Even with the shreds of confidence William had gained through adrenaline, he wasn’t able to stand his ground and confront Walter head on. As Walter loomed near, sword raised to swing down, William dashed to the left and the side Walter’s buckler was attached to as a swish from Walter’s sword struck the air where William had just been standing. Walter didn’t stop as he turned and charged straight at William once more. This time, William side-stepped with more precision as he had realized what Walter’s 'Technique' was now. He was cleaving the sword down like a wood axe. Walter was a farmer so would have chopped firewood time after time over the years. Knowing this, William gained some more composure and took a few steps back as Walter recovered to charge at him once more.
William steadied himself and as Walter was upon him, he stepped to the right where there was no buckler to guard Walter. William turned and used Swift Thrust. His aim was slightly off however, and what would have been a stab to the middle of Walter’s torso instead became a thrust down through Walter’s hip into his pelvic region. William pulled the sword out as Walter wailed in agony before it was muffled by the blood now coming from Walter’s mouth. Walter crumpled to the ground where his blood was pooling rapidly.
The haze of adrenaline fueled combat passed and a creeping chill crawled over William. William won, but at what cost? He had just tried to kill someone. He didn't even make the strike with conscious hate for the man, in the rush of combat, William just saw an opportunity to land a shot. If he had not been so amateurish with the sword, Walter would be dead. He didn't want to kill the man, he just wanted the guy to stop being a wanker. His heart rate picked up quickly and he could feel the last vestiges of his adrenaline disappear and he knew he had to get away from everyone because he knew the anxiety and now guilt and horror at his actions, like the curse they were, waited for him to be vulnerable.
He quickly yelled, “Jane! Heal these two quickly.”
He didn’t expect much as he knew his sister was not the most decisive person, so he was a little impressed that she didn’t argue, freeze up, or complain and just ran over to Walter. William didn’t bother waiting for any replies and quickly walked away from the settlement until he was over the first hill he could see.
William was shivering and tears welled up in his eyes as he turned to look behind him. The settlement was out of sight now and he crumpled to the ground, trembling. He curled up partially, not quite into a fetal position but close and started to cry harshly. All those eyes on him throughout the whole experience gnawed at his soul. The judgement and most likely disgust at his existence and behavior in their minds he felt was there were conveyed through that sea of eyes. William had then stupidly aggravated the situation by biting onto Allan’s threats, and Leanne’s venom. He could have handled it better and William could now think of many better ways as was always the case when someone made a bad decision. That, however, was not the thing that he was scared of the most. He had intended a killing blow on Walter. “Why didn’t I just try and disarm him instead, or tire him out? Or something else. Anything else.” He thought to himself.
His thoughts and fantasies of coming to an Isekai world was to get power and slay monsters like goblins, kobolds, and other typical fantasy beasts. He had never fantasized about killing or harming humans. It wasn't something he pictured because he didn't want other humans in his escapist day dreams. The real world already had too many of them.
William stayed that way for what felt like an eternity but what was actually little over two hours. It was now night time and the land was dimly lit by crescent moonlight. He had calmed himself and cried out most of the anguish. He then realized that he was severely thirsty. William hadn’t noticed before, but now his dry throat was like sandpaper. William pulled out his water-skin and was a little bit unnerved by how squishy it was. It wasn’t like a flask or bottle but was basically a water-tight sack filled with water. After adjusting to the feel of the water-skin, William pulled out the cork and took a swig. Most of it went in his mouth, but part of it went down his front. He quickly learned that it wasn’t wise to have both hands on the skin itself, and put one hand onto the neck of it. That time, every drop graced his lips, tongue, and throat.
The refreshment of the water was complemented by the gentle kiss of a temperate night time breeze. A heavenly cool graced his five senses and he relaxed almost completely while delighting in the sensation.
William let out a contended sigh and pulled out two rations that appeared to be rashers of dried meat of some form. He worked through them quickly and looked at the rest. He wanted to eat more. Really wanted it. On Earth, he would already be halfway through the rations. This wasn’t Earth though, and he had decided not to be the same person he used to be. William struggled with the situation for a few more moments and found his resolve once more. William’s resolve was then immediately tested by movement in his peripheral vision to the right. He didn’t wait and got to his feet drawing his blade and turned to face whatever was there. William did a quick check: 100/100SP. It had recharged fully to William’s relief.
“W-who’s there?” William asked nervously, the sound only slightly above a whisper. He mentally kicked himself. He was trying to look tough after all.
A man stepped closer and William could now see him slightly easier. William Identified the person and was slightly unnerved:
{Ascension_Protocol}
Bandit – Human Level 5 – Scout Level 5
{End}
The man was only slightly more illuminated than a silhouette and from what he saw, the man had two daggers sheathed at his side and was in what appeared to be a jerkin of some form. It was still too dark to make out.
A gravely voice came from the man, “Someone who’ll kill ya if ya don’t surrender an’ give me your shit.”
Wonderful. A fucking bandit.
“I wouldn’t advise trying anything, I could yell and draw the attention of my allies. There are many of us over the field after all.”
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The man chuckled slightly and then drew one dagger and twirled it in his hand. “See, I had a little peep from a distance at the little shithole ya guys have over there.”
He gestured towards the settlement with his dagger before continuing. “A herd of little level ones with no fuckin’ clue how to even use their equipment for the most part. That’s what I saw an’ not the chivalrous allies ya anticipate.”
William started to feel worry crawl up the back of his mind.
William had to ask however, “How long were you watching us?”
The man considered William’s words before drawing his other dagger and stretched his legs out apparently limbering up. “He’s gonna come at me at any moment I’m sure.” William mused.
The man spoke up once more, “Long enough to see you drop two of your lil’ friends. Long enough to watch ya leave. Long enough to assess the others and…”
The man leaned forward slightly. The charge was about to come and William gripped his sword hard enough for his knuckles to whiten.
The man finished with, “...Long enough to kill the only one who can save them,” and launched himself arms stretched wide at William.
The daggers were curved inward and the attack appeared to be a pincer of some kind. William realized then how far out of his depth he truly was. He did the only thing he could think of and try to dodge. As William went to dodge back and to the left, he managed to deflect one blade with his buckler but was not able to stop the other from slashing through his shoulder leaving a large gash.
William bit down a scream. He couldn’t afford to let the others hear this fight. They would just be in danger if they rushed over. The bandit appeared to be trying to move as quietly as possible too and William guessed that he didn’t want the others to be aware of any danger. This was intended to be a quiet fight to the death. The injured shoulder stung and what felt like searing fire gnawed at the wound. He had never felt a pain like it. Fortunately it made William more alert in that moment. The fight or flight instinct taking over. He may die if he fought, but he would definitely die if he fled. Decision made, William tried for a plain slash at the arm of the bandit that had been blocked by the buckler and to William’s surprise and relief, the blow landed. It wasn’t deep, but it was enough to tear a large gash through the wrist, disabling the hand and making the bandit drop that dagger.
The relief was short lived however, as the bandit made a sweeping attack with his dagger at William’s torso. William tried to dodge but received a large gouge along his pelvis. Not enough to cripple, but enough to injure and leak blood. William quickly bit his sleeve to stifle the cry of pain as he staggered back a few steps trying to make some distance. After a couple moments, The pain still lingered but was not as intense and William tried to calm his breathing. He hadn’t realized it had been increased massively during that initial exchange. William was definitely the underdog in that fight, but...he had injured the bandit. If William could injure him, he could also defeat him. The bandit growled low, clearly pissed off at the injury but he stalked towards William steadily with pure intent and bloodlust to end William there and then.
William had a plan going into the next exchange. He would use shield bash when the bandit swung and would then follow up with another to the bandit’s head with the intent to knock him out so he could be captured and interrogated. As he went to execute the plan as the bandit reached him, he was promptly reminded that nine out of ten plans never go smoothly as he swung his shield arm at the dagger arm of the bandit. The bandit spun on his heel and swiftly swept the dagger up in a fluid arc, right through William’s elbow and the rest of his arm, severing it off completely.
Before William could let out the monumental scream, the bandit had smothered William’s mouth with his injured hand and a knee into William’s gut made him drop the sword and tumble back as the bandit’s weight fell on top of him. The bandit held the dagger to William’s throat with one hand as the other bled into William’s mouth. The foreign iron invaded William’s taste. He was going to die. His final moments had come. Tears welled up and poured forth as he finally saw the face of his soon to be killer. He was a man appearing to be in his early twenties with burns down the left side of his face, and heavy scarring running from left to right of his head at several points. A nightmare of flesh and pain gazing down coldly at William.
As William felt the cold steel pressed to his throat, he stared up fearfully, anticipating the cold steel severing his throat. He was not moving. Cold was creeping into him from the several spots where blood was fleeing his body. In a moment of pure luck...and foolishness on the bandit’s part, he lifted the blade up above his head, visibly intending to jam the thing into William’s face. On a weird sense of instinct, William kicked his foot up squarely into the Bandit’s groin. A somewhat feminine yelp escaped the man as he fell to the side, dropping his dagger. Unfortunately for William, gravity was a heartless bitch as the dagger fell down into his lower stomach. William let out a tired cry at the injury. His throat was already sore from all the screaming he had been doing moments ago.
He didn’t think and let instincts take over as he pulled the dagger out and threw his body ungracefully on top of the bandit that was now on the ground beside him. On pure intent to kill his foe, he plunged the dagger down once, twice, and thrice into the torso of the bandit. Guttural gurgling erupted from the man. On the fourth strike the dagger lodged into the torso and wasn’t coming out. Letting go of the dagger, William started punching the man in the face. After a few blows, William’s fist was a bloody mess matching the face of the now struggling bandit. William let up briefly thinking the fight won as his head was swimming. That was a mistake. The bandit in some second wind of motion lifted his body up and bit down on William’s shoulder. William did the same out of a primal impulse as both of them were now clamped down firmly into each other’s shoulder flesh.
Both of them emitted stifled groans as William started using his mangled fist to scratch at the Bandit’s face that was accessible from that angle. On another stroke of luck, William managed to find a finger in the left eye of the bandit and started pressing in with what strength he had. The soft gelatinous feeling sensation was brief as he felt his finger break through a thin layer at the back of the eye and enter another wrinkly and squishy feeling thing that he guessed was the Bandit’s brain. This continued for what felt like yet another eternity, until slowly, the bandit’s moans and bite strength dwindled, and faded into nothing.
William’s head was swimming so much at that point he didn’t even register the situation. He did see that the content of his pack was now spilled out around the pair of them. He felt drawn by one item however, the pull transcended the dying feeling of William’s mind and body as he looked to the source; A thin, red vial.
Once again on instinct, William wrapped his mangled hand over the vial and used his teeth to uncork it. He drank from the vial and suddenly felt a wave of rejuvenation and clarity wash over him. It was a brief respite before he felt exhaustion hit him like a truck as he fell face first into the blood stained grass before everything went black.