away from all the horror a simple stay sufficed to force them to stop.

Duran did not voice this order to inflict as much suffering as possible, all he wanted to do was to verify his observations. The peril of the NPCs was nothing more than a simple side effect that came with it, nothing more and nothing less. But this thought never crossed his mind. Why should it? He was dealing with NPCs, not with something real.

After watching the spectacle unfold he checked the status of the NPC to see how much his level had risen, only to notice that no change had taken place. Not sure whether he had made a mistake or made a false observation he decided to repeat the same process to see where he went wrong.

To replicate the proceedings, he had to revive the NPCs once again and issue the same task to the same NPC once more. Disregarding the even more terrified NPCs nothing had changed. This outcome did not change no matter how often he repeated this experiment. After the sixth time, he decided to change some things to find the root of the problem.

Switching the NPC who is in charge did not lead to a different result, neither did something different happen after reviving an entirely different set of NPCs. Changing the number of killed NPCs also did not lead to success. Even after increasing the number of NPCs up to 20 no visible change occurred. Using multiple NPCs at the same time to kill the rest of the NPCs, did not yield a favourable result.

It took quite a lot of time till he discovered, that experience was only granted to NPCs if they killed another NPC that was not affiliated with it. Though this observation came by sheer accident as it resulted out a fight between 2 NPCs orchestrated out of boredom between 2 of their members that could do nothing but watch the experiments.

After yet another round of experiments to confirm this kind of theory he finally succeeded. This success was built on the egregious participation from the selfless NPCs. Their noble bearing will be a role model for future generations and a beacon of hope in these dire times.

———————————-

Could you stop narrating as if I could not see what was happening right in front of my eyes? Do you treat me like a total idiot?

” That’s rich coming from someone who pulled such an idiotic stunt, that left you in this incapacitated state with nearly all of your muscles deteriorated. You can barely move your body. And you are currently devouring the flesh of those NPCs as if your life depends on it. Treating you like an idiot is the least I can do.”

Do you think I want to eat them? That is one of the worst things I could do. After all human flesh has next to no nutritional value. It is just better than eating the air. What other choice do you think is left for me? It is in our best interest, that we do not end up being enslaved by those players.I still have no clue what that Observer wants to achieve by sending me in this chaos.

” It truly does not look too good for you right now. Right now the only thing standing between you and them is this pile of human bodies. Though I do wonder, why exactly those players were given the right to dictate any NPC.”

I do not have the luxury to think about the when and why as long as I have not escaped from this small group of players. It is unlucky that my condition does not allow me any kind of fighting. My options are limited as it is and the more time I spent here, the bleaker my future will look like.

As of now, they have recruited more than 20 people and the number will only rise from now on. After they finally found the formula to train them, the process will only get faster and faster. They have no time to waste and I do not think they would make an exception for me even if I am special.

Directly talking to them is also out of the question, as I do not want to give away my existence in the first place. If I get caught and become their slave I will lose my freedom and my ability to choose, I will be nothing more than a tool, that has to follow their orders regardless of the circumstances.

I would rather have to listen to your endless ramblings about your battle against magic, then being forced to follow their orders.

” Your ability to hide insults in your compliments is as splendid as ever. So what’s your plan? You would not act that calm and composed if you did not have a plan.”

The only thing I have to say, that the orders of those NPCs have to be followed and you should see where the path to my escape lies.

” I am asking for your plan, not for the obvious.”

I am surrounded by a pile of dead bodies that are going to be revived soon with absolute certainty. The number of NPCs will likely be spread over the group so that they can level with great efficiency, That means that I can just stand up with the crowd, no one will notice a thing I hardly doubt that they will pay any attention to the details and will just hire every NPC until there is no one left. Then I will just have to create a diversion and disappear while they are busy.

” That is your big plan? Seems to be full of holes, but that is just as usual.”

As negative as always. Though I still do not know the capabilities of my body I will have to work with what is given. Before that, I want to say one thing though…

Ah dang it, we wasted too much time talking it is time to act.

This body feels way too heavy, next time please stop me before I pull crazy stuns like that. So who of these lovely fellas is the perfect target?

” What about the one with the big muscles and the broad stature”

No that is way too eye-catching. I need someone bland. Let me pick this young man. He is not too big not too old not too muscular and not too meek. The emotional turmoil invisible in his face is easily exploitable. The trauma he just went through is most likely still deeply embedded in his soul.

Nobody would think straight after that stuff. So this should be quiet easy. My small hand reached towards the cloth on his back and prevented him from moving on and my small nails were embedded into his skin.A pained cry escaped his mouth but he began to suppress his voice after many eyes looked into his direction.

I spoke slowly with a voice only he could hear.

” Relax, I mean no harm. You only have to do one little favour for me and then you are free to go. And please do not raise your voice again to bring unwanted attention, those things tend to not end all too well. But if you plan something stupid, I will take appropriate actions. Neither of us wants that things go that far, right? Orders have to be followed after all.”

Now let us see what goes wrong this time.

As this voice came into my mind it had already started.