Phil swallowed nervously as he patrolled the edge of the clearing, his bow ready as he peered into the shadows of the trees. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was here, only that he was part of Maurice’s gang, and they had all followed the half-giant into the woods after the Traveller. He shivered as he remembered the sight of the towering man beating the Traveller’s corpse to mush, the body of Pereion Machie just beside it. The half-giant hadn’t even taken time to organise the other men to bring the decapitated corpse back into town, just attacking then charging off into the Dark Woods.
A snort beside him made Phil jump, spinning to see Paul stalking towards the treeline.
“Where are you going?” he asked, the only slightly older man just sneering at him.
“Take a piss,” Paul said, “What? You want to watch, Fresh Meat?”
Phil flinched at the nickname. It was true that he was the newest member of the gang, but he had proven himself at least a couple of times since joining almost six months ago. Yet the other members still insisted on calling him ‘Fresh Meat’. Shaking his head, Phill let Paul pass, watching as the man walked into the woods and ducked behind a tree.
Then the shadows moved.
------
The hunter let out a sigh of relief as he urinated against the tree, Jake watching from above. It was almost painfully easy to drop behind him and slip Alpha’s Fang between his ribs, piercing the man’s heart and killing him in seconds.
You have gained experience.
Experience modifier detected.
Calculating…
You have gained a large amount of experience.
Jake slid his blade from the man, catching the corpse as it fell backwards, a look of surprise on its face as he laid it gently on the ground. He didn’t pause as he leapt back into the tree branches above, moving through them like a ghost as he spotted another man wandering out of the clearing.
Skill [Silent Movement] has levelled up.
Jake paused as the notification appeared in front of him, willing it away as he drew his bow, taking careful aim at the target. The world went quiet as he activated [Aim], the circle slowly shrinking as Jake waited patiently for it to become a dot. The instant it did, he fired, the Steel Arrow piercing the man’s temple near silently as he collapsed to the ground in a heap.
Skill [Aim] has levelled up.
You have gained experience.
Experience modifier detected.
Calculating…
You have gained a large amount of experience.
“What was that?” someone asked, “Oi, Rory? You fall over or something?”
When no reply came, two more of the hunters looked at each other, drawing their daggers and stalking into the woods. Jake jumped from his perch, darting between the branches until he was just above the corpse, waiting for the two men to find it. He didn’t have to wait long, one of them rounding the tree the body lay behind and swearing loudly, the second hurrying to join him.
“What the fuck?” the second gasped as they looked at the corpse, “He was killed with an arrow from town. You think someone betrayed us?”
“Shut the fuck up and help me drag him back,” the first growled, “We gotta show the others!”
“R-right!” the second nodded, before Jake dropped from the shadows and struck.
Both men barely had time to blink as Alpha’s Fang and Jake’s Ritual Dagger cut into their throats, decapitating the first and sending the second falling to the ground as he choked on his own blood. Jake stepped towards the man, ignoring to look of terror in his eyes as he drove the Dagger forwards, piercing the man in the forehead, killing him instantly.
You have gained experience.
Experience modifier detected.
Calculating…
You have gained a large amount of experience.
You have gained experience.
Experience modifier detected.
Calculating…
You have gained a large amount of experience.
Jake just nodded as he slipped back up the tree, circling around the clearing, waiting for his next target to make their way into the woods.
Skill [Silent Movement] has levelled up.
------
Bertram paused as he heard the scream, his [Locate] Skill suddenly pinging his target as behind him. Swearing under his breath, he spun around and began sprinting back towards the clearing, only having travelled a short distance anyway, taking his time tracking the Traveller.
“How did you get behind me?” he muttered as he ran, suddenly remembering that the man had vanished early on in his fight against Machie, cursing again as he realised the Traveller had some sort of invisibility Skill, “I kind of want that.”
He burst back into the clearing to a sight of carnage. Almost half the hunters that had come with them lay around the clearing, familiar arrows piercing their vitals. He blinked as an arrow shot from the woods directly opposite him, slamming into a hunter’s chest and piercing straight through his heart, killing him instantly.
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“Coward!” Maurice roared as the man collapsed, “Traveller is coward! Come out an’ fight!”
“What the fuck is happening?” Bertram shouted as he joined the remainder of the hunters in the centre of the clearing, the men all huddled around Maurice as the half-giant raged.
“He’s killing us!” one of the younger ones screamed, Phil, if Bertram remembered correctly, a recent addition to Maurice’s gang, “I don’t want to die!”
“Then quit yammering and fight!” Bertram shot back, drawing his own bow, readying an arrow as he watched the edge of the clearing.
A soft gasp behind him made the Assassin spin, staring at the corpse as it collapsed, an arrow going straight through its skull. He immediately spun to face the direction the projectile had come from, firing his bow into the trees.
“It’s no use!” Phil sobbed beside him, falling to his knees, “We’ve been trying to hit him for ages! The arrows just keep coming from everywhere!”
“That’s impossible,” Bertram growled, waiting as the panicked sounds of the other hunters echoed around him, “I’ll find this bastard.”
Bertram flexed [Locate], using its almost magical ability to track a foe to locate his target. He blinked as he saw the outline flash in the trees, dancing through the branches before it paused. Bertram didn’t hesitate, drawing his bow and firing at the outline, his arrow striking it a moment after another came whistling out of the leaves.
“Got him,” the Assassin grunted, a grim smile on his face before the outline suddenly vanished, “What?”
“Bert, where he?” Maurice growled as he shoved the corpse that had collapsed against him aside, “Tell me an’ I crush him!”
“In the branches, you oaf,” Bertram snarled, flexing [Locate] again, spotting the outline to his left side, “There!”
He fired another arrow as Maurice barrelled through the last of his men, forcing them to scatter as he launched himself at the tree the figure was hiding in. A single punch slammed into the trunk, splintering wood as Bertram watched the figure wobble on its perch, before leaping into the air and shooting towards the half-giant.
“MOVE!” he yelled as the shadow coalesced into a cloaked and hooded man, a short white blade in his one hand and what looked like a wooden dagger in the other, “Move you idiot!”
The two blades cut into Maurice’s arms far too easily as the Fighter backed away, the man darting around him and racing almost silently towards the scattered hunters. Bertram watched, almost impressed, as the man darted between them, cutting throats as though the were little more than paper. The pained screams echoed in the air as blood spilled around him, Bertram shivering slightly as he caught a glimpse of the man’s face.
He was smiling.
------
Jake couldn’t help the grin on his face as he drove Alpha’s Fang through a hunter’s chest, ripping it out in a spray of blood and sending the other hunters scrambling back in fear. The fire in his chest was burning hot, demanding fuel in the form of his slain foes, and Jake was more than willing to keep feeding it. He loomed over a kneeling man, no more than a boy, bringing his Ritual Dagger down, before a stiletto knocked it off course, almost making Jake stumble.
Jumping back, he saw Bertram standing between him and the hunter, the man wielding his two long, narrow blades as he prepared to fight. And Jake was happy to oblige. He surged forwards, slashing and stabbing, the Assassin easily parrying his strikes, sending them wide and putting Jake off balance, before he kicked Jake hard in the chest, throwing him onto his back.
“What the hell was that?” the man growled, “You’re a flailing mess. What, did you never learn proper sword play or something?”
“No,” Jake grunted as he threw himself back to his feet, charging back at the man, who easily blocked his strikes before head butting Jake in the face, sending him staggering back in pain, “Ow.”
“I should hope so,” Bertram huffed, before glancing to the side.
Jake barely registered the tingle in his spine before he dropped to the ground, the massive fist hurtling through the air just where his head had been moments before. Flipping over, he jumped back just in time to avoid the second punch as it embedded itself in the floor, cracking the earth.
“You!” the half-giant roared, “You killed me Da! So I kill you!”
“What?” Jake muttered at the simple speech, dodging backwards again as the familiar man swung his fists wildly through the air, “Your…dad?”
“Pereion Machie was his father,” Bertram added helpfully as he watched the fight from the sidelines, “And you somehow managed to off him. Maurice here is pretty pissed about that.”
“Maurice?” Jake panted, ducking another punch, “His name is Maurice?”
“Don’t ask me, Pereion named the oaf,” Bertram shrugged.
“Right,” Jake grunted as he leapt into the air, avoiding a low punch and landing on the half-giant’s shoulder, slashing at his face.
Maurice roared in pain as the blade cut easily through his cheekbone, just barely avoiding his eye as he spun around, trying to grab the man on his shoulder. Jake just jumped again, flipping through the air, landing softly on the ground before spinning around to face his opponent again. Maurice ran at him, Jake easily side stepping the charge as he slashed at the back of the half-giant’s knee, hitting more by luck than by skill. The towering man crashed into he ground, carving a furrow in the earth as he slid, before trying to stagger to his feet, his sliced tendon spurting blood as he struggled to rise.
Jake immediately jumped onto his back, sinking his Ritual Dagger into the man’s shoulder, and pressing Alpha’s Fang to his neck, growling out a warning.
“Another move, and you’ll end up like your dad.”
The half-giant froze, his head turned to glare at Jake as he twisted the blade already in the man in warning, Maurice letting out a growl of his own.
“I think that’s enough,” Bertram sighed as he approached, “You’ve lost, Maurice. Better to live another day that die like a pig.”
“No!” the half-giant shouted, “He killed me Da! I gotta kill him!”
“And what good will that do?” Bertram snarled back, the sound apparently startling the half-giant with its ferocity, “He’s a Traveller. Sure, you could kill him once or twice, maybe a dozen times, but he’ll just keep coming back. Do you really think you could survive a fight against him when he’s spent a week cutting you to ribbons?”
Maurice growled again, before shaking his large head slowly, Jake wondering if he could see tears in the man’s eyes.
“Good,” Bertram sighed, “Can’t believe I’m the one to say this, but there’s been enough death today. Let’s just end this here.”
Jake nodded as he pulled his Ritual Dagger from the half-giant’s shoulder, jumping smoothly off his back and landing a good distance away. Maurice struggled to his feet, favouring his uninjured leg, and glaring at Jake with undisguised hatred. Jake just glared back, the fire in his chest starting to cool, but not going out completely.
“Right,” Bertram said loudly, turning to look at the few remaining hunters, “You lot, get this idiot back to town, I got to have a talk with our new mayor.”
The eight men just nodded, stumbling to their own feet, and gathering around the half-giant, the group walking slowly back into the woods, in the direction of the town. Jake watched them closely as they left, waiting for any sudden retaliation, but only got fearful glances in return. After a few minutes, he let himself relax, turning to look at Bertram, as the Assassin looked back.
“What did you want to talk about?” Jake asked, slowly sheathing his blades, the other man having already done the same.
“Your fighting style,” Bertram said, looking Jake up and down, “It’s like a wild beast. A baby wild beast, at that. All flailing and prayers that something will hit.”
“So?” Jake growled, “It gets the job done.”
“Yeah, but for how long?” Bertram sighed, shaking his head, “You’ll soon find yourself out played by the folks with actual training. What’s your Skill called?”
“[Short Swords],” Jake answered, unsure of where this was going, “Why?”
“An Ascended Skill?” Bertram snorted, “How the fuck did you manage that with no real experience? You Travellers really are a different breed, aren’t you?”
“I guess,” Jake shrugged, “Why are you asking all these questions, anyway?”
“Because,” Bertram said, a smirk crossing his face, “You killed my old boss and took his Title. That makes you my new boss, and I can’t have my boss flailing about like a newborn foal with sharp sticks on his hooves. Makes you more likely to get yourself killed before you could do any real damage, not that death means much to you and yours.”
“What?” Jake blinked, “What are you saying?”
“Simple,” the Assassin grinned, “I’m going to train you a bit.”