It was a typical afternoon at a Talerian garbage dump. The leftover metal from old tools, both magic and mundane, coupled with trash of about every kind littered the ground in every direction, creating the impression of a very ugly desert. The trash dunes creating a diversely shaped landscape seamlessly transitioned from small hills into valleys.
The sun was slowly setting, its warmth still annoying all local inhabitants. Nevertheless, the sun was not as small minded as them, so in its magnanimousness it left them all a present. The rubbish that it voluntarily heated up in its fit of generosity.
However, that was not the end to the present, it even featured a little bonus, the myriad of toxic fumes that came out of the warmed up trash, with effects diverse and mostly unknown. Who would even bother to research them in a place like this?
When Eric looked up from the piece of trash that he had been examining for the last 30 minutes, just to find out that it’s truly only worthless garbage, he cursed. He didn’t like it when his loot turned out to be trash, but surprisingly that wasn’t the cause of his cursing, it was the mana pistol aiming at him.
Being hungry is not very nice, being dead is a bit worse though, Eric deduced. However even in the face of mortal danger he couldn’t stop his curiosity from getting the better of him. While being threatened is hardly pleasant, it is quite the common predicament in this hellhole. On the other hand, being aimed at with a mana weapon could be considered very lucky. Not because those things are harmless, the opposite actually, they could blow a hole through an inch of unenchanted steel.
It was lucky because it was extremely unlikely, only the top scavengers or high-ranking gang enforcers could afford them. Those things use small mana crystals as bullets for god’s sake.
And that’s what’s so strange, what the hell is someone like that doing here, not to mention that my would-be attacker is wearing a sleek armored uniform coupled with a shining breathing mask. Shining! Here?!
The ridiculousness of it almost made Eric break into laughter.
That's when he heard it, a sparrow singing, a noise that couldn't feel more out of place. Oh, so it's her after all.
An explosion next to Eric’s left leg made him jump in fright. The hole in the ground reminded him of the situation he was in and finally broke him out of his ruminations. Did that fucker really just shot at me? On second thought, that's kind of scary, isn't it?
Sparing one glance at the garbage hill in front of him, where the attacker was standing and focusing all his mana into his eyes Eric could clearly see the attacker’s finger twitching dangerously near the trigger.
His hands shot up in surrender. Fuck, this wandering brain of mine is gonna kill me one of these days, Eric swore in his mind.
The attacker, Lamb, yes, that's an appropriate name, calling him an attacker this an attacker that, that would be annoying as hell.
While Eric was contemplating utter bullshit Lamb safely descended the small hill with expert deftness. Huh, that armor is so enchanted, I knew it.
On that note, Eric noticed it from the fact that Lamb's pistol never stopped aiming at him even for a second during his descent. This guy is a pro, well, probably a guy, could also be a girl wearing men's clothes, hmmm let's just assume it's a guy.
The would-be attacker slowly crossed the distance between them, stopping only a few feet before him. “Eric I presume?” he questioned.
“Not me, you have the wrong guy” Eric answered with a shrug.
Lamb pierced him with a stare, slowly circled him and then unceremoniously knocked him unconscious with the handle of his pistol. Eric’s limp body fell to the ground head first, as if kissing the garbage floor in appreciation of Lamb’s presence.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Few seconds later an imposing dark haired girl came from behind the trash hill, her figure unusually tall for a woman.
Eyeing the unconscious boy she said: "Just like I told you Rufus, that boy is just a foos."
"No one that's just a fool survives here Ella", Rufus said, putting emphasis on her obviously fake name.
"Beats me how he survived for this long, if you give me my cut of the reward I'll be more than happy." Ella said, her tone betraying nothing.
A burst of magical power hit the chatting Rufus straight into his face. There wasn't an ounce of surprise on Ella's face though, instead she pulled out her two curved daggers, the pulsing veins in them looking exceptionally sinister. Like always she marveled at their beauty while she expertly spilled poison all over them and lunged on Rufus.
His reaction was a tad too late, she drew close fast and just as he pointed his pistol at her she slashed its barrel in half. Rufus cursed and drew his long sword.
The garbage dump descended into a storm of blows.
Rufus had the benefit of reach, enchanted armor and superior physique and yet the assassin danced around him with expert movements.
Her dodges and attacks unnaturally graceful and fast. Rufus was no pushover however, he instantly noticed that something was not right.
Ella moved fast and hit hard and yet with her speed she should've been able to overwhelm him instantly, why was she not doing that?
Ella turned in a pirouette after he blocked her strike and then smoothly transitioned into an x motion with her blades, he blocked the blow again, still there was no weight to the weapons, nor was there the typical sound of clashing steel. His sword passed straight through the daggers.
Rufus stepped backwards in retreat realizing his mistake, that saved his life, but two small cuts were now marrying his chest, just barely piercing his armor.
"A fucking illusionist", Rufus spat. Ella just winked at him.
That's when Rufus started sprinting straight towards the unconscious Eric and stabbed him through his chest. Eric shimmered slightly and then disappeared, it was obviously what Rufus was expecting, because he just nodded to himself warily and then looked around searchingly.
"Your little friend's magic ambush failed, it didn't even scratch my mask, and your surprise attack? Barely nicked me. You dare dream about hunting the hunter? Ridiculous" he gloated, his eyes still searching the surroundings.
"In other words, you, a mighty hunter, got wounded by two no-name scavengers, and that's why you were the ideal target. Where else can I find a hunter that's as stupid, weak and arrogant as you?" Ella taunted.
Rufus stood motionless for a second and then broke out into a sprint, the rage visible in his eyes.
A pair of hands made of dirt jutted from the ground and gripped his legs. With his running speed and strength Rufus just pushed through them, but it staggered him enough to earn a shallow cut from Ella.
Tens of new tendrils of dirt hands shot up from the ground. The bounty hunter was expecting it though, he was dodging the hands while fighting the backstabber at the same time and he still had the upper hand.
The fight seemed to be at a standstill. It was obvious that Rufus was the stronger one, but Ella's assault combined with the earth magic kept him occupied, minutes passed by like this. Neither landing a single strike on their opponent.
Then the image of the fighting Ella shimmered once, shimmered twice and then she was gone. Revealing a much shorter freckled girl standing there.
"Fuck" Ella cursed
The almost even battle changed instantly, without the power of illusions Rufus's combat superiority became instantly obvious. He dodged her strikes with a smirk on his face, punishing her overextension with a nasty kick to the stomach. Not giving her a single moment to rest, the melee resumed. Small cuts started spreading over Ella's body. Drops of blood stained the ground red, until they slowly turned into crimson streams.
Ella's situation started becoming more and more hopeless, now she was just dodging to save her life. Her dreams of wounding her opponent long forgotten. One clean strike would be enough to cut her life short and the moment when one landed seemed to be drawing nearer and nearer.
The hands stopped coming. Both fighters just stood there in a moment of tranquility. Ella breathing heavily and Rufus grinning from ear to ear.
"It looks like your luck has run out little girl" Rufus said and resumed his pursuit
Without the distraction the situation started worsening even faster. Ella was now bleeding all over and Rufus wanted her dead. Every strike he landed, every strike that Ella blocked with her shaking hands brought him closer to that goal.
A ball of pure mana raised from the ground just in front of Rufus and exploded, he instinctively jumped to his right.
It were the honed instincts of a hunter that betrayed him, making him automatically react to potential danger without analyzing it further.
Instead of a destructive explosion wounding him, it was a flash of blinding light that rudely stole his sight.
It wouldn't be the first time Rufus fought blind though and as soon as he dropped to the ground he rolled into a defensive posture.
Surprisingly, the expected attack didn't come. Instead when he finally opened his squinting eyes, Ella was nowhere to be seen.