I trembled as I was forced to run. The wall had been massive. And now it was a pile of rocks. How many homes had just been destroyed? People killed? All so that Victor could conquer another city.

As the rest of the legion got closer, the screams of innocents reached my ears. My perception was three times as good with stats as it was without. Even from as far away as I currently was, I could tell just how terrified everyone was in the city.

I’d been a soldier in the past. Or at least, the person I was before losing most of my memories. Had I been a part of invasions just like this one? As much as I wished I hadn’t, I knew the answer. Cyril had once told me that this part of the world had been in a state of near-constant war for a very long time. Since before he’d been born. And given the memories I did have, probably long before I was born as well.

The crumbled walls didn't disappear. There was a field of debris, which most soldiers simply climbed or jumped over. I didn’t have nearly enough stats to even climb over the huge slabs of marble, even if most of them were at least partially destroyed. Thankfully, or unfortunately rather, my entourage of assassins lifted me by the arms and carried me over.

The city wasn’t looking very good. The only people still close to the walls were either soldiers of the legion, or civilians that were too injured to move. With the entire city panicking, the injured had been left behind. The falling marble had crushed people and buildings alike. The ground and stones were painted red, and the scent of iron was thick in the air. Most of the bodies were completely crushed, judging from just how much blood there was pooling on the ground. Still, I could see halves of bodies here and there. People with broken spines that were pinned under large pieces of marble. A child who tried to walk away, even as his mangled arm was only barely attached to the rest of his body. A soldier killed him before the blood loss did.

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Luna dipped another arrow in oil, and then passed it over a torch. The flames of her arrow were soon spreading to another wooden house. The town burned, and people screamed, but she carried out her duty.

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The memory came to me in a flash. For a moment, I’d seen myself wreaking havoc on a small town. Except then, I’d played an active role in the destruction. I was no better than Victor or the other soldiers.

The assassins forced me to keep going. As much as I wanted to fall to my knees or run away, if they wanted me to go, I would go. I still needed an opening. I need something. It hadn’t come yet, but I knew it would. I just needed to be patient.

I was taken from rooftop to rooftop. Most of them were wooden. Only the more expensive buildings owned by wealthy people or the city itself were actually made of marble. Behind us, the legion had run into some resistance. Enough to stop them for a while, but only for a while. They were fighting for their lives, and losing them much faster than the legion’s soldiers. It was only a matter of time until they were overrun completely.

Before long, we ran into a set of marble buildings, which had guards and soldiers alike buzzing about. The ones that seemed full equipped ran into the city, while others were going from place to place to get whatever they needed. My job was to kill as many of the defenseless ones as I could. They were easy targets, and the assassins had made sure I wouldn’t be spotted easily from our current position, while still giving me a clear enough line of sight. One of them took the bow that I had slung around my shoulder, and pushed it into my hand.

I was overwhelmed with panic, anger, sorrow, and shame. There hadn’t been an opening. There had been no time for me to try and make my escape. Why had I even assumed there would be in the first place?

I tried to quickly go over my options, even as I conjured a Mana Arrow and pretended to take aim at someone. I had… None. I couldn’t think of a way out of this that gave me good odds of living. Not with so little time.

I pulled the bowstring back. It was them or me. If I only killed a couple enemies today, I could live tomorrow.

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It was winter. Luna lied on the ground, chewing on snow so that no one would see her breath. She was tasked with killing anyone that came too close, regardless of who they were. The captain didn’t want anyone seeing their force until the soldiers were close enough.

A group of boys ran into the woods. One of them held a ball, and kicked it. It landed a bit to the right of Luna. She was hidden well enough that the boys wouldn’t even notice her unless they were right in front of her.

Please don’t come here, Luna thought.

One of the boys approached, coming to retrieve his ball.

Not a single one of them made it home that day.

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I dropped my bow, my breathing getting heavy. Had I seriously considered killing someone? Someone who didn’t even know I existed? I had to be better than the soldier I was in the past. I wouldn’t let myself kill innocent people, even if it meant I’d die because of it.

One of the assassins forced the bow back into my hand. He didn’t need to speak for me to see the warning in my eyes. If I didn’t do my job, they would do theirs.

I used Mana Arrow again. I pulled back the bowstring. I aimed at a man who was panicking so much that he struggled to put on one of his gauntlets. If I just killed this one person, perhaps I could grow strong enough to save others in the future?

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System Notification: You have killed Aril (Apprentice Leatherworker - Level 12)

Luna cried, as she received her first kill notification. She knelt in front of the young boy she just killed. He had been even younger than she was. She hadn’t been skilled enough to kill him with a single blow. He’d only died as he naively pulled the arrow out of his chest, thinking it would save him. He only lost his blood faster.

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Luna looked at the baby as he cried in the arms of his mother. Luna had just killed her. She felt no remorse, even now. Just emptiness. She’d done her job. It hadn’t been her fault. She didn’t think so, at least.

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Luna watched as the enemy general was executed. She and the rest of the soldiers cheered as his head rolled. One less force in their way. With him gone, they wouldn’t meet much resistance when they left to raze more villages. To take more towns. To conquer more cities. More territory would be claimed for their emperor.

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Luna watched as her allies ran through the city. Anyone who was close enough to be within the distance of a sword or spear was killed. It didn’t matter who they were. Their skin was torn apart by cold steel blades. The ambush had been successful. The city was practically undefended. The soldiers killed to send a message. Luna shot an arrow at a man who’d only been trying to get his family to safety. He should’ve worried more about himself.

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The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Luna watched as the walls of Isam disappeared. Thousands fell to their deaths.

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I screamed as the images invaded my mind. It wasn’t a simple headache, it was agony. Was it because I’d considered killing someone? Or was it because I’d considered killing someone innocent?

I threw my bow to the side and jumped off the roof. I was three stories up, but I didn’t care if the fall killed me. I made my mind up right then and there. I’d committed atrocities in my past. I wouldn’t commit any more.

And if I did live, I’d find a way to atone. I’d make sure of it.

System Notification: You have leveled up Heightened Learning! (Level 20 → 2nd Stage, Level 1)

System Notification: Skill Upgrade!

Heightened Learning - The speed at which you learn new things is greatly improved. (20% learning speed increase per level.).

2nd Stage - You no longer have significant use for this Skill. Heightened Learning will reset its level and evolve into a new Skill soon.

System Notification: Heightened Learning will evolve soon.

I felt my leg bones crack as I landed hard on the ground. I couldn’t control my fall well enough. I fell face forward, and lost consciousness as soon as my head was slammed against the paved road beneath me.

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Acelina waited impatiently for Madeline to respond. Luna didn’t want to waste any time. She drew her bow, and fired an arrow at the bandit. Acelina hadn’t had her eyes on Luna, and actually managed to get hit square in the chest. Not that it mattered. The arrow barely pierced her skin. Acelina was hardly even bleeding.

“Have it your way, then.” Acelina smiled again, picking up her axe. She launched herself at Luna, but not before Madeline activated a Skill. A cone of fire sprung from her palm, impacting Acelina before she could get to me. The force of the fire itself was enough to push her off course, keeping Luna from getting cut in half.

Madeline took Luna’s hand, and the two started running away before Acelina could recover. She’d be down for a moment, after taking the brunt of the fire mage’s Skill, but she wouldn’t be down forever.

Before the two of them could take more than a few steps, a beast-like roar came from behind. Acelina was burned, but Luna could see them slowly healing. Not that the bandit would wait for her body to heal before attacking. She picked up her axe, and didn’t seem to care as the handle burned her hand further. Within a short moment, Acelina was charging at them once more.

Madeline tossed Luna behind her, and tried to get out of the way herself as Acelina came in swinging. The axe-wielding warrior was fast, though. She swung and clipped Madeline’s side. The mage clutched her side as she bled, but her experience in battle had developed grit. The wound was immobilizing. She would still fight.

Luna helplessly looked on as the other two fought. Madeline did her best to dodge and weave through attacks, while using her fire and light mage classes to burn and blind her opponent. Even still, Madeline was clearly on the defensive. Acelina’s axe managed to get a good strike in every so often, slowly whittling down the mage. It didn’t help that all those Skills used mana as well. She had limited time. And yet, Luna couldn’t even begin to think of a way that she could help.

Her arrows clearly didn’t do much to the bandit. Either her vitality, or some Skill of hers, was just too high. And arrows were really the only way that Luna had to fight. If they were useless, then so was she.

Still, Luna analyzed the fight, and tried to come up with a way to turn the tides in their favor. She couldn’t wait for an opening. Madeline didn’t have the time for that. No, Luna needed to act, and she needed to do so soon. Every cut was slowing her down. It wouldn’t be long before she was slow enough that Acelina would land the one final strike that she needed to.

Luna ran through every idea that came to mind. The only thing that could properly damage the bandit right now was Madeline’s fire. Whatever plan Luna could come up with, it needed to work around that. It needed to factor in that fire, somehow…

Currently, Acelina was only being held off by the flames. Each time Madeline used one of her Skills, they didn’t connect. Not when Acelina was on the lookout for them. She wouldn’t be caught unaware anymore… Unless it was Luna.

The bandit hadn’t spared a single thought for the archer. Even if Luna had started running at the beginning of the fight, Acelina would have easily been able to catch up. Luna could also clearly see that all of her attention was on Madeline. Luna had the element of surprise here. She just needed to use it.

Luna finally had a plan. It was reckless, but if it worked, they’d come out of this alive. And if not, they’d be dead anyway.

She slowly positioned herself so that Acelina wouldn’t manage to catch sight of her. And once Luna was finally behind the bandit, she took off running. Luna wasn’t quick. Not compared to both of the two that were fighting. But she wasn’t slow, compared to someone without a stat enhanced body either.

She crossed the distance needed in a second, ready to try and tackle Acelina from behind. Her perception had been too high. The bandit turned around when Luna was just only a few paces away. Her earlier smile had been replaced by a look of pure annoyance. Likely, she hadn’t enjoyed being burned very much.

Either way, Luna had expected this. She couldn’t beat out Acelina’s stats, let alone her Skills. But she could account for them. Luna had already been midair by the time Acelina was fully facing her. Luna’s body made direct contact with the bandit’s, and she immediately used her arms and legs to grapple her much larger enemy.

Acelina was strong enough to throw Luna off with barely more than a thought. Thankfully, Madeline hadn’t missed her chance. Fire splashed against Acelina’s back, forcing pained screams out of her. She tried to move out of the way, but found resistance as Luna held on as tight as she could.

Madeline was pouring every ounce of mana she had left into keeping her Skill going. It had a minor stunning effect that Acelina had initially powered through. But even with Luna’s meager strength, she was keeping the bandit in place.

Luna felt flames licking her arms and legs, but they didn’t burn her nearly as badly as the concentrated blast on Acelina’s back. Her skin had already been reduced to ash, but Madeline hadn’t stopped there. Her fire instantly cauterized any wounds that Acelina was given. She wouldn’t die from bleeding out. So instead, the fire mage kept going.

Madeline’s flames eventually burned through Acelina’s spine, but neither of the two were given a kill notification. Luna could even see that she somehow hadn’t even lost consciousness yet. The bandit was resilient, if nothing else. It was a wonder how she even became so strong in the first place. Luna wasn’t sure if even some of the higher leveled folks in the army would have been able to defeat her in a fair fight. She wasn’t keen on finding out, though. She really just wished the beast of a woman would die already.

Madeline kept using her Skill until her mana eventually ran dry. She felt a wave of exhaustion come over her, like she’d just been running at full speed for over an hour. With her mana expended, she was useless. She fell to the ground and began meditating, attempting to recover however much mana she could. Still no kill notification. If Luna couldn’t finish the job, they were both dead.

With the onslaught of fire over with, Acelina fell over. Luna wasn’t sure if she’d lost consciousness or not, but she wasn’t dead yet. She wiggled her way from under the bandit, and picked up one of the arrows that had fallen out of her quiver during the struggle. Her arms and legs were covered in burns. Her new uniform was already ruined. But nothing on her body was as bad as the gaping hole in the middle of Acelina’s back.

The stench of burning flesh filled her nostrils, but didn’t stop Luna from taking a look. Acelina’s heart was in view, still beating somehow. Fire had burned much of it, and yet it still pumped blood. And even now, it was healing.

Luna stabbed it with her arrow. Acelina’s heart wasn’t nearly as tough as her skin. Blood sprayed all over the place. Inside of Acelina’s body, onto Luna’s uniform and face, even in her mouth. But no notification.

Luna used her arrow head to carve out Acelina’s heart, and ripped it from her body.

System Notification: You have assisted in killing Acelina (Leader of the Goldeneye Bandits - Level 211)

Luna had finished her off, but Madeline had done most of the work. She wasn’t upset about how much experience she was missing out on, though. Luna had believed more than once that day that she would be killed. Just as she’d been convinced so many times in the past. It was always refreshing when the end never actually did come.

System Notification: Achievement unlocked: Child of Death: You have killed many, and have almost been killed just as much. With this achievement, should you die too young, you will be granted a second chance.

Although she got a raised eyebrow from Madeline, who was just trying to meditate, Luna laughed. The System apparently wanted her alive. It was a cruel joke, really.

Even if Luna was given another chance, what else would she be beside a soldier? The army didn’t take kindly to deserters. And it wasn’t like she knew how to do anything else either. The only thing she even knew how to do anymore was kill. She couldn’t just go live in a city as a hairdresser. Not after everything she’d seen. Not after everything she’d done.

Though, for once, she actually felt a bit proud about taking this particular life. She hadn’t attacked someone that was just defending themselves or their home. She hadn’t attacked another soldier who was only doing their duty, the same as her. And Acelina had been far from innocent. Luna had helped rid the world of someone who killed, enslaved, and stole from people who didn’t deserve it.

In a small way, Luna felt like she’d finally done some good, for all the bad she’d committed while serving in the army. This one good deed wasn’t enough to make up for everything that she had done, and would do. She knew she wasn’t any better than the bandit she’d just killed. But there was one less evil in the world. Less people would be hurt. Less families ripped apart. Perhaps that night, she’d sleep peacefully.

She doubted it.

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