You are under the effects of Haste.

All actions consume 50% less time.

Duration: 1 Hour

Keiran dismissed the notification as he waited for Jax to enter into the barn. He hoped the other guard would be content with waiting outside. Jax didn't keep Keiran waiting for long, the door to the barn opened and a man with a spear in one hand entered the barn. Unlike Caron, he didn't carry a deadly and nauseating odor. An unshaven and scraggly mustache that joined up with his sideburns adored his visage. Unfortunately for Keiran, he didn't close the barn door. This meant he needed to deal with Jax quickly and quietly and get ready for the other guard at a moment's notice. He started approaching Jax from behind while the doofus, completely unaware and enraptured by Nihata's performance, started stroking his junk with one hand. "Boss, you need me to show her a few tricks?" He asked Caron, thinking he had been invited to break the woman's resolve. Before the awkward silence from Caron could register, multiple things happened in quick succession. The other guard, who had been peering inside hoping to catch a glimpse of the action and rub one out while he waited his turn, caught Keiran in the act. He shouted at Jax, "Behind you, you fool!". Jax for his part, didn't dodge, but instead offered up Keiran the side of his neck, as he turned to look behind. Keiran committed to the attack on the neck without any hesitation. He needed to deal with Jax quickly and prepare to meet the other guy in combat. He made a quick stab at the neck, followed quickly by another in the back and using his leg and Jax's back leverage to change the direction of his momentum swung around to face the other lackey. Keiran smiled as he dismissed his notifications, happy with the plan so far.

Critical Strike X3

Target loses 60 HP

Target is stunned for 4 seconds.

Target suffers from major bleeding -10 HP/second

Critical Strike X1

Target loses 20 HP

Target has been paralysed permanently.

Target suffers from bleeding -5 HP/second

Target suffers from overall bleeding. -15 HP/second

Peasant is now level 4.

You have 1 attribute point.

You have 3 SP.

A shard of ice raced past Keiran from the side and struck the last bandit, Nihata it seemed had joined the fight.

Ice shard does 3 HP damage

Target is chilled for 10 seconds.

All actions by target consume 15% more time.

Keiran was not impressed by the damage she was dishing out, to him, the spell was weak. At least it does apply a status effect for what it's worth, he thought bitterly while he closed the distance.

Panic adored Rowan's face. This was supposed to be an easy raid, there shouldn't have been any resistance whatsoever from these weaklings. Did the informant lie and lead them to a trap? He thought. Noticing Jax no longer in the party list shocked him further and his indecision on whether to fight or run away and inform the others had cost him. Keiran had closed the gap and was within striking distance of him. With his shortbow still on his back, he decided running away was the only option here but that had been taken out his hand when that infernal wench slowed him down. He brought out the dagger he had concealed in his vest to hopefully try and deflect Keiran's strike.

Fire Poker does 1 HP damage

Your strike has been parried.

You have no weapon proficiency in spears or exotic weapons.

You have a 25% penalty to all attacks using Fire Poker.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

It was Keiran's turn to be shocked when he saw the combat notification. Without the element of surprise, not only could he no longer get a critical strike, but he also had a significant penalty to all attacks. Sensing his attacker's distraction, Rowan counter-attacked to press his attacker and seize an advantage.

You have sustained 6 HP damage

You suffer from minor bleeding -2 HP/second

Keiran cursed as he saw the notification, he needed to end this fast, before he ran out of HP. Whatever that was right now, he thought bitterly. Pushing all notifications aside, he concentrated on the fight. It wasn't over yet and he needed to avoid any distractions and use Haste to the fullest. Gathering his resolve he struck back with two stabs in quick succession. Providing additional support and firepower. Anihata fired off another volley of Ice Shard as well.

Fire Poker does 8 HP damage

Fire Poker does 6 HP damage

Target suffers from bleeding X2. -10HP/second

You have no weapon proficiency in spears or exotic weapons.

You have a 25% penalty to all attacks using Fire Poker.

Ice shard does 7 HP damage

Target is chilled for 18 seconds

Rowan's face loses all color and becomes deathly pale. He had a minor health potion that could stop the bleeding, but drinking it would open him up to an attack immediately. Not drinking it meant his next action would be his last as bleed would drain the last of his HP. I am fucked, it's all that stupid Caron's fault. If we had stuck with the rest of the group, this fucker would dead and that whore would be sucking my cock. If I am to die, I will take this fucker down with me, he firmed his resolve and put everything into his last attack. "TBILIS, I OFFER THEE!" He shouted and moved to stab Keiran's heart. The proclamation and ferocity of the attack caught Keiran a bit off-guard. He didn't, hadn't expected the lackey to give up all defense and to put everything into a final strike. The adrenaline and haste allowed Keiran to dodge the fatal attack but it still caught him in the left arm.

You have sustained 4 HP damage

You suffer from minor bleeding X2. -4 HP/second

Target has bled out.

Keiran quickly unsealed the potion Nihata had mentioned was a potent health potion and downed it. He immediately felt his wounds closing and a burst of energy in his body, an energy he didn't realize he was missing. He felt invigorated, his whole body craved for more but feeling quieted down almost instantly. The notifications that married his vision explained what had just happened.

You are fully healed.

You no longer suffer from minor bleeding.

You suffer from blood toxicity 15% - 2 hours

You have developed a trivial addiction to alchemical potions.

Keiran was a bit surprised by the notification, he hadn’t expected drinking potions could be harmful for him. What’s done is done, now I need to figure out what’s next, sighing that he still wasn’t done yet. It took a moment to dawn on Keiran that he was finally outside and caught his first glimpse of the world of Avesta. It was dark, not figuratively. He caught the last rays of the setting sun as it dipped over the horizon. In the sky, the galaxy had already come to life, and it was beautiful. There was no moon but he could see that the planet, this world, orbited a blue-green gas giant with vortex storms of various sizes and intensities marring it surface. Just remarkable, that’s all Keiran could think.

Nihata’s sudden presence jolted back to more “Earthly” realities. An indecipherable expression donned her visage. “Jax only had a spear on his person and a few coins. The spear should be better than that fire poker,” she stated, breaking the silence when Keiran refused to say anything. He bent and searched the last body, finding the shortbow and a quiver with 10, what seemed like bronze tips, arrows. Searching the body he found another bottle of health potion, considerably smaller than the one he had just drank and finally, the dagger which he gave to Nihata. His mind was preoccupied, he could just leave and head for the forest and not deal with the rest of the bandits. On the other hand, if he could fight them off and get a few kills, it was level up experience he desperately needed. “What’s the plan, just the two of us versus 17 bandits? Not good odds there,” he commented. “If we bring Caron’s head, he could break their morale and rally the rest of the villagers. It wouldn’t be unfavorable conditions then. Vidic would be troublesome but there is a chance.” she replied as though the choice was obvious. Run away and hide in the forest at night with no food, water, safety, and friends or help deal with bandits, potentially gain a few fiends, he rubbed his face at that thought. Both carried a degree of risk.

“Fine, we’ll try to take out Vidic. Let’s see if can’t press our advantage and try to ambush the fucker. Anything you can tell about him or his class?” he asked Nihata hoping for some good news here. “Nothing concrete, but he carries a composite longbow. So likely either an Archer, Hunter, or Ranger,” she replied. “So if we can get the drop on him in close quarter combat, we might be able to take him out?” he asked a bit rhetorically. She nodded. “Fine, let’s do this then. We will stealthily make our way over..” he paused not knowing where they should be headed. “They will have likely gathered all the villagers near Talli’s residence, she is the village head.” she added noting his lack of knowledge. “Right, you can guide us over there. But first things first, I am not decapitating Coran’s head, you are going to have to do it” he looked at her almost pleadingly. “It will be my pleasure, I will need one of the hand axes for the job.” he replied without any hesitation. Damn, that was some brutal killing aura, Keiran remarked. “Sure, you can grab it, I am going to go look around and if there is anything else in here that can help us.”