Naked feet slapping on the cold tiles, Pef sprinted towards the men he had just heard.

With each step his speed increased as his hand gripped the metal mace with white-clenched fingers.

A tight curve forced him to run on the side of the corridor for a second, before landing back. A group of three men came into view, one of them already drawing out a weapon.

Pef jumped and kicked, catching one man into the back of his neck. A crunchy sound followed.

*First kill, using a Yoko Tobi Geri foot strike.

*Martial arts gains 1 level.

Pef ducked low, as a black pistol was pointed at his face, and struck with his metal mace.

Blinding pain followed an explosion of noise. His target was down, hands covering the crushed knee. Pef followed up, bashing the cultist in the head.

His head snapped back, as another bullet hit his forehead. Pef dove back, and threw his mace like a spear at the shooter.

A muffled cry let him know he had caused some damage.

A few more gunshots followed, and everything went dark.

*Regeneration has reached level 5. You have stopped leaking grey matter.

*You have been shot in the head 7 times, in less than 7 minutes. Do to being lucky enough to trigger it, you have gained the perk Headshot: You gain 7 Kharma. Your headshots with any weapon have 10 percent chance more for a critical strike.

Pef read the new messages with the beginning of a headache. He looked around, taking note of his victims, lying dead around him. The last guy was still leaking guts and undigested food through the empty pipe embedded in his belly.

Then he patted his head, plucking out the few bullets stuck into his skull.

He had so many questions, but it wasn't yet the time to ask them.

Dragging the bodies after him, he reached the room marked 478. One guard had a metal ring with many plastic keycards on it.

Pef just waved the ring over the door's scanner till one key fit and the door clicked open.

He dragged the bodies inside, and smiled a bit shyly at the asian woman handcuffed to the bed.

"Nice place you have here." he said politely.

The woman grinned sagely and muttered something sounding like 'Ni hao'.

*You have learned Chinese. You don't need to focus your attention to speak it.

'Huh, that's really convenient game' Pef whispered to himself.

"I am Pef, your neighbor from across the hall. Wanna join forces and murder a few cultists with me?" he asked in a pleasant tone.

"Ah, I thought you were a barbarian...but that must have been all that blood and brains you wear." the chinese woman replied, possibly sarcastically.

Pef measured her naked body with a frown. Her crouched stance implied internal injuries. Observe!

*Miya Chen Sung, age 19.

Ectomancer lvl 4, Spiritist lvl 1, Martial artist lvl 1

Status: 2 broken ribs, thirsty, in pain.

HIs eyes darted back to the dead men he had dragged into the room, and he began stripping them of uniforms and weapons, then other personal belongings.

A flagon of ibuprofen and a can of Red bull stood out.

"Here, painkillers and an energizant drink." he offered with a warm tone.

A shaky hand took the flagon and strained to open it. Pef grit his teeth.

If she was too weak to even medicate herself...he might have to leave her behind.

With a sigh, he opened the can and helped her drink some juice, then swallow a few painkillers.

Then he focused on the metallic wrist manacles.

*Standard Abyss restraints. Their main purpose is to block Magic and make magicians easy to subdue as weak humans.

Problem was, there were no keyholes or joints. The whole thing was one piece of metal.

"How do you take them off?" he asked a bit confused.

"You speak the magic password." the injured woman replied with a sad voice.

Pef sighed and nodded sagely. Of course his first quest wouldn't be that easy.

Not even a tutorial level or an acclimation period. Directly into magic puzzles and end of the world quests.

*Observe has leveled up! Observe has reached level 2.

*The password for this particular pair of restraints is Fus Ro Dah.

"Fus Ro Dah?" Pef said with incredulity. The manacles split apart and fell to the floor.

The woman flared with a blue gaseous light for a second, before measuring Pef with confused eyes. A pair of ectoplasmic hands flew out from her armpits and picked out a few clothing items from the floor.

"Great idea. We should get dressed..." Pef muttered a bit unhappy. The woman was rather nice to look at.

He drew on a pair of black pants with only a few blood stains on them.

Then he began arming himself with looted firearms and a taser.

"Pistol? You don't need guns, Mister Pef. Not while I'm here." the woman said confidently.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

He glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, then towards the open manacles.

The woman grimaced visibly, then flared into blue light again. "My magic is back now. Name is Chen."

Pef measured her again, using his Observe skill.

The ribs were only cracked now. A few more blue flares and she would be completely healed.

"Take it easy Miss Chen. You're not fully healed." he said gently while practicing with the new weapons, loading and unloading the magazine, flicking the safety and so on. Sadly, no skill for using firearms appeared.

"So, you have Mystic eyes?" she asked with a curious stare at his face.

"Yes, some kind of special eyes" Pef answered with a shrug. Or something like that anyway.

She measured him from head to toe, in an appraising manner. "You can have a harem, of beautiful women from any sect you want. Mystic eyes are passed onto children." the woman said with a wistful voice.

"That's...not a bad idea, in fact. Sounds really pleasant." He admitted with a smile.

Chen smiled awkwardly. "Stupid man." she muttered as she finished dressing herself. Another blue flare and she began poking her sides without winching.

Pef opened the door and peered out. The hallway was still empty.

He ran towards the next door and began testing keycards. A minute later, the metal door opened and Pef peeked into the room.

The bed held a desiccated woman, while tubes stuck into her veins led to a few glass containers.

He moved towards the next room, where he found a similar sight.

Another room, then another. Only dead people, sucked dry of blood.

At the end of the corridor, Pef stopped to observe the city through another armored window. Old medieval houses and forts, now serving as tourist attractions instead of critical defense structures.

The EU flag flew above some taller buildings.

The harbor extended all around, full of thousands of small boats and yachts. Leaving the island wouldn't be much of problem.

Chen patted his arm. "We are in Europe?" she asked a bit amazed. Medieval European towns were kinda easy to recognize though.

"Malta. Near Italy." Pef explained curtly.

"Saint John Templars! We have to run." she exclaimed in a fit of panic.

"Go then. I'm not leaving yet. More people to kill and others to liberate." he replied with a sterner voice, while patting his holster.

"Your gun won't be of any use! They have magic barriers. And water elementals." Chen said with a shudder.

Pef punched the window in reply. The armored glass cracked a bit. Then alarms blared with loud sirens.

He sped up, running towards the stair well. The keyring opened the metal door of the stairs too.

Chen arrived at his shoulder. "They'll have many guards near the entrance." she advised him.

Pef nodded and ran up the stairs, and opened the roof's armored door.

As Chen ran onto the roof, he close the door and kicked off the handle, snapping it at the hilt. That should slow down pursuit.

Pef looked down, over the hospital's roof edge. He could jump and survive the fall, especially if he hit a house roof, but the woman couldn't.

"Here!" she yelled from another corner of the roof.

Pef ran towards her and looked down. Some 20 meters away from the base of the hospital, there was a water channel with a few small boats.

"Don't leave directly from Valletta. Swim to another port first." Pef whispered to her as he spun Chen around, then threw her over the edge. A small splash announced her escape.

Pef ran towards the opposite edge and jumped off, just as the steel door of the roof bulged and exploded under a torrent of water. Pef flipped around to look back. A mage dressed in a long duster with golden crosses stared after him.

He drew a pistol and fired 8 shots at the mage, only to see the bullets stop in midair, held by water drops.

Two guards near the entrance glanced up at the flying man. Pef shot them in the face, before crashing into a wooden roof below.

*Firearms skill acquired. Firearms has reached level 2.

*Acrobatics has reached level 2.

*Athletics has reached level 2.

*Jumping has reached level 2.

*Landing skill has been acquired.

*Damage mitigation has been acquired. Damage mitigation has reached level 2.

*Regeneration has reached level 6.

*You have Adapted to Pain. Adaptation level 1.

* SERE quest update:

*The Gamer has escaped the Saint George hospital. Reward: 10 000 exp.

*The Gamer gains 5 levels. The Gamer has reached level 6.

*The Gamer has allied with Chen Sung. She will reward you herself.

*Relationships mode open. Chen Sung sees you as a charming hero. +34 points (Honored).

*You have killed 5 Templar guards. Status with all Templar Orders set as Enemy. -55 points (Hated).

Pef waved off the window screen and ran off, still plucking out bits of wood and tile from his side.

A minute later, he dove into the nearest canal.