It happened during the 4th attempt to make a construct to conduct light. No, he didn't succeed, rather, he saw something.
Flinging his spear up in front of his face, Johan blocked a strike from a club. Muscular Strengthening was active as it had long since become second nature, even if it wasn't as strong as it might be from before he got his mana heart as he still hadn't recovered all the way yet.
"Wake Up-!" Johan yelled, blocking another strike from the man wielding the club.
The next thing he knew, the mans head was gone, and Markus was standing there. Then there was a drawn out yell as a group of 4 more men ran out and tried to attack. Johan saw their faces, and knew that they understood that they were about to die. Johan couldn't understand. He didn't know why these men were so willing to rush towards their deaths. What had happened to them?
None of that mattered though. Markus was dealing with two of the men while Johan had two more in front of him. He saw Anne behind the men, having just gotten her sword and shield ready. Then Johan stabbed. It was a strange thing, it didn't feel that different from hunting a beast, in fact it felt so simple with how easily the blade sank into the mans throat. Johan then flung his spear to the side, ripping out of the throat of the the first man, and into the second mans head. It met little resistance. Between the sharp blade, the adrenaline, and his magically enhanced strength, it simply cut through and then stopped on the other side of the mans skull. the man was still standing, then after a few moment, fell over, blood pouring from the gouge that had just been nocked into his cranium.
Johan could hear the raspy breath of the other man as he drowned in his own blood, and turned to see Markus, who had blood on his face, hands, and sword.
"You doing alright kiddo?" The man asked.
"It... It was so easy." Was all that Johan said.
It didn't feel like a battle. The men that attacked didn't seem to have any training and seemed like they attacked out of pure desperation instead. To Johan it was simply a couple swing of his weapon and then they were just gone.
"Yeah, that's how it is. Life is very quick to take." Markus handed him something. "Here, use this to wipe your face and hands, as well as your spear. Rust is a weapon killer after all."
Johan took the gray cloth that Markus had handed him, and did as instructed. Handing it back to Markus when done.
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Markus wiped himself down as well, then dropped it onto one of the corpses. It was then that Johan understood it had come from one of the bodies.
"We have to move camp. All this blood will attract monsters and other beasties." Markus said. "Once we finish with that it'll be Anne's turn for watch."
Everyone did as they were told and the group walked for about an hour before they settled back down again. Johan lay on the blanket and thought about what he just did, the experience finally hitting him. It was just *so easy*.
It was disgustingly simple to kill someone. He couldn't help but remember the look of desperation in the eyes of the man who he had cut the throat of, the want of life. It was one he had seen many times during hunts, yes, but it was a different feeling when it was someone of the same species as you. He still felt dirty. Was it guilt? Possibly. Johan knew he wouldn't be able to sleep like this.
Johan sighed, and decided that if he was going to be awake he would at least be productive. Then he set to work on his construct.
-
Anne watched her brother stab forth, then slash, only realizing what had actually happened after the fact. Johan had stabbed one man in the throat, then he had cut straight through one side of another mans skull to the other. That happened in only a second, if that. In the span of time it took to register this information, Markus had already finished with the other two and had cut a bit of cloth off one mans clothes to wipe down with, offering it to Johan first. Johan had likely not noticed where it had come from as he was looking at the two men. One was still alive, choking on his own blood.
Anne was shocked by the display of violence from her elder brother. He had always been hesitant to harm others, but in that instant, it seemed as if he had never had any inhibitions about such things in the first place. It was a side of him that Anne never wanted to see again.
As Anne sat on watch thinking of this, she found herself wondering what had caused Johan to be able to unleash such strength on another person so easily. She doubted that she would have been able to do so herself, and began to doubt herself slightly. She thought of this for a few hours before she woke up Markus for his shift.
"Urgh. Alright. Ah. Anne..." Markus woke up and stood, before calling out softly. "Johan is likely not feeling too great. You and I both know what he is like. Please don't ask him anything about what he did tonight."
"But... How was he able to do that so easily?" She asked Markus.
"Simple. He saw you, and understood that he had a choice. If he hadn't killed them both, you would have been using a cloth tonight as well. He is quite considerate of you, you know. Although you should get your first kill soon enough. The earlier you do it, the easier it'll be for you to fight if someone tries to kill you." Markus patted her back as he passed her. "He is a good man, your brother. He fights to protect you from the harshness of the world."
Anne couldn't get that out of her head. Had Johan killed those men to make it so she wouldn't get her hands slicked with their blood? Was it simply that he had to kill them or they would kill him? Anne had many issues trying to sleep that night as she over thought things.