“Sis-” the Daughter of Mara tried to say something before Victor killed her. He still had buds in his ear, but he could read her lips well enough before she expired.

All around him, the Altesians were doing their best to fight off the Daughters, and it seemed they were doing relatively well.

“Qeeny, I’m leaving the situation here in your hnads,” Victor said as he picked up the Ignistone gun and examined it.

[[Ignistone Pistol]: STRENGTH: 150 ABILITIES: Enflamed

A gun forged from Ignistone metal. Enchanted in such a way as to endow the bullets with fire on impact. It was made by Wayland, when he got sick of your mundane metals and came back to his own world to forge it. A weak weapon by his standards.]

Another name I have no idea about. One of these days, I’ll have to ask around who these people are. But for now… Victor started running towards the village. He’d held back against the Titan, but with his stats, he quickly made it to the front, but not before a gunshot landed on the dirt in front of him.

Victor ducked behind a tree as a second bullet embedded into the other side of the bark.

Hella fast aim on that one. He peeked out for a moment and saw a vanguard of soldiers standing on the fringes of the village. Leading them was a Daughter of Mara that looked similar to the one he’d just slain. Another Tanha, Victor assumed.

She held a pistol that mirrored his own, only instead of red, it was coloured a cool blueish white. Frigustone. Who gave them these?

Siblings, then, and by the look of her, she probably already knows what I did. Any pity he could’ve spared for them was gone. They swiped first, after all.

He pulled out the Ignistone pistol, giving it a once over. It had ammo still left in the magazine. That’ll have to do. A curious thought passed over him. He couldn’t hear the pistol any more.

And then the Daughter appeared right in front of him and fired. A blade popped from Victor’s hand to skewer her, but scratched her side. She fired off a blast into his open palm and Victor growled in anger.

The Daughter jumped back while Victor fired his own gun. The bullets hit only bark, exploding the trees into flames. Crap, forgot how strong these can be.

He could feel the cold spreading through his hands, painful and quick.

Shrink.

With a thought the bullet in his flesh shrunk and he threw it off. The Daughter had disappeared behind the trees, and Victor took out his earbuds.

“Hiding like a coward, are you? Guess you really were sisters!” Victor taunted. It made him feel like a slimy bastard, sure, but he’d be willing to accept that if it meant he won.

“Don’t you dare talk about her!” She shouted back at him. Her words carried a tinge of her power, but it would have no effect. Her powers worked on groups only, and he wasn’t near any allies at the moment.

His taunt did the trick, though, as she popped out of cover a moment later to fire at him. This time the bullet didn’t hit, and Victor got an idea of her location.

He took his chance to close his distance, but the woman popped out again a moment later. Victor and her aimed at each other but both missed. The Daughter of Mara fled again and Victor grunted in annoyance.

Why is she so slippery? He thought as he once again tried to reach her. This continued until Victor grew tired, and crouched behind a tree for cover. He heaved breaths and waited, hearing an approaching crowd.

What?

Victor looked over to his right, watching a crowd of Altesians approaching. They looked mad and seemed to be skirmishing amongst each other. A shrill scream went over the crowd, exacerbating their conditions.

Shit!

Before the swarm of Altesians could grab him, Victor jumped onto a tree and hung there. There were Daughters of Mara following the Altesians. Lillie and Amadeus were supposed to keep them in the village. How did they make it out?

He had no way to know, as another bullet skimmed past him and lodged into the tree. The bark froze and broke while Victor dropped to the ground. Altesians screamed and jumped him, and he struggled to peel them off.

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

“Get away from me! I’m trying to help you!” it was a useless endeavour, and Victor had to throw the Altesians away from him. And throughout it all, he heard an incessant shrieking coming from the Daughters of Mara.

Here he was, risking his life for those little monsters, and this was how they repaid him? They couldn’t have resisted the effects just a bit longer? Who’d even decided among them to let their earbuds go?

“Mr. Amadi, I didn’t think you’d treat your charges that badly,” a familiar voice told him.

“Shut up!” he replied without even looking back.

Victor flung an Altesian away harsher than necessary, hearing a whimper of pain from it when it fell back down. That pained shout rocked him to his core, and he realized what was happening.

I’m under the Tanha’s spell.

He felt a gentle hand atop his shoulder. Victor looked back to see Amit standing there, with a group of little unaffected Altesians with him. They were holding back the crowd while the old man worked his magic.

A warmth spread through Victor, and he realized what he was experiencing. His mind and body sharpened together, steeling himself against the Tanha’s affect.

“Amit? When did you…”

“I should’ve escaped, yes. I don’t even understand it myself, truth be told,” the old Nepalese man replied. He let go of Victor just as another shriek came from the forest.

“Look out!” Victor grabbed the old man and jumped behind a tree as another bullet whizzed past.

“Where are Lillie and Am?”

“I saw them preoccupied at the other end of the village. Only I was able to make it across, and that due to a few tricks,” Amit explained.

“Then we’re on our own,” Victor cursed, slamming a fist down into the leaf-covered dirt.

“If you can get me close to her, Victor, I may be able to subdue her. A single Daughter of Mara is no more stronger than a man,” Amit told him.

“Not this one. She’s quick. But I think I know a way to counter it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Keep her distracted, but close. Can you do that, old man?” Victor asked.

“If I’d a tool, perhaps.”

Victor handed him the pistol and sat his back against the wall. He looked down at his hands and feet, visualizing his form underneath it all.

Then he began building blades. Not popping them out perpendicular to his skin, but along it. It was akin to a sharp armour, and Victor had to be careful with each blade he conjured. It ate at his vitality to form them, and by the end of the process he’d starting panting.

He was covered in a rough patch of blades that made up his faux armour. Shining sharp points and edges that covered his entire front besides the chest where his Dragonsilver hung. Victor stepped out from the back of the tree and took his lumbering form to the sounds of battle.

In the time Victor had took, several trees had toppled over in the forest. Amit had blown them apart with his bare fists in his chase of the Tanha, who seemed to esacpe his grasp at the last moment always. A few shallow bullet holes covered the old man and slowed his chase, but didn’t stop him from giving up fully.

That was, until he felt the click of a barrel again and had to duck. But he didn’t make it in time, and another bullet hole opened up near his thighs. Amit growled in pain and fell over, barely able to drag himself over to the cover of a large rock.

He thought the Tanha might escape again but in a twist of fate, he heard footsteps approaching.

Amit held up his gun one last time. He strengthened the magic within with his own, but that could only help so much. The Tanha popped out of the cover and they both pulled the trigger.

Two shots rang out in the forest but only a single figure stood. The Tanha was hurting from the pain of the bullet in her arm, but at least she was alive. The man in front of her wasn’t so lucky. His eyes were dilated, as all life had left him. She could finally get her sister’s gun back.

She thought she could get a moment’s rest from that, but it wasn’t possible. She jumped instinctively backwards as a figure landed in front of her. Despite being covered in blades, she’d recognized him as her sister’s killer.

“You-”

Victor punched her in the stomach. The blades cut her flesh and she flew backwards into the forest. But her grip on her pistol never loosened. She’d even picked up its sister piece, and wielded them together against the Bladebody menace.

“You killed him,” the man’s lips were covered in blades like shark teeth.

“You killed Ishana,” she spat back. Her pistols were raised against the monster.

“You enslaved these creatures. I don’t have mercy for monsters like those.”

“As if you haven’t. We’re enslaved from the moment we’re born. I make the best with what I have,” the Tanha replied.

“If this is the best you can do, maybe you shouldn’t have been born,” Victor scoffed.

The Tanha fired both pistols straight ahead of her. The bullets impacted his chest, knocking him back a little but leaving not a scar. He rushed her and raised a hand right before she fired a second time.

He knocked the gun out of her hand just as she kicked him in the chest. The Tanha jumped off and fired off a few more Ignistone bullets. They hit him in the chest and warmed his armour, singing Victor’s skin.

When the Tanha tried reloading. Victor took one of the blades on his forearms and enlarged it. It expanded to a blade fit more for an Angelo than a human. But he didn’t care, as it worked as an effective shield.

He rushed forward low and grabbed the discarded piece off of the ground. More bullets pelted the sword shield and Victor slammed it against the Tanha. She was knocked against the ground. Victor tried to plunge the sword shield downwards but the Tanha kicked against his arm.

That’s when Victor brought out the Frigustone pistol. He fired wildly. Up that close, the bullets couldn’t miss. They hit their target dead on as ice began to spread across the Tanha’s wounds.

The Tanha looked up in retaliation. Her hand squeezed around the trigger to fire off one last shot. But then it stilled and froze.

The illusion faded and Victor let out a sigh. He let the blades disperse. His entire body was covered in cuts from head to toe, his chest ached and burned, and he was exhausted. But he’d won. And for that he’d gotten a reward.

[Ability Unlocked: Metallize Boost]

[Ability Unlocked: Metallize Boost]

[Ability Unlocked: Blade Burst]