Sleeping in a tree wasn’t so bad. The branches were too weak to pierce or scratch his skin, and the way they held him up had an almost springy feeling. He’d have to try it out again later when he wasn’t so busy… As the two people below him finally came close enough, Elliot jumped down and smashed them into the ground. Now that he wasn’t so angry, he felt hesitant about ending their lives. Even if they were gang members, killing someone left a bad taste in his mouth. If even the alchemist, who had apparently been the leader of the whole situation, would act so kindly to him, then how was he to judge the others?

Some might have had families… A dagger went an inch into his legs as he was deep in thought. “Damn! Help! Someone!” The thug underneath him cried as he realized the futility of the situation. Elliot was quick to bring his sword to their chest, tearing a massive hole through the middle. They… definitely wouldn’t be screaming anymore now. Deciding to double down, he finished off the other scout, better dead than another thing to worry about. A bitter taste in his mouth was forming. These two may have lived their own lives, but so had he. Above all else, Elliot needed to survive. At least, until his sister was retrieved. These two would get in the way of that.

If more than five of those bastards managed to catch up to him, it’d either end up as a bloodbath or with Elliot’s corpse. He sheathed the massive greatsword on his back, once again flying up to the top of the trees and jumping sneakily amongst the outskirts of the forest. He was no fool, in this darkness there was no way he’d be able to safely make it out of the town. This had been the closest town, only taking a day to reach when he ran full speed.

The next town over would take at least a week. That wasn’t something so easily done under normal conditions, let alone the ones he’d foolishly created. There were two options, as he saw it. Wait until the morning and run, scrounging for resources along the way. …or. Three more were at the bottom, one was even only holding a lantern and a short spear, while the other two were carrying crossbows. People from the building, he recognized. They’d find the bodies soon, and then the whole gang would come to investigate.

Bloodshed would be inevitable, Elliot realized. He stepped off the tree into a freefall. Letting the skill “Aerial maneuvering” sort him out. Unsheathing the sword, he didn’t even swing, letting the weight as well as the sword's trajectory lop off one of the crossbow wielder’s top half, as well as bursting through the lantern wielder’s chest and arm. Like a mine that went off, blood sprayed the area. If either hadn’t died, then it would have been a hellishly painful experience.

Elliot was no longer clean. His clothes had mud and blood on them, and his hair was weighed down by the same debris. He looked savage, a beast given human form. Surprisingly enough, in the crossbow wielder’s fear he had still managed to loosen a bolt. It landed directly in Elliot's shoulder, sinking a good inch in. Elliot hissed at the pain, bringing the sword back around to finish the last one off. His arm felt numb and was throbbing, the bolt was probably poisoned. His vitality would help stave it off, but for now, he needed to…

*Ding*

The recipient has leveled up! Status points have been allocated.

…He’d worry about that later. For now, the poison in his body took precedence. The bodies must have had some type of antidote, right? He checked two of their bags but only found some extra coin. The last one, the one with a lantern, had exactly what he needed. At least, he hoped they did. He took the herbs and ate half of them, chewing the remaining half and rubbing it on his wound. One of them was probably the proper way of cleaning the poison, even if it was a bit crude. Infection wasn’t a problem for someone with as high vitality as him, either way.

The noises of men came from behind him, nearing Elliot with surprising speed. Shit, something must have set them off, but what? He leaped back onto the trees, waiting for the group to find the three. He had been hoping to ambush them but thought again once he saw how many there were. Around 6 of the people were armed, while four were too busy holding the rope to absolutely massive dog-like monsters. The beasts were more than half the size of the men and completely black, naturally cloaked in the dark of the night.

He almost didn’t see them, instead noticing the struggling owners as they pulled the monsters back. Twenty enemies in total. He should have taken a crossbow… or not. He’d have to know how to use one first. “The bodies are still warm, but the trail is dead.” One of the Monster tamers said. Too smart, they’d have to go soon. Before they figured out that he was right above them, Elliot decided to act.

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He decided to focus in on the ones with crossbows, only two luckily enough. With a deep breath in, he walked off the branch, right on top of them. As he fell, the sword landed deep into the chest of the first and turned into a swing, taking out the second. One of the men tried to jam a spear onto his stomach, but he managed to dodge just in time to kick them in the stomach. “He’s here!?” “Take him down!” Something tried jabbing him in the back, but his chest armor was enough to stop the blow. There were just too many of them for him to fight, and he had landed right dab in the middle of them.

He needed a better vantage point, and what better place to avoid getting hit than the air? Soon after he finished off another man in front of him, he threw his greatsword at one of the men furthest from him. It wasn’t a clean hit, but it was still enough to maim the man in the torso. Elliot was defenseless now, though it had been as he wanted. With his lighter weight, he used one of the heads of a thug to jump as high as he could, landing a good five feet away from the entire group. There were only nine left, including the dogs.

He thought he had gotten a moment to rest, but the beasts were terrifyingly swift, running towards him the moment the ropes were released. He had no time to grab his greatsword before they got to him, so instead he pulled out the knife he’d stolen from the thugs before. Time slowed for a second as one lunged for his neck, and he dodged it while lodging the dagger directly into its chest. The weight in its lunge caused the animal to keep moving through the knife, and Elliot had to bear the brunt of the blood that spilled out as he cleaved right through.

The second had fallen under the same fate, but the last two grew cautious. They circled him patiently, each trying to get into one of his blind spots. The silence grew thick as Elliot edged towards the greatsword, desperately trying to keep either one in sight. It was hard to do as his vision blurred, only getting worse as time passed. The herbs he’d taken from the corpse were doing nothing to alleviate the situation. Hell, he wondered if he’d actually made things worse.

It had gotten so bad he could barely see one of the beast tamers reach for one of the crossbows left on the floor. Fortunately, Elliot had finally reached his greatsword, meaning the knife was useless to him. It found itself in the heart of the beast tamer soon after, and the beasts took the chance to attack. One of them managed to grab onto his leg during the scuffle, tearing into the muscle with much more viciousness than anything the thugs had done to him.

He almost fell, but not before bringing down a massive swing on the second charging dog. The poor thing split in two, and all that was left was the final- “Augh!” A crossbow bolt pierced his leg, the same one being bitten by the beast. He turned in anger at the beast tamers who had obviously not learned their lesson. Screw it, he could beat the beast without a weapon. He put all his force behind tossing the great sword in a spinning motion, ripping right through both the beast tamers. The beast took the moment to attack, biting him underneath the armpit and sinking its teeth into his chest.

At least, it would have, had it not been for the blacksmith’s chest piece. He took the dog in a chokehold and patiently waited for it to run out of oxygen. In the struggle, Elliot promised himself to thank the blacksmith when he came back. It took a while, and Elliot almost got caught by another search party before the whimpering dog finally took its last breath. All that was left was finishing off the few that hadn’t fully died to him yet… It finally hit him just how stupid this was when he heard the screen pop up again, telling him he’d leveled up again.

”God… dammit.” Elliot fell to the floor, worn down not just physically but mentally.

This… It was all too much. He’d just entered a town hungry and confused, only to end up killing half the people there. All because his stupid skill activated at the worst moment. The skillw was even affecting his mindset. Every person he killed gave his heart a brief moment of panic, before being snuffed out by some skill in his arsenal. It was technically a good thing since Elliot needed to defend himself, but his skills combined together had turned him into a fucking landmine just waiting to be stepped on…

Goddamnit… He didn’t want to kill anyone else, even if they were part of something terrible. Even if they wanted to kill him. Elliot rubbed his temples, exasperated at what he’d have to do. This all came because of one reason. The alchemist’s house. Those bastards had come to check in on the alchemist and decided Elliot was a part of the profits. The alchemist seemed genuine, an alright guy who had fed and taken care of him when he was in trouble. Too bad the man was out for his blood now. If Elliot managed to kill him it would probably be enough to ruin them all.

Even if they sold off whatever they had, with the alchemist out of the picture there was no way to get more… Elliot stood from the floor with a look of disdain on his face. He’d really have to kill the man who had taken the time to help him. Another group approaching the area forced him to move again, barely giving him enough time to get the knife and sword and leave. Though, he was no longer going deeper into the trees. No, it was decided.

He was returning back to the town.