Kael drew his bow, aimed for the shadowy figure’s leg, and loosed an arrow.

  -395

  Thwump!

  The man cried out and collapsed onto the windowsill. Without hesitating, he rolled off the ledge and scrambling away into the darkness.

  Kael lowered his bow, waiting until the thief was a good twenty yards away before setting off in pursuit. He could have easily fired a few more shots to finish him off right there, but that would only complete a simple D-rank quest. His real plan was to follow him.

  Despite the arrow in his leg, the thief moved with surprising speed. He kept glancing over his shoulder but never spotted the person tailing him from the shadows. After weaving through a few alleys, the figure ducked into a small chapel.

  Inside, the man entered a private room, shut the door, and pulled off his black clothes and hood. The thief was an Acolyte.

  He placed a jar of Healing Salve and some bandages on a small table. Gritting his teeth, he yanked the arrow from his thigh, hissing in pain.

  As he opened the salve, he muttered venomously, “Jack, you bastard. Hiring someone to ambush me… Just you wait. I’ll be feeding you and your wife to the fish!” He dabbed the wound, wincing. “And I’d love to know who the hell it was that ruined my night.”

  An arrow suddenly shot through the open window, answering his question.

  The Acolyte roared, “Who’s there?! You dare follow me? Show your face!” He grabbed a brutal-looking cleaver from under his cot and stormed out the door.

  Anticipating this, Kael had already backed off another ten yards. He sent another arrow flying.

  Thwip!

  It struck the Acolyte in the arm, drawing blood. But the man didn't even flinch, charging forward and raising the cleaver high. Kael dodged, firing another arrow on the move. The Acolyte staggered but kept coming, his teeth bared in a snarl.

  This time, Kael had nowhere to dodge. He braced himself as the cleaver came down.

  -382

  A huge chunk of Kael’s health bar vanished, giving him a genuine shock. His attack should only be around 100, how did he hit for over 380? Was that a crit?

  Kael’s Constitution was 24, giving him 480 HP. If it hadn’t been for the +5 Constitution bonus from his [Vanguard of Defiance] title, that blow would have killed him instantly.

  Wasting no time, he tore into a piece of Prime Steak, his health ticking back up at 167 points per second. Without pause, he loosed another arrow.

  -409

  That was too much for the wounded Acolyte. He couldn’t take another step and collapsed to the ground. Kael approached, pulling a rope from his inventory and tying the man up.

  The Acolyte, still conscious, glared at him. “Who are you? Why are you getting in my way?”

  Kael offered a sarcastic smile. “Let’s just say I’m doing a public service.”

  The Acolyte spat. “Bullshit. Did the Blackwind Brotherhood send you?”

  Kael shook his head. “Nope.”

  Hearing this, the Acolyte seemed to relax slightly, his tone softening. “Look, man, I just got greedy. The other day, I was washing up by the river and saw Jack pull a Lumina Shard out of the water. That’s all. I swear, I’ve never hurt anyone in this village. Let me go, and I’ll give you all the treasures I’ve collected.”

  A system notification appeared before Kael.

  [System: You have received the quest [Haelan's Plea]. Do you let him go?]

  Kael knew that freeing him would indeed grant him a couple of decent items. But that wasn’t what he was after.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  He chuckled. “I believe you when you say you haven’t hurt anyone in our village.”

  A look of hope flashed across Haelan’s face.

  Kael’s smile sharpened. “But how many people did you hurt before you came here?”

  The color drained from Haelan’s face.

  Kael was done talking. He stuffed a gag in the man's mouth and dragged him back into the room. After dropping him in a corner, Kael knelt and felt around under the bed. Soon, his fingers found a loose floorboard. He pried it up and pulled out a heavy bundle. Haelan watched, his eyes wide with terror. That bundle contained all of his stolen goods.

  Kael didn’t open it, simply placing it in his inventory. He knew it was full of quest items, useless for anything else. Then he hoisted Haelan to his feet and began the walk to the guardhouse.

  Every starting village had a contingent of guards tasked with keeping the peace. When Kael arrived at the hall with his prisoner, the guard captain, Edward, looked at him in confusion. “Why have you brought Haelan here in bonds?”

  “He’s the one who’s been robbing Jack the fisherman,” Kael stated plainly. “I caught him in the act tonight.”

  “What did he steal?” Edward asked.

  Kael shook his head. “I stopped him before he could take anything.”

  “It’s a frame-up!” Haelan garbled through the gag. “I was just going out to hunt some rabbits for dinner when he ambushed me!”

  Captain Edward nodded slowly. “You need to catch a thief red-handed. If he didn’t take anything, how do you even know he was stealing? And Jack’s just a poor fisherman—what could he even steal, a few fish?”

  As soon as he finished speaking, Kael received a quest prompt.

  [System: Explain the situation to Captain Edward.]

  [Option 1: Reveal the Lumina Shard.]

  [Option 2: Find other evidence.]

  Kael knew option one was a trap. The Lumina Shard would be confiscated as state property. Normally, choosing the second option would require him to go back to the chapel to search for evidence. But Kael was already prepared.

  He pulled the bundle from his inventory and handed it to the captain. “I found this stash of stolen goods under his bed. This guy’s hands aren’t clean.”

  Edward took the bundle, placed it on his desk, and carefully untied it. His eyes widened. “This… this is…” His hands began to tremble. “This ruby… could it be the Crimson Tear? It was stolen from the richest merchant in Silverstream two years ago! Pike, fetch me the file on the Crimson Tear! And wait… these Spidersilk gloves… aren’t these the ones that went missing from the Baron’s second daughter? And this…”

  One by one, the captain pulled eight priceless items from the sack. He instantly recognized the origin of four of them and suspected the others were just as infamous.

  Kael added casually, “I also heard that Haelan has ties to the Blackwind Brotherhood…”

  “The Blackwind Brotherhood?” Edward flinched, nearly dropping a priceless vase. He steadied it, his brow furrowed in deep thought. After a long moment, he said gravely, “Thank you for bringing this miscreant to justice. Here is your reward. You may go.”

  [System: You have brought Haelan to justice and received a [Bounty Writ].]

  [System: Lucky Bonus triggered! You receive an additional [Bounty Writ].]

  [Bounty Writ]

  Issue a bounty on a player. Any other player may then hunt the target. Duration: 72 hours.

  Finally got it.

  The Bounty Writ was a special item. Only one was generated on the entire server per day. Of course, there were conditions for its use:

  The target must have maliciously killed other players.

  The user must have engaged in combat with the target.

  Penalties for being wanted:

  Guards will attack on sight in any city, town, or village.

  All vendor prices in the current zone are increased by 50%.

  Upon being captured, the target loses one level and is jailed for 24 hours.

  Infamy score is cleared upon release from jail.

  Rewards for capturing a wanted target:

  Gain one level, a high probability of looting one of the target’s equipped items, a huge gold bounty, and titles like "Bounty Hunter."

  In the late game, players would specialize in either collecting Bounty Writs or becoming full-time Bounty Hunters. Back then, leveling up could take a month or two. The chance to gain a full level just for killing one person was infinitely better than grinding mobs. Plus, any player worth putting a bounty on would have incredible gear, any piece of which would be priceless.

  Kael looked at the two posters in his hands and sighed wistfully. A year from now, these things will be selling for ten million dollars each.

  After a moment’s thought, he wrote the name ‘Ashveil’ on one of the posters.

  [System: You are using a Bounty Writ on [Ashveil]. Is this your intended target? Y/N]

  A portrait of Ashveil popped up. Kael hit confirm.

  Instantly, a new announcement blared across the world channel.

  [World Announcement: Attention all players! A bounty has been placed on [Ashveil]. The player who delivers the final blow will gain one level and has a 95% chance of looting one of his equipped items. Additional rewards can be claimed at your nearest guardhouse. Time remaining: 72 hours.]

  [World Announcement: Attention all players!...]

  The message repeated three times, sending the entire server into an uproar.

  Meanwhile, in the forest east of the starting village…

  “Ashveil, look at the world chat,” a priest said to Cole, who was furiously killing mobs to vent his frustration.

  “Look at what?! Just focus on leveling!” Cole snapped, still fuming about his squad wipe.

  “Uh, boss,” another player added timidly. “I think… you’ve been put on the server-wide wanted list.”

  Cole froze. He quickly opened his system log. His face twisted in rage.

  “What son of a bitch did this?!”